On Appian’s 20th Anniversary, Executives Reflect on Past Successes and Looks to the Future

When you reflect on the many successes and goals that Appian has achieved in its first 20 years, what are you most proud of?
Mike Kositzky: When we started out 20 years ago there were 12 to 15 companies vying for market share in our niche of the transportation software market, today there are only a handful remaining.  I believe the reason we prospered over this period was due to our commitment to provide high quality products with very attractive cost/benefit ratios.
James Stevenson:  That we provided a solution to an industry-wide problem.  Our software helped revolutionize the way transportation companies do business.  We are proud to have made a positive impact.

When transitioning from a consulting company to a software provider what did you consider to be the biggest obstacle to overcome?
Mike Kositzky: The old adage of “if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door” is not really true.  The world has to find out that you have a better mouse trap first.  Our biggest obstacle was getting the word out about our software products.  Slowly but surely as we gained more and more satisfied customers and word began to get out.
James Stevenson:  Ensuring that when the word was out, we provided quality support to guarantee that our customers could take full advantage of the cost saving benefits that our software provided.

Appian Logistics is a Leader in Routing Software development, what is your secret to maintaining a competitive edge?
Mike Kositzky: We believe there are three primary things that must be done to maintain a competitive edge:

• Listen to our customers.  Many of the best functions and features that we have added to our software came out of either request from our customers or observing the way they are using our software.   We have several Users’ Conferences every year where we demonstrate new functions and features of our software, provide refresher training, and have round table discussions about how we can make the software better. This has been an invaluable tool to stay on top of our customers needs.
• Continuously improving our algorithm to reduce our customers’ transportation cost.  The processing speed of computers has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. As a result, we can now do things with our algorithm to increase efficiencies that were not possible in the past.
• Keeping a close eye on changes in technology.  A perfect example of this is our latest product DRTrack which provides real time information pertaining to the progress of a route. Five years ago there were not any low cost GPS enabled phones available that could have made a product like DRTrack possible.  We identified a need for such a product 10 years ago but it was not possible to do for less than $2,000 per vehicle, now its can be done for less than $200 per vehicle.

Appian has experienced substantial growth in its employee base, what was the driving factor that determined this need for growth?
Mike Kositzky: There are three primary reasons for this growth.

• First, we have been very successful in retaining our existing customers by continually updating and adding features to our products and to providing the excellent technical support they have been accustom to.  As this customer base has increased we have employed more programming and support resources.
• Secondly, we have been developing new products that greatly compliment our existing products.  This required more programming resources but it is starting require more support staff as these products are being rolled out.
• And finally, we have been adding new customers at a faster pace requiring more implementation and support resources.

Name one of Appian’s core values.  How did this begin and what are some of the key ways in which it has enhanced the company?
Mike Kositzky:  I think the one core value or philosophy that we have always lived by is to:  “Make our customers happy”.  I realize that this may sound like an altruistic cliché, but we really have or own self interest at heart to insure that this occurs.  If a customer is pleased with our products and support it is like adding a salesman to our workforce. Actually, it’s better than adding a salesman because potential customers do not always believe what a salesman has to say, but if one of our customers is singing our praises, it gives us credibility with our prospects.
James Stevenson:  We take pride in providing the same level of support to all of our customers.  The single site user of our product is treated the same as our customers that have multiple sites.  Every customer matters regardless of company size.

What is your vision for Appian Logistics when looking ahead for the next 20 years?
Mike Kositzky: The products that we will offer 20 years from now will certainly be very different and have more capabilities than we have now.  The one thing that will not change is the way we go about identifying and designing those products. It will be a result of focusing on our customer’s needs and requirements while at the same time performing the research and development required to turn those customer requirements into solutions that will improve their bottom line.

Looking ahead 20 years, where do you see Route Scheduling Software going globally?
Mike Kositzky:  Basic research in routing and scheduling technology is fairly new.  Research began in the 1940’s, but applications were not widely deployed until the advent of the PC in the 80’s.  Technology is moving forward at a very rapid pace now and I believe we will have products 20 years from now that people are just now dreaming about.  I think the areas that will impact routing and technology the most will come from the following areas:

• Hardware technology.  Computers will continue get faster and have larger storage capacities.  This will allow companies like ours to develop completely new algorithms that will be able to further increase routing efficiencies.  We will also have more hardware in the vehicle that will provide it own processing power and communications capabilities.
• Data infrastructure. Look at how far mapping and navigation data has come in the last 20 years.  This data will continue to improve and come down in price as the users of this data continue to increase.  In the not to distant future we will be able to provide real-time driving directions to drivers based on current road conditions, analysis of traffic conditions, and projected weather forecasts. This technology could easily increase driver productivity 5 to 10%.
• Routing applications will be deployed in more widely diverse industries.  There are several transportation segments that currently do not enjoy the benefits of routing technology. Primarily due to the fact that current systems cannot model their operations. A beverage distributor has different requirements than a gasoline distributor, which has different requirements than school district developing bus routes.  As the technology becomes mature further research will be performed to develop algorithms that will serve the specific needs of these niches.