One platform that powers RMI's international bulk logistics

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RMI started in 1997 as a family business in the Port of Rotterdam and grew into an intermodal logistics service provider with a pan-European network. From Rotterdam, RMI organizes, transports, and manages chemical products, liquid foods, and animal feed in bulk.

This is no ordinary logistics. RMI transports chemicals, food products, and animal feed, all bulk liquid and mainly intermodal: by train, by truck, by ship. Behind every container movement lie multiple countries, regulations such as ADR for hazardous materials, and multiple parties that all need the right information at the same moment. Margins are thin, and the demands on accuracy are high. To keep all these variables manageable, RMI began developing ROS (RMI Operating System) in 2010: the logistics core application where the operation comes together, built in collaboration with Betabit.

From advisory partner to full responsibility

What started as an advisory relationship grew into full responsibility for the platform. Nick van Gils, Commercial Director MSDC at Betabit, describes that role.

We started as an advisory partner and, over the years, have grown into a true partner for management, maintenance, development and ongoing development of the ROS platform. We step in when incidents arise, but we also help shape the strategic choices RMI makes within the platform.

That close involvement is a deliberate choice. Every change to ROS can have a direct impact on the operation, so the platform demands a robust architecture and tight control of dependencies. Betabit carries the full software lifecycle, from daily support, monthly releases, and security updates to the strategic direction of the platform.

From paper to a single system

For the people who work with it every day, ROS changed the way they work. Koen Volkeri, Inside Sales Manager at RMI, sees the difference on the work floor.

Unlike the old system, there are no more loose spreadsheets. You're completely off paper. Everything is in the system, which makes it much easier to find everything.

Where planners used to puzzle, they can now plan. Koen notices it in customer contact too: with a complete and consistent overview, RMI can offer alternatives faster and still meet the right unloading date. With ROS there is more calm and more control.

Migrating without downtime

The next step is the move to the cloud. Because the operation cannot pause for a moment, Betabit is guiding a phased migration to Microsoft Azure. Legacy components are renewed step by step while the system stays available. Not the fastest route, but the most robust one, so RMI can keep growing on this platform for the next ten years.

The digital heart of RMI

ROS has grown into the digital heart of RMI. Quotes, routes, contracts, transport tasks, documentation, and invoicing all come together in one system. Thanks to the data from ROS, RMI can support its customers from A to Z, from what has been done to the most reliable routes, and provide better forecasts. For Chief Commercial Officer Ivan Scholten, the value ultimately lies in the certainty that the platform and the partner provide together.

When you have a partnership, you can count on it working at all times and doing what you expect. That is perhaps the most important thing of all. We've grown a lot in ten years, and ROS has grown with us. That's exactly what you want, from a system and from a partner.