In 2001, David Barton had an idea. Hospitality procurement and the logistics around OS&E and FF&E purchasing was (and still is) complex. At the time, some brands handled it in-house, while others farmed it out to one of a handful of logistics companies with the experience and know-how. Dave realized there was an gap in the market that could be filled by someone with his experience, so he started Worldwide Freight Management in 2002.
He also realized immediately that no software application existed to handle the workflow, tracking, and inventory management he required - much less the complex, up-to-the-minute reporting his customers required - so he set out to build one. Partnering with a third-party development team, the essential components of what was to become The System™ were developed and combined into a single application - project management, purchase order entry, bill of lading creation and tracking, warehousing and inventory management, and invoicing for all the above. While the application grew and evolved along with Worldwide, the original design was little more than a proof of concept. Now that it had become the daily driver, it was straining under the load of ever-larger projects and the data that went with them. A new direction was needed.
After nearly a decade in IT, Matt Pogue realized he felt more at home in small and medium-sized companies than large corporations; the structure of corporate IT leaves very little room for creativity and passion. While working in Information Security at Mastercard in 2006, sheer coincidence brought Dave and Matt into the same orbit at a time when both were looking for new directions, and The System™ was born. Neither Matt or Dave could have known it then, but the first version of the application software they developed together - able to withstand the stress of Worldwide's largest projects - would end up serving in Production for nearly 15 years, from 2010 through 2025.
By 2019, the original System software was showing its age. The entire landscape of the industry - and Worldwide's place in it - had changed. The success of Worldwide's business model inspired a new breed of competitors to enter the market, some of whom were either large to begin with or had a war chest of venture capital funding - or both. But Worldwide still had an advantage none of its competitors had - The System™. Dave and Matt went back to the drawing board and embarked on an ambitious rewrite of the entire application from the ground up, taking advantage of advances in programming and technology that had occurred since the original software was written. The resulting application - The System™ 2.0, released in February 2025 - is without parallel in the industry.
The System™ 2.0 was designed from the ground up with a focus on the hospitality procurement workflow, and all its related tasks like logistics and warehousing, with a heavy emphasis on data: storing it, cataloging it, searching it, and reporting on it. The industries it serves are all paperwork-heavy, and managing transaction-related paperwork - like signed bills of lading, POD's, invoice backups, etc. - is not only important, it's the difference between good companies and great companies.
If you're ready to see what Dave and Matt's creation can do for YOUR company, contact our sales and support team.