The importance of a transportation management system

Transportation management systems play a crucial role in supply chains. An effective transport management system provides deep visibility to ensure more efficient transportation planning and execution. This inevitably results in higher customer satisfaction, which leads to more sales and business growth.

Who needs a transportation management system?

Transportation management systems are generally used by businesses that need to receive and move goods frequently. This includes:

• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Ecommerce companies
• Retail businesses
• Third-party logistics companies and logistics service providers

Businesses in practically every industry use a transportation management system. Cloud-based transportation management system solutions make it possible for smaller businesses to take advantage of transportation management system benefits to cost-effectively streamline their supply chain.

What effective transportation management systems offer

Standalone transportation management systems can be integrated with a business’ existing cloud or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

A transportation management system can help plan, execute, and optimise the movement of goods for your business.

Planning

Transportation management systems can help businesses select the best mode of shipment and carrier, based on cost, efficiency, and distance. This could also improve multi-leg carrier routes. An effective transportation management system provides visibility into every part of the supply chain.

Execution

Transportation management systems often include features that match loads with carriers and managing the communications, documenting and tracking of shipments. It also assists with freight billing and settlement.

Optimisation

The optimisation capacities of a transportation management system generally include the ability to measure and track performance with reports, analytics, and transportation intelligence.

Benefits of transportation management systems

A transportation management system provides several benefits to businesses. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Reduced costs for your business and end consumer
• Simplification of supply chain processes across locations, modes, and carriers
• Automation of business operations for faster and more accurate billing
• Improved visibility and security
• Saved time as a result of fewer manual steps, ensuring faster delivery times
• Freight tracking ability locally and globally on a single platform
• Improved import and export compliance that minimises penalties and shipment delays
• Improved reporting that provides business insights for faster action and process improvement
• Improved customer service and satisfaction
• Scalability to meet business needs and exceeding customer demands for fast shipments

Cloud-based transportation management systems

A cloud-based transportation management system provides additional benefits, such as faster deployments, less time required for training and installation, automatic updates for the latest features, improved security, and more.

The future of transportation management systems

Transportation management systems need to be more robust with a range of features to ensure faster response times to consumers while providing more detailed information to companies. With machine learning, transportation management systems continue to improve intelligence, recommendations, and predictions.

Emerging technologies combined with transportation management systems can lead to better visibility and customer service. These include:

• Internet of things (IoT) devices and sensors has resulted in real-time fleet monitoring being commonplace. As a result, businesses can plan routes, leading to decreased fuel and maintenance costs. This technology also minimises delays and provide increased driver safety.
• Chatbots offer immediate and conversational responses to customers, increasing their satisfaction.
• Applying machine learning to historical data and trends enables transportation management systems to predict shipping time more accurately, plan capacity efficiently, identify time- or temperature-sensitive products, and much more.
• Blockchain is increasingly being used among shippers, customers, and carriers. This ensures increased transparency and traceability across the supply chain while safeguarding accurate and secure information.
• Cold chain management is crucial when specific temperatures need to be maintained at various checkpoints along the supply chain. Cold chain management ensures the temperature of products can be monitored across the supply chain, and real-time information is provided to the business.

Contact Winfreight for details

If you’re struggling to manage shipping effectively, consider working with a transportation management system like Winfreight. The Winfreight transportation management system provides your business with a turnkey solution to manage, streamline, and economise every part of your supply chains.

If you would like to know more about our transportation management system, get in touch with a representative from Winfreight today.