All TMS Platforms Are Not Created Equal!
Jeff Ashcroft
Head of Business Development @ KNNX Corp, Freight Process Modernization via Smart Freight Contracts to create Perfect Freight Invoices! Connect, Complete & Coordinate TMS, Visibility & ERP for compliance & reduced risk!
Researching Transportation Management Software or TMS for short is no quick process!
Depending on where you look, and how they define the different flavors of Transportation Management Systems Software, there’s roughly between 250 to 400 different TMS type systems out there!
For busy logistics, supply chain and transportation professionals, these are just mind boggling numbers and selection tasks, both to find all the systems functionality you need, and also to then get it implemented successfully without disruption at a reasonable cost to the business.
Right off the top, we have no interest, and suggest others will feel the same, in patching together a bunch of one off functionality, different site licensed products to create all the required functions to manage your transportation properly regardless of your business type.
So whether you’re a Shipper, Fleet Owner, Carrier, Broker, Third Party Logistics provider small, medium or large in scale, you’re likely to have the most success with a Software as a Service (SaaS) product. Especially one which can scale down to meet your needs, and also scale up for when you grow or for those of you who already have major global transportation operations in need of upgrading to modern TMS functionality.
Also, in addition to finding a highly configurable SaaS TMS product for your company, one of the most important features of any TMS you consider today needs to be FLEXIBILITY!
We’re now operating in the most challenging and dynamic supply chain era to date, from natural disasters, terrorist incidents, extreme weather events and pandemics, clearly there’s no longer such thing as business as usual anymore.
Old school planning methods are necessary evils, but honestly when faced with the amount of changes and uncertainties today, it’s more about how fast do you know, and then how fast you can react that will differentiate the winners from those left behind
Continuing with the old ways of disjointed systems and operations will not cut it! More is needed and connecting your supply chain from end to end including all partners is what’s required now more than ever.
Accomplishing this will require what we describe as a EXTENDED or HYBRID TMS platform, that goes beyond traditional TMS features to provide an end to end solution which fully integrates REAL-TIME TRANSPORTATION VISIBILITY (RTTVP), TMS FUNCTIONS, FREIGHT AUDIT & PAY, as well as an INTEGRATED DOCUMENT REPOSITORY.
Typically as described above, to get all of these functions would require the purchasing, licensing and complex integration of four different types of TMS related systems in order for your TMS to solve for all of the below supply chain needs:
??- Link to all relevant parts of supply chain ecosystem (suppliers, plants, warehouses,
products, customers, aircraft, ocean vessels, trucks and trains)?
??- Plan, book, and tender shipments on a single platform
??- Pick best price, carrier, service level all based on your routing guidelines and rates
??- Issue RFP for spot bids to carrier (any mode, OD pair and service level).?
??- Bids are returned so that dispatcher or system can pick how and who will move load
??- System issues BOL and captures AWBs and Ocean bills of Lading when carrier issues
??- Display KPI, performance, shipments, weights, OD pairs on data dashboards?
??- System captures expected rate and accessorials at time of shipment
??- When invoices issued by carrier, invoice systemically compared to the cost on record
??- If matches the system alerts AP that this invoice should be paid
??- If NO match system disputes the charges with carrier and works to resolve
??- Need for manual invoices review eliminated and typical 4-7% in overcharges stopped
??- Rapidly display spend by lane, carrier, emissions, weight, etc by day, week, month etc??
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??- Attaches all related documentation including the Purchase & Shipping Orders,
??- Shipping Invoices, packing list, AWB, SDS forms, etc. to the shipping transaction
??- Simplifies audit trail, document recovery all in one place only a few keystrokes away
Look for EXTENDED TMS platforms providing direct API/EDI’s to carriers without using third party providers such as Project 44 and Four Kites so you have everything on one platform and one true source of data.
So by now think you likely know what you want and the burning question is now how do you get it?
Well unless you’re some sort of sadomasochist, the days when an extremely disruptive large scale “rip and replace” implementation are over, and so another great feature of these advanced TMS platforms is also the ability to implement them incrementally.
Options for incremental implementation can be based on starting with utilizing functionality not available in your current TMS and/or you can decide to trial new SaaS TMS solutions in a specific geography or country as a use case Proof of Concept.
Even more exciting is that in many cases, due to the annual transportation spend of most mid size to large shippers, implementing this type of advanced TMS platform can be funded within your transportation operating budget from the actual savings and business improvements delivered.
Next, let’s further explore the drivers and potential outcomes from this shift to EXTENDED HYBRID TMS CONTROL TOWERS:??????????
A)????In the not-too-distant future Companies will look to a TMS to help them make data driven decisions with enhanced transportation visibility to overcome risks and challenges.
B)?????Cloud based TMS systems will continue to replace legacy systems at a faster rate while also providing mid and small companies the opportunity to digitize their operations.
C)?????Transport end point data (e.g., ASN, POD, etc) can also be connected to Blockchain ledgers enabling title transfer, auto payment, payment accuracy verification, and contracted KPI performance all to be transacted securely, instantaneously, and digitally.
D)????SaaS TMS’s will also have the capability to fully replace freight broker’s conventional booking activities via fully automated and virtual processes.
E)?????TMS systems will extend the use of AI to make decisions and predictions in workflow engines to even further increase user productivity and response time to supply chain events.
F)?????TMS systems will leverage connectivity to technology services, carriers, sensors, and other applications (WMS, OMS, MRP/ERP and Planning sourcing?software) to further enhance visibility, predictability, product condition/temperature and sustainability across the entire supply chain leveraging partnerships versus application development
G)????TMS systems will expand the use of IoT, high capacity/speed networks to improve these types of communication, tracking and collaboration across the supply chain ecosystem
H)????TMS systems will have an end-to-end capability regardless of mode or shipment type, able to accommodate transactions, visibility, pro-active alerts and movements that include first mile, last mile, e-commerce, omni-channel, intermodal, load tendering and freight invoice audit on a single platform.
I)???????EXTENDED HYBRID TMS platforms will serve as data integration hubs enabling “one-stop” shopping for users across the enterprise and the entire logistics ecosystem.
Clarifying your options for upgrading and improving legacy TMS becomes much easier once you understand the added value available through the rapid SaaS implementation of EXTENDED TMS CONTROL TOWERS.
These are truly hybrid platforms which incorporate the ability to fully connect and manage end to end supply chains utilizing enhanced automated workflows with AI augmentation resulting in greater supply chain speed, visibility, savings, resilience and sustainability.
For those of you who weren’t with me at the start of this article, these are precisely the reasons we now can safely state that truly…
"All TMS Platforms Are Not Created Equal!"
Cheers
Jeff Ashcroft
Interested in learning more about options for EXTENDED TMS CONTROL TOWERS? Feel free to reach out! [email protected] / 416.990.6433 / @JeffAshcroft