An expanding digital environment has transformed the buyer’s journey in every niche and industry. With this change, consumer expectations have evolved.
Shipping services have likewise adapted to meet an instant and customized international shopping experience. However, the increasingly complex global environment makes data analytics and proactive risk management necessary protocols in the Logistics Industry.
A custom TMS (Transportation Management System) solution can bring the competitive advantage in a challenging and crowded industry, where many consumers are ready to pay more in exchange for faster delivery. The increasing need for scalability, transparency, and customized solutions has fueled the TMS market and placed it as a crucial part of their overall enterprise infrastructure.
Automated decision making, load consolidation, route optimization, reduction in carrier overcharges, and automated freight audit: just some of the reasons why using a TMS can reduce operation costs and deliver a considerable return of investment.
Benefits of Using a Custom TMS Solution
In the shipping industry, there are a million different variables and a complex network of providers that go into delivering products in mint condition. Infinite variations exist in the modern supply chain, where countless details can get lost and confused. This is where a custom TMS will come in handy.
Custom TMS is specifically designed to meet the client’s necessities and processes. It enhances, rather than completely changes, a company’s current internal and logistics processes.
“Having a tailor-made solution is always better than an out of box solution. Custom software doesn’t require that clients change their internal processes and methods, which is conducive to greater productivity and a better long term investment.”
Otis Lau – Logistics and Supply Chain Business Analyst
A custom transportation management software is owned and controlled by the client. This means that there is no recurrent licensing fee, nor unwanted, untested updates that can risk the stability of the entire system.
The software can be maintained by the provider, with incremental enhancements and improvements . This ensures that costs remain reasonable, giving the organization the time and resources needed to mature with the software.
In addition, if a company outsources a TMS solution and then requires technical support; a qualified team of IT experts will already be on-hand, with a sophisticated background of the business’s operations and goals. IT glitches will therefore be more quickly resolved, shortening any time lost and boosting working efficiency.
A custom TMS can also reduce costs by continuously providing rate updates from any shipping carrier via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). In addition, it manages custom rates available such as distance, specific zip codes, equipment type, and service classification.
You can also customize to create specific customer profiles and user modes within the system, such as:
- Accounting
- Administration and Management
- Reporting
- Sales
- Shipping
- Vendor
In some cases, invoicing procedures need custom layouts designed to include specific details for successful and safe shipping– for example, dealing with the transportation of hazardous materials or perishable goods that need temperature regulation.
A cloud-based TMS solution is designed to manage all specific variables, optimizing transportation operations, while using mobile devices to track product locations and ensure proper handling.
Yet another benefit of a custom TMS is the possibility of seamless integration with your ERP (enterprise resource planning), OMS (order management system), WMS (warehouse management system), or any 3PLs (third party logistics).
Conclusion
As the logistics and transportation sectors continue to evolve; the need for faster, smarter, and more dependable shipping services becomes evident. A custom TMS solution can transform \ operations, tailored to a company’s specific logistics needs; it fills in process and management gaps, allowing businesses to focus on improving and optimizing transportation procedures.
Custom software development companies like WebCreek are helping Logistics and Supply Chain providers to improve payment processing, freight location monitoring, and order fulfillment, by offering fully-customized Transportation Management Software.
