How Information Systems Help Businesses

Managing the supply chain for a business is a daunting but necessary task. There are many transportation management systems available today. Transportation management systems are computer based software companies intended to manage transport operations and deals. They assist a company in controlling the day to day processes involved in transportation of their goods. These critical systems have made real time execution and information retrieval more mainstream.

With many various transport companies and services available, it is important to consider what particular services are most vital to the success of one’s business.

There are three options available. First, the traditional version in which they purchase traditional on-premises licenses; Second, the remote version in which it is web hosted; and Third, on premises hosted licensing which blends the first two together.

A blended system has quickly grown in popularity because of the additional flexibility that it provides a business. When a company chooses a blended transportation management system, it receives not only real-time usage and but also freight capacity. Often the software is provided for little to no cost and then a company pays for the freight capacity service.

The various transport management companies will help companies determine the best truck routes and shipping options. They will review the company’s needs and then implement systems based on whatever is most important to the shipping customer. They may focus on cost to transport, better lead-times, or the least amount of stops.

A Transport Management System (TMS) also helps with important follow up responsibilities. The system can do the billing and invoicing for shipment, track shipment details, and monitor warning regarding delays with planned shipments.

Another great tool that makes a blended TMS a good investment is that they can also measure how well a business’ supply chain functions. It has real time vehicle tracking, true transport cost and customer service control.

A company can truly profit from the Key Performance Indicators which involves tracking and reporting statistics. Transportation managers can determine how much a load cost down to the pound to transport. Being aware of the true cost to ship something can help a business better budget for such needs and also measure how well a company is doing comparatively to previous quarters or years. Along with this feature they can also track the percentage of on-time deliveries and pickups. Because this can affect the cost of shipment, it is important to monitor.

When a company makes the decision to use blended transportation management software, they do so to increase the overall effectiveness of the business. A blended TMS also encourages the company to be financially frugal without giving up the ability to customize the software to best fit their needs. Because a company is always striving to be more customer-service orientated, having an excellent way to track shipments, problems, and deliveries is a very valuable quality of the software. Another positive aspect of blended software is being able to know the total cost that a company spends on shipping so that the company can become more fiscally responsible.

Finally, while every business would benefit from a transportation specialist, those who utilize a blended system can enjoy overall cost savings, positive training and support for a traditional Transport Management System.