What Is A Transport Management System (TMS)?
Managing all areas of your company effectively is vital for the long term success of your business, but it can often be stressful and overwhelming. Did you know that investing in a Transport Management System could not only make that task much more manageable for you but also save you money?
A transportation management system (TMS) is a platform that helps businesses plan and carry out the movement of goods. In addition to completing pre-delivery checks and ensuring that the shipment is correct, the delivery vehicle’s location can be tracked, and any documentation connected to the job is easy to access.
Transportation management systems are crucial in successful supply chains and benefit planning, purchase, transportation and performance monitoring.
Is your trucking business ready to invest in a tool that will take it to the next level?
Who Uses Transport Management Systems?
Any business that regularly ships deliveries, be it cattle, produce or retail goods, can benefit from using a transportation management system.
Companies with substantial annual freight spending have historically been the primary users of TMS. But with the emergence of cloud-based TMS systems, it is now more affordable for smaller businesses to reap the benefits of a transportation management system and implement one into their supply chain.
Most users rely on TMS software to focus on lowering their freight costs. However, helping to overcome challenges to transport systems created by manual processes is another reason businesses, large or small, can benefit from going digital.
Importance Of Having A TMS For Your Business
With this industry’s rapidly changing and expanding environment, a transport management system is vital. Saving time with fewer manual steps results in fewer delays and faster delivery times. Since most of the process becomes automated with the help of a TMS, the amount of paperwork is substantially reduced. With the greater accuracy and increased time, you’ll improve customer experience and be able to focus on other aspects of your operation.
Using a TMS allows you to track freight locally and nationally, on a single platform. With real-time updates and fewer shipment delays, you can improve shipping speed with a Transport Management System and your customers will feel more informed throughout every stage of the supply chain, improving customer service and satisfaction.
Although there is a financial cost for your company to install and begin using a transport management system, the return on investment of a TMS more than covers the outlay. Freight cost management is an integral part of the system, ensuring you will start noticing savings immediately
How Does A Transport Management System Help In Cutting Costs?
Now that we have outlined what a TMS is and why it is essential to any trucking business, we can look at how the transport management system can benefit your company in another way. Let’s explore some ways in which a TMS can help save your business some money.
Improved performance
Using a reliable TMS can help you monitor the performance of your company’s internal and external resources. Utilising the TMS in monitoring performance gives a better view of the entire process, and early action can be taken when necessary. Your company can also use this information to upgrade and improve your service and support efforts, increasing customer satisfaction.
Better utilisation of warehouse space
If you use a warehouse as part of your transport business, you’ll know that they can fill up in no time, becoming a logistical nightmare for all involved in using this valuable space. A TMS can effectively use this area by seamlessly ensuring shipments flow in and out of the warehouse, keeping track of and managing the flow of products. The internal business use of a TMS results in saving time and money.
Eliminates human error and ensures smooth execution of shipment
A TMS eliminates simple mistakes, especially when dealing with shipping and dispatches. When receiving information from partners in the supply chain, the software automates all repetitive tasks in the shipment process, reducing the likelihood of mistakes. Data entry errors can add up over time and easily surpass the cost of installing transportation management software, depending on the size of your operation.
Optimises load and route planning process
The TMS can help you optimise the load weight of each delivery and choose the best route for a cost-effective shipping process. This reduces the possibility of human error and avoids the risk of heavy and unsafe loads, freeing up valuable resources associated with building and adjusting loads. Optimisation in both these areas can reduce freight costs by up to 15% annually.
Greater collaboration between supply chain partners
A key feature of a TMS is its ability to connect every single step of the journey. With increased collaboration, supply chain partners can identify issues that may affect the entire supply chain, not just themselves. Increased input like this can justify the cost of transportation management systems for your business and highlight the benefits of collaboration amongst your trading partners.
In Summary…
In this article we’ve covered some of the key reasons why selecting the best TMS for your business is so important. Not only will it make running your company more hassle-free and organised but it will also be instrumental in creating significant savings in the process.
Those popular adages of, “time is money” and “you need to spend money, to make money,” couldn’t be more fitting than when talking about how a TMS can impact your business. Once a transport management system is in place, your company will notice significant savings in time and money. Learn more about TMS ROI, or head to MyTrucking Pricing to see how we can help your business take the next step.
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