How Can Efficient Transport Management Solutions Benefit a Business?
Efficient transport management solutions is the answer to any company that does retail, distribution, logistics, or in e-commerce. Transport management solutions or TMS for sure will surely help in improving the operations in order to be the driving force for a business to give the best possible service to their customers.
There are many benefits that an efficient TMS can provide to companies. An example is to transport freight to one point to another accurately and in the most cost effective way possible.
However, before choosing transport management solutions, one should understand the importance of the system and how it works to maximize the benefits it can give to your company.
What Does a TMS System Do?
A Transportation Management System or TMS as many call it is a logistics platform that makes use of sophisticated technology to aid businesses in their planning, executing, and optimizing the transportation of their physical goods, incoming and outgoing.
TMS also makes certain that the shipment that they are handling is in compliance with shipping laws and is with all the necessary proper documentation in order to have a smooth delivery. The transportation management system is part of a larger whole, the bigger supply chain management system or the SCM.
To go into further detail, TMS also affords the companies the option to clearly view the everyday transportation operations, have trade compliance information readily available as well as the proper documentation and will help make sure that the delivery of all freight and goods are accurately on time on where they are supposed to be.
Transportation Management systems also will make the company more efficient and effective by employing faster or simpler working methods in the shipping process and make it easier for the company to manage and have maximum optimization of their transportation operations, whether by land, air or sea.
How Much Does a TMS System Cost?
Buying a transportation management system software so that you can manage it on your own can be quite costly. The cloud transportation management system price can cost you from $1.00 to up to $4.00 per freigh load. A licensed TMS price will have an expected cost of $10,000 to a whopping $250,000 plus the maintenance fee that you pay annually.
Lastly, the implementation and support costs can differ depending on the number of monthly shipment transactions. If you want to get an estimate, try contacting a transportation and logistics company today.
Before jumping on and buying a transportation management system, there are a few factors you need to look for in a TMS before purchasing it.
An efficient transportation management system should have:
- Automatic rating, booking and tracking of shipments, managing carriers and communicating with shippers and customers in real-time
- Numerous reports and dashboards to check cost, shipping status and service levels
- Management of the carrier bid process from the first set up to carrying out shipments
- A wide array of analytics to manage performance in real-time
- A combination of enterprise systems and 3rd party applications
- The ability to monitor and track any shipment in real-time, anywhere in the supply chain
4 Benefits of Transportation Management System
- Reduce freight expense
Reducing freight expenses is one of the greatest benefits that a TMS can provide. TMS uses analytics in order to optimize operation and provide ways to reduce costs and expenses.
- Inventory management
Transportation Management Systems can help companies monitor orders and shipments in real time and track and trace them in order to give updates. The system gives accurate information for the inventory which is helpful to the whole supply chain network.
- Improve customer service
A TMS provides accurate and detailed information on transportation operations in order to serve customers efficiently. Customers are valuable and they think that the goods and freight that is currently being transported is valuable. Thus, a system who consistently provides optimization and delivers on time will give them a peace of mind and loyalty to the logistics provider.
- Improve efficiency and productivity
A TMS can help manage the everyday operations of a warehouse as it can get quite busy with numerous incomings and outcomings in a day. The TMS can also help organize the inventory in order to improve the logistics process. This is helpful to keep track of orders anywhere.