4 challenges your company must take into account when installing a TMS

Edificio isométrico de almacén con camión de reparto. retos al instalar un TMS

As new logistics software solutions are being created to improve part of the supply chain processes, there are also challenges or mistakes that are often made in the use and installation of a TMS system. While it is true that more and more companies are taking the step to digitize and optimize transportation management, it is possible that operations are not performing as well as expected.

Se queste irregolarità non vengono affrontate, si perde la fiducia nel sistema di soluzioni logistiche, con conseguente insoddisfazione dei clienti e dell'azienda. Quindi, quali sono gli errori o le sfide più comuni quando si implementa e si applica efficacemente un TMS? Va notato che si stima che tra il 20% and 30% of the companies actively use a TMS.

If you want to know the most common challenges when installing a TMS and using it effectively, take a look!

Data collection

One of the challenges in installing a TMS that are also important and notable in the supply chain is that logistics operators and carriers are not yet able to reconcile their data. Such a challenge poses a problem in case there are service failures that have not yet been detected.

It is evident that every company in every part of the supply chain collects separate KPIs or SLAs from those that are stored on their own servers and systems. By the time dashboards are made for analysts or errors are reported via e-mails or spreadsheets, the information received is usually not accurate and the process is very tedious.

Therefore, it is important that the TMS or other similar software such as an ERP be able to collect and share data from both operators and carriers, avoiding irrelevant or erroneous information. However, it is recommended that such sharing can be done as smoothly and efficiently as possible, avoiding delays that cause misinformation about the status of transport.

Revisione della strategia

Before considering installing a TMS, as with any project, it is essential to establish a solid and realistic strategy in order to assign coherent objectives related to this action. In addition, all documents on departments, carriers, among others, must be updated and in order to start implementing them in the TMS.

However, it is possible that the TMS may begin to show unsatisfactory results or detect more frequent and more serious errors. In the event that the TMS does not have many problems collecting accurate information, one of the most likely cases is that the current strategy has become obsolete due to internal company or external changes affecting a large part of the industry.

In such a case, the established strategies and objectives should be revisited to see if they fit with the current landscape. If inconsistencies are detected, the strategies and objectives need to be redirected. An example would be if there have been very large changes in fleet volume, either a reduction or expansion of vehicles and carriers.

gestión de la flota. Retos al instalar un TMS

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Do you know how to manage your fleet and get the most out of it with a TMS?

Mujer joven preparando paquetes para su entrega y escaneando el código de barras - administrar tu flota con un TMS foto

Fleet management is an arduous and tedious task in which it is easier than we would like to admit to make mistakes and pay for it with poor performance and loss of time and money. For this, there is the option of managing your fleet with a TMS to assist, optimize and automate operations.

However, TMSs are thought to be a product exclusively for large companies with huge fleets because of their sophistication and complexity. But, nothing could be further from the truth, any company that manages its supply chain and operates with a transportation fleet has the need to install a digital control tower for cargo operations.

If you want to know the advantages of managing your fleet with a TMS, take note!

Allows you to organize the company and grow with it

Thanks to the ability of a TMS to collect all the necessary information about your fleet, your customers and your orders, it is now possible to unify all the data in one place. This eliminates the need to go through calls, messages, e-mails and paper documents to check the accuracy of accounts, which wastes too much time and resources.

Therefore, apart from the ease of successful operations, it is also much easier to collect the KPIs applied to your monthly, quarterly and even annual targets and act on them. In addition, thanks to better communication and customer satisfaction, it allows the company to grow and adapt to the volume of demand, because it takes just a few steps to add new vehicles and new hires to the TMS database.

Avoid unnecessary calls

Usually, to carry out the transportation of an order, either to get it to the distribution center or to the end customer, a team member is needed to make the calls to the shipper and the broker to check the availability of the freight and agree on a rate. With this action, too many time and financial resources have already been invested that may result in the freight not being available or not being dealt with by the people involved.

However, the TMS automates this entire process, as the system collects information about the available fleet and sends this data to customers in very few steps and time invested. In this way, time is spent on other tasks and relationships with shippers and intermediaries are improved, and they are eager to return to your services because of their effectiveness.

It is worth noting that shippers are looking for their automated processes to adapt to the automated processes of third parties, as they want to leverage their investment in a TMS and would be burdened by doing business with a logistics operator that does not have one.

Ilustración vectorial del concepto de solicitud de presupuesto de flete - administrar tu flota con un TMS vector

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