Nowadays, it’s difficult to think of a company that doesn’t deal with some aspect of logistics. The requirement to transmit and receive items is a common motivator for interactions between suppliers, contractors, and customers in both manufacturing and service industries.
Handling logistics tasks by hand is laborious and wasteful. Since this is the case, TMSs are becoming increasingly common.
Transparent transport operations, automated delivery, and a digital supply chain are all benefits of a TMS. While no two businesses have the same requirements, there are TMS capabilities that can improve efficiency. What exactly are these features, and how can businesses find the best TMS for their needs? The responses to these inquiries are provided below.
Load planning and optimization
One of the most important features of a TMS is load planning and optimization. It aids in selecting the most efficient load for trucks and other vehicles, which optimizes delivery times and costs.
Optimizing loads is arranging cargo into trailers or loads in the most effective manner. Let me explain it to you:
- Transportation management systems can combine shipments to similar destinations.
- The transportation management system organizes shipments based on the trucks’ weight restrictions and volume capacities.
- To find the most efficient way to load goods into a trailer, TMS use 3D cubing algorithms.
- TMS recommends shipping methods based on shipments’ unique specifications, such as temperature or humidity.
- Delivery options include Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and Full-Truckload (FTL) based on TMS’s analysis of shipment dimensions and weight.
Tracking packages in real-time
One of the most important elements of any TMS software is real-time tracking. It enables the tracking of goods-carrying vehicles and the quick retrieval of delivery status information.
Sending broken automobiles to the closest service shop is another way location tracking aids in breakdown troubleshooting. Another truck can be sent to retrieve the stuck cargo and make sure it gets delivered on time if the repair period is predicted to be long.
The fact that it aids in conformity with FMCSA regulations is yet another advantage of the real-time tracking TMS feature. You have the ability to modify the number of service hours specified by the FMCSA because you can monitor the trip duration in real-time.
In order to incorporate the tracking capability into a TMS, a number of technologies and tools are required.
What you need to do is this:
- Put tracking devices, such as GPS, in the cars.
- Use cellular networks, satellite communication, or any other wireless technology to transmit data to the TMS system.
- Make your selection among analytics engines, databases, messaging systems, stream processing frameworks, and other real-time data processing technologies.
- Pick a mapping package. Here, most people use Google Maps.
- Set up notifications and alerts depending on conditions you specify.
Integration with multiple carriers
The ideal logistics management experience is made possible for users by a TMS’s integration with numerous third-party providers. Integrating with carriers is an essential element of TMS. Carriers include shipping lines, airlines, railroads, trucking businesses, and parcel carriers. With this feature, TMS users can easily evaluate various carrier rates, delivery speeds, and other aspects to find the one that suits their present needs the best.
If the TMS has intelligent algorithms, it can even recommend the most suitable mode of transportation on its own. If your business operates an online store, for instance, and a customer makes an order, the TMS may determine the most cost-effective and time-efficient delivery alternatives and provide them to the buyer.
In order to integrate a TMS with third parties, you need to do the following:
- Create an application programming interface (API) to allow your TMS to communicate with external services.
- Safe data transfer using robust encryption and authorization procedures
- Using scripts or code, create a data field mapping between your TMS and the outside system.
- Put information into a database or transmit it for internal processing.
- To efficiently handle integration concerns, implement error-handling tools.
Integration with WMS
A warehouse management system is known as a WMS. Inventory management, stock monitoring, and item best placing are all made easier with this software. By working in tandem, WMS and TMS enhance the user’s ability to oversee the supply chain.
A transportation management system’s strategic integration is known as a WMS. Together with the WMS, the TMS can optimize routes and control stock.
Take the hypothetical situation of a manufacturing corporation working with multiple suppliers of replacement parts as an example. All required components must be available without causing delays in the production cycle, which in turn necessitates that warehouses not be overcrowded.
You may get this result with ease using the WMS-TMS combination. When materials arrive at the warehouse or leave for production, the WMS automatically adjusts the amount of materials, while the TMS suggests shipping routes from suppliers to your warehouse.
As with other third-party services, integrating a TMS with a WMS is a straightforward process. Building an API, ensuring safe data transport, and enabling effective data storage are all necessary tasks.
Reporting and analytics
You can learn from this the strengths and weaknesses of your supply chain strategy. The TMS system must contain analytics and reporting capabilities, among others. Incorrect strategic moves can be rethought and steps can be taken to improve transportation operations.
You have complete control over the reports and indicators shown in a custom TMS system.
Reports on inventories, shipments, route optimization, or cost analysis are just a few examples.
You are able to monitor:
Carrier efficiency
Delivery record
Path effectiveness
Quantity of stock
Product turnover
Price per unit of distance traveled
Cost distribution to individual items or clients
How Ditstek Innovations can help with TMS features development
Ditstek Innovations specializes in delivering cutting-edge technology solutions tailored to meet diverse business needs, including the development of robust Transportation Management Systems (TMS). Leveraging their expertise in Transportation software development and deep understanding of logistics processes, Ditstek Innovations can design and implement advanced TMS features such as real-time shipment tracking, route optimization, carrier management, and automated freight payment solutions. Their team ensures seamless integration with existing ERP or WMS systems to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. Additionally, Ditstek Innovations incorporates the latest technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain to future-proof your TMS, enabling predictive analytics, enhanced security, and real-time monitoring. With a commitment to customization and scalability, Ditstek Innovations empowers businesses to optimize their logistics, reduce costs, and deliver unparalleled customer satisfaction.
