5 Areas In Which Transportation Management Solutions Help Your Bottom Line
As your company grows, managing its shipping and receiving becomes a bigger and bigger job—but also one that's more important. Getting goods from Point A to Point B safely, inexpensively, and on-time impacts your ability to make a profit and retain customers.
One tool that can do a lot to help you manage this growth is a transportation management service (TPS). How does this solution help you improve your bottom line at every step? Here's what it does in the five key points of the shipment lifecycle.
1. Load Planning. This stage is where you can design a shipment to be cost-effective and efficient. Load planning management involves optimizing routes to cost less, take less time, and risk fewer delays. You can also select carriers and transport modes based on prices, reliability, and time frames.
2. Execution of Loads. Once you plan the right shipment, it's time to book and create it. The best solutions software or services allow you to automate this step and avoid redundancy from the planning stages.
3. Tracking. Do you know where your loads are at any given time? This is vital information for your company, as you can plan for the arrival of incoming shipments and know that outgoing shipments are moving through their timeline and not stuck in any delays. Good tracking management also allows you to let your customers track things, improving customer satisfaction and retention.
4. Paying for Services. Payment for services rendered is a step that carries financial risk. You don't want to overpay, pay for services not provided, or pay duplicate fees and charges. But the more loads you manage, the more likely it is that these problems will crop up. Look for a system that helps you ensure accurate and timely invoices and simplified payment portals.
5. Reporting and Assessment. Finally, how can you use the information gained through each step of this shipment to improve your next? This is where reporting and analysis fits in. You should be able to receive data on various indicators which are important to you, such as extra or unexpected fees, reasons for delays, and returns. Then, your company uses these to make internal improvements.
Where to Start
Clearly, a good transportation management solution provides a way to streamline and reduce costs throughout your shipping process. But it's a complex endeavor, so start by meeting with a TPS provider today. With their guidance and technical tools, you'll soon be on your way to better and cheaper shipping and receiving.