Tag: logistics management software
Cost, Compliance, Efficiency, and Manpower – These are the pillars on which a fleet management business stands. A compromise on any of these can mean the whole business topples with a resounding crash.
How can you ensure the stability of these pillars? Custom Fleet Management Software brings you the solution. Let us find out how.
Fleet Management and Technology
Before we dive into the many valid reasons why every successful company should have its own personalized fleet management software, let us first familiarize ourselves with what fleet management is.
Fleet management is a service that helps businesses that rely on transportation remove or limit the risks associated with vehicle investment, enhance efficiency and productivity, and decrease total transportation and labor expenses. While most typically used for vehicle tracking, fleet management also involves monitoring and documenting mechanical problems and driver behavior.
In addition to a 12% increase in fleet management technology usage between 2019 and 2020, forecasts indicate that the fleet management market was valued at $25.5 billion in 2022 and might grow to $52.4 billion by 2027.
Fleet efficiency is by far the most important and game-changing aspect of fleet management. It refers to the economic feasibility and optimal functioning of the entire fleet, irrespective of the vehicles in it. If you can lock down the efficiency of your fleet, you will be one step ahead of other businesses. This makes improving fleet efficiency a top priority for companies.
Read more: Robotics in Logistics: Dawn of a New Era
Fleet Management Challenges
Just like shop-floor machinery and equipment, fleet vehicles have their fair share of obstacles. The top three are:
- Driver Shortage: The shortage of drivers has been one of the top issues for fleet managers over the last decade. Recruiting drivers with little driving experience can also result in safety concerns and the additional requirement for driver monitoring strategies.
- Safety: Accidents are not only costly and result in injury or even serious hospitalization, but they also harm production, profitability, and reputation.
- Handling High Costs: The most significant obstacle to fleet management will always be cost control. It’s critical to do a complete analysis of your present operations and focus on areas that require improvement, such as driver behavior, fuel prices, possible theft, and CO2 emissions.
How Does Fleet Management Software (FMS) Help Tackle These Challenges?
Effective fleet management software is a perfect solution for these top three challenges faced by most companies, here’s how:
- Technology can aid in monitoring driver responses and safety practices. Intelligent systems are able to analyze and extract meaning from the data. Additionally, deviations in data that might indicate future issues can be found using predictive analytics. They can serve as early warning systems and aid in hiring qualified drivers for the position.
- A fleet management system can track a driver’s hours of service and shifts performed, which can help reduce the risk of accidents. It can also monitor a driver’s training and experience to guarantee they are matched with a vehicle.
- Although it can seem impossible to overcome increased expenses, operating more economically and efficiently is now feasible thanks to advanced technological solutions. Your fleet operations can be improved by implementing an AI-powered solution or fleet management software.
Benefits Of FMS
Here are the key advantages of a well-primed fleet management system:
- Improved customer satisfaction that comes with orders and services being on schedule.
- You can manage your whole fleet from one location using FMS, giving you access to a single, user-friendly platform.
- Technology-based solutions periodically yield unexpected insights about managing fuel use. They enable you to get notifications and updates, such as when a certain vehicle is about to go over the daily distance allotted.
- There are built-in capabilities in the software that let you drive less and use less gasoline, which cuts down on expenses significantly.
- Customer wait times, maintenance expenses, and fuel costs may all be decreased with the use of route optimization.
Some of the other benefits include thorough and well-structured reporting and analytics, prevention of theft and fraud, and improved vehicle lifespan.
How Is Customized Fleet Software Better Than Fleet Management Off-The-Shelf Software?
When dealing with software and technology in general, it is always better to opt for a more personalized service rather than ordinary, pre-developed software. Though it might seem to cost more and take longer to produce, custom software provides specialized solutions, scalability, and a competitive edge. A custom FMS is made especially for the firm and tailored to its specific business practices.
According to 87% of IT decision-makers questioned, corporate technology innovation is being driven by custom software. Pre-packaged software is less likely to be used than bespoke software, according to half of the respondents (52 percent).
A custom FMS can provide a level of flexibility to your solution that has the power to make all your business processes flow seamlessly. As a business owner, it is part of your responsibility to ensure that whatever investment you make in the company can survive in the long run. Customized software for fleet management is one such investment. It is definitely worth it in the long run.
Myths Revolving Around Custom FMS Development
Most evolving technologies suffer at the hands of myths and rumors of inefficiency. This leads to uncertainty and hesitation towards developing a custom solution. Let’s address some of those myths associated with custom FMS development:
- A GPS Tracker And Fleet Management System Are the Same Thing: This is untrue. GPS tracking is one of the many components of FMS. There are many other beneficial components of the software.
- Customized Software Is Not Scalable: On the contrary, custom software is more scalable than off-the-shelf. With the right software partner, the software can be designed to be scalable – you only pay how much your business needs and then add to it as the business expands.
- Small-Fleet Businesses Do Not Benefit from A Fleet Management System: Regardless of the size of the business, they usually require a fleet of vehicles, a number of drivers, and logistic hassles that come with them. Fleet efficiency is paramount if a business wants to have a competitive edge in the market, especially for small businesses vying for a spot with big players. This makes Fleet Management Software all the more necessary.
- Fleet Management Systems Violate Drivers’ Privacy: It becomes crucial for fleet managers to clarify to drivers that the purpose of using fleet management technologies is to increase overall process efficiency, not to violate an individual’s privacy.
How Can Fingent Help?
Fingent works with clients globally to develop custom software for their many logistical operations, including fleet management. By incorporating technologies like IoT, cloud computing, robotic process automation, big data, and blockchain, we bring you the efficiencies that they provide. This includes real-time data visibility, automation of tedious tasks, intelligent tracking of road conditions, and more.
Our tech experts will work with you to provide a custom solution that will meet your specific business needs, with the ability to scale as your business grows.
Give us a call, and let’s discuss how we can make this possible.
How Transportation Management Systems Benefit Third Party Logistics (3PL) Service Providers
Here are 8 ways how a good transportation management system could make a difference to your business if you are a 3PL or NVOCC operator.
With the expansion of world trade and multinational business activity, more and more organizations are keen on operating globally and making their presence felt in the global market. Transportation and logistics play a huge role in helping such organizations expand their business and establish new business relationships. Large businesses prefer building their own teams to handle their supply chain & logistics requirements.
However, research reveals that more than 80 percent of all Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies use some form of 3PL (Third Party Logistics) services to handle their logistics and supply chain processes. This is because third-party logistics providers usually have a huge network, which offers a competitive advantage over in-house supply chains. Outsourcing logistics also help the organization by saving time, effort and money involved in maintaining the in-house logistics process.
3PL is, therefore, a highly competitive market and providers must compete to win and retain their clients. Providers typically specialize in transportation, warehousing, order management and other integrated services, which can be scaled or customized to meet the customer’s specific need.
Challenges faced by 3rd Party Logistics Service Providers
Time Constraints
Effective utilization of time is one among the most critical factors that determine the success of any logistics service provider. 3PL providers should be able to support customers by minimizing the inbound lead time, i.e., the amount of time taken from the point of placing an order to the point the shipment is received by the customer. To achieve this, providers should be able to effectively communicate and coordinate with the shipping agents, transport carriers, customs agents, etc. on a prompt and timely basis.
Lack of Infrastructure
Lead logistics providers are 3PL providers without their own assets, who have specialized industry expertise along with low overhead costs. However, they have lower negotiating power since they have with them fewer resources to offer compared to other service providers in the market. In such a situation, the success of the 3PL provider depends on their ability to partner with independent transport carriers and offer competitive rates to customers.
Documentation
It is a difficult task for small and mid-sized 3PL providers to keep track of information related to all their shipments. There are different types of documents involved in international trade transactions. These include purchase orders, bills of lading, air waybill, cargo insurance certificates, commercial invoices, packing lists, delivery note, certificates of origin, dock receipts, export licenses, etc.
Management of transport documents is a challenging task due to the administrative process involved, large volumes of documentation, transfer of the document and ownership of goods from one party to another. Logistics service providers must ensure that the right set of documents are transferred between the shipper, consignee, notify party, transport carriers and other parties involved in the transaction.
Lack of Reporting Systems
In most cases, the upper-level managers working with 3PL service providers and Non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) tend to focus on their core activity of transportation and logistics management. This leads to situations where they do not have enough visibility or insight into the other functional areas of their business. Depending on the size of the business, poor management of the business processes and resources could result in the loss of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
Benefits of a Transportation Management System (TMS)
3PL providers could utilize transportation management systems to refine their existing processes and improve overall efficiency. There are many ways of automating the logistics process, including tracking and monitoring each delivery. Some of the key features offered by Transportation Management Systems include:
Order Management
Transportation management systems help logistics service providers (LSP) to streamline their order management process by integrating their ERP and distribution modules. This adds a lot of value to LSPs, especially in situations where they have to manage large amounts of shipment or order data from multiple sources. It also offers customers the ability to track the status of their orders or shipments.
Document Management
Supply chain transactions involve various sets of standardized documentation flowing from the buyer to the seller, documentation required for trading or banking requirements, and also by customs authorities. In case the shipper, consignee or notifying party does not have a dedicated team to handle their supply chain & logistics process, LSPs play a vital role in managing the documentation and supporting them in complying to commercial laws like the Incoterms. Transportation management helps in automating the documentation process and allows for the generation and transfer of shipping documentation using the system.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
EDI has become a crucial part of modern business, allowing for the electronic exchange of business documents between trading partners. It helps service providers to communicate with their trading partners and electronically transfer documentation like purchase orders and invoices. EDI solutions help by leveraging various transaction sets like:
- 204 – Motor Carrier Shipping Information: Used by shippers to tender an offer for a shipment to a full truckload motor carrier.
- 210 – Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice: Sent from the carrier to a shipper, consignee or third-party payment center for payment of freight charges.
- 214 – Motor Carrier Shipment Status Message: Used by transportation carriers, such as trucking companies, to provide shippers and consignees with the status of their shipments.
- 990 – Response to Load Tender: Used by motor carriers to indicate whether it will pick up a particular shipment previously offered by the shipper.
- 997 – Functional Acknowledgment: Serves as a receipt, to acknowledge that an EDI transaction or a group of transactions was received by the remote party.
Rate Sheet Management
Freight rates are made up of a complex combination including the type of load, base rate, surcharges, equipment charges and other additional charges. Cargo may be transported in various loads depending on the mode of transportation, for e.g., as FCL (Full Container Load) or LCL (Less than Container Load) in case of sea freight. Each mode of transportation could, therefore, have an implication on the rate of the shipment. Transportation management systems help LSPs to create rate sheets for the specific service they offer and assign them to a customer or vendor based on the contract and rates agreed. Shippers can access the system at their convenience and manage or review the applicable rates before they place the order.
Dispatch Management
Dispatch management provides the capability to dispatch, deliver and track shipments. It allows LSPs to track the shipments, review driver activity, locations of pickup and delivery, manage load types like FTL or LTL, split trips, etc. A good dispatch management software could help LSPs to consolidate shipments from various customers and review the dispatch process handled by different vendors, which in turn saves a lot of time. It offers a business opportunity for owner-operators and independent drivers, to engage with the 3PL or NVOCC provider and track their upcoming, ongoing or previous shipments by using the service providers system.
Fleet Tracking
Smartphone-based GPS-tracking systems provide logistics service providers, especially trucking companies, with real-time information regarding their shipments. 3PL and NVOCC operators will be able to track the location of trucks managed by their vendors and assign shipments or orders to the relevant trucks based on their GPS location and route.
Warehouse Management
Warehouse management systems allow 3PL companies and NVOCC to manage customers, processes and billing schedules. The system enables access to real-time information and provides integrations with warehouse management technologies, including e-commerce shopping carts and QR or barcode scanning. The software also helps operators to manage different stock levels in warehouses, streamline the supply chain process, and satisfy customers by keeping them updated and informed on the status of their cargo.
Data Warehouse ETL and Reporting Tools
Logistics service providers have to handle large amounts of data related to shipments, their weights, sizes and contact details or returns on a regular basis. This leads to an incredible amount of information over time that has the potential to be analyzed for identifying business trends. This, in turn, could help the service providers to take important business decisions based on real-time data. It would also help conduct detailed cost-benefit analysis to improve profitability and optimize on-time deliveries to ensure customer satisfaction.
Timely and reliable delivery can mean the difference between repetitive business and a one time sale. Hence, the ability to plan, optimize, execute, analyze, and react to every logistics requirement is a critical factor that determines the success of any 3PL provider. Transportation Management Systems help 3PL providers to streamline their business processes and resolve any operational challenges that they are facing. It provides a competitive edge and improves their ability to manage and dispatch orders, with a lesser lead time. A good transportation management system could thus help 3PLs to reduce transportation costs, lower total cost of ownership and increase customer satisfaction.
In an increasingly real-time economy, the speed of services and timing are the prime factors for the logistics and supply chain industry. As per researchers, 76.9% of executives in the industry affirm that the shift towards a real-time economy has impacted their business strategies, structure, and processes. Here’s how Fingent helped a leading logistics and supply chain company enable new and productive business process automation.
A Prominent Logistics and Supply Chain Management Client
A leading third-party contract administrator for owner operators servicing in the transportation and logistics industry, who has partnered with critical providers, wanted to offer them access to vehicle rentals, background checks, and discount programs promptly and efficiently. They are specialized in a variety of segments like Settlement Processing, Personalized Customer Service, Logistics Management Technology, Owner Operator Programs, Fleet Data Visualization, Mobile Applications, Occupational Accident Coverage, Cargo Insurance, Cargo Insurance, and Customizable Enrollment Workflows.
The client handles over 11,000 contract drivers servicing 400+ clients in 46 states. They had a web portal through which drivers and clients could register, update, and manage vehicle-related and personal information. Limiting employees’ working options to desktops was indeed making their processes very unproductive and caused so much lag. Also, drivers were unable to update real-time information, or view important announcements from the company on the go.
A Mobility Shift for a Smarter Business
Today, amidst the accelerating technology evolutions and digitization, efficiency, speed, optimization, and timing have become critical aspects of a successful logistics business. It is mobility that allows logistics professionals to access important information or data, wherever they are, whenever they want. This enhances the productivity of workers, allowing them to do more work in lesser time, and thus be more efficient.
Fingent knew that it is enterprise mobility that will solve the challenges of improper and untimely communication channels and the inability to offer real-time information to the drivers in the company. We proposed to build a mobile application, that not only replicates their drivers’ web portal but also helps drivers to update personal and vehicle information on the go, check payment related details, know the benefits offered to them, view important announcements from the company, contact the company easily and do much more. Drivers can use their mobile device camera to scan and upload important documents (like driving licenses, truck permits, owner operator agreement, regional permits, insurance certificates etc.) into the database, track all their active vehicles, activate or deactivate vehicles in use etc.
The app was a significant investment to enable efficiency for their drivers in terms of better communication, real time information and increased visibility. The solution also helped to free up a lot of staff, improve accuracy, save the customer’s time and offer a greater deal of choice and flexibility.
The Impact of Fingent’s Enterprise Mobility Solution in their Logistics Business
The client noted the following impacts once the solution was deployed:
- Increased efficiency, throughput, and communication through process automation
- Real time information visibility leading to better asset utilization and work optimization
- Reduction in cost, effort and handling time for drivers
- Real-time proof of all active and inactive vehicles
- Increased accuracy of information exchanged between drivers and the company
- Improved vehicle utilization, order fulfillment, driver productivity, satisfaction and thus better customer satisfaction
- Increased Return on Investments.
In the current connected and globalized world, there are many people involved to get an object delivered from its manufactured place to its destination. There is always someone waiting for something, whether it be customers, logistics firms, distributors, retailers or any other part of the supply chain. The longer these parties must wait, the more they risk on resources, reputation, money etc. Logistics businesses, thus, must increase their speed, making use of every best technology, to strive and remain relevant in the industry.
Researches show that more than a quarter of logistics and supply chain businesses have still no digital strategy in place. As per Capgemini Consulting, most logistics companies today still operate on hybrid supply chain models, which combine both paper-based and IT supported processes. Papers and excels have always been a huge risk and challenge in optimizing any business. These are slow, only locally available, under the risk of damage and inefficient. Moving from hybrid supply chains to complete digitalization is the only key for a successful logistics business. A flexible, secure and easy to integrate platform for automating processes will surely work wonders for logistics and supply chain in terms of better efficiency, sales, and ROI.
Logistics is of critical importance in today’s highly competitive world. The success of an enterprise largely depends on its internal efficiency and the extent to which it can delight its customers. A well-oiled supply chain and seamless logistics are essential to realizing both these objectives, and this by and largely depends on deploying the right logistics management software.
Good Logistics Software Solutions Gets the Basics Right
The basic function of any logistics management software is productivity and efficiency enhancement, in warehouse operations, aimed at saving money and improving customer satisfaction. A comprehensive suite covers everything from supply chain planning to control of inventory, and from the refining of warehouse functions such as picking, packing, slotting and shipping, to streamlining transportation routines, and much more. Side by side, it co-opts logistics tracking software to improve transparency and enforce greater control over operations.
Some of the basic features include:
- Multi-client architecture to support more than one customer
- Efficient costing and invoicing control functionality to process and apply service contract policies in real-time, to facilitate prompt invoicing
- Real-time inventory control and visibility, to nip issues in the bud
- Automated vendor-managed inventory management, to processes and record replenishment requests, aimed at speeding up the supply chain and minimize stock-out situations
- Logistics tracking software, which automatically sends and receive shipping data, to improve accuracy and offering unbridled transparency into cargo movements
- Comprehensive reporting capabilities, with key data such as inventory figures, product histories and shipment records are all accessible remotely at the swipe of a finger or the click of a button, and more.
Smart enterprises go in for inherently customizable and scalable solutions in software and data depositories. While this screams out “cloud,” not all cloud-based tools are equal. Smart players opt for packages or solutions with the right chain management architecture, rather than satisfying themselves with a simple multi-client deployment model.
Good Logistics Management Software Facilitates Seamless Integration
While there are several stand-alone and off-the-shelf software for essential functions related to logistics, today’s highly competitive and integrated business ecosystem requires either a single comprehensive suite covering all these activities or seamless integration between the various stand-alone suites.
The requirements of integration extend to the ecosystem. There would hardly be any enterprise handling the entire gamut of its logistics operations, end-to-end. Outsourcing is the norm, and striking strategic alliances with competent partners is an established industry best practice and a source of competitive advantage. Many enterprises partner with 3PL companies, who in turn work closely with mainstream parcel carriers such as FedEx and UPS. The smoother the interactions with such partners, the more productive the business.
The best logistics management software requires the capability to tap into the software of all these 3PL and other partners, draw critical information from it, subject it to analytics, and present it to the stakeholders in the form of actionable information.
For instance, seamless logistics requires smooth integration of the software managing warehouse operations and logistics tracking software to the ERP suite of the enterprise, enabling decision-makers and managers to sync and plan inventory and product movement between the warehouse and the store. State-of-the-art automated logistic management software automates such a function, scheduling warehoused dispatches in sync with the movement of the cargo through the supply chain, to avoid stock-out situations. Likewise, it may schedule a slowdown of production if the cargo is blocked at some point in the supply chain, to reduce inventory glut or warehouse over-capacity situations.
Success, however, depends on a caveat. Businesses would need to resolve the traditional aversion many businesses have, to share too much information with third-party providers, regardless of whether they are business partners in noncompeting businesses and part of the same supply chain or not.
Logistics Tracking Software Goes Beyond Offering Visibility to Aid Tactical Planning
The core of any logistics software is warehouse operations management. Likewise, logistics tracking software offers visibility and helps maintain control of the supply chain. Success depends on a well-integrated logistics software solution, integrating all these critical solutions, and deliverable to the right stakeholders in easy to use dashboards, preferably through mobile apps that facilitate anywhere, anytime access.
However, mere visibility is no longer enough in today’s hyper-competitive age. Visibility must be combined with insights on what to do next, and here Big Data analytics step in. Embedded analytics is much in demand among today’s successful logistics players.
As the business becomes more complex, the nature of the data also becomes more complex, necessitating the deployment of advanced analytical tools. The best analytics tool separates the wheat from the chaff, to pick out the relevant and timely information from the data corpus, subjects it to analytics, and presents it to the stakeholders in the form of actionable information. For instance, a consistent delay in shipment delivery over a period may be a signal to change the logistics route, or the logistics partner. An ordinary logistics tracking solution would make explicit the delay, but integration with the analytical solution would enrich the insight with possible solutions, such as quotes from other providers, alternative viable routes, or any other solution. Today’ system goes beyond ironing out chinks in the armor but also become a valuable tool in tactical planning.
Good Logistics Software Solutions do not Rock the Boat
Logistics providers would do themselves a favor by having clear-cut objectives when implementing their logistics management software. Legacy providers would do well to devise a system least disruptive to their existing operations, for otherwise they would be saddled with the additional headache of managing resistance to change, a situation underestimated by most enterprises. Always review each feature of functionality in terms of why it is needed, the benefits it brings to the table, and the issues or problems it would solve. Also, have a blueprint of how the new system of functionality will gel in with the logistics operations.
Several off-the-shelf software offers valuable add-ons, such as industry research and peer-to-peer events. Nothing prevents custom software developers to co-opt such features, but the keywords are relevance. The hallmark of a good software is not an extended bucket list of features or functionality, but the extent to which the relevant features are co-opted, and implemented in a non-obtrusive way to the smooth functioning of the enterprise.
Developing and deploying a robust logistics management software is well-nigh impossible in-house for logistics firms, as their core competence and focus are elsewhere. Implementing a brand-new logistics system isn’t a cheap affair either. To get maximum bang for the buck, logistics firms are better off roping in the services of a reliable and competent tech partner who has experience in delivering cutting edge solutions.