When it comes to Supply Chain Visibility technology, mere shipment location tracking is no longer sufficient.
In today’s hyper-connected, hyper information-oriented landscape, shippers, carriers, freight managers, distribution centers, and consumers have become accustomed to specific, detailed, accurate, real-time information about how products gets from point A to point B.
In this context, it is no longer just about where a shipment is in transit, but when it will arrive, in what condition, and what level of risk will impact delivery times.
Today, the most advanced visibility systems provide rich data sets that include:
Having this information is becoming more and more critical for all of the business units connected to a shipment, including invoicing, payment, and production.
The vast amounts of data available for transportation management already create complexity, so it also becomes increasingly important to begin looking across the entire transportation lifecycle to drive greater efficiencies.
Successful logistics ecosystems forge synergistic collaborations across the supply chain. Tech companies across the spectrum know that what is needed is seamless access to diverse and unique technologies that will help transportation companies looking for ways to improve their bottom line and stand out as shippers and carriers “of choice”.
Transportation Life cycle Management (TLM) focuses on automating the management of transportation-related data and the integration of that data with other business processes across the supply chain. TLM takes into account the entire cycle - effectively managing and connecting information from many different sources - TMS, WMS, MES, ERP, visibility, order management, invoicing, etc.
It will not be enough for a standalone technology to deliver meaningful solutions. Synergistic technologies will need to integrate seamlessly with each other and provide a transparent experience of value. The key moving forward will be on intelligent alignment across the transportation life cycle.