How can you ensure your transportation management system is flexible enough to meet changing demands?

1 Choose a cloud-based TMS

A cloud-based TMS is hosted on a remote server and accessed via the internet, rather than installed on your own hardware. This means you can access your TMS from anywhere, anytime, and on any device. You can also benefit from automatic updates, scalability, and security. A cloud-based TMS can help you adapt to changing market conditions, customer expectations, and business needs faster and easier than a traditional on-premise TMS.

2 Integrate your TMS with other systems

Your TMS should not work in isolation, but rather integrate with other systems that are relevant to your transportation operations, such as your enterprise resource planning (ERP), warehouse management system (WMS), customer relationship management (CRM), and carrier portals. By integrating your TMS with other systems, you can streamline your data flow, improve your visibility, and enhance your collaboration. You can also leverage the capabilities and functionalities of other systems to complement your TMS and make it more flexible and powerful.

3 Customize your TMS to your needs

Your TMS should be able to accommodate your specific transportation requirements, such as your modes, carriers, routes, rates, rules, and policies. You should be able to customize your TMS to your needs, such as by creating your own workflows, dashboards, reports, and alerts. You should also be able to adjust your TMS settings and parameters as your needs change, such as by adding or removing carriers, modes, locations, or services. A customized TMS can help you optimize your transportation performance and meet your unique business goals.

4 Use analytics and artificial intelligence

Your TMS should not only help you manage your transportation processes, but also help you analyze your transportation data and generate insights. You should use analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to monitor your key performance indicators (KPIs), identify trends and patterns, and uncover opportunities and risks. You should also use analytics and AI to support your decision making, such as by providing recommendations, predictions, and simulations. Analytics and AI can help you make your TMS more flexible and intelligent, and enable you to respond to changing scenarios and situations.

5 Train and empower your users

Your TMS is only as good as the people who use it. You should train and empower your users to make the most of your TMS features and functions. You should provide them with adequate training, guidance, and support to use your TMS effectively and efficiently. You should also encourage them to share their feedback, suggestions, and best practices to improve your TMS usability and functionality. Training and empowering your users can help you make your TMS more flexible and user-friendly, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?