BOOSTING CUSTOMER SERVICE

Logistics Insight Asia, 1/7/2008

Transportation management solutions can help logistics

JASBIR SINGH

In the highly competitive logistics industry, logistics service providers (LSP) seek to maintain long term market competitiveness by offering a high level of differentiated services demanded by customers, often at thin margins. The market leaders have found the balance of profitability and customer retention – by adding value to their enterprise. It sounds simple, but there is nothing simple about it.

Customer demands change continually. Fast-paced advances in technology raise expectations for real-time information, competitive prices and flawless service. With international sourcing becoming an attractive and viable option for global enterprises, the IT infrastructure solutions must perform to support a global network, as seamlessly as they have performed on a domestic or regional basis.

It is this trend toward logistics outsourcing that offers LSPs the opportunity to extend their business model. They can now become a strategic business partner to manage their client’s extended supply chain. The real challenge here is to be able to offer comprehensive, customized services to a diverse customer base without adding overheads and eroding profits.

WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT
Traditional transportation and logistics approaches are limited by older, proprietary technology and inflexible design. As such, they cannot offer the infrastructure needed to compete and scale to grow profitably in today’s global economy.

LSPs need to revolutionize their supply chain operations in order to deliver the services that customers want. There are available transportation management solutions in the market that offer an end-to-end infrastructure – the capability to manage shipment planning and execution within a single integrated solution.

From simple domestic trucks to complex, multimodal moves over many geographies, transportation management solutions give LSPs the ability to plan, optimize, and execute the movement of goods anywhere in the world with improved operational efficiency at the lowest total cost.

Beyond simple logistical requirements, customers want expedited, smooth execution to multiple locations, with added visibility throughout the supply chain. LSPs need to respond by implementing integrated transportation management solutions that will enable them to:

- Strengthen customer loyalty and attract new customers with expanded, customized services delivered collaboratively

- Drive down costs through improved operational efficiency, better resource management, and lower transportation expenses

- Increase supply chain velocity by managing all shipments across all modes, legs, and geographies with a single, integrated system

- Expand into new markets with the technology to manage logistics and transportation anywhere in the world

- Increase profit margins by offering higher-value services without adding to operating expenses

TMS REQUIREMENTS
To effectively meet customer’s needs, LSPs need to consider transportation management solutions that provide complete global supply chain visibility, business-process automation and supply chain event management in a single application. Automation of these supply chain processes allows LSPs to improve operational efficiency by providing insight to real-time, actionable information for all orders and shipments.

Transportation management solutions should also be scalable to support all users in the global collaborative supply chain without sacrificing system performance or security, as well as:

- Make the best choices on rate, route, schedule, optimization, and booking

- Provide track-and-trace and global visibility to all supply chain participants

- Monitor, modify and replan shipments while freight is in motion

- Operate in a cross-enterprise environment by integrating a customer’s suppliers, distributors, service providers, consignees, and internal users in the process

- Service multiple customers using a single instance of the application and its database

- Leverage the power of logistics information to deliver comprehensive business intelligence to customers and within own operation

LSPs can provide a full range of integrated services – from transportation management to lead logistics provider – with the right transportation management solution.

In addition, an integrated solution takes the place of multiple systems; with fewer applications to purchase, implement, integrate, and maintain, LSPs are able to reduce their IT infrastructure costs.

The bottom line is, through transportation management solutions, LSPs will be able to offer higher value, integrated supply chain services, realize increased profit margins, and deliver a high level of service the customers demand.