Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shippers have been under immense pressure to keep costs low and look for smarter ways to optimize their business. With better technology in the logistics space, supply chain managers must be cognizant of how best to use these new technologies to their benefit. Working with tech-enabled providers takes some of the burden off their shoulders. Whether it’s volatility spikes or driver shortages, real-time visibility is able to provide accurate real-time data on shipments from pickup to delivery.
Christian Piller, VP of Value Engineering at Project 44, wrote How Transportation Visibility Is Creating Supply Chain Agility, published by Mercurygate.com. Christian states, “Leveraging an advanced TMS and connected visibility platform streamlines many of the complex operations in the everyday supply chain. While supply chains can be very diverse, there could be as many as 50 touchpoints from manufacturing to the final sale of products. And this is still not the end of the supply chain shipping process. For example, supply chains are increasingly focused on reverse logistics as e-commerce activity continues to comprise a growing percentage of total retail sales.”
RPM, a tech-enabled transportation provider, offers our customers full visibility and transparency through our transportation management system (TMS). We can help identify current gaps in the supply chain and assist our shippers to fill those gaps or work around them. These real-time visibility tools give shippers an up-to-the-minute holistic view of their finished vehicle supply chain.
The three core benefits customers receive when working with a tech-enabled provider that offers real-time visibility and track and trace features:
Integration between the provider’s transportation management service software (TMS) and the customer’s TMS to ensure seamless communication and delivery of reliable real-time shipment tracking between thousands of carriers in the MTS network.
Automation to increase the supply chain efficiency and accuracy of pickup and delivery reporting. Automation solutions, ultimately, reduce the risk of human error.
Centralization to increase control, improve transparency, and streamline processes to, ultimately, reduce cost and risk. Centralization also provides optimization and visibility at all points of interest.
In the ever-changing world of technology, customers want total visibility into where their shipments are. The ability to “ping,” or have a look into real-time transportation, allows customers to plan more efficiently and effectively. Whether this action takes place in front of a computer or on a smart phone, it simply allows the customer to be more proactive.