4 Amazing Things You Can Do with Your TMS App

A transportation management system application or simply a TMS app is a type of software that helps you plan, execute, and oversee the physical movement of stock items. Anyone involved in a supply chain – be it the manufacturer or a logistics expert can use these apps to coordinate their shipment-related activities.

TMS control towers oversee entire shipment processes, providing users with valuable real-time data via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The real-time data from distribution centers, warehouses, delivery professionals, and customers can be analyzed and used to optimize supply chain performances and resolve any customer service issue.

Here are amazing things you can do with your TMS app –

1. Manage Orders

In TMS apps, order-related data is always accessible to anyone involved in the supply chain – from supply chain managers to drivers. This consolidated platform of information on the app is very useful for viewing, managing, and adjusting all transport requests. Users can manually or automatically enter new orders.

Each of these order entries can contain large amounts of information such as the weight of the shipment, the intended destination, etc. Highly advanced transportation management system applications also assign optimized routes to the driver. Supply chain managers can even dictate what type of vehicle the drivers use, the time of their deliveries, and the routes they follow.

On these consolidated platforms, all order-related documents are automatically linked to their related orders. Anyone with a smartphone/tablet can access this information at all times. Anyone involved in a supply chain can just visit the app’s dashboard to see the number of orders for the day. With this info, they can customize their daily workloads.

2. Manage Contracts

Freight payments keep fluctuating as stock items move through supply chains. For example, demurrages can increase the costs of the orders abruptly in the middle of a delivery process. With transportation management system applications, it becomes easy for supply chain managers to track these expenses.

All demurrages, detention fees, shortages, refusals, etc., are automatically entered into the app’s billing sections. Hence, supply chain managers can offer their clients highly detailed and transparent freight rate contracts. In the long run, these small cost-related adjustments can save companies a lot of money.

3. Vehicle Management

In the past, supply chain managers had to depend on their dispatch staff to recruit drivers and vehicles. With a transportation management system app, they can carry out these tasks from their offices without facing any hassle. Directly negotiate payments with truck suppliers.

After agreeing about the prices, they can fix permanent payment terms on their TMS software. Managers get to hire vehicles and drivers as per their terms. Managing their yearly/monthly contracts becomes much easier as well.  

4. Always Know Where Your Products Are

Right from the time when an order is picked up from a warehouse till it’s dropped to the dispatch center – supply chain managers can view the entire process on their TMS software. These software tools feature separate costing and finance modules which represent different points in the supply chain.

Hence, supply chain managers have full visibility over their supply chains. Avoiding risks like delivery delays or the misuse of order-related documents becomes much easier when you’re using TMS software!

As freight volumes keep increasing every year, the need for digitized transportation management systems becomes more urgent. High-quality TMS software tools help transportation and logistics companies deal with increasing orders, governance regulations, and changing consumer needs in the most efficient way possible!