Supply chains are complex and ever evolving. There are often a number of systems working in the background to keep your supply chain running smoothly. But if those systems aren't working together to give you a single source of truth for your supply chain, you could be missing important details and opportunities to run an efficient operation. Technology integrations are an important step for ensuring supply chain visibility for your entire operation.
What are the most important supply chain systems that need to be integrated?
A combination of integrated systems - with functions ranging from reporting to real-time shipping information to accounting and more - will help to efficiently run your supply chain. And when it comes to choosing the right supply chain systems, it's important to ensure that they are able to integrate with each other so you can gather reliable and accurate information for your entire supply chain. Here are four important platforms that should be integrated:
Transportation management system (TMS)
A transportation management system is used to streamline your shipping operations. Your TMS should have the ability to quote and create orders as well as manage shipments throughout the order lifecycle. It should also offer data and reporting with insights into your logistics operations, including on-time deliveries, billing, transportation costs and trends related to shipments and rates.
Tracking system
A tracking system will provide real-time visibility with shipment location tracking throughout an order's lifecycle. There are a number of SaaS tracking providers as well as internally developed tracking applications on the market - but no matter the system you choose, it is important to ensure it can integrate with your TMS. At GlobalTranz, we use internal tracking applications integrated with our TMS so that we can implement automation triggered by tracking events. We are also then able to generate reporting metrics for tracking, such as on-time percentages and days in transit.
Freight audit system
Freight auditing is an essential step in your supply chain. It involves reviewing freight bills and making any necessary adjustments to ensure they are accurate. This system will allow you to streamline your freight audit process. Some inaccuracies that are looked for during a freight audit include:
- Differences in freight weight, dimensions and class between the initial quote and the invoice
- Additional accessorials not included in the original quote
- Instances where freight is reconsigned (i.e., the origin or destination is changed) which directly impact pricing
- Fuel rates that do not align with national, regional or negotiated pricing
- Missing data elements or documents that are required for invoicing
- Warehouse management system (WMS)
A warehouse management system helps you efficiently oversee the operations of your warehouse and distribution centers. It does this by giving you visibility and the ability to generate inbound and outbound orders as well as the capacity to manage inventory and queue shipments.
What are the benefits of integrating your supply chain systems?
It's important to integrate your supply chain systems in order to create a single source of truth for your supply chain. When your systems are all working together, you'll have added supply chain visibility - meaning you'll be able to track materials and goods in transit with better insight into timelines, inventory, and costs. It will also improve your ability to efficiently and accurately manage your overall supply chain operations.
Supply chain systems, like your transportation management system and warehouse management system, collect a ton of data. But if the two systems aren't integrated, you're missing out on a number of insights. Plus, you're missing out on opportunities to measure and improve the efficiency of your operations via KPIs. Your TMS and WMS can integrate to share data on carriers, shipments, routing and billing. Integration can lead to more robust data and analytics, a better understanding of the movement of goods throughout your supply chain, easier resource and labor management, and overall improved supply chain visibility.
How does GlobalTranz help integrate supply chain systems?
GlobalTranz's transportation management system allows shippers to gain control of their logistics operations and shipping costs. We provide end-to-end transportation management with real-time analytics, robust tracking capabilities and access to a best-in-class carrier network. And we understand the importance of TMS integrations with your other supply chain systems.
GlobalTranz makes TMS integrations easier for our customers. We provide detailed documentation that outlines a step-by-step guide for integrating your systems into our APIs. We offer test credentials so you can test your integrations prior to going live. And our team is available to assist with integrations specific to your needs.
Some of the integration capabilities offered by GlobalTranz include:
- Integrating your preferred ERP system so you can maintain current processes
- Integrating directly with our rating and shipment creation APIs to create and manage LTL shipments
- Leveraging batch order creation tools to generate large volumes of orders. These tools include additional functionality such as the ability to consolidate shipments with similar characteristics
- Integrating directly with our tracking APIs to pull up-to-date tracking status on orders
- Integrating into our APIs to rate shipments from our supported e-commerce platforms, including but not limited to Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento
- Integrating into our EDIs for truckload order creation, tracking and invoicing
Partner with GlobalTranz to get access to a best-in-class transportation management system with robust integration capabilities. To learn more about how GlobalTranz can help you improve your supply chain visibility through system integrations, reach out to speak with an expert.