Today, enterprise resource planning software is one of the most important tools for organizations seeking to streamline their systems. ERP systems integrate with TMS to provide real-time visibility, transparency, and enhanced collaboration.
Here's what you need to know about these helpful solutions and their role in the modern freight forwarding system.
As it stands today, two-thirds of all logistics employees predict that traditional freight forwarding will see a significant disruption within the next three to five years.
The reason for this is simple: technology.
As the industry advances and adopts emerging technologies, financial performance will improve and smart solutions will appear to integrate with existing platforms. Vahana is one such solution.
Designed to help the freight forwarding industry improve productivity, Vahana combines Sage 300 and BluJay, both of which are powered by SAP BusinessObjects. Vahana enables organizations to link finances to operations in a streamlined fashion.
A transportation management system is a platform created to simplify a company's shipping process. A sub-category of supply chain management, a useful TMS allows businesses to automate processes, receive valuable insights, save money and accelerate future shipments.
One of the most critical purposes a TMS serves is to save money. When enterprises save money on shipments, tracking, and insights, they're capable of doing more and being more, which allows them to serve their customers more efficiently.
While they serve many purposes, the primary job of a TMS is to move an order through your system and settle it most efficiently and cost-effectively. Tracking data over time is critical to improving processes. When an organization can do this, it's better-equipped to focus on partnerships, not transactions.
A study by Jim Hendrickson at Ohio State University reports that 86% of respondents believe ERPs must be supplemented with other supply chain execution automation. And rightfully so -- there are many benefits associated with integrating an ERP system with your TMS. Here are some of the primary:
Supply chain logistics is a competitive industry. As such, customer response time is one of the only things that separate enterprises that keep their contracts from companies who don't.
By integrating an ERP system with your TMS, you can enjoy faster response times with a higher level of flexibility. Simple tasks can be executed without the hassle of developer hours, immediately making an organization more efficient.
Automation makes it easy to enter information once and be done with it. Whether you're invoicing clients or monitoring shipment locations, cloud-based ERP solutions make communication between customers and shippers faster and more streamlined. Automation also saves time and reduces the risks associated with human error.
Enterprises that want to scale must first consider how using technology for their various departments can help. Luckily, cloud-based ERP solutions make it easy to solve that problem. For companies operating across international lines, these ERP solutions also make it easy to track the impact of peaks across various time zones.
One of the benefits of the automation associated with ERPs is that it enables enterprises to distribute automated notifications to customers making their way through the lifecycle. This enhances customer service and decreases associated risk.
ERP cloud software improves visibility via real-time updates and reliable schedules. This keeps costs as low as possible and ensures customer happiness.
When ERP systems integrate with TMS, beautiful things can happen. We've seen this at 5x Technology with our customers who use Vahana.Not only has the partnership between BluJay, Sage 300, and SAP BusinessObjects within Vahana has helped to streamline organizations, and it also works to keep costs low and provides better customer service across the board.
With Vahana, businesses have real-time visibility of operations from payments to inventory. Our customers can login into the Vahana dashboard to see a holistic view of finances, payroll, inventory, vendors, & more.
If you have questions or want to discuss how Vahana can benefit your company, please request your free Vahana consultation below.