In such a volatile industry, setting a proper transportation strategic plan is essential in order to ensure continuity and business productivity. This blog article will dive into the heart of transport supply and demand strategies, emphasizing on the importance of having the right set course of action and the ways to strengthen and ensure your transport management strategy.
What is transportation strategy?
In a supply chain, transportation is the movement of products from one location to another. It starts with materials making their way to the warehouse and continues all the way to the end user with the order being delivered. To secure an untroubled flow of goods between the production side, your warehouse and the customers, a transportation strategy involves the planning, executing, and optimization of these goods movements.
Why is it important to have a successful transport management strategy?
Transport management has become increasingly important in recent years as supply chains have grown in complexity and new transportation challenges have emerged. The world is rapidly changing, along with the markets and their trends. Substantial factors that are out of control affect the resilience of supply chains and of the overall productivity and efficacity of organizations. We may have started to realize the incredible impact of these factors with Brexit and when the covid-19 pandemic hit. But when companies started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, other circumstances came to add on the pain, such as the Ukraine invasion, the China-Taiwan conflict, or more recently, talks of a recession.
In a supply chain cycle, these unfortunate events can disrupt greatly your overall business activities. From capacity to driver shortage, the arising need for route alternatives, the increasing costs of fuel and transportation, and the new rules and regulations on carbon emissions, modern supply chain transportation managers deal with more risks than ever before.
Mitigating these risks is key to keep a supply chain moving with minimal delays, therefore it is essential for companies to stay up to speed with technological advances in order to remain competitive.
Your supply chain’s success depends on a strategic use of appropriate solutions and transportation. In fact, having a dynamic and responsive transportation strategy is critical to the effectiveness of your supply chain and logistics. It should provide predictability, capacity and flexibility in order to be able to anticipate and adapt to changes in the market.
So how should you assess your current transport management strategy?
When the old ways don’t cut it anymore, it is important to revert to technology and digital solutions to give your organization the little push it needs to get things right, avoid disruptions and remain competitive. Transportation management is not a simple task anymore; what used to consist of moving goods from point A to point B at the lowest possible cost, has become an ocean of possibilities, challenges and factors that require more resources and more options. Changes in consumer behavior, growing demands that call for shorter delivery cycles, and the capacity crisis have added to the table an issue that calls for innovative solutions. In order to stay afloat and competitive in this challenging and ever-changing economy, you need a more strategic transport plan and an effective transportation system.
How do you build an effective transport management strategy?
- Increase efficiency at your warehouse: Be aware of your order requirements and materials availability. Having control over your warehouse’s flow is crucial to having control over the costs of your logistics and transportation.
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Become a shipper of choice :With the increasing capacity challenges, becoming a shipper of choice ensures a strong committed relationship with the carriers, based on trust and loyalty, thus ensuring capacity and availability.
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Digitalize your logistics processes and gain visibility: One of the most important aspects of today’s technology is visibility. With a transport management solution such as Alpega’s, you gain end-to-end visibility on all your processes, from procurement to delivery. This allows you to choose alternate scenarios in case of disruptions and keep the communication going between all parties involved.
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Transportation data :Having access to data enables you to enlarge your network, consequently gaining access to more opportunities. With a large network you can compare prices, choose the options of transportation that suit you most and be less at risk of shortage, be it of drivers or capacity.
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Flexible transportation management : With improved flexibility comes better service and better end-results. It is with the right digital solutions that you can gain the much-needed flexibility that will allow you to choose and provide better transport options. When you are flexible in your transport management, you automatically ensure a way of completing your process, reaching higher levels of customer satisfaction and the possibility to process different size orders.
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More is better: Having a transport management system is good. Having a TMS with partners is better. Work with someone who has connections! A TMS is definitely the must-have nowadays, but with the complexity of the changing markets it is beneficial to have a TMS that is constantly upgraded and connected to the best names in the industry.
- Scalability is everything: Your business as well as your activities are bound to grow. Your transportation management strategy must be able to expand with you and meet your increased demands. Scalability is everything in today’s ever-changing world and markets, if you are trying to catch up to speed then so must your transport management system.
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Go green with a sustainable transport strategy :New rules and regulations are being implemented in order to try and reduce GHG emissions, particularly for the transportation industry. Adopting sustainable actions and ways of conducting business is not a hard thing to do when the right transport management solutions come in the picture. In addition, with the current public awareness and sensitivity to that matter, being green and adopting a sustainable transport strategy creates customer affinity and validation, a way for you to rise above the competition.
Why a transport management system is key to successful transport management strategy
Change IS happening and your transportation strategy has to be ready to change as well. Transportation is critical to logistics and supply chain efficiency; it is in fact at the core of it all and therefore it needs to be dynamic and responsive. Add to your processes the predictability, capacity, visibility and flexibility that a TMS offers, and you will have a resilient supply chain.
So what is a TMS? A TMS, or Transport Management System, is a technological platform used for logistics management that gives the users control and visibility over their daily transport operations, from procurement to delivery.
The right TMS helps you set and reach your objectives by automating your logistics processes, helping you considerably increase their efficiency. Alpega TMS delivers the expertise, scalability and reliability that your organization needs in order to evolve and adapt to the changing markets. It is a scalable software solution to manage all transportation processes and activities across logistics networks. Our transport management system offers end-to-end visibility with powerful analytics to empower better business decisions. It provides a collaboration platform so that all parties involved have the latest status and customizable alerts about the shipments that are being executed — so you can focus on what matters and automate the rest. The continuous optimizations it provides allow to turn the intricacy of these changes and disruptions from a liability to an asset. Indeed, it offers endless possibilities in a unified platform to simplify your processes, reduce manual work and unnecessary costs, and add clarity and transparency to your overall processes.
The Alpega Transportation Solutions
Alpega TMS is part of the Alpega Group which consists of six brands; TenderEasy a SaaS Solution that allows to manage end-to-end process of freight tendering, supporting the professional buyer in an easy-to-use and sustainable way. Teleroute, the Pan European Freight exchange that connects to more than 70.000 carriers to offer and allocate shipments. Wtransnet, the leading freight exchange in Iberia which connects more than 10.000 companies. 123Cargo, the leading freight exchange in Romania and one of the most important freight exchange platforms in the Central and Southeastern European countries. Road Heroes Truck Driver Platform, Alpega's latest acquisition, is a specialized job site that links truck drivers with prospective employees, in an effort to give both parties a competitive edge to fulfil the market needs. And last but not least, Alpega TMS that was recognized as Challenger in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for the eleventh consecutive year, making it the only standalone full TMS vendor, headquartered in Europe, in the challenger's quadrant.
With each challenge we offer a solution. We base our strategic advice on the latest thought leadership, practical wisdom from our collaboration with clients and 30+ years of logistics expertise.
If this blog got you thinking about your own transport strategy in logistics, and you are interested in knowing more about our solutions, we would love to discuss it further with you.
Please get in touch with an Alpega TMS expert.
