Summary: Transportation management solutions provide valuable features to organizations that manage their own logistics. This is how developers typically create them and the factors logisticians must take into consideration to deploy them successfully.
The value that transportation management systems provide means they are becoming necessary for logistics organizations of all kinds.
Adopting one of these systems can significantly benefit a company but finding the right one can be challenging. It’s often easier and more effective for a business to customize or extend an existing transportation management system in-house or contract out the development of a customized one.
Here’s how logisticians and developers can approach customizing these transportation management tools — including common expected features, integrations and critical steps — to develop logistics software.
The Goals of a Transportation Management System
A transportation management system (TMS) is typically part of a supply chain management system (SCM) or logistics management platform that helps organizations manage and automate transport logistics. The software allows organizations to coordinate their order management systems and distribution centers.
In practice, the technology allows companies to plan and execute the movement of physical goods, manage compliance with shipping regulations, and document business logistics. This helps them overcome the current most significant logistics challenges — like the cost of fuel and labor, supply chain visibility and vendor relationship management.
A key benefit of these systems is their visibility. As supply chains become more complex and global, having quick access to this information ensures timely delivery and customer satisfaction.
Users of TMSs include manufacturers, distributors, retailers and third-party logistics providers.
Typical TMS Features
While the function of a TMS can vary significantly, most software offers a few of the same features to end-users.
1. Real-Time Tracking and Shipment Visibility
The TMS provides information on inbound and outbound shipments. Relevant alerts provide additional notice to managers and administrative staff when important shipments are completed or require action. Often, a TMS will take advantage of fleet management software features like vehicle tracking and communication to deliver these notifications.
2. Route Planning and Optimization
The TMS helps determine how each shipment can move from point A to point B. Route planning must consider vehicle schedules, delivery times and hours, available trucks, driver skills, traffic and geographic areas. Optimizing routes can help businesses increase their on-time delivery rate and reduce fuel consumption.
3. Carrier Selection and Rating
The system allows organizations to find and compare rates and carrier fees for a given shipment, enabling the organization to save on transportation.
4. Reports and Dashboards
It’s also important that the TMS make the data it captures easy to access and visualize. Reports and dashboards ensure managers can review historic transportation data. This information provides a better understanding of how effective current management strategies are, as well as potential bottlenecks and areas for improvement.
Adopting, Customizing or Developing a TMS
Many vendors offer ready-to-use TMS software that may fit the needs of many organizations.
Some companies opt to adopt these systems, then customize them to fit their particular needs. In some cases, they may adapt legacy technology to work with newer methods.
Others will develop a TMS entirely from scratch, building a custom solution tailored to the organization’s particular transportation management needs.
In any case, the process for customizing or developing a custom TMS will require a few of the same general steps:
1. Planning and Project Structure
Before any organization develops or customizes its TMS, it should determine what it needs to do, how the project will be structured and the different platforms the software will coordinate.
Logisticians and developers should consider potential modules the end-user may need the TMS to connect with. This includes customer relationship management platforms, warehouse management systems, enterprise resource planning tools and manufacturing execution systems.
A finished TMS’s project structure can take many forms. It may connect application programming interfaces from various carriers and support browser and mobile applications.
Developers looking to customize an existing solution can benefit from the same preplanning processes.
In addition to planning a project structure’s features, logisticians and developers should also determine whether the solution will be deployed in the cloud or on-premises. It’s also vital to decide on a software stack for the project during this phase.
2. Create an MVP
Once planning is complete, the developer should create a prototype or minimum viable project. The MVP of a TMS typically only includes core functionality and basic design.
The developer should be able to release the MVP to the production environment to observe how the system facilitates transportation management for its end-user.
3. Iterate on the MVP
Feedback from the client will help determine what functionality needs to be improved upon and how to make the TMS more usable. Logisticians can work with developers to use this feedback to iterate on the MVP, adding lower-priority features and ensuring compatibility with end-user modules.
4. Develop the Web App, Dashboard and Mobile-Ready Application
Before the project can be considered truly complete, three elements need to be ready for the organization using the TMS — a web app, mobile app and dashboard.
Typically, organizations will need web-based and mobile apps to support dispatchers and management staff, as well as drivers and other field employees. Developing a native app for drivers, logistics managers, and others ensures that all organization employees can use the TMS, no matter where they may be.
A dashboard that provides information on key transportation metrics will also be essential.
What Logisticians Need to Know About Custom TMS Software
TMS software can provide essential benefits to organizations that handle their own logistics. As markets and processes change, it may become necessary to partner with a developer to create custom TMS software for a company with particular transportation management needs.
In addition to ensuring the end-product has a few key features — like tracking, route planning and carrier comparison — it’s also important to ensure all staff can take full advantage of the system. Working with a developer who understands the industry’s specific expectations and requirements helps ensure the usefulness of the final product and the ease of the transition.
Effective mobile and web apps will make sure that all workers, including dispatchers, drivers and warehouse managers, will be able to use the TMS. This way, companies can take full advantage of their TMS software and be as efficient as possible.
About the author
Emily Newton, Editor-in-Chief, Revolutionized Magazine.
Emily Newton is the Editor-in-Chief of Revolutionized Magazine. She has over four years experience covering stories about warehousing, logistics and distribution
