Shipping freight brings with it a lot of stress and planning. But transportation management software can make the entire process a little bit easier and even maximize your return on investment.
But what are the real benefits of using this type of software? Saving money is certainly important but it isn’t the only thing to keep in mind when choosing the proper TMS. Here are four benefits in particular of choosing the right TMS for your business.
- More Efficient Warehouse
Freight management can take up a lot of time. But with the right TMS, a focus can be put on warehouse duties instead of freight management. And with a proper integration between TMS and the other systems in your business, there will be less data entry to contend with, all of which frees up time for the important things.
With a better supply chain visibility, it means having better control over your warehouse and what is going in and what is coming out. That means increased savings, improved efficiencies, and a better overall control over the warehousing system.
- Better Customer Service
Another great thing about transportation management software is that it comes with reporting and analytics tools. These tools show you where your choices are proving to be beneficial and where they could stand a little improving.
It also means better choices of carriers in terms of cost of shipping, insurance limits, and time of transit. These can improve customer service exponentially by ensuring that not only will freight reach its destination on time but it won’t cost an arm and a leg, either. It can help you find the carrier that best suits your business and helps ensure freight is on time.
- New Delivery Options
The entire point of having a transportation management system is to improve and optimize the way that your business ships. Whether you want to set up an inbound program between multiple locations or a distribution program, you can achieve whatever is necessary to save your business money and improve efficiency.
The TMS makes it easy to create a master bill of lading. That also means individual logins across multiple locations that can be handled at one central point. You get greater access, greater options, greater ease of use than ever before, all of which means greater efficiency and savings on the whole.
- Improve Cash Flow
One of the most important things for any business is their cash flow. When there are cash flow limitations, it can mean bad news for any business of any size. But a proper TMS system can actually help improve cash flow.
It does so by employing proper accounting through a number of services. It can mean major savings per freight invoice, which could wind up adding up to major savings for the business. A company can potentially save as much as 5% of their total freight bill simply by getting rid of duplicate or inaccurate payments or charges.