Greater visibility into transport management

Increased uptake in cloud or software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery models is changing the face of transport management systems and improving integration with other elements of supply chain management.

SaaS provides the ideal architecture to deliver telematics, vehicle tracking, dynamic routing, real-time work order management, commercial navigation and mobile integration, often referred to collectively as ‘location intelligence’. When coupled with modern integration and reporting systems these can form the backbone of a company-wide transport management system.

This is not to say that cloud software is a ‘one size fits all’ solution for all scenarios. Organisations can take a SaaS solution, such as the Telogis platform, and overlay it with their own proprietary data to gain a series of customised location solutions that provide actionable information to gain greater visibility into daily operations. Hauliers can import their own site-specific data including agreed delivery times/windows, assets and vehicles into the Telogis platform to manage route and job allocation more effectively. End users in the field benefit from easy-to-use, streamlined systems with real-time data and spatial/mapping information, accessible from any location.

While the take-up of GPS-based fleet management, routing/navigation and work order management software applications are on the increase, many hauliers are only scratching the surface of the capabilities on offer. Adopting SaaS-based solutions can provide an opportunity to look at more advanced location intelligence and near-instant ROI. It can provide a better understanding of what happens in the field on a daily basis, improve operations, and integrate with other mission-critical, existing technology and applications such as SAP, enabling greater competitive advantage.

Increased visibility

One advantage of a location intelligence solution is that it can provide an overview of an emergency or exceptional event - road closures, diversions or changed loading bay locations. Mobile resourcing systems can provide dynamic rerouting in the event of heavy traffic or blockages due to an incident and reassign jobs to field operatives to cover unexpected situations.

Improving productivity and customer service

Work order management systems, including fleet management and routing/navigation, help organisations to improve productivity and customer service. Using advanced SaaS work order management applications such as Telogis Progression, companies can create and track jobs (including time of arrival and completion), route and dispatch mobile resources (pre-planned routes and dynamic changes), notify customers, report on job completion, offer real-time traffic and weather conditions, integrating with company ERP and CRM systems.

Driver behaviour metrics enhance safety

Safety is paramount for any organisation - unacceptable driving practices reflect poorly on the company and endanger the safety of the public, employees and assets. Hard braking, acceleration, turns, speeding, out-of-route driving and excessive idling can be documented on a driver scorecard to highlight bad habits and encourage changes to achieve compliance.

By using location intelligence applications, companies can document when and where their vehicles are operated to protect themselves against false claims of damage caused by vehicles or reckless driving.

Improved  asset security

A stolen vehicle can be a major expense in both capital and lost production. Geofencing can provide asset security - operations managers can be alerted when an asset has been moved outside of that virtual boundary. This deters unauthorised use and helps recover stolen assets, reducing both replacement costs and insurance rates.

Saving time, saving resources

Advanced location intelligence is one of the easiest ways to engage a green workforce and fleet. With intelligent allocation of resources, smart routing and reduced engine idling, companies can substantially lower their carbon footprint. Mobile intelligence solutions can also provide performance metrics to ensure timely servicing of vehicles.

While employing a workforce or fleet management system is an excellent first step, there are countless ways to optimise the system including integration with other applications and back-office systems to provide a full transport management system with greater visibility into the daily operations of employees in the field. Moving towards a cloud-based advanced location intelligence platform helps you keep one step ahead of your next challenge, whether it’s scheduling an unexpected delivery, responding to service level agreements or rerouting services due to traffic congestion or a major incident.

Image credit: ©Martin Malchev/Dollar Photo Club