Transport Management System (TMS) is a logistics platform that uses technology to help in planning, executing, and optimizing the physical movement of goods. It can be used by all members of the supply chain from manufacturers to distributors and third-party logistics, being often the part of a larger Supply Chain management system.
Transportation, along with manufacturing and warehousing, is one of the main Supply Chain processes. It comprises a whole lot of activities – from delivery planning to carrier management to shipment tracking – that have to be properly handled. Small businesses with few shipments can manage these operations with the help of spreadsheets and phone calls. However, once turnover grows, it becomes obvious that Excel is not enough and there is a need something more robust to control transportation processes.
TMS allows to plan and execute shipment processes and have visibility over them. Besides, the system can interconnect with logistics management system, warehouse management system, and fleet management through GPS monitoring software. Two separate applications for drivers and dispatchers allow to maintain control over the whole order management process, including order placement, planning, distribution, route optimization and coordination. The app helps to keeps the route at hand, to use GIS data from Google Maps for more precise address information and routing, make use of reports for efficient analytics, and communicate with clients by e-mail notifications with built-in HTML editor.
In a TMS, order information is accessed by all related parties from planners to drivers and customers. Manual or automatic, order entering includes filling in all essential details like commodity or weight and setting up current location and destination. All documents are automatically linked to their corresponding orders so the driver can keep them on their smartphone or tablet. As drivers update the status of orders in route, planners have an overview of all scheduling changes and truck locations.