Comparing 2 Types of TMS

Traditional Transportation Management Systems (TMS) are built on historic frameworks. Most TMSs in the market today, including robust cloud-based systems, continue to operate in batch-mode, which is not ideal for today's demanding, global, and ever-evolving supply chain. The order-centric transportation management approach offers a new type of framework. One that is natively designed with the kind of flexibility, agility, and silo-breaking functionality businesses need to master modern supply chain complexities.

The basic concept of a logistics management solution has evolved to include a complex ecosystem of vendors, carriers, suppliers, warehouses, retailers, and other parties, all with their own set of operations and constraints. Basic transportation management functionality used to restrict capabilities to batch orders with limited order-level reporting and speed. New systems that combine transportation management with order management, however, are more versatile and responsive, and therefore better suited for optimizing the whole supply chain network.

For instance, a combined order management and transportation management solution - or order-centric TMS - natively built on one platform creates opportunities to optimize processes across business units that would otherwise be overlooked. By collaboratively working toward shared goals, such as, for example, utilizing full truckloads and improving time performance, stakeholders can mutually benefit and improve operations. Here are a few additional examples to demonstrate specific applications for TMS optimization:

• After-sales flow management for reverse logistics
• Real-time rate quotes from carriers via API
• Parcel shipping (instead of batches), allowing greater flexibility and speed
• Integrated dock planning and appointment scheduling
• Multi-modal transportation and seamless integrations with carrier portals and warehouse management systems (WMS)

This infographic offers some quick insight into how the legacy and modern, order-centric frameworks differ in terms of capability, functionality, and implementation.