Freight management has greatly evolved, owing to the elaborate shift of market systems to a more global approach of reaching customers. Whether a company owns a fleet, utilises a freight broker, or partners with a third-party logistics provider, a major issue remains, and that is to keep supply chain segments operating efficiently.
Freight costs can go between 4 to 8% of a company’s gross sales. Cutting costs can be straightforward. A more sustainable approach is to optimise freight processes. One way to do this is to use management software. However, finding a good type of freight management software in Australia demands a discerning eye. To start, educate yourself first with what this software can do for you.
What It Does
Freight management systems are transport management systems (TMS) that focus more on freight. They guide shippers in managing their supply chain activities by making better logistical decisions. As an IT tool, it allows a shipper to understand the shipping process better while adhering to time and cost considerations. This harks back to the most elementary of all objectives in supply chain management: efficiently integrating systems to ensure productivity.
A freight management system consolidates booking, administering, and tracking activities. It gives a shipper a user-friendly experience in finding the best rates, searching for more appropriate transport modes and options, controlling delivery, and computing for prices. Doing general accounting tasks, from recording transactions to making invoices, is also fundamental.
How It Helps
Like any TMS, freight management software can benefit a shipper by:
1. Unburdening customer service. Through its reporting and analytics capabilities, a freight management system can offer decision makers a wider set of tools to manage the logistics network successfully. With such a system, detailed reports can be generated, improving delivery times while allowing carriers to be on time consistently. This is good for customer service as much of the information required by a customer is already provided.
2. Reducing costs. Traditionally, a huge amount of expenses comes from invoicing costs—AU$15 per freight invoice, for instance. Through a management system, freights can be audited, accounted, and paid using fewer dollars. More so, if consolidation services can be utilised, the costs are even lower.
3. Integrating processes. Through freight management software, a shipper can incorporate all transport modes, from road to air, in just one platform. This way shipments can be optimised cost-effectively. Also, consolidating documentation, handling claims, and generating reports, for instance, ease the job of end users significantly.
4. Driving accuracy. Accuracy is difficult to achieve with traditional systems. In freight, more focused deliverables are required. However, with freight management software, a shipper can get time-saving communication protocols, organised billing approaches, and better options for managing dock and yard schedules.
Freight management becomes more of a daunting task to a shipper the more sophisticated a logistics network is. For every participant’s entry into the fray, the network balloons into a complex maze that is hard to analyse and control. With freight management software, consolidation and integration features reduce bottlenecks, hindrances, and uncertainties that are unique to the shipping environment.
