Experts scrutinise transport management system software in roundtable discussion
A roundtable discussion with experts organised by Value Chain magazine examines the added value and evolution of transport management system software, or TMS for short. Frank Soudan (SAP), Kris Van Ransbeek (Streamliner), Floris Ryon (Generix Group), Eric Geerts (Descartes) and Hilde Lenaerts (valueXstream) were the guests. ValueXstream is Gumption's supply chain specialist.
A roundtable discussion with experts organised by Value Chain magazine examines the added value and evolution of transport management system software, or TMS for short. Frank Soudan (SAP), Kris Van Ransbeek (Streamliner), Floris Ryon (Generix Group), Eric Geerts (Descartes) and Hilde Lenaerts (valueXstream) were the guests. ValueXstream is Gumption's supply chain specialist.
Transport Management Systems are business tools that manage the logistics and movement of goods. Some quotes from the interview.
Hilde Lenaerts, end-to-end supply chain consultant at ValueXstream: "I notice that companies are increasingly buying a TMS to facilitate their growth. Among other things, they see it as a means to optimally set up their e-commerce."
Transport Management Systems are business tools that manage the logistics and movement of goods. Some quotes from the interview.
Hilde Lenaerts, end-to-end supply chain consultant at ValueXstream: "I notice that companies are increasingly buying a TMS to facilitate their growth. Among other things, they see it as a means to optimally set up their e-commerce."
"Performing tools, but integration is often lacking"
"It is important to first properly understand the business processes and find out exactly which parts you want to support. By diving deeper into the processes, you often discover that it is not the lack of a tool that causes inefficiency, but that the appropriate configuration/parameterisation or the necessary trust in the existing tools is not present. In that case, it suffices to redesign the processes with the tools already in place, rather than immediately purchasing a TMS."
"Yet I find that users are not yet getting the most out of their TMS, including to maximise load factors. Network thinking does not yet sufficiently result in sharing data to benefit from it together, such as in terms of cost optimisation and sustainability."
"I was previously working at Amazon and could observe how the whole chain there is seamlessly integrated: from outbound, over WMS, to inbound. When you as a consumer place an order, the software immediately takes into account what is on the inbound side. Although you obviously develop that more easily with a player like Amazon, I strongly believe there is still a lot of potential in terms of integration. Furthermore, the sustainability element will still gain importance from a legislative point of view. We also have to take into account future EU legislation that wants to reconstruct the origin of every product down to transport level. Here, integrated tools such as a TMS can make the difference."
"It is important to first properly understand the business processes and find out exactly which parts you want to support. By diving deeper into the processes, you often discover that it is not the lack of a tool that causes inefficiency, but that the appropriate configuration/parameterisation or the necessary trust in the existing tools is not present. In that case, it suffices to redesign the processes with the tools already in place, rather than immediately purchasing a TMS."
"Yet I find that users are not yet getting the most out of their TMS, including to maximise load factors. Network thinking does not yet sufficiently result in sharing data to benefit from it together, such as in terms of cost optimisation and sustainability."
"I was previously working at Amazon and could observe how the whole chain there is seamlessly integrated: from outbound, over WMS, to inbound. When you as a consumer place an order, the software immediately takes into account what is on the inbound side. Although you obviously develop that more easily with a player like Amazon, I strongly believe there is still a lot of potential in terms of integration. Furthermore, the sustainability element will still gain importance from a legislative point of view. We also have to take into account future EU legislation that wants to reconstruct the origin of every product down to transport level. Here, integrated tools such as a TMS can make the difference."
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