To stay competitive, transportation and logistics companies must adapt quickly to shifting market conditions and find ways to operate faster and more efficiently. Leveraging new technology is essential for creating and sustaining momentum.
Successfully executing your technology strategies requires a streamlined approach to utilize third party solutions. One of the most effective was to add these applications into your tech stack is to fully integrate them with your transportation management system (TMS), allowing everything to work as a single piece of software.
Different integrations can impact the usefulness of your TMS in multiple ways and combining these applications together creates a tailor-made system that transforms your current TMS into a powerful and future-proof solution.
Here are five different types of system integrations that can have a drastic impact on your transportation management system as well as your overall operations.
ELD and Telematics
Electronic logging devices (ELD) and telematics solutions can bring real-time visibility of mission-critical data and valuable performance insights directly into your TMS.
Connecting your TMS with platforms such as Isaac, Platform Science, and Samsara makes it possible to automatically detect and manage exceptions in driver performance, delivery schedules, and much more. ELD and telematics integrations also enhance safety and compliance, dispatch-driver workflows, and many other areas that impact operational efficiency.
Effective capacity management is crucial for optimizing resources and ensuring timely deliveries. A TMS integrated with leading capacity management solutions and load boards like Parade, 3GTMS, and DAT can efficiently match loads with available capacity, streamline dispatch processes, and improve load planning.
These integrations empower carriers and brokers to maximize fleet utilization, reduce empty miles, and ultimately enhance operational profitability.
Gaining end-to-end visibility of shipments, whether they are powered by your own assets or partner carriers, is vital to meet customer expectations and manage exceptions. Integrations with carriers and freight partners such as AAA Cooper, Project 44, Holland Regional, and Reddaway enables real-time tracking and monitoring of shipments.
Integrations with various tracking services can enable your TMS to give customers end-to-end visibility and give managers real-time alerts to proactively address delays and optimize load and route planning.
Streamlining payment processes and financial management is essential to accelerate cash flow and minimize overhead costs. TMS integrations with platforms like Freight Verify, RealVision Imaging, and Relay Payments can automate the processing of billing documents and accelerate payment cycles.
The integrations also reduce manual errors and improve overall financial visibility, enabling carriers and logistics providers to focus on core business activities.
Leveraging cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS, Azure, and Oracle can unlock scalability, flexibility, and advanced analytics capabilities for your TMS. Integrations with these platforms enable seamless data synchronization, storage, and analytics.
This empowers carriers to harness the power of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning at scale to have key insights to drive strategic decision making.
Integrating multiple solutions into your TMS holds immense potential, but waiting for TMS vendors to provide support for these integrations can be time-consuming and limiting. That's where Tranztec Extend comes into play. As a robust middle layer solution, Tranztec Extend bypasses TMS vendors with pre-built integrations that give you the freedom to add various third-party applications that fit with your business objectives and needs.
Tranztec Extend acts as a bridge that seamlessly connects your TMS with a wide range of industry-leading solutions, including the integrations mentioned above. It empowers you to enhance your TMS capabilities without disruption, enabling faster implementation, customization, and scalability. With Tranztec Extend, you gain full control over your technology strategy, accelerating your ability to leverage cutting-edge tools and achieve operational excellence.