The housing market has been incredibly volatile over the past few years. Many people have decided to stay put due to sky-high prices, limited availability, and explosive mortgage rates. Budgeting home improvement projects can be a better way to get what you want without the additional cost, uncertainty and risks of buying and selling, not to mention the disruption from uprooting and developing new routines.
The same trend is happening in the transportation and logistics industry. Motor carriers and freight brokers are improving their existing TMS platforms instead of switching to new software providers and paying large upfront costs and dedicating significant time and resources to disruptive IT projects that rarely go as planned.
Fortunately, there is a way to make your existing TMS capable of meeting your evolving business needs — by using a SaaS-based integration layer. Your TMS can seamlessly connect with new or existing trading partners and with complimentary third-party applications to create smoother, more streamlined data flows.
If you are considering ripping and replacing a TMS, you have reached a breaking point. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but one likely culprit was having limited options for connecting with mobile applications — a must-have to compete in today’s digital world.
Another reason is using canned workflows and processes that make it difficult to provide customers with real-time updates based on workflow triggers, such as when a driver crosses a geofence before arriving at a facility. As well, your system might be too complex and slow to respond to requests from trading partners for new EDI and API integrations.
All these challenges and more can slow progress, which causes internal and external frustrations. It’s understandable, then, why deploying a new solution could seem easier than fixing your current one.
Replacing your TMS is a weighty decision and heavy financial commitment. The project has murky implementation timelines that can disrupt operations far longer than anticipated. New vendors also have a knack of overpromising what their solution is capable of.
Eager homebuyers experience the same frustrations. In many markets, they are accustomed to offering more than the house is worth to outbid other buyers. Some might waive the inspection to entice the seller to accept their offer and risk discovery of structural issues that were not disclosed.
The promise of a new house is exciting – and may seem easier than making improvements to a current home – but the process can quickly fall apart by moving too fast and overlooking important details.
When the promise of ‘new’ fades, current systems – just like proven, quality homes – become much more appealing. They’re reliable, sturdy, and familiar and just need a little restoration to be modern, fresh, and ready to take on whatever comes next.
Leveraging a SaaS-based integration platform that integrates data from third-party applications creates a smooth path forward by increasing the effectiveness of your current system. It can be done quickly, with a single setup that gives users access to information they need, in the format they need it, with insights that enable better, faster and more strategic decisions.
Here are five perks of having a well-integrated TMS built from an integrated system:
Using a SaaS-based integration platform that connects existing TMS platforms to a wide variety of third-party applications will make it possible to plan and execute strategies on your terms, not your vendor’s terms. Upgrading a TMS does not require a complete makeover. Even small renovations can have a big impact.