Rolling with the punches in logistics: The role of TMS in handling unforeseen challenges

Last-minute freight cancellation 

Last-minute cancellations by a contracted transporter cause delays leading to business loss and need to be resolved immediately. Finding an alternative vehicle for ad-hoc requirements in a manual-driven procurement module is challenging, and these time-intensive processes lead to significant delays in vehicle finalization and placement.

In-transit discrepancies

In-transit vehicles often encounter unforeseen challenges like unfavorable weather conditions, poor lane infrastructure, unexpected congestion, vehicle breakdown, etc. These roadblocks delay the delivery cycles, affecting transporters’ performance and customer satisfaction. Lack of operational transparency and primitive tracking hinders shippers’ control, responsiveness, and risk mitigation strategies. A lack of insights into the discrepancies hinders penalty justification.

Collaboration gaps

The supply chain relies on seamless communication and data exchanges across a complex stakeholder network. These stakeholders collaborate at every process stage- from freight procurement to delivery verifications, for efficient execution and management. Any minor gap in the collaboration module can result in significant delays, operational discrepancies, repetitive stages, increased detention charges, and many more.

Demand fluctuations

Consumer demands and expectations are volatile, meaning they fluctuate at regular intervals due to various factors. In a competitive industry setup, businesses tend to expand their growth and gain an upper edge by catering to these demands faster and more efficiently. Manual forecasting hinders an enterprise’s capacity planning and ability to fulfill consumer requirements, resulting in opportunity losses and reduced profitability.

Overstocking and Stockout

Inventory management is a crucial stage in the supply chain workflow. Early arrivals of goods due to non-strategic capacity planning can lead to overstocking and affect warehousing efficiency. On the other hand, delayed arrivals result in stock-outs, hindering the business’ ability to meet consumer demands. In turn, they fail to achieve a competitive advantage in a competitive environment.

Handling perishable and transit-sensitive goods

Damaged goods are a critical threat to customer satisfaction. Transportation of perishable goods is a rising concern among FMCG and pharma manufacturers. It is challenging to find the right vehicle type at the right time. Other factors like delayed order dispatches and in-transit challenges can affect quality, resulting in significant financial losses for the company.

Automated reallocation

Suppose a previously-contracted transporter fails to place the vehicle at the last minute. In that case, system automation reassigns the load to the next available transporter or posts the requirement in the spot market for risk purchasing. It expedites the vehicle finalization process for ad-hoc requirements, preventing placement delays and overcharging. 

For example, if a transporter cancels the freight placement, the digital solution immediately reassigns the load to the next best-matching carrier partner. It helps them avoid higher detention charges and transportation delays.

TMS-driven analytics

TMS solutions with TMS-driven predictive analytics and dashboards to help logistics managers foresee the upcoming shifts in consumer demands, industry trends, and supply chain risks. These analytics enable data-backed forecasting, planning, and management approaches, empowering organizations with better control, responsiveness, agility, and sustainability. 

For example, data analytics and performance reviews allow procurement teams to gain insights into transporters’ competency, prevalent freight rates, and OTIF dynamics. This empowers the organization with strategic carrier selection.

Real-time tracking

GPS/SIM-based tracking solutions offer real-time insights into the in-transit vehicle’s movements, status, geographical location, and ETA. This builds transparency across all stakeholders, strengthening trust and supply chain relationships. Moreover, it offers data on delays, discrepancies, and penalty clauses, allowing strategic justification and faster redressals.  

For example, in case of the breakdown of an in-transit vehicle, all stakeholders (logistics teams, transporters, and customers) get real-time updates on the unprecedented event. The transporter can send a substitute vehicle to prevent delays, logistics teams gain justified penalty reports, and customers can adjust their unloading schedule.

100% process visibility  

A cloud-based platform captures all activities in real-time, offering holistic visibility across the stakeholder network. This transparency allows the logistics managers to stay on par with simultaneous process stages occurring in different BUs. Absolute operational visibility builds trust in the supply chain module and reduces manual follow-ups, improving team performance. 

For instance, the logistics workflow comprises various operations across a large network. Absolute visibility into the process stages allows the stakeholders to gain real-time insights into the activity status. They can identify and redress any discrepancy immediately, preventing escalations.

One-window collaboration

The logistics workflow relies on collaboration efficiency, and a TMS improves it with the power of advanced digital communication and information sharing. A holistic platform allows all stakeholders, within and beyond the organization, to collaborate seamlessly, eliminating communication gaps, discrepancies, and delays. 

This centralized collaboration model enables a vast network of stakeholders to exchange information on existing risks seamlessly, potential threats, and process gaps in real-time. This collective redressal strategy ensures better problem resolution and responsive control across the supply chain.