7 Tips for Optimizing Your Transportation Management System

您是否曾经想过食物是如何送到当地杂货店的？

在最终进入架子之前，杂货店与几家分销商合作，以保持其产品库存并满足客户需求。毕竟，如果您走进当地的Hannaford并看到所有架子空的架子，那将有点令人不安，就像在COVID-19大流行时拍摄的这张照片一样。

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With so many products being delivered on a regular basis, grocery stores need a logistics system that can manage and monitor their transportation operations.

但是，它们并不是唯一使用这种系统的企业。

Transportation management systems, or TMS, are fairly common with most retail and ecommerce businesses. If you're delivering to a customer or working with a distributor, a transportation management system helps you keep track of your delivery process and allows you to update customers with useful information about their order.

In this post, let's talk more about transportation management systems and what you can do to optimize it at your business.

What's a Transportation Management System?

运输管理系统（TMS）跟踪，流线并标准化您的业务运输过程。它监视了公司内外货物的物理流动，并确保货物正确并按时交付。bob全站app

A TMS can be a manual system, but most companies will usebob电竞官方下载, like the one below, to automate their delivery process.

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Transportation management systems create transparency for your shipping operations. Not only does your company know where shipments are at all times, but you can share this information with your customers as well. That way, if a freight truck is delayed or if there's a problem with a supply chain, you can communicate that information with your customers and provide them with an updated delivery date.

Transportation management systems are also useful if you're delivering products via different modes of transportation. For instance, if you have a freight truck operation and you're also delivering products by air, it can be tough to keep track of which shipments are going where and when they're going to arrive. If you have transportation management software, you can categorize your shipment so you know exactly how each good or product is being delivered.

现在，我们已经熟悉了TMS是什么，让我们看一些可以在业务中优化它的方法。

1.创建一个透明的运输过程。

Whether it's the next shipment of your most popular product or that new sweater you bought online, people want to know when their orders will arrive. Some transportation management software will let you share your shipping progress with customers — like in the example below — so they can see exactly where their order is and when it will be delivered.

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While transparency is great forcustomer service，它也使您的员工受益。例如，如果很容易判断出货物何时被延迟，则您的销售和客户服务人员可以主动提醒客户，以便他们知道延迟及其发生的原因。这可以帮助您改善customer satisfaction scoresand prevent potential churn because you're getting in front of the issue and resetting expectations of when the shipment will arrive.

2.利用运输聚合。

运输聚合是将多货物组合为一个订单时。这样一来，您就不会在不同的时间将几次交付到同一地点，而是进行批量交付。这种方法可以帮助您节省一些货运成本的钱，因为您的交货不如以前。

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3. Regularly Assess Your Shipping Process.

一旦建立了运输管理系统，这项工作就不会停止。现在，您应该不断地寻找改善运输过程的方法，因为您有一种监视其各个方面的方法。

A good rule of thumb is to look for ways to cut your shipping costs while still maintaining a speedy and reliable delivery operation. But, while you should be looking to cut unnecessary costs, remember that customers value reliability and efficiency when it comes to shipping. In the end, you don't want to jeopardize a successful transportation management system just to save a few bucks in the short term.

4. Build Strong Partnerships With Distributors.

如果您与分销商合作，随着时间的推移，与他们建立牢固且值得信赖的关系非常重要。毕竟，他们确保您的产品到达正确的位置和正确的时间，如果您的运输有问题，他们应该是第一个告诉您的人，而不是您的客户。您与他们进行的沟通越多，您对运输过程的见解就越多。而且，您在那里知道的越多，您可以与客户分享的信息越多，以增强他们在品牌方面的体验。

5. Adopt an Automated Software.

The bigger your shipping operation is, the more likely you'll need an automated system to monitor it. While your manual transportation management system may have worked so far, the more yourcustomer basegrows, the more deliveries your business will make. Which means, there's a greater chance that you'll run into an error from manually inputting shipping data. And, without an automated system to record everything, it can be harder to track down where things went wrong.

运输管理软件不仅可以帮助您发现这些问题的发生时，还可bob电竞官方下载以防止它们完全发生。使用自动化系统，人为错误的机会较少，并且犯错误时，大多数人在影响装运之前被软件捕获。bob电竞官方下载如果确实有什么经历，您的团队可以轻松找到它，并在客户注意到问题之前积极工作。

6. Reconsider Shipping Routes and Modes of Transportation.

If you've been using the same shipping routes for a while now, it may be time to rethink how your deliveries are getting to their locations. With new infrastructure, traffic patterns, and GPS technology available, there may be more ideal freight routes for delivering your products that you might not have noticed before.

运输方式也是如此。虽然您过去可能无法使用货运船或飞机交付，但您的业务可能现在也可以。或者，您可能会在世界各个地区有一个新的目标受众，而您唯一可以通过空中或海上来到他们的目标受众。采用新的运输方式是扩大客户群并与来自世界各地的买家建立联系的好方法。

7. Protect Your Data.

航运业务需要企业收集lot of sensitive information about their customers. This includes things like their names, where they live and work, their phone numbers, and more depending on what the product is and where it's being shipped to.

With all of this data being shared both within and outside of your company, it's important to prioritize data security in your transportation management system. The last thing that you want is to manage a crisis where all of your customers' data was given without your authorization. Not only can this land you in a tricky public relations situation, but it's also a very easy way to lose all of the trust and goodwill that you've built up with customers.

有关优化运输的更多方法，请了解supply chain visibility。