Transportation Procurement Software is the hot ticket supporting corporate initiatives to reduce transportation spend and improve yield efficiency within the supply chain lifecycle. Many companies still perform transportation procurement manually using spreadsheet rate comparisons and by gut feel of market trends. Neither method is very rational. Nor, do they provide the decision making visibility to create a strategically oriented framework from which to drive these transportation cost and supply chain efficiency initiatives.

Selecting Transportation Procurement Software

Transportation managers are researching ways to automate their Transportation procurement process and supply chain efficiency. Transportation procurement software does not guarantee instant success nor does it yield instant supply chain efficiency. The step-by-step process involved in deciding how to automate your transportation procurement will likely produce many questions about your goals and strategic directions which will help you obtain success faster.

Transportation procurement success can be benchmarked in several ways. Some companies consider reducing transportation spend as success. Whereas, other companies seek to improve service level guarantees and reduce risk associated with carrier bids. The simple goal of reducing transportation costs must be thoroughly examined and strategically planned. Reducing transportation costs without a strategic plan can cause deterioration of service and additional risk in your supply chain efficiency. It is a well known fact that service providers move high yield shipments first. Creating a long-term partnership with your transportation service providers is important. Shifting freight between many transportation service providers and continually going out to bid may reduce transportation spend in the short-term, but in the long-term jeopardize the net results gained.

Global Tender Management software will help the transportation procurement process. It is not necessary to re-invent transportation procurement software by doing the programming in-house. When selecting transportation procurement software, purchase a hosted SaaS solution. SaaS is known as Software-as-a-Service. Successful transportation procurement is about collaboration and reducing administrative time so decision makers can focus on What-If Scenario Analysis (WISA) and total transportation cost per lane or movement.

A hosted SaaS transportation procurement solution will enable on-demand real time collaboration within different departments of your company and with local and global service providers. A hosted SaaS solution allows end to end collaboration during transportation procurement negotiations and after the process with auditing capabilities. It’s nice to get a low freight rate but if your accounting department isn’t in the loop your efforts might be in vain.

Another advantage of a hosted SaaS solution is maintenance. Hosted SaaS solutions are updated frequently with the latest technology giving your company the competitive edge in negotiating with service providers. Ask your software provider about the transportation experience of its staff. A software provider with in-house transportation experts in ocean, airfreight and trucking is going to lead you to success faster with valuable insights you can leverage in your transportation procurement negotiations.

Make sure your hosted SaaS transportation procurement solution has RDV technology. RDV is known as Role Dependent View. RDV allows users only to view data which is important to their participation in the transportation procurement process. RDV ensures data confidentially and security. Selecting the right transportation procurement software will put you in the driver seat, steering you strategically to better service at a lower total transportation spend.

Let Freight Team help you select the right Transportation Procurement Services for your company. Email us at: info@freightteam.com.