When fully incorporated into the daily operations of logistics companies, real-time transport visibility platforms have the potential to transform a business. Not only do they enable staff to get a clearer picture of the status of all deliveries as they happen, but they can also bring added benefits such as operational efficiencies, cost savings and better communication across the transport supply chain.
This sounds like a win-win for all organisations with a logistics element, but who specifically can benefit from using a transport visibility platform?
What types of companies should be using a real-time transport visibility platform?
This type of technology can benefit any company that is involved in planning and managing transport logistics and deliveries. In particular, the following three types of businesses should consider using it.
Logistics operators
For dedicated logistics companies, having real-time visibility across the transport supply chain is essential. Discover 10 reasons to have transport control tower software. These types of companies are the middlemen between suppliers and end-customers and are therefore relied upon by all parties involved to make sure deliveries are executed in a timely manner. By monitoring the status of trucks and deliveries live through a transport visibility platform, they can pre-empt potential disruptions and communicate more easily with the other stakeholders to ensure the impact is minimised for everyone. Transport visibility platforms also help to ensure that data from all parties is centralised in one place, making it easier for logistics operators to manage paperwork for all stages of a delivery and quickly respond in case any information is missing. This leads to better connected subcontractors,more satisfied customer and, last but not least, timely invoicing of the services performed.
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Retailers
When it comes to priorities for retailers, one of the most important is customer service. As e-commerce has taken off in recent years, people are increasingly expecting to receive their orders quickly. This is where transport visibility platforms can help. There is nothing more annoying as a customer than receiving a delivery time window of 12 hours, forcing you to plan your whole day around it. The use of AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms within many real-time transport visibility platforms, however, enables more accurate ETAs so that retailers can communicate specific delivery times to their customers with confidence. And when delays are unavoidable, they can alert customers more quickly so they can mitigate any disruption on their side.
Manufacturers
For manufacturers, managing warehouse capacity is important, particularly for those selling large items. Being able to track outgoing shipments in real-time and get more accurate forecasts of when they are likely to happen is essential for inventory planning.
Accurate timelines are also very important for these businesses, especially those producing fresh goods, such as meat and frozen food. The lead times for shipping these types of products are generally short, as they need to arrive at the end customer whilst still fresh, so reducing delays is crucial. Transport visibility platforms play a central role in helping to manage disruptions and minimise the impact of any delays for these types of deliveries. This not only helps to reduce the amount of potential waste created by delays, but also helps manufacturers deliver a better experience for their customers.
The data that is collected from historical deliveries can also be used in future route planning, to help reduce delivery times. This also benefits retailers’ end customers as the time to receive online orders will continue to decrease.
What job roles benefit most from using this technology?
Within each of these companies, there are whole teams dedicated to ensuring a shipment ends up in the right place at the right time with as little disruption to the end-customer as possible. That means there are several job roles that can benefit from using transport visibility platforms.
Delivery, logistics or dispatch managers
As the central point between the warehouse and the carrier, good communication is important for delivery managers. Having real-time visibility over transport operations enables them to know the status of a particular delivery at any given time and share accurate information quickly. Improved communication not only helps to ensure operations run smoothly, but build better relationships across the delivery supply chain, which can often involve several companies.
Transport planners
Transport planners are tasked with ensuring that delivery routes are designed in an optimal way, helping to increase efficiency and reduce disruptions. For them, accurate information is crucial for better understanding the logistics landscape as they can use it to make more strategic decisions with support from AI and ML algorithms that quickly analyse large amounts of data.
Transport visibility platforms collect many different types of data from different stakeholders which can then be fed into route planning and optimisation software to develop better routes in future.
Drivers and couriers
In order that planned routes can be executed efficiently, it’s important that drivers are aware of what’s going on at any given time. With real-time transport visibility platforms, they can get information relating to the status of a particular route – such as live traffic data – and easily receive updated routes which help them avoid situations that might cause delays. This information is usually relayed to drivers via a mobile app for easy access.
Customer service representatives
As previously mentioned, transport visibility platforms can help organisations provide a better customer service by enabling a more rapid response to any incidents. Given that the customer service team are the main point of contact for customers, it’s important that they are kept updated on the status of all deliveries so they can quickly and accurately respond to enquiries or complaints. Whilst delays or missed deliveries are never good, the impact can be minimised if information is shared in a timely manner.
These are just some of the types of businesses and job roles that can be supported with real-time transport visibility platforms, and many businesses who have incorporated this technology into their operations are already reaping the benefits . If your organisation is still undecided about whether to invest in one, it’s worth considering the positive impact it can have, not only on your transport operations, but also on costs and customer service.