Food Producer & Distributor Implements Transportation Management System Software – Expanding Footprint of the NJ-Based Logistics IT Provider among Leading US Food Shippers

October 6, 2016 – Fair Lawn, NJ – UltraShipTMS proudly announces the latest addition to its “mushrooming” roster of valued client companies – Giorgio Foods Xpress.  Beginning as a mushroom grower in 1928, Giorgio expanded into a fully integrated grower, processor and distributor of fresh, frozen, canned and jarred food products for Retail, Industrial and Educational markets.  UltraShipTMS is to implement its industry leading transportation management system (TMS) to automate Giorgio’s inbound and outbound shipping processes.

Giorgio also elected to enable Ultra’s LoadFusion optimization module for achieving the most effective loading, rating and routing of truckload and LTL shipments, as well as Ultra’s Private Fleet Management tools to manage the food shipper’s private fleet resources.

Giorgio Foods Xpress is just the latest high volume food shipper to elect to implement the UltraShipTMS solution which has become the logistics IT solution favored by leading food shipping organizations.  Giorgio joins esteemed food producers, distributors and packagers using the UltraShipTMS platform such as Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, Land O’ Lakes, Aurora Organic Dairy, KeHE Distributors, and the Ardagh Group.

Rainer Tauchert, the UltraShipTMS Implementation Manager assigned to the new Giorgio Foods Xpress project expressed confidence that the deployment of the UltraShipTMS platform will drive significant results.  Tauchert said, “We’re confident Giorgio Foods Xpress will experience similar improved manageability and increased visibility over transportation data and overall functionality enjoyed by our many other food shipping customers.  Replacing existing outbound manual processes with UltraShipTMS, Giorgio Foods Xpress will experience more manageable dispatching and the ability to pre-build shipments. In addition, the solution will improve communication to drivers and yield numerous other recognizable efficiency gains and cost reductions.”

CIO for The Giorgi Companies, Gary Burkert, was upbeat about the new technology which aligns nicely with Giorgio’s deep commitment to continuous improvement and food supply chain innovation.  Burkert said, “This implementation is one of several key investments Giorgio is making in pursuit of the ‘Supply Chain of the Future’. Embracing a technology like UltraShipTMS extends this forward-looking principle across all supply chain logistics processes and results in even better service and satisfaction for all Giorgio’s customers.”

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Sometimes the signals issued by the economy are completely contrary, making planning for the next quarter a dicey proposition.  The US economy is currently experiencing one such period.  There is strong evidence in support of growth and equally persuasive evidence indicating weakness.  Where do things really stand? How should American businesses proceed given the confusing messages? What can organizations do to mitigate the effects of these periods of uncertainty?

Side by side on my news ticker were the following two stories – one from Bloomberg, the other from Associated Press.  Bloomberg’s article, “Durable Goods Orders Change Slightly in August, Due to Weak Manufacturing”, notes that shipments of capital equipment declined for the fourth straight month indicating lingering weakness in manufacturing.  While the AP piece, “US Consumer Confidence Jumps in September” heralded consumer confidence numbers rising to the highest level in nine years.

For companies involved in the manufacture and sales of durable goods, this conflicting set of economic indicators makes it difficult to decide whether to increase inventories or thin them out.  Everyone – from building and construction materials companies to electronics makes/sellers, to apparel industry companies and other retailers – is making bets on which way the economy is heading.  Some will win, and some will lose.  Too much inventory in a shrinking economy is a drag on profitability.  Too little inventory can also lead to missed opportunity and less profitability too.

The hedge to either bet comes in the form of a robust logistics IT solution – one that enables nimble and effective reaction to rapid changes in market environments.  No one has a crystal ball.  Organizations may not be able to accurately guess which way things will shake out.  But whether consumers continue to spend, driving manufacturing back toward growth territory, or the sour outlook succeeds in dampening consumer spending through the Holidays, those using logistics IT solutions like TMS and freight/route optimization tools are set to weather the shifting fates.

For durable goods manufacturers, TMS tools help ramp up quickly once the decision is made to bring raw materials into plants.  For retailers, optimization tools help determine the best routes between DCs and retail outlets; or even between vendors and retail outlets when the need arises to get products quickly to the shelves.  For builders and construction materials providers, TMS tools make easy work of directing inbound shipments to job sites and other temporary shipping points when and if new home starts and commercial projects are suddenly on the rise.

The bottom line is, logistics IT tools provide a modicum of control over the uncertainty and unpredictability US markets are seeing with greater frequency today.  If you don’t have a strong solution in place, you may be at a disadvantage during these periods.

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Millennial workers are simultaneously praised and criticized for their mindset when it comes to participating in the modern workforce.  To a very large extent, the effects of emerging technology on the workplace and how it influences the nature of how work is performed are at the root of this praise and criticism.  Smart supply chain management organizations are embracing both the new technologies and the millennial workforce’s perspective, leveraging cloud TMS and other cloud solutions to maintain competitive advantage.  Let’s explore how and why.

The criticisms of Millennial generation workers typically stem from the perception (prevalent among older Gen X and Boomers) that Millennials don’t have an appropriate work ethic and want to earn more while doing less actual work.  Scratch beneath the surface however, and it becomes quickly evident that this is not a simple reflection of laziness (a fact we’ve illustrated in earlier posts like this one on Millennials in the workforce).  Quite the opposite.  It is in fact, a reflection of the emphasis Millennials place on working smarter and more efficiently.   This ethic of innovation finds its roots in the prime benefit offered by the cloud-computing business environment.  And this is the environment which the Millennial generation has been marinating in since birth.

Unlike their predecessors, Millennials don’t remember the manual systems and practices that existed to manage all kinds of business processes before the advent of the Internet.  There is no glory in breaking a sweat where it is not necessary to do so in the mind of today’s young professionals.  This concept seems like an aversion to hard work to the old guard who spent years upon years managing and reconciling transportation data in Excel spreadsheets.  The concept behind cloud-based business process management is, in reality, a rejection of an obsolete and noncompetitive paradigm.

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Why would any organization focused on remaining viable/profitable and advancing their competitive offerings elect to use solutions that are stuck in the Twentieth Century? 

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“What,” wonders the Millennial supply chain management professional, “is the benefit of working harder to complete the repetitious albeit important functions of carrier rating and management, freight/route optimizations, metrics for tender acceptance, on-time delivery, carrier performance and all the rest of the tasks required to effectively manage transportation logistics?  Particularly when there are technologies to automate these processes, freeing up the workers’ time to focus on strategic improvements based on unprecedented data visibility?”

Cloud TMS solutions, even more so than the on-premise TMS solutions they are quickly rendering obsolete, are the undisputed trend when it comes to logistics IT tools.  For so many reasons like low cost barrier to entry, unmatched collaborative capability, ease of implementation and use, scalability and even their cutting edge web-native user interfaces, the Cloud TMS is where the transportation logistics and supply chain industry is headed.  Just as the Millennial worker is where the modern blobal workforce is headed.

The next generation of worker in our industry naturally gravitates toward the next generation of technology.  Why would any organization focused on remaining viable/profitable and advancing their competitive offerings elect to use solutions that are stuck in the Twentieth Century?  Even more quizzically, why would any organization implement a solution that wasn’t – like the Millennial workers themselves – born in the age of the Cloud?

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Global Leader in Door Manufacturing Implements Transportation Management System Software

October 25, 2016 – Fair Lawn, NJ – UltraShipTMS proudly announces the latest addition to its growing roster of valued client companies – Masonite International.  Masonite, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of interior doors and entry door systems, has chosen to implement the UltraShipTMS platform for transportation management after an exhaustive search and comparison of several leading TMS solution providers.  Masonite will be implementing UltraShipTMS to manage its inbound and outbound logistics to and from its 45 manufacturing facilities across the US, Canada and Mexico.

UltraShipTMS will deploy its TMS Core and Fleet Management solution modules delivering web-based functionality facilitating multi-stop load modeling/building, consolidation and execution; and dedicated fleet management.  Masonite will leverage UltraShipTMS to automate and control truckload and intermodal freight rating, rules-based tendering, fleet dispatching, spot bidding and shipment tracking as well as exception management and reporting.  The state-of-the-art logistics IT solution UltraShipTMS deploys for Masonite integrates fully with the manufacturer’s existing ERP, rating and financial software.

“We’re looking forward to collaborating with key Masonite stakeholders to ensure a smooth and effective deployment process,” said Christopher Noble, the Ultra Implementation Manager assigned to the Masonite project.  Noble continued, “It is during these critical first steps that implementation teams at UltraShipTMS set the tenor of the relationship for the duration with all new customers.  We’re always gratified as our award-winning service, training and support leads customers to the realization that they’ve selected an exceptionally dedicated and capable partner.”

Joe Castain, Director of Logistics at Masonite shared the optimistic outlook for the new TMS project saying, “UltraShipTMS with their best-in-class technology will provide Masonite the right tools and visibility to effectively manage our entire freight process”.

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Would you order a cheeseburger at your local Chinese restaurant?  Probably not.  The Wall Street Journal reports electronics makers like Jabil Circuit Inc., a key supplier of components to Apple, and Flextronics International are among a recent spate of electronics manufacturers entering the supply chain software business.  There are enough critical considerations to weigh when choosing between providers with a historical background in supply chain automation.  Why would anyone further complicate things by buying logistics software from a provider with roots so far removed from supply chain logistics?

At first blush, it seems to make sense.  After all, electronics manufacturers are well-acquainted with managing complex supply chains in their operations.  But that is where the similarity ends.  Just because an electronics manufacturer has experience managing its own complex supply chain, we shouldn’t expect them to understand the very different challenges and business requirements facing a food shipper and the cold chain.  Nor do we expect them to understand the specific pains experienced by retail shippers managing inbound freight from thousands of vendors and the influence of seasonality.

One of the key benefits of engaging a reputable SaaS TMS provider is the unmatched expertise these providers bring to the enormous task of automating supply chains.  The technology is only one facet of this task.  The real value lies in the experience these experts have earned during hundreds of unique implementations for organizations across numerous industries.  There is no substitute for real-world experience in meeting and overcoming industry-specific supply chain challenges.

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Just because a Chinese restaurant has a broiler and cooks in the kitchen doesn’t mean they can whip up the all-American cheeseburger deluxe.   Similarly, just because an electronics manufacturer manages its own complex supply chains doesn’t make it a supply chain solution expert.

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Jabil execs cite the low margins in the electronics business as the primary reason for making a move into SaaS software which, as an industry, enjoys much higher margins.  It’s hard enough to find a solution provider with your best interests at heart.  Clearly, helping a manufacturer improve its margins at your expense isn’t likely the greatest motivator.   Even among providers native to the transportation logistics space, you may not be a top priority customer.

If you’re using the largest TMS solution providers and you’re not a Fortune 50 company, you’re a blip on their radar and not likely to get the best, most-responsive service.

If you’re using any of the TMS providers recently involved in merger & acquisition activity, your provider is preoccupied with operational and organizational challenges and not focused 100% on your needs.

If you’re considering one of the many new, venture capital funded entrants to the field, you’re looking at solutions a mile wide but only inches deep.

If you’re not a 3PL, TMS providers focused on the 3PL market aren’t stretching to serve your unique needs as a shipper.

What you should be looking for in a SaaS TMS solution is a provider not so enormous they won’t afford you some level of input into their product development roadmap.  Look for a SaaS TMS provider with years of proven success, and one that is built since inception in the cloud (i.e. not a web-enabled pretender).   Seek solutions designed expressly for high volume shippers like you; not brokers!

Just because a Chinese restaurant has a broiler and cooks in the kitchen doesn’t mean they can whip up the all-American cheeseburger deluxe.   Similarly, just because an electronics manufacturer manages its own complex supply chains doesn’t make it a supply chain solution expert.

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You’ve implemented a TMS to (among other reasons) automate the tendering process.  If you’re like many shippers, you’ve set up a low-cost automatic tendering sequence in each lane.  The cascading automation of the low-cost tendering process is explicitly designed to get your loads accepted, in the timeliest manner and by the lowest cost carrier available.  So it is beyond frustrating when, in spite of all your efforts to implement tendering automation tools in your TMS, low carrier acceptance levels eat deeply into your lead times and expose your freight to higher cost carriers. Or even subject you to the premium rates of the spot market.  Want to know a secret trick for improving carrier tender acceptance using any TMS?

There is a commonly encountered feature of the modern TMS application which, if leveraged in a smart way, can optimize your carrier tender acceptance levels and deliver on the TMS’s promise of longer lead times and lower freight spend.

I am speaking of the humble carrier scorecard like the ones UltraShipTMS provides.  “Where’s the secret in that” you might ask? After all, most TMS solutions already offer carrier scorecards as a feature.  Carrier performance scorecards are commonly used to measure KPIs for such functions as spot quote activity, EDI compliance, check call compliance and timeliness, on time delivery performance, driver performance, and yes, you guessed it, tender acceptance.  But simply having a means for collecting this data does not necessarily translate into action.

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This simple, no-cost strategy works beautifully to ensure the longer lead times and lower freight costs promised by TMS is actually delivered.

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The fact is you are not getting everything you can out of the scorecard if you are only sharing it with your carriers’ operational team.  Here’s the critical piece of this secret trick.  Carrier sales staff can be very effective agents for the shippers they sell into; but only if they’re given visibility into tendering activity. The carrier’s salesperson is a completely overlooked stakeholder in this equation.  Shockingly, most shippers overlook what could be the most potent advocate they could have within their carriers’ respective organizations.

Think about it this way.   Carrier sales reps are subject to quarterly/annual reviews wherein their success or failure is used to calculate their compensation.  Nothing provides a more powerful incentive for salespeople to ensure the capacity they’ve promised to shippers is delivered.  If a shipper provides access to the carrier scorecard (specifically the metrics on Tender Accept/Reject volumes) on a weekly basis, it gives the salesman the ability to advocate for the shipper and press their operations team to boost acceptance levels.  (Note this trick also works with On-Time Performance metrics).

What UltraShipTMS has learned over decades in this industry is that carrier salesmen will often agree to move a set number of loads in a given lane for a shipper.  Yet, when the agreed-upon tenders are issued via TMS automation, they are not always accepted.  What’s worse, the carrier salesman has no way of knowing that his commitment to the shipper/customer isn’t being honored by his operations department.  If carrier sales agents are provided a view into tender acceptance (or lack thereof) figures, they can effectively pressure the appropriate persons in their operations department to ensure the commitments they’ve made are being satisfied.  On a more long-term basis, access to the performance metrics they’re monitoring via the carrier scorecard also provides leverage to the carrier salesmen to keep his operations staff within acceptable tolerances.  It is as much a win for the carrier as it is for the shipper.

This simple, no-cost strategy works beautifully to ensure the longer lead times and lower freight costs promised by TMS is actually delivered.

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Wherever you stand on the results of the recent Presidential election, one thing is absolutely clear – there are likely to be many changes holding great potential to affect your transportation management strategies in unpredictable ways.  Are you confident your current program’s processes and practices are flexible and dynamic enough to handle whatever may come?  Here are a few likely scenarios that should give you pause to consider the overall state of your existing logistics practices.

One of the most noted promises put forth by the incoming President is the construction of an enormous wall across the entire southern border between the US and Mexico.  While the details of this ambitious project have yet to be revealed, if it is indeed accomplished it will surely result in radical changes to how and where freight will enter and exit the United States.  These changes will impact calculations of such critical transportation and logistics metrics as lead times, delivery schedules, routes, mileage and a host of others.  And, since a project of such magnitude surely won’t be completed all at once – instead being built in phases – the entry/exit points are sure to move over time.

Without the ability to easily update lanes in the routing guide, on-board new carriers in different lanes, adjust transit time calculations etc., a shipper’s efficiency in terms of cost and timeliness is sure to suffer.

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Now is the time – before the coming onslaught of new policies – to assess whether your incumbent solution is up to the task of addressing rapid, radical change and to upgrade your transportation logistics plans.

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Similarly, US withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would be, “much more disruptive than withdrawing from TPP” according to Jon Lieber, U.S. director at the Eurasia Group, a geopolitical risk consultancy company.  Lieber notes, “Supply chains for a number of U.S.-based manufacturers are fully integrated across the U.S.-Mexico border”.   Again, while the impact of such a radical change is hard to forecast, it is certain to create headaches for organizations involved in cross-border transportation and logistics.  For food shippers, the calculus is equally daunting as an exit from NAFTA is likely to spur increases in the prices of certain produce and other agricultural products currently imported from Mexico into the US.

Another grand policy plan emanating from the incoming administration involves backing out of emerging international trade agreements.  The potential geopolitical and economic ramifications aside, the immediate impact of a unilateral exit from these existing agreements will be momentous.  While the results of such actions are impossible to predict, the withdrawal of the US from the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) which is likely to occur, will certainly have a chilling effect on trade with China.  This will have an undeniable if yet unknown effect on retailers who ship the majority of goods sold in the US from manufacturing plants in China and other Asian countries.  US-based retailers are facing a serious shake up in their supply chains should trade wars break out.  The sourcing of goods may shift quickly away from Pacific Rim manufacturers.  Whether domestic manufacturing returns or sourcing from other low-cost manufacturing countries fills the gap, inbound logistics processes are bound to feel the change “bigly”.

Now is the time – before the coming onslaught of new policies – to assess whether your incumbent solution is up to the task of addressing rapid, radical change and to upgrade your transportation logistics plans.

The post A Great Wall and China – Trump Trade Plans Impact Food, Retail Shippers appeared first on UltraShipTMS.

Q: What the heck is an API (application program interface) and why should a transportation manager give a rat’s backside about this techie term?  A: The API is the key to connecting the universe of tech apps, solutions and programs essential to the twenty-first century, cloud-based supply chain.  While it may seem like the changes are coming too quickly to handle, there are providers out there ready to help shippers manage the convergence of these technologies so that logistics users can be logistics experts without having to also be tech experts.  Here’s the story.

It’s happening whether you’re ready or not.   The relentless march of technological advancement continues to seriously disrupt businesses of every kind.  Economic evolution and rapidly shifting market trends are driving the emergence of newer, ever more sophisticated technologies.  Internet connectivity and the concept of an “internet of things” drives the convergence of technologies between industries at a rate never before seen.   It can seem impossible to keep up and even more impossible to make decisions about logistics IT that doesn’t result in wasted time, money and effort.

The shipping organizations fully embracing advances and refusing to shy away from adopting new tech will survive while the rest will fall far behind.  At the center of this is the cloud-based TMS platform.  A world class cloud-based TMS must be able to connect to all manner of new technology efficiently and effectively in order to succeed as the convergence point for a successful supply chain management program. Even as new tools continue to emerge.

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Cloud-based TMS providers with flexible APIs are becoming the dominant force in the logistics IT industry precisely because they more readily support connectivity with any and all new technology as it comes to market.

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Let’s examine the numerous recent technological advances relevant to transportation industries. There are some currently in use (or being quickly phased in) dictated either by law or by market demand.  These include telematics technologies like Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) which are mandated for all fleets operating in the US.  There are also automated fleet tracking and tracing solutions built on cellular and GPS technologies such as MacroPoint, FourKites, Peoplenet, Orbcomm, OceanInsights and others.  There are increasingly accurate mileage and mapping solutions from RandMcNally, PC Miler, GoogleMaps and others.  Don’t forget the growing embrace of Big Data practices for data-driven logistics planning, enabled by rating and BI solutions from companies like SMC3, Tableau, FedEx, UPS and others.

There are even newer technologies in advanced stages of development, expected to make a significant impact on the transportation industry in the very near future.  Tech like self-driving tractor-trailers being perfected by Otto (recently purchased by Uber) and parcel delivery drones like those being developed by Amazon.

Add to this complex mix the broadening array of supply chain logistics automation technologies touching activities upstream and downstream from transportation logistics like warehouse management systems (WMS), yard management solutions (YMS), ERP systems, automated fulfillment tools, complex retail ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Walmart and Alibaba, and a logistics manager may be ready to cry.  The key to quick and easy connectivity between all these systems is the flexible API.   The API is the code allowing software programs to communicate with each other.  Cloud TMS platforms like UltraShipTMS are designed to offer open APIs enabling connectivity and data transfer between all the systems mentioned above.

This is the weakness of hosted TMS solutions and the web-enabled solutions that put a cloud-style interface over the older, hosted platform technology.  Accommodating breaking new technologies using an older system with more rigid integration points makes adoption of new solutions more difficult and costly to achieve in a timely way.  Cloud-based TMS providers with flexible APIs are becoming the dominant force in the logistics IT industry precisely because they more readily support connectivity with any and all new technology as it comes to market.  Is your TMS ready for the convergence?

The post Critical Role of Cloud-Based TMS in Technological Convergence appeared first on UltraShipTMS.

One of the Largest Distributors of Fresh Produce in the US Implements TMS, Optimizer and Private Fleet Modules – Expanding Footprint of the NJ-Based Logistics IT Provider among Leading US Food Shippers

December 15, 2016 – Fair Lawn, NJ – UltraShipTMS proudly announces the latest addition to its bumper crop of food shipping customers – Castellini Group of Companies.  With more than 3,000 fruits, vegetables and floral items including a complete line of fresh-cut value added, organic, specialty and locally grown products for the retail and foodservice markets, the Castellini Group of Companies is a produce industry leader. UltraShipTMS is to implement its transportation management system (TMS) to automate Castellini’s inbound and outbound shipping processes. 

Castellini also elected to enable Ultra’s LoadFusion optimization module for achieving the most effective loading, rating and routing of truckload and LTL shipments, as well as Ultra’s Private Fleet Management tools to manage the food shipper’s private fleet resources.

The Castellini Group of Companies is just the latest high volume food shipper to elect to implement the UltraShipTMS solution which has become the logistics IT solution favored by leading food shipping organizations.  Castellini joins esteemed food producers, distributors and packagers using the UltraShipTMS platform such as Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, Land O’ Lakes, Aurora Organic Dairy, KeHE Distributors, Giorgio Foods Xpress and others.

Chris Noble, the UltraShipTMS Implementation Manager assigned to the new Castellini project expressed readiness and excitement for impending implementation saying, “Castellini is about to experience the significant benefits already enjoyed by the swelling list of food shipping companies using UltraShipTMS solutions.  We’re particularly excited to show Castellini the benefits of using the UltraShip platform for management and optimization of their private fleet resources from the same screen as their common carriers using UltraShipTMS and LoadFusion Optimizer – something not easily accomplished using other solutions.”

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President-Elect Donald Trump. whose unexpected victory in the election stunned the world, ran on a platform of promises to upend the status quo in all areas of government.  His campaign routinely railed against what he characterized as oppressive governmental regulations.  In fact, the very first bullet point listed under the heading “Donald J Trump’s Vision” on the “Regulations” page of the Trump/Pence website reads, “Ask all Department heads to submit a list of every wasteful and unnecessary regulation which kills jobs, and which does not improve public safety, and eliminate them.”  Most independent trucking company owner/operators hope that the reviled ELD mandate will be the first government regulation Trump eliminates.  How likely is this to happen?

This is a question receiving a great deal of scrutiny amongst transportation industry insiders and the media serving the industry.  Most informed industry watchers seem to agree that it is highly unlikely the ELD mandate – the clause in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration law that requires all semi-tractors to install electronic logging devices or face penalties – will be rolled back.

In a December 5^th article at Trucks.com, it is noted that “the ELD rule was challenged in court and upheld, [according to] Avery Vise, president of TransComply, a trucking industry regulatory compliance consulting firm, {who] said he doesn’t see Trump reversing the regulation because the administration would have to undo the ‘formal rulemaking process.’ The push for ELD use dates back to President George W. Bush’s administration.”

The popular Overdrive website, a favorite of truckers and trucking operators revealed the results of a poll of truckers and small trucking company operators regarding the ELD mandate in a December 7 piece.  They wrote, “Opposition or antipathy to ELDs is so strong among Overdrive‘s audience that 7 in 10 readers report eye-ing the mandate’s pre-2000 model year exemption for their operation.”  Smaller operators are far more troubled about the mandate and the significant expense involved in complying with the mandate than their larger, more financially secure counterparts.  The OverdriveOnline article quotes one such small operator who feels like the law is biased against the smaller players.  He says, “If an independent like me is fine with my paper logs, why force me to [use an ELD]? I may get my log checked by an officer maybe once or twice a year. In over 30 years I’ve never had a ticket or warning on any logging issue. So what’s really the issue? If I’m off my log and get checked out I am subject to the consequences, paper or electronic.”  Many like him believe the law gives an unfair advantage to the larger carriers.

The Commerce Carrier Journal offers prescient predictions for the law to be retained pointing out that, “The ELD mandate in particular, which took effect last December and gave carriers two years to comply, was mandated by Congress in 2012 with a strong Republican majority in the House. Lane Kidd, head of the carrier coalition the Trucking Alliance, says he doubts Congress will walk back regulations it initiated. ‘To roll back Congressional actions — that would be far fetched.’”

President Elect Trump promised on the campaign trail to “drain the swamp” of DC politics and bounce the entrenched private interests from the seats of power.  The populist message clearly resonated with small business owners like the trucking operator quoted in the Overdrive article.   Sadly, if his early cabinet appointments are any indication – replete with establishment figures and DC insiders – it doesn’t seem likely that the little guy will be afforded any relief.  At least not by way of repeal of the ELD mandate.

The post Will Trump Do Away With the ELD Mandate? appeared first on UltraShipTMS.

Leading B2B Publication Releases Annual List of Notable Software & Technology Providers

December 15, 2016 – Fair Lawn, NJ – Extending the series of wins in 2016 both in terms of new business and industry recognition, UltraShipTMS is once again to be included in Food Logistics magazine’s list of top software and technology companies.  For the 12^th consecutive year, Food Logistics surveyed software and technology companies that specialize in the unique challenges of the food and beverage supply chain to come up with their notable list of companies whose products and service ensure efficient transportation and warehousing, minimize food waste, facilitate safe operations and assure regulatory compliance. 

The UltraShipTMS solution, in use by numerous large volume food shippers, is included in the 2016 FL100+ list of the best suppliers logistics and supply chain technology serving the food industry.  This inclusion comes as UltraShipTMS continues to add new clients to its list of existing customers within the food industry.  In 2016, UltraShipTMS was selected for implementation by notable food shippers like Castellini Foods, Giorgio Foods and Aurora Organic Dairy.

“UltraShipTMS is reinforcing its reputation as an exceptional tool for food producers and shippers” says Rainer Tauchert, the implementation manager currently guiding the deployment of the UltraShipTMS solution for Giorgio Foods.   “Our well-known history of serving leading food and agricultural producers and shippers provides UltraShipTMS with the expert perspectives needed to address the specific challenges facing the food industry including current concerns over FSMA compliance” said Tauchert.

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So the champagne corks have all popped, the confetti’s swept up and the euphoria of the New Year festivities is behind us.  Standing, squinting in the cold, stark daylight with a fresh year stretching out before us, we ask ourselves as transportation industry professionals, “how can  our TMS solutions deliver benefits beyond simply managing transportation, unlocking value in other areas of the organization that translate into a strong and lasting advantage over competitors?  Here are a pair of strategies savvy transportation pros with the right technology use to drive advantage for their companies beyond generally accepted norms of TMS.

First, we can develop even tighter controls over freight spend.  Yes, this is always one of the primary goals of a TMS application.  But there are strategies that yield results way beyond the capture of the “low hanging fruit” like increased tendering automation, improved pickup/delivery scheduling and freight rate management.  For example, significantly more savings can be wrung out of transportation logistics by overlaying rate benchmarking strategies upon freight rate management in your TMS.  The spend visibility TMS solutions delivery through the systematic capture and centralized cataloging of carrier rates by lane affords shippers the ability to engage in rate benchmarking.

Rate Benchmarking

By setting rate benchmarks by lane and inputting that information into the routing guide in TMS, automated tendering can be configured to ensure that no loads are tendered to carriers who do not meet (or who exceed) the benchmark rate for the lane in question.  This practice ensures all freight rates are compliant with cost controls dictated by management and reins in rogue spend.  The cost savings of the freight rate benchmarking process can be significant.  Further, repeatedly unaccepted loads in any given lane and flagged for manual intervention are easily identified and can be useful in auditing supplier performance by lane to identify underperforming carriers and either remove them or help them achieve compliance with your rate structures.

Set Tolerances and Allowances in Automated Freight Payment

Similarly, all TMS solutions are designed to harness automation of repetitive processes to improve operational efficiency, driving savings via reducing man hours spent on common processes like freight payment/invoicing.  Carry this strategy beyond the “match pay” process supported by many TMS solutions.  Configure match payment parameters to allow for the automatic acceptance of invoices that exceed the authorized cost in cases where small variances exist between calculated miles and actual miles or calculated fuel versus actual fuel cost.  For example, a shipper may set tolerances to allow for automatic processing of invoices up to 2% (or say $25) above the authorized amount. Using such tolerances effectively screens out minor cost-overages (not worthy of the manual time required to rectify), while bringing significant overruns to the attention of managers.

For incidences of recurring but undefined low-level charges (e.g. Tolls or other low value assessorials) stop level line items can be configured to observe an “allowance”.  Allowances permit any invoice containing a charge equal to or less than the configured allowance level to continue to process without intervention.  Both these strategies drive competitive advantage through driving operational efficiency.

For more innovative ideas and strategies for juicing the most value from your TMS, reach out to UltraShipTMS for a demo of cutting edge, award-winning TMS solutions.

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The deadline looms for food shippers.  April 6^th is the day the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) goes into full effect and food shippers everywhere are working to ensure compliance.  Regardless of how much (or how little) they may have prepared, one thing is certain: TMS solutions are playing a central role in ensuring food shippers are ready to meet (and even exceed) the requirements of the new law.  Here’s how!

Transport Topics reports that although the FSMA has been looming since first passed in 2011, many businesses have been slow to prepare for its realities.  The final deadline for compliance arrives this April and requires some significant changes to the way food shippers interact with the carriers and manage their private fleets.

TMS solutions are going to be more relevant than ever when it comes to providing the audit trail the FSMA will require.  Take temperature control monitoring for example.  When a case of food-borne illness breaks out, the FDA will rely on rules contained in the FSMA to quickly zero in on where the contamination or spoilage occurred within the supply chain. Modern TMS tools can be configured to log temperature settings at any intervals required by the shipper.  This includes upon pick up, via in transit-check calls, upon receipt by the consignee and even via TRU telematics (which requires special integration).  This type of temperature control record-keeping is something TMS is perfectly suited to accommodate.

Another consequence being anticipated as the FSMA comes into full effect impacts the relationship between shippers and their carriers.  Transport Topics suggests that there is going to be a period of adjustment wherein the contracts between food shippers and carriers will need to be renegotiated to address the new compliance rules shippers are being forced to observe.  TTNews also reports that carriers will be pressured to retrain their drivers, improving their understanding of potential food safety issues.  This likely means there will need to be changes to how carrier performance is measured for shippers.  Again, TMS solutions provide significant assistance, delivering robust capabilities for configurable carrier performance metrics and reporting.  This functionality makes it easier for shippers to weed out carriers who have not adapted sufficiently to the new FSMA rules.

For food shippers with a private fleet, a solution like UltraShipTMS is particularly useful as the UltraShip platform provides functionality to support private fleet management on the same screen as common carriers.  The UltraShip system can be configured to log relevant FSMA activity across all trailer assets.  For example, trailer cleaning schedules, TRU temp set points, actual trailer temps and even product/pulp temp recording if required.  UltraShipTMS also provides a YMS solution which adds yet another layer of control over the cold chain and the ability to audit as necessary.

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Corporate America Magazine Recognizes UltraShipTMS as the “Best Logistics IT Solution Provider for 2016”

January 23, 2017 – Fair Lawn, NJ – Corporate America Magazine named UltraShipTMS the “Best Logistics IT Cloud Solution Provider in 2016” and the “Most innovative Transportation Management System”.   Corporate America is the leading magazine for the dealmakers, game changers and decision makers in the US business market, with a subscription list of over 135,000 business and professional service providers, including CEOs, partners, managers, owners, presidents, directors, litigators and mediators.

UltraShipTMS was chosen in part for the reputation the growing solution provider continues to develop among high volume shippers in fields such as food/ag production, retail, manufacturing, packaging and others.  Customers and users of the UltraShipTMS platform are quick to share their success stories using the software to automate high volume shipping processes.   Key customer stakeholders in Transportation, IT, Finance, Purchasing and even the Executive Suite praise Ultra’s commitment to delivering benefits ‘Beyond TMS’ from conception to release.   Positive reputation and a growing industry profile were among the factors impacting Corporate America’s decision to bestow this award on UltraShipTMS.

UltraShipTMS spokesman, Anthony Vitiello reinforced this position in recent remarks saying, “Ultra’s solutions are not designed to simply automate and manage the tasks associated with transportation logistics. We work especially hard to deliver positive benefits beyond transportation departments.  Making transportation logistics more strategic drives benefits to other functional areas of our customers’ organizations.  Transportation is a mission-critical component of most companies’ operations and should pull its weight when it comes to driving competitive advantage. UltraShipTMS is built with the broader organization’s goals in mind and drives results far beyond the confines of the transportation department.”

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Are businesses predicting an increase or decrease in shipments in 2017?  What services did shippers used in 2016 compared to 2015? Were there issues with capacity, and did they lead to more delays in 2016?  What were the top transportation challenges of 2016? How do shippers expect the new White House administration to impact international supply chains in 2017?  These probing questions and more were part of the North American Supply Chain Survey to which more than 2,200 shippers responded.  Read more to get insight into what shippers expect to experience in 2017 and how shippers can prepare to respond.

The North American Supply Chain Survey, produced by Averitt Express yielded the following interesting data points.

• The percentage of shippers expecting an increase in shipping volume for 2017 rose from 68% in last year’s survey to 73% this year – a gain of 5%.
• Those expecting volumes to decline decreased from 3% to 2%.
• Shippers planning to move freight over the rails decreased to 16% from 20% a year earlier and an eye-popping 73% confirmed they were not planning to utilize railroads as part of the supply chain plans in 2017.

All this data points to an increase in market share for over-the-road trucking and multimodal carriers.  It also suggests there continues to be fairly radical swings in mode selection among shippers, likely caused by rapidly changing conditions (such as fuel costs, regulatory changes, etc.).  There is a TMS corollary to these figures but first, a few more interesting nuggets of data from the survey.

• 57% of those polled said they were unsure of the effects President Trump’s actions would have on international trade (and by extension, shipping).
• Rate increases and on-time service levels were rated as top concerns by 38% and 39% respectively.

So the relevance to TMS?  Here it is!  TMS solutions are the most useful piece of technology for addressing the issues revealed by the shippers responding to this survey.  If nothing else, the survey reveals that shippers expect there to be significant changes in 2017 in terms of how freight is moved.  This means there will be changes in capacity among the modes finding favor and those falling out of favor.  TMS tools together with optimization engines are exceptionally useful when it comes to mode selection and cost-effective transportation planning.

There is also a significant concern about the efficacy and efficiency of carriers as evidenced by the numbers citing rate increases and service levels as important factors for the year ahead.  Again, TMS platforms provide shippers with the visibility and controls needed to benchmark rates and monitor on-time performance among carriers.  Using these two features, shippers can hedge against overpaying and actively manage carriers to ensure higher on-time percentages.

Add to the mix, the uncertainty posed by a new administration that has begun taking strident action regarding trade policy, and it is clear that shippers will need to be as flexible as they can when it comes to planning and executing transportation plans.  TMS tools enable quick adjustments to transportation plans should there be radical changes to how products are imported and exported into and out of the US.  Are you confident your current TMS is up to the task?

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What are the specific characteristics propelling some shippers into industry leaders while others continue to lag?  Hint: it involves finding logistics IT providers whose products and services are committed to driving value beyond the confines of their perceived roles.

A majority of shippers use transportation logistics automation tools like TMS, route optimizers, YMS, WMS, fleet management and freight payment & audit solutions.  Yet, there’s a gulf between shippers whose efforts at supply chain management excellence succeed, and those whose efforts fail.  Surprisingly, it isn’t necessarily the technology that makes the difference.  Two shippers using the same logistics IT solutions can produce dramatically different results.

Research firm, Supply Chain Insights, produces the annual “Supply Chains to Admire” study which looks at the factors driving excellence in supply chain management.  The most recent study, published in the second half of 2016, produced a wealth of wisdom about supply chain management.  What caught the eye of Collaborator editors was a chart contained in the report comparing the characteristics of supply chain leaders versus those of supply chain laggards (reproduced below).

According to the project management experts at UltraShipTMS, best practices for TMS utilization align neatly with the “leading” characteristics identified in the Supply Chains to Admire Study.  For example, the building of balanced scorecards is one area highly emphasized during UtraShipTMS implementations.   The recommended best practice involves designing carrier performance scorecards (as one example) focusing on the aggregate performance of carriers in any given lane.  While it is important to focus on one important metric – say carriers’ overall tender acceptance rates – that figure must also be tempered by examination of other important metrics like, on-time performance, rate level versus benchmark, and frequency of lost or damaged freight.  Only by looking at all these factors can the use of scorecards drive superior results.

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Successfully executing the changes needed within the supply chain – once they’ve been identified – can only be accomplished if there exists a thoughtful and well-conceived plan to achieve specific logistics goals. 

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The proper planning of network design is another area where logistics IT solutions help shippers become leaders.  Often, shippers make the mistake of thinking of TMS and optimization solutions as a way to build automation around their existing processes.  However, a strong TMS partner will do the hard work of pointing out to the shipper that automation of transactional processes alone will do little to achieve the efficiency and control promised by technology solutions.  Rather, the idea should be to allow these powerful computing tools to capture the transactional data as a mere first step.  The real benefit comes from leveraging the patterns and trends emerging from the transactional data to achieve better results.  In dramatic cases, the data may even reveal the need to relocate distribution centers or pool points.  But even in a less drastic case, these tools can help shippers make more effective mode choices, suggest consolidation of numerous LTL shipments into single, multi-stop truckload shipments and even optimize the sequence of shipments to achieve less empty miles and more continuous moves.

From the TMS perspective, the clarity of supply chain excellence ties in to the consistency of leadership and culture.  Deploying and maintaining an effective transportation logistics program requires the ability to make a sober and objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of one’s existing supply chain.  It can be challenging to address the root causes of inefficiency and waste; particularly when areas identified for improvement run up against entrenched cultural histories within the organization.  In short, change can often cause friction.

Successfully executing the changes needed within the supply chain – once they’ve been identified – can only be accomplished if there exists a thoughtful and well-conceived plan to achieve specific logistics goals.  More often than not, this plan is the product of a partnership between a competent transportation logistics professional and an experienced solution provider/partner.  With these two stakeholders working in concert, the positive results they often produce for the shipping organization leads to satisfaction at the corporate level.  This on-the-job satisfaction translates to better retention among not only leadership, but employees further down the chain of command.

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The Journal of Commerce recently published an incisive piece detailing how US policy changes are boosting freight payment solution companies.  Alan Field interviewed UltraShip’s Anthony Vitiello on the dynamics at play and how providers of freight payment and audit solutions – like the Freight Payment and Audit module of UltraShipTMS – are rising to the challenge.  The article is titled, “US Policy Changes to Boost Freight Payment Companies”.

Read the full article here (registration required).

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I clicked the link to the story about the advantages of cloud supply chain management solutions  written by the CEO of one of the largest providers in the industry.   Then I waited, and waited for the story to load.   After several minutes of trying to load it (even from several different links) I gave up, unable to wait any longer for the pearls of wisdom it may have contained.  It struck me that I had just experienced the perfect metaphor for the experience of being a customer of the largest transportation management system providers today.  Bigger is not always better when it comes to choosing a technology solution partner.

There is value in considering the differences between engaging a diversified software giant with a portfolio that stretches way beyond transportation logistics and a smaller provider with a much tighter focus on the particular challenges of the transportation logistics function.  Here are six ways to weigh the comparison:

Differences in Functionality & Development | Getting tools that address your organization’s specific needs is obviously important.  The largest providers typically offer a very broad array of features and functionality.  They also have experience in nearly every industry whereas smaller players may have expertise in fewer verticals.  However, when it comes to flexibility, the smaller solution providers, with far less corporate bureaucracy are better equipped to accommodate input from customers with regard to identifying and activating features you need versus those you may not.  The moderate-sized provider also generally welcomes a level of customer input into product road map and development the huge providers do not.

Transparency & Dependability | True, with the largest providers, it is easy to be sure the solution you’ll purchase will be around for the long term.  The biggest organizations – often public companies – are verifiably financially secure and their customers need not be worried that the solution they’ve implemented will vanish or be inconsistently administered.  While the opposite may be the case for the expanding number of technology startups seeking to make their name in supply chain management solutions, there are a good number of “Goldilocks” providers.  These are the mid-sized cloud providers with established reputations, a decade or more of operational history, and client bases large enough to ensure their continuity.

Differences in Support & Organizational Fit |The importance of these considerations cannot be overstated.  The best solutions foster truly collaborative environments and highly personalized support systems.  With thousands of employees globally across sprawling portfolios of services and technology, the biggest providers typically approach customer support from a “shared services” perspective.  This means customers rarely (if ever) interact with the same support person over time (if they’re not simply directed to online user groups or product manuals).  Call centers and other “shared services” are not an effective means of providing the kind of partnerships offered by mid-sized solution providers; the kind of relationships that help customers derive maximum value from their solution.

The continuity that comes with the proper organizational fit between provider and customer enables the cloud supply chain management solution to flex, evolve and grow in tandem with the customer’s business.  The largest providers simply do not have the time to invest in becoming knowledgeable about the specifics of each customers’ operational challenges.

Put simply, the mega-provider isn’t in the business of going beyond the comprehensive yet formulaic (and admittedly formidable) systematic approach to delivering results.  The right mid-sized provider with a good reputation and more accommodating outlook, can really help an drive success in the automation of supply chain logistics processes and practices, driving value for the entire organization.

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We hate to be the harbinger of bad news but we’re pretty sure your current TMS solution sucks and it is having negative ramifications for your entire organization.  You’re probably saying to yourself, “I don’t feel like my TMS is horrible.”  The truth though, is that you may not think so kindly of your solution once you’ve compared it to better options.  Here are some of the ways your TMS sucks and how engaging a better solution could improve your transportation logistics and boost your company’s competitive advantage.

Your TMS doesn’t support rate benchmarking. Sure, most solutions capture rate data and can run reports to show spend by lane.  However, there’s only one TMS we know of that allows planners to set benchmark rates in each lane and shows the benchmark alongside all approved carriers in the lane during manual tendering/spot bidding?  How much are you wasting by making manual tenders with your TMS, unaided by real-time, side-by-side rate benchmarking?  See this video from the provider who does deliver this feature.

Your TMS still requires too much manual intervention to manage exceptions in the freight payment process.  Sure, reducing manual invoice processing by 50% to 60% sounds good compared to a fully manual freight payment/audit process.  But wouldn’t 75% to 90% automation be better?  Dig this video showing how a leading TMS innovator helps attain an “exception only” intervention environment.

Your TMS demands a near constant stream of updates/upgrades requiring some level of interruption to your business.   You think just because you’ve implemented one of the most popular solutions out there that you’ve got the best solution?  Truth is, the fastest growing providers are struggling to keep their code base consistent between their burgeoning list of customers (many of whom aren’t even shippers but 3PLs).  Sadly, many of the updates do nothing to improve your operational efficiency. Instead they are a drag on your resources and ability to focus on your core business.

Your TMS Is too sprawling to adequately address your specific needs and it is up to you to achieve effective configuration.  You think because you bought TMS from one of the world’s largest software companies you’re getting the best?  Read this post on why bigger isn’t always better (and is often worse).

Your TMS charges by transaction volume.  So, even though it may be delivered in the cloud, the transaction-based pricing model prevents you from capturing the cost savings promised by SaaS delivery in the first place.

Your TMS hides total cost of ownership by charging a premium to train new employee/users, carriers, vendors, etc.  Training is only available at a premium cost and as your program ages, it either costs a significant amount to keep your staff up to date, or you simply enjoy less effective TMS utilization.

Your solution doesn’t offer native functionality to extend the benefits of TMS beyond the transportation element.  Solutions providing functional benefits to warehousing, finance, IT and other non-transportation departments – things like YMS, freight payment and audit and optimization engines – must be purchased/licensed from third parties and “bolted on”.  They’ll never work as seamlessly as they do when they’re all developed by one provider and delivered as a comprehensive platform.   This eBook illustrates how a superior solution drives significant value to stakeholders across the organization.

Want to know what you can do about transitioning from a TMS that sucks to a TMS that rocks?  Request a demo of UltraShipTMS today.

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UltraShipTMS Users Can Opt to Enable Secure Digital Document Capture and Storage for Bills of Lading and other Logistics Docs

February 23, 2017 – Fair Lawn, NJ – Keeping with the core ethic of delivering value beyond the typical confines of the transportation department, UltraShipTMS is proud to announce the latest new partnership agreement with document management software provider, Microdea.  

Adding Microdea’s Synergize document management solution to a TMS implementation drives value beyond a shipper’s transportation planners to the financial department (AP/AR) by enabling easy, paperless management of important documentation.   Synergize supports TMS-generated consolidated invoicing to customers of transportation/shipping charges, collecting and digitizing carrier-incurred receipts for charges like tolls, lumper fees and other assessorial charges.

Shannon Potter, UltraShip’s Director of Application Development discussed how the partnership with Microdea will benefit his company’s customers saying, “This new partnership delivers benefits beyond the ordinary TMS, and can even be leveraged to generate additional revenue streams for shippers through the creation of easy, electronic invoicing for the exploitation of new and existing backhaul opportunities.”

Microdea’s Director of Sales, Jonathan Cowie agreed saying, “Synergize document management software enables companies to capture their critical business documents and data and store it in central repositories for staff to access anytime, anywhere at a moment’s notice. The integration between Synergize and UltraShipsTMS will allow data to be accessible within the Synergize portal or directly within the UltraShipsTMS interface, automating the process of validating the indexing criteria from the TMS, enhancing the billing process.”

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