Do you understand how transportation visibility works for your supply chain activities? There’s no doubt that it has become an increasingly important factor in operating a successful business. Many organizations have turned to automated systems to offer better insight into goods being shipped and delivered across the globe, yet few truly understand what is available and how these solutions can be used effectively.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the concept of transportation visibility, why it’s so crucial, and the key benefits it can bring to your operations managers, supply chain management professionals, packaging engineers, and IT officers.
Transportation Visibility 101
As the world of logistics rapidly evolves, businesses are looking for new tools to ensure their entire supply chain runs smoothly. Transportation visibility has been embraced as the optimal solution to provide businesses with detailed insights into their freight network in real time. With transportation visibility, businesses can track their shipments from origin to destination and gain real-time data for better decision-making.
Transportation visibility augments technology to enable tracking of each shipment, so businesses can track its exact location and predict on-time delivery. Transportation visibility relies on GPS technology and automatic data exchange to create a virtual chain of custody that can be monitored from pickup until delivery. This allows businesses to quickly anticipate and resolve delays, ensuring the most efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions. The result is greater control over freight movements, improved customer satisfaction, and on-time transportation.
Real-time visibility helps businesses manage their freight networks better and make strategic decisions that improve operational efficiency. With transportation visibility, businesses can reduce costs associated with empty miles and lost shipments while obtaining critical insights into their supply chain’s performance.
How Transportation Visibility Works
Setting up an effective supply chain transportation visibility system is essential to any business that moves goods from one place to another. It relies on internal processes, technologies, and collaboration with external suppliers to keep a close eye on the location of goods while in transit. Here’s how it works:
Data Collection and Aggregation
Data collection and aggregation form the backbone of transport visibility. It starts with collecting data from multiple sources in the supply chain, such as GPS, RFID tags, and other sensors, to provide a comprehensive overview of the supply chain. The devices then transmit the data to a centralized system, where it is collected and organized into a single database. The data is then aggregated to provide insights into supply chain processes and operations.
The data is then analyzed and aggregated to provide a cross-sectional view of the operation. This helps identify potential bottlenecks and areas for improvement. It also helps identify trends in the supply chain, such as delays or unexpected disruptions. With automation, manual processes can be eliminated and transportation visibility is optimized.
Real-Time Tracking and Monitoring
Real-time tracking and monitoring have become essential for transportation supply chain visibility. It enables businesses to track their fleet or assets in real time on a single platform. This helps them enhance the efficiency of their operations. A real-time transportation visibility platform leverages GPS trackers and sensors to provide real-time data on the location and movement of assets, along with other factors such as speed and temperature.
Location tracking allows businesses to quickly detect vehicle route changes and monitor driver performance. This helps businesses react to unexpected events and take necessary measures to better control their operations. Additionally, businesses can monitor their assets’ status or shipments in real time from their mobile device or computer.
Integration with Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
To unlock comprehensive visibility, it’s crucial to integrate with transportation management systems (TMS). TMS is a platform that helps connect shippers, carriers, and commercial customers in one system. It provides a centralized view of all transportation assets, freight movements, and delivery statuses. Integrating with TMS helps consolidate the data into one platform, making it easier for shippers to access comprehensive visibility.
This integration also helps optimize routes and allocate resources for on-time transportation. It also helps reduce costs related to road freight operations, increasing efficiency and improving the customer experience. With TMS, shippers can ensure that all their shipments reach their destination on time and without hassles. In short, integration with TMS gives shippers the power to gain complete visibility into their transportation operations and ensure that all shipments are delivered on time.
Analytics and Reporting for Insights
Companies can harness actionable insights from the collected data through analytics and reporting. Raw data can be transformed using supply chain visibility software into meaningful reports that identify trends, exceptions, and insights, leading to improved decision-making. Companies can use the generated analytics for predictive forecasting and improved logistics operations.
Additionally, through artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and machine learning, companies can develop customized models to identify hidden patterns within data sets. This allows users to proactively anticipate issues and take preventative action to address them before they impact the business. AI-driven analytics can also reduce complexities in supply chain operations, helping drive efficiency and cost savings.
Collaboration and Communication With Stakeholders
Collaboration with stakeholders is key to the success of any company in the transportation visibility industry. Effective collaboration involves sharing essential data with stakeholders, such as real-time shipment information, location updates, and delivery statuses. The shared data enhances the coordination of resources and the alignment of operations.
Similarly, communication with stakeholders helps better understand customer demand. This is important for companies in the logistics industry, as it helps them create better solutions to customer service issues and needs.
Maximize Visibility With Certainty
Transportation visibility is the key to understanding and optimizing freight movements. It provides a 360-degree view of operations, enabling companies to monitor their shipments, identify trends, and resolve delays efficiently. At Surgere, we are revolutionizing how operations in the automotive industry achieve visibility. Our approach helps businesses unlock efficiencies for faster customer delivery and lower costs associated with inventory control. Automotive supply chain teams have a great advantage with this system, providing them with the real-time transparency and accuracy needed for success.
With an all-in-one solution, any company can maximize visibility with certainty. The answers are at hand when using supply chain visibility solutions from Surgere. For companies who understand what it takes to stay ahead of their competition, they’ll see every part of their operation come together. Don’t miss your chance to use our advanced software—contact us today to learn more about transportation visibility optimization and how it can help you excel in the automotive industry.
