TMC Blog

Transportation management systems (TMS) technology has advanced rapidly over recent years, but can the same be said for TMS users?

Some logistics teams are using the powerful analytics that come with leading edge systems such as TMC's Managed TMS® to find new ways to improve network efficiency. Others still struggle to break free of traditional approaches to managing transportation and utilizing TMS technology. Read More...

As we saw in last week’s post (Mobile Platforms Signal Change), when compared to other communications channels the Mobile Integration Platform (MIP) has clear benefits on almost every performance attribute. But how will the freight transportation industry capture these benefits?

There are many answers to this question, but I believe that one of the most important lies in the area of supply chain integration. Here are a couple of scenarios that illustrate what I mean. Read More...

It is hard to imagine life without cell phones, yet mobile communications is a young technology that has yet to deliver its most exciting business applications.  I believe that one of these advances is supply chain integration on a level that will redefine the way global distribution networks operate.

To appreciate the possibilities, let’s take a step back and consider where Mobile Integration Platforms (MIPs) are positioned in the communications universe. Next week we will take a look at some freight management applications that offer a glimpse into the tightly knit supply chains of the future. Read More...

Last week we looked at some of the flaws in performance benchmarks that transportation professionals need to watch out for when applying these important management tools. In this week’s post we explore how benchmarks can lead to misunderstandings about the performance of freight networks and, ultimately, to wrong management decisions.

As an indicator of how your network stacks up against those of your competitors, benchmarks play a key role in setting performance expectations. This is fine as long as the data is sound and interpreted correctly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and can be a flaw leading to undesired outcomes. Read More...

It is one of the most widely used freight network management tools, yet benchmarking is often misinterpreted and/or misapplied.

Understanding the application of benchmarking can help managers to avoid these pitfalls, and evaluate the performance of their supply chains more effectively.

In this post we take a look at some of the issues managers need to be aware of when assessing and using benchmarking tools. Next week we’ll delve more deeply into how these analyses can be misconstrued. Read More...