Buying TMS technology typically requires a large capital outlay.
You pay for software—before you receive any benefits. You pay for infrastructure, training, upgrades, and support. And you will probably still have to spend time and money on integration of carriers, third parties, and suppliers.
It seems a little counterintuitive to make a huge capital outlay when your primary goal is most likely to reduce costs. But the idea is to drive some kind of ROI from the software spend.
In this environment, an ROI typically takes several quarters—and usually more than a year—before the software enables any real savings in your network.
Perhaps worst of all, once shippers make this significant investment, and it doesn't live up to their expectations, they often feel stuck with the software.
In many organizations, there are only enough resources and patience to invest heavily and reconfigure a network once every several years. So you could end up with software that doesn't work well in your environment—and you might have to spend more money to fill in a hole that just keeps getting deeper.
