TMS – Transport Management System
Transport planning in xTrack TMS is an optimization that is based on delivery histories and predictions of increasing or decreasing volumes to be transported. The planning is performed according to configurable parameters that allow obtaining several results, the user having the possibility to select the optimal solution according to certain established performance indicators.
The schedule thus selected will be used for a configurable period of time.
The planning applies to projects where there is a certain repetitiveness of transport, customers who order constantly at certain hours / days, and has the major advantage that driver efficiency increases due to the fact that there are no daily changes of routes or from one transport to another.
Customer orders are the basis of all activity in xTrack TMS. These orders are called shipments and must be managed, optimized and delivered to the customer (end customer). An order is entered manually or imported from various systems. Depending on its characteristics and the end point of delivery, a shipment can be divided into what we call components. For example, in a last mile optimization , a shipment has a single component, but if a transit is made through a regional warehouse, the shipment (customer order) is divided into two separate components that entail certain characteristics ( tasks, costs and revenues, quantities, etc.).
Thus, a shipment can be assigned to several shipments, one for each component, each of which entails several distinct characteristics.
Starting from the components, a real-time profitability report can be made for each shipment, a useful report especially for shipping companies or logistics service providers.
Shipping and component concepts allow for increased flexibility in meeting our customers’ requirements and access to an ‘MRI’ of the transport business, not an X-ray.
Transport orders are the routes resulting from optimizations or manual processing by the dispatcher, depending on the specifics of the transport activity. These can also be combined so that the dispatcher can intervene for certain adjustments not initially allowed by the algorithm after, following an optimization, certain transports (routes) result.
The shipment components are loaded in the shipments as presented. The components must be loaded into the truck and unloaded. The list of stopping points for a transport is given by the list of loading and unloading of the components of a transport.
Once established, transport is tracked from the perspective of performing loading and unloading tasks, but can also be tracked from the perspective of profitability as an essential performance indicator in transport activities.
xTrack TMS offers several transport management possibilities, including a visual Drag & Drop type.
In order for the xTrack TMS application to provide very accurate information on transport activities, Axes Software has introduced a new concept in the continuous process of innovation. This concept is the task, which at the beginning was loading or unloading, but which, over time, has taken several forms, especially in computer environments where there are POD (Proof Of Delivery) applications.
Tasks are also performed automatically by other WMS applications in the upload or download repositories, POD at the final destination or POP (Proof of Pickup) at the pick-up point.
Axes Software has also introduced collection, return or packaging tasks . Task URLs of “Take Picture” are very useful in doing business, referring to execution of shots at the delivery location, the cargo or the documents signed by the client.
Tasks are different from those in the xTrack WMS application, where, for example, one task is executed for each pallet loaded, while in the xTrack TMS there is only one load task.
Billing for services in xTrack TMS is done automatically. From the dispatchers’ point of view, automating this process is very beneficial. Manual invoicing of transport services or verification of the correctness of invoices issued by service providers is not free from mistakes.
xTrack TMS offers the possibility to automatically calculate the value of transport services both in terms of costs and revenues, based on customized price lists at the level of service provider or customer.
The issuance of invoices to customers for whom freight transport has been performed is 100% automated, including the transmission of data to the ERP application.
Regarding the verification of service invoices from carriers, the system of self-invoicing or semi-automatic verification of invoice values can be used with what has already been calculated in the xTrack TMS application. Using this application, financial processes can also be automated.
In order to complete the functionalities offered by xTrack TMS, this fleet management (transport fleet management mode) was also introduced for the implementations to customers who have a fleet. The module is used to collect detailed information on the costs of each car, repair data, taxes, wages and to perform a profitability calculation at the level of transport, shipment, component, etc.
To avoid double data entry, invoices, which are entered by breakdown on each machine in xTrack TMS, are automatically exported to the ERP application.
In addition to the financial aspects that are solved through this fleet management module, xTrack TMS provides users with consumption reports, tire replacement or periodic repairs, but also performance indicators at car and / or driver level, or financial performance indicators. . Based on these performance indicators, it is possible to identify the people (for example, drivers) who will receive bonuses.
No matter how many functionalities and algorithms would be implemented in a TMS type application, without visualizing the results on a map, the activity of the daily dispatchers would be difficult. xTrack TMS offers a flexible viewing module on various public or professional maps. Depending on the client’s requirements, a specific map provider can be suggested, to which access can be free or not.
The Graphical User Interface (GUI) in xTrack TMS ensures the use of several monitors, and windows in the application can be distributed on different monitors, Thus, the map window can be displayed on a separate monitor.
Maps are used to view the routes proposed by the application, but to display the location where a car is at a given time it is necessary to retrieve data from a GPS system . There are no limitations or conditions for the type of GPS device mounted on the machines to interface with xTrack TMS.
All business processes have a flow of documents, and the transport processes are in the same situation. In the xTrack TMS application are implemented contract flows or billing flows and from the perspective of documents that must circulate internally or in relation to partners, as well as flows that include automatic generation and validation at certain times of time on documents.
The documents are archived and can be accessed at any time. Documents can also be taken from external sources such as POD applications that can take pictures of supporting documents (CMR, Opinions, etc.).
We can include in these flows the integrations with truck search platforms and transport auctions, the automation of the truck selection flow being one that also includes document management functionalities.
The reporting module is very flexible and allows the visualization of data in various forms. There is integrated in the application a module for generating new reports, through which trained users, employees of customers, can make their own reports.
Any report can be viewed and exported in different formats, and any user has the ability to save their own templates, especially in the form of pivot tables, to extract the necessary data in daily activities.
All reports can be displayed on a WEB platform to which partners, customers or service providers can have controlled access (user name & password) to view certain information. The administration of people’s access on this platform is done directly from the specialized module included in xTrack TMS. Different users, employees of the same customer, may have different rights. Reports from all xTrack suite applications can be brought to the same platform.
One feature of reports is that they can be configured to be automatically sent to any email address, internal or external, depending on certain parameters or at certain times.
Information on Delivery (IOD) is very important in the relationship with customers. Estimated Delivery Time (ETD) and compliance with it is an objective for all companies that transport and deliver goods. The xTrack TMS application has its own module for saving and interpreting delivery data.
But how do you save delivery information? There are several possibilities:
Based on this information, KPI (Key Performance Indicator) reports can be made for drivers and the coefficients underlying the calculations regarding loading and unloading times, average travel speed, etc. can be recalculated.
All solutions in the xTrack suite benefit from a powerful EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) module that allows the exchange of data with various external applications or even within the suite.
In this way, data is easily transferred between applications using different technologies depending on the specifics of each project.
Data exchange does not only mean transfer with applications such as ERP, CRM, SFA or online stores. Hardware equipment that can collect field data and / or respond to commands sent from Axes Software applications, such as: conveyor belts, GPS systems, robots on production lines, production equipment, can be integrated into the IT project. measuring and control devices (scales, thermometers, etc.).
This module gives the xTrack suite of applications, including xTrack TMS, increased flexibility to automate logistics flows that are only seemingly impossible to streamline.
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