Should You Upgrade to Enterprise TMS in 2020? 

Companies depend on their transportation management software to handle a variety of shipping tasks. It is one of the most used tools in the shipper's arsenal. These platforms are used for planning, scheduling, tracking, and reviewing all sorts of freight being moved through the supply chain. One of the growing trends in logistics, as of late, is the upgrading of technological solutions to more robust and bleeding-edge solutions.

One of those is what is known as enterprise software. More specifically, enterprise TMS platforms.

Enterprise TMS platforms are transportation management systems featuring more bells and whistles than your typical TMS. Let us explain...

You have Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, and you have Enterprise platforms.

SaaS refers to cloud-based software that you pay another company to host for you. It never gets hosted on a companies server but is accessible from anywhere.

Enterprise refers to any piece of software that you install on a physical server. It is not cloud-based and generally needs to be accessed from a company computer or other device on the same network. Additionally, it is designed to perform more business-logic related tasks as it is customized to a specific business model and as such, adapts. Generally, enterprise software

Doesn't seem like a gigantic difference, right? Well, that depends on how you look at it, and your individual needs. In this blog post, we will take a quick look at 2 of the best reasons to consider upgrading your old TMS platform and what to expect with an enterprise solution.

What is Unique about Enterprise TMS?

If your company frequently schedules FTL, LTL, or express parcel deliveries, you’ll enjoy the flexibility that an enterprise TMS provides.

At its core, enterprise TMS solutions automate the time-consuming process of freight routing. The easy to use dashboard is custom configured to the preference of each user, with tools that are simple to access from multiple devices without the need for a completely cloud-based setup.

It's helpful for warehousers, distributors, manufacturers, and retailers of all sizes. And if you are a smaller company that simply wants to make the most use of its own resources first, then enterprise solutions are the route to go. Instead of paying for computing space you probably don't need and the privilege to access your own data every month, you own the software. 

Sure, it is an investment of time and money to get it installed and running. But in the end, it is an investment that continues to pay for itself time and again.

Let's look at a few of the benefits of this investment...

Helps You Find Better Carriers

Most TMS solutions are designed to pull in more information than you can realistically use. It can take time to weed through less than stellar carriers to find the ones that are best for your specific freight movement.

For example, if you’re looking for a cold storage movement, many standard TMS solutions simply blend those type of carriers together. And that is pretty much it. You are left to sort through all of them on your own, which sort of defeats the purpose entirely.

With an enterprise TMS, however, it is built into the core of your business and it is geared to handle a lot of these otherwise manual tasks on its own. You just set up personal search preferences to streamline the search for a cold-storage carrier and let it do its thing. It will find carriers that are more "in-line" with your companies goals, needs, and budget. This helps you to ensure that you are working with the right carriers while taking into consideration all other parts of your business.

Most SaaS TMS platforms simply do not offer this in-depth level of business logic.

Automates the Whole Routing Process

In order to set up any shipment, you’ve first got to route, rate, schedule, and pay for the movement. Each step takes time to find the service you need at the service level you expect. Also, the movement needs to fall well within your budget.

The dashboard of an enterprise TMS permits users to set up automated search parameters that will locate the best carriers. This saves you time and money by reducing delivery reattempts by choosing carriers that have better service commitment performance. 

Best of all, once these carriers are chosen, the enterprise software will go about routing the shipment for you! It does this by analyzing your most frequently used routes, weather and construction considerations, and timeframes for delivery.

Final Thoughts

So, which one is better? SaaS or Enterprise?

In the end, they both perform equally as well, but they do it in much different ways. For companies who don't want an additional monthly expense or need deeper software integration, an enterprise TMS is a clear winner.

However, for those companies who have many partners to collaborate with, have a more flexible budget, or just don't want the hassle of maintaining their own software, a SaaS platform is better.

If you want to learn more about enterprise TMS solutions, contact the experts at Redwood Logistics today! We can answer any questions you may have. And we could possibly even get you up and running with a shiny, new TMS!