Initial Situation
In the partner's relocation department, not all locations worked economically. A network between the various locations was evident in the organizational structure, but there was hardly any communication between them. In order to drive digitization forward, the partner wanted to invest in a solution beforehand that would only display the transports and show them on a map.
Initially, tep-IT had to solve the following problems:
- Profitability of several locations not given
- Overview of relocation orders for all locations not available centrally
- Digitization difficult to implement in the company
Solution
tep-IT
tep-IT was tasked with the following:
- Adapt the existing Transport Execution System for relocations.
- Create a central platform for assigning relocation orders
- Facilitate the tracking of individual orders and their allocation
- Minimal workflow changes on the part of the partner
- Visualization of the transports
- Create an active network between locations
- Encourage locations to work more economically
- Contracting of relocation companies from within the system
- Display directory of all relocation companies of the partner
Customer
The customer was simultaneously tasked with the following:
- Order of interface to own accounting system
- Extend accounting software with necessary points
- Determine locations involved
- Determine preferred movers and inform them about the system
- Identify and inform service providers
- Provide assets so that they can be integrated into the system
Result
For the adaptation of the software, the existing Transport Execution Platform was taken as a basis and adjusted with the partner's employees to their needs.
The goal in the planning was to ensure that the partner network would be used without any significant change for the employees. For this purpose, an interface to the existing, now preceding system was commissioned. In this way, the workflow for the employees in the familiar software changes only slightly. The data is automatically transferred to the platform created by tep-IT and then only needs to be completed. In addition, order placement takes place within the platform and decisions can be tracked.
Workflow
The biggest change to other platforms concerns the assignment process.
Orders are now first offered to all other locations for a set time after they are completed. The locations can now find out whether they can obtain a lower price from one of their preferred relocation companies if they accept, for example because they are aware of a return trip at the given time. If the other location accepts, a new order is reserved and only released once the information is stored in the billing system. If no location decides to accept the order within the specified time period, it remains with the originator.
In both cases, the order is automatically sent as a freight offer with a defined upper price limit to the respective preferred relocation companies at the location, as well as to the respective preferred companies at the loading and unloading location. If a contractor is interested in the relocation, they can submit an offer with their own price proposal. The dispatcher can now choose one of the offers. If none of the requested contractors is interested, the group expands to other preferred contractors in the system and then to the spot market.
Adjusted or added:
- Display of all necessary elements for the order from the partner's accounting system for viewing by all potential contractors
- Documents fed into the billing system are forwarded to contractors upon award
- Volume receives a division into total volume and effective (billable) volume
- Incorrect entries of localities in the billing system are completed or corrected in the tep-IT system
- Service providers can be assigned directly from within the system (e.g. no-stopping zone)
- Orders that enter the system through the interface are given the status "preparation" until they are fully completed
- purchase and sales prices must be correctly identified by the different contracting levels
- preferred movers are assigned to one client and not to the whole platform, but can be assigned by other clients if needed
- Relocation Companies can request billing with integrated billing tool
- Implementation of a Google Maps based map showing all current jobs and their status (each site sees its own)
Conclusion
tep-IT has managed to drive the digitization of a large company in the logistics industry, creating a win-win situation for all parties involved.
The existing software was adapted so that it can be perfectly integrated into the partner's workflow. In the process, previously tedious processes are standardized, digitized and automated. The profitability of the sites can be checked at any time via the platform. Through the award structure, the sites themselves ensure an optimal delivery price to the movers and thus a higher profit share for the company as a whole.