Freight for Thought: Bringing Sunset Customers More Solutions Through TMS Upgrade
The transportation industry is at a crucial shifting point towards system integration, allowing shippers to make data-driven decisions and ensure their supply chain can deliver measurable results to meet the goals most important to their business.
In April 2016, Sunset’s Transportation Management System (TMS), powered by McLeod Software, was upgraded to serve our customers in the most efficient and progressive manner possible. The ease of doing business with Sunset coupled with visibility to the entire shipping process — from PO creation to final invoice reconciliation — was a driving factor for upgrading our TMS, and we can’t wait for our customers, carriers, and vendors to experience the improvements!
New features:
- Multiple levels of system integration between a customer and Sunset:
- API connections between your ERP system and Sunset’s TMS: Sunset can now integrate with our customers through another method besides EDI, providing visibility to cost and tracking information more efficiently.
- EDI integration at a PO level: Sunset can provide load planning and optimizing services
- 4pl service offerings, better known as “managed transportation” (if a shipper has carriers and rates in place, we can manage that business on their behalf)
- Increased carrier selection and reload options
- Better visibility to our entire network to help Sunset take advantage of backhaul lanes for customers on the fly
- Integration with additional vendors (such as MacroPoint, which allows more efficient incoming tracking information from carriers)
Not integration savvy? Not to worry!
Sunset understands all of our customers don’t have the time or resources to invest in integration projects, which is why we have knowledgeable staff to help guide you through a process that best fits your needs. We also know that you might not be at a point where you want to integrate, and that’s okay too! Our goal is make you aware of the options that may take some time and resources up front, but have immediate and long-term return on your investment by the efficiencies and visibility gained. A conversation about how we may work together more efficiently is only an email away!
If integration isn’t in your immediate future, any Sunset customer (at any level of logistics program) may utilize our user-friendly, web-based FreightLOGIK system. Scheduled for a significant upgrade yet this quarter, the new FreightLOGIK system will present a more streamlined system with fewer clicks while offering improved routing, rating, and tracking visibility.
What’s in it for shippers?
Sunset’s business intelligence tools drive our business forward every day, and we want our customers to experience the impact of having (the right) data at your fingertips. If you don’t already have the following metrics at your disposal, you may be missing out on valuable insight and planning resources:
- Shipped vs. paid data to understand accruals
- Cost/lb. and cost/mile metrics to track shipping expenses and monitor accessorial spend
- Non-compliance metrics to know when vendor chargebacks could be in order
- Daily or weekly load tracking for P/U and delivery compliance
Regardless of where you stand with your internal systems, processes, and data needs, we have a solution that can provide the information needed to make smarter, cost-effective decisions. Contact Sunset if you’re ready to discuss the supply chain integration solutions needed to make your logistics program run at max efficiency.
About Jill: Jill Gross is a familiar face and name to many Sunset customers, having been the go-to contact for onboarding, support and new shipper integration for nearly five years. She leads the team responsible for upgrading and managing Sunset’s TMS and technology systems, and also oversees technology and carrier support for our growing national agent network. In her spare time, Jill is training for her first triathlon!
Contact: Jill Gross, Director of Implementation, 314.756.8550, [email protected]
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