The Benefits Of Improved Logistics
The unstable economic conditions of the post-Covid lockdowns and recovery have challenged most businesses. Not surprisingly, the wide swings in metal pricing and availability have had even the best run metal service centers and processors a little unsure about the market.
Cost-cutting initiatives are high on the agenda of most continually successful producers, service centers, and processors. A significant area that is often overlooked is freight cost and freight procurement.
Reducing freight expense through better planning allowed by greater visibility as far in advance as possible, by even a small percentage, can make a large impact on overall profitability while providing the customer with the best service possible.
Custom Freight Cost & Freight Procurement Solutions
While visiting a customer of ours, the traffic manager enthusiastically said he viewed his job as being responsible for saving the company as much as possible in freight costs while still getting the product received or delivered on time. This included procuring reliable transportation companies and combining shipments, transfers, and purchase order pickups in an efficient manner to reduce the number of loads required. His management had recognized the need for a software solution that would integrate the appropriate information for the various areas of the company into visual representations of what needed to be shipped or picked up as soon as the purchase order, transfer, or sales order is entered.
A Solution For Sales Traffic, Production Planning, Scheduling & Packaging
This customer commissioned us to develop a series of interactive dashboards that provided each department with the appropriate information for their needs as soon as it was known. Each dashboard was to have its own selection or data filters so that unless required for a particular inquiry, the massive database of the status of every item on a purchase order, transfer, production work order, or ready to ship would not have to be viewed when looking for something specific. For example, the traffic manager can provide a customer with visibility to date range, pick-up location, customer number and ship-to location, shipping zone range, appointment date range, or load number.
Software For Advanced Freight Management
These programs simplify the flow of information regarding shipping and receiving throughout the entire organization reducing constant interaction between the departments that would otherwise be required. They also make it easy to spot items that need attention to ensure the customer receives its goods on time. A significant byproduct of the solution is a meaningful reduction in overall freight expense. Reducing this expense by even a small percentage can make a large impact on overall profitability and customer service.
Freight Management Software
Future-Focused Freight Cost/Freight Procurement Strategies
Metal-Pro’s Traffic Module consists of three interactive dashboards called scans. Each scan provides the user with a great deal of information about the record and allows the user to not only see but also to perform certain tasks from the screen by clicking on various fields to run the program that does the function. The scans have been designed to provide the sales, production planning and scheduling, production, traffic, receiving, and shipping departments tools to improve their efficiency in performing the necessary tasks for everyday buying, receiving, processing, selling, and transferring of material. The sort order of the records displayed can be changed by double-clicking on the column heading of the field desired. The lines displayed are color coded to allow the user to easily see the status of the record.
Advantages of The Traffic Module
Additional advantages of the easy-to-use Metal-Pro Traffic Module include:
- Optimize truck loads for shipping and receiving
- Shop freight rates for loads
- Assign carriers to loads
- Set appointments for pickups and deliveries
- Calculate and track freight costs
- Create pick tickets or releases for loads
- Stage shipments
- Confirm shipments automatically
- Process purchasing and transfer receipts
- Coordinate information with other departments
- Validate freight bills
Contact Metal-Pro for Freight Management Solutions
Interested in finding out what Metal-Pro can do for you? Contact us online, get in touch with our sales team or request a demo and let us find a software solution to meet your industry needs.