ITMATTERS [ INSIGHT ]
by Dan K. Csiszer Senior Manager of Implementation, Alvys dan.csiszer@alvys.com | 317-469-3908
Changing Your TMS Isn’t as Painful as You Think
Coming from someone who has been through multiple transportation management system (TMS) transitions, the initial thoughts of it can be daunting: “How will a new system affect my current workflows? How long will it take to learn where everything is? Will it have the same button and perform the same function that I’ve been used to for the past five years?”
Lastly, properly set realistic expectations and mindset for you and your team. Even the smoothest and simplest onboardings face setbacks. Understand that a good TMS provider is aligned with your goals and wants to be a strategic partner; it bene ts no one when you have a subpar experience. To avoid any unwelcome surprises, hold weekly, or at least bi-weekly, meetings with your implementation manager (who should coordinate these from the kickoff call), and they should provide updates or progress reports on outstanding deliverables and action items. You need a high level of transparency and communication throughout the onboarding; you cannot afford to go live on a new system and realize a process was missed because you didn’t have those crucial conversations throughout implementation. The TMS you chose 10 years ago may have been great at the time, but in today’s marketplace you need a system that is nimble, intuitive, and hyper- focused on the customer experience. Once you nd the right TMS, you can focus on what the transportation industry is all about: serving customers and keeping employees happy. n
onboarding of your new TMS—which should be the lifeblood of your business— is a recipe for a clunky implementation and likely an overall unpleasant experience for you and your team. Establish a “go-live” date during your kickoff call with your new provider, and in between set several milestones with dates that your company or the provider need to deliver by. Your supplier’s implementation manager should provide this roadmap and guidance on when tasks like data import, training, and integrations will be done. (Some advice on API integrations: if you were savvy enough to nd a provider that fully supports all of your integrations, obtain those login credentials and have them ready shortly after kickoff. This will save time during setup). The implementation manager should also be there for any type of assistance to make this a seamless transition.
It’s imperative that leadership understands how to manage these common concerns by working with their new provider on a gameplan for a seamless transition. Two elements are essential for a successful implementation: 1. An open mind. Just because you have performed a task a certain way for years does not necessarily mean it’s the best or most effective method. You may be able to upload documents and invoice your customers with your eyes closed in your old TMS, but if it takes you 10-20 clicks and 2-3 minutes longer each time, that is several minutes and even hours over a week’s span that you could spend elsewhere. 2. A roadmap. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “I’ll get back to you on that” or “we’re busy the next few weeks, we won’t have time for a while to do Task X.” Not prioritizing the
60 Inbound Logistics • July 2025
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