Inbound Logistics | June 2023

to produce load plans that can dramatically reduce costs. Sustainability also comes into play. “When you ll your containers and trucks more efciently, you shorten the length of haul and cut down on redundant moves and other inefciencies,” Maroney says. “You save money, improve protability, and pollute less. It all goes together.” With software solutions so rapidly evolving, shippers may question whether they have sufcient resources to continually review and update their technology to stay at the cutting edge. Not a problem. “This is where a congurable, cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) stands out,” says Juliano. “The TMS is always up to date, enabling shippers to leverage new features whenever they are ready to use them.” PREPARE TO PIVOT While there is expense involved in accessing transportation management consulting services and software to better congure your company’s supply chain, the results will pay off in both good times and bad. The pandemic caused historic interruptions but other events, such as major market swings and international conicts, also have taught the logistics sector and other businesses that forecasting for change is essential to long-term success. “If you ship internationally, you can take these past issues and make decisions on risk,” says Nakayama. “You incorporate risk calculations into how

not have broad, relevant application. Instead, data-driven, on-the-ground insights often illuminate expenses and possible ways to save that otherwise may be overlooked. If the devil is in the details, the angels—that is, the cost-saving opportunities—can be found there as well. “Many times, it’s just behavior modication,” says Gravley, adding that changing order patterns to better reect data-driven insights could save as much as 10 to 20% in freight transfers. As an example, Maroney cites “cube efciency”—making sure there’s not too much air in a box or trailer. Absent cube-efciency data, shippers may take an unscientic—and sometimes counterproductive— approach to solving the problem by, for example, loading fewer boxes on containers and dispatching more trucks than should be required, he says. Klosowsky cites the MercuryGate toolkit as one solution. “They built out a control tower, and they have capability to load SKU level data on shipments,” he says. “Software called Mojo allows users to do optimization,” he adds. “It uses an algorithm that looks for all the different combinations to provide the lowest-cost result.” Mojo , which sometimes is compared to Oracle Transportation Management and other transportation optimization

The tools that enable accounting departments to see and analyze costs at every point in the supply chain constantly expand and improve. CONNECTING THROUGH API “The technology that has been the greatest help for shippers to manage their freight has to be digitization and API connectivity with carriers,” says Brian Thompson, chief commercial ofcer of SMC³, which provides LTL transportation pricing data and technology solutions. Simply expressed, API, which stands for application programming interface, enables different applications to communicate with each other. Thompson says that API offers three essential benets: 1. Quality and cost control. “Shippers can now pull shipment-level quotes directly from the carrier systems,” Thompson says. “This ensures the quote will match the invoice as long as the shipment size and characteristics are entered correctly and completely.” 2. Visibility. “Constant connectivity allows the shipper to quickly ascertain when a shipment has been delayed or gone awry so that adjustments can be made to reduce the impact of the service challenge,” he explains. 3. Retrieval of documents for audit. These documents include the bill of lading, invoice, delivery receipts, and weight and inspection certicates. Companies no longer need to “manage by anecdote,” Klosowsky says, including anecdotes that may or may

software, is designed to analyze shipments, rates, and constraints

During the pandemic, Willy's Fresh Salsa, based in Swanton, Ohio, incurred troubling detention fees when distribution centers were short on personnel. Lesson learned; today the company controls detention fees so it can not only save money but pass those savings on to customers.

104 Inbound Logistics • June 2023