April 23rd, 2011 | by : DS
Managing a volume based freight logistics business in the chaotic semi organised sector is challenging, and often results in waybills being dispatched in parts, wrongly marked or loaded into trucks scheduled for different destination. Reasons being many
- Limited space available inside metro limits
- Godown resource constraints
- Abnormal peak seasonal traffic
- Season based truck availability
- Traffic restrictions during business hours in central areas
- Clerical errors on marking waybill number
- Similar sounding location names
- Goods transferred directly into trucks from smaller vans / carts from suppliers
- Odd working hours for loading and unloading consignments
- Lack of standardisation in packaging
- Wrong consignee business name specified
- Incorrect entry in forwarding note from the consignor or supplier
- incomplete list of statutory documents provided
The central short excess register is a convenient feature offered along with the SA-FMS ERP suite for freight logistics that enables all the customer touch points access the central information system to mark internal and external complaints on consignments such as short, excess, damages, wrong marking, wrong dispatches etc. These are subsequently match on common attributes by the ERP software in order to bring about efficient tracking, to deliver the waybills to the designated consignee on time and within budget.
Posted in booking, delivery tracking logistics software, dispatch, Freight logistic, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, packages, RFID, sa-fms, tracking, transshipment, truck, waybill | 1 Comment »
April 22nd, 2011 | by : DS
Freight logistics companies operate through different models where some are on point to point while others are on hub and spoke. A few of the providers operate through owned trucks while majority have a mix of owned and hired trucks for haulage. While own trucks ensure safety and reliability, the hired segment offers agility during peak business seasons. Both have their pros and cons. In the case of the owned trucks, fleet management is an major cost centre, whereas in the hired truck engagement model, the truck hire reconciliation process are often a cause of headache for the operators. Let us look at the hired model in this post.
- Part advance payment at the booking point
- Part payments en route (agency, transshipment or branch)
- Final settlement at the point of delivery
- Full settlement at the time of submission of POD
- Manipulation of the hire document by the truck driver
- Excess payment made in a manual system
SA-FMS has a real time truck hire and settlement system integrated along with the consignment dispatch and unloading modules that allow each of the touch points to access information about the trips, state of the consignment whether delivered in full or part, assess breakages or shortages and make settlement accordingly.
- Make payment depending on the unloading status of the consignment
- Track complaints based on the truck provider
- Make part / full payment
- Realtime truck hire payment history
- Truck hire forecasting and fund management
Tags: freight logistics, logistics software, transshipment
Posted in booking, delivery tracking logistics software, Logistics management, transshipment, truck, truck driver | No Comments »
April 20th, 2011 | by : DS
Today's freight logistics business environment is complex and challenging, and to stand out from the crowd it is imperative for small and medium businesses reorient themselves and adopt informed decision making best practices so that senior managers and business owners can control what they can measure.
In an earlier post, we mentioned about management information from the Data analysis tool for SA-FMS. Here we are covering some valuable statistical data generated that can bring deep business insights for effective decision making.
Commodity analysis
- Business contribution of any given commodity transported
- Average freight realisation and packages carried by these commodities
- Percentage of short / excess reported on these consignments
Booking analysis
- Percentage of business contribution to different delivery centres
- Average freight realisation to all connected delivery centres
- Average dispatch time to between these centers
Transshipment performance
- Tonnage handled by each of the transshipment centres
- Wait time for consignment dispatches to various centres
- Consignment stock ageing analysis
Consignor and consignee business
- Business volume over a period with freight realisation
- Complaints registered on consignments
- Delays in booking dispatch, transit time and last mile delivery
SA-FMS is a logistics software solution that helps multi branch freight logistics service providers grow their business through better operational control and lower cost of servicing customers. Available in Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Kolkata and Kochi.
Tags: business insights
Posted in analysis, booking, delivery tracking logistics software, dispatch, Freight logistic, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, management information, sa-fms, transshipment | 2 Comments »
April 8th, 2011 | by : DS
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Dear all
We are pleased to invite you to the first of our series of workshops on cost savings and operational efficiencies for door to door cargo movers,sundry cargo operators and express parcel services in freight logistics industries having 25 – 400 branch operations. The workshop is designed for business owners and senior managers.
Date : 30th April 2011
Venue : Pai Viceroy, JC Road, Bangalore, India
Timings : 11 am to 1:30 pm followed by lunch
Agenda
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- Welcome address – Mr. Sunil Sharma, MD, Sharma Transports, Bangalore
- Freight logistics industry – Indian trends, Mr Shekhar Sheetanshu, NITC SoMS
- Cost reduction in Logistics industry – Duleep Sahadevan, Director, Software Associates
- Improving customer satisfaction – Remil Rashid, VP Marketing, Software Associates
- Management Information using SA-FMS – Manoj Kumar, Product manager, Software Associates
- Vote of thanks
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Prior registration is mandatory to attend this event. Send in your name, organisation, email ID and contact number to sa-fms@softwareassociates.co.in or call 0984 778 2246 for confirmation. Hurry. limited seats available.
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Tags: freight logistics, freight management workshop, logistics workshop
Posted in Bangalore, cost savings, india, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, training, workshop | No Comments »
April 7th, 2011 | by : Remil Rashid
A major concern faced by the freight logistics firms is the transshipment operations. It incurs hidden as well as direct costs due to lack of proper planning. Transshipment is the shipment of parcels or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to one or more destinations, applicable to transport companies that follow a hub and spoke model. Without a proper trans-shipment planning system, the organization will incur higher costs The major issues that arise as a result of improper trans-shipment planning include
- Delay in delivery
- Extra distance covered
- Additional fuel cost
- Wastage of time
- Wrong delivery of parcels
- Part delivery of consignments
- Consignment re routing
- Breakages and theft
- Regulatory hassles at border crossing
- Loss of business reputation
SA-FMS Freight logistics ERP solution has a route planner which helps to set an optimal route when there are multiple destinations to be covered in a single trip. This helps in reducing unwanted costs.
SA-FMS also offer ogdopus, an android smartphone based routing system that takes the pain away in the last mile of the delivery system
Tags: android smartphone logistics, consignment routing, freight cost savings
Posted in android for logistics software, cost savings, dispatch, logistics-cost-savings, sa-fms, tracking | No Comments »
April 1st, 2011 | by : DS
Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) based Vaigai cargo has selected SA-FMS lite edition, the leading Freight Logistics ERP suite for small and medium parcel operators to power their network of branches spread across the state to bring about improved operational efficiency and higher customer satisfaction
Vaigai cargo has daily parcel service operations to major cities in Tamil Nadu such as Chennai,Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem etc and to tier 2 / 3 towns such as Virdhunagar, Sivakasi, Dindugal, Theni, Cumbum, Cuddalore, Panruti, Neyveli, Chidambaram, Kumily, Periyakulam, Virudhachalam, Batalagundu, and Puducherry
Posted in booking, delivery tracking logistics software, india, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, sa-fms, Tamil Nadu | No Comments »
March 30th, 2011 | by : DS
We often see that the cost of servicing the consignor is not taken into consideration while computing the freight, whereas clients are always on the lookout for the most competitive freight charges from logistics service providers . There is often the tendency for sales and marketing departments to offer special rates to consignors and consignees without proper knowledge on the expenses incurred on each transaction. It is often difficult calculate cost involvement manually for every waybill. The costs could include attributes such as
- Door collection charges
- Truck hire (Shared/full load)
- Loading and unloading charges
- Basic freight
- Door delivery charges
- Delivery collection
SA-FMS has intellgent reports that allow customers evaluate the cost of each transaction by applying the costs at various centers from booking, transshipment and delivery for the parcel service industry
Posted in booking, delivery tracking logistics software, erp, Freight logistic, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, management information, transshipment, waybill | No Comments »
March 23rd, 2011 | by : DS
Lets face facts. Freight logistics industry today faces stiff pricing competition due to lack of service differentiation, and often squeezed by rising fuel prices, higher operating costs etc. One of the constant thoughts of the owner would be on how to raise the service levels to customers without increasing the cost of servicing.
Imagine having regional offices in 10 locations, serving 200 plus branches and an agency network in tier 2 and 3 cities across the country, effectively utilising a central goods control system to monitor the overall activities of freight logistics business.
SMS technology provides simple, easy to use and low cost ways to provide consignment and related business information to customers, agents and business partners on standard GSM phones.
We have implemented these technologies for clients in Freight Logistics and Healthcare industries to provide information on demand services to assist their business eco system, thus enabling speedy and affordable information flow using existing IT infrastructure.
Supervisory information
- Critical alerts on daily collections
- Trip delays
- Customer complaints
Customer benefits
- Status of consignments
- Branch location information
Branch / Agent benefits
- Status of the consignment
- Confirmation of delivery
- Tracking report at each transshipment
- Promotional messages / Policy alerts
- Account balances and payment reminders
SMS technology can help freight logistics companies lower the cost of servicing customers, offer higher levels of service to help beat competition.
Tags: freight logistics, sms for logistics
Posted in consignment tracking, cost savings, erp, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings | No Comments »
March 10th, 2011 | by : DS
- Incorporates best practices in Freight Logistics industries
- Excellent controls for accounting and inventory to avoid pilferage
- Hybrid offline / online technology to assist in business continuity
- On time and within budget implementation practices
- Software with guaranteed return on investment (ROI) through operational efficiencies
- Time tested for large and small freight logistics companies
- Management Information System to aid informed decision making
- Range of modules to choose from to buy as you grow
- Choice of on premise installation and rental models
- Open source technology with no hidden cost on system software
Logistics Software India – Backed by a 20 year old organisation with superior support and product engineering skills. Availabie in India, Africa and the Middle East
Tags: freight logistics erp
Posted in Africa, cost savings, erp, india, Logistics management, logistics-cost-savings, Middle East, roi | No Comments »
January 24th, 2011 | by : DS
Global Positioning System (GPS) provides reliable location and time information of any GPS navigation device. There should be an unobstructed line of sight from the device to at least four GPS satellites which helps to track the device irrespective of the location and weather. There are 30 satellites on its orbit, which track the various GPS devices all over the world and pass information to them. The entire system is maintained by the Government of United States of America and the system can be accessed by anyone with a GPS navigation device, without any cost.
The information passed between the satellite and the device contains the timestamps as well asthe exact location of the device. GPS navigation is used for military as well as civilian purposes. Any civilian with a GPS navigation device (Mobile phones with GPS capability, Handheld GPS devices etc.) can use the service. Ordinary phones, Smartphones and Androids now have GPS facility in them. The technological advancements and developments has reduced the cost to a greater extent and hence GPS integrated mobile phones are available in India at a rate of USD 100 (INR 5,000). The major GPS device brands include Garmin, Magellan, Leica, Holux etc.
Even though GPS is in its growing stage in India, many industries and sectors have been using the system for a while. One major industry which can gain a lot by implementing GPS is the transport sector. Many clients of transport companies are insisting on installing GPS devices in the trucks, which enables the client to keep a track on the movement of their goods. Hence more transport firms are going ahead by implementing a GPS navigation device in their vehicles and a GPS control room to track them and process the data.
SA-F.M.S has a module which can be integrated with the vehicle tracking system (GPS). Various details regarding the vehicle location, distance covered, time taken can be tracked live using this module. The various advantages of implementing the GPS module in SA-F.M.S Freight Logistics ERP include
- Control over the extra distance covered by drivers
- Reducing fuel pilferage
- Tracking of vehicles and goods
- Trustable data on current location
- Avoiding the misuse of fuel
Tags: GPS in the transport sector, gps vendors in india
Posted in android for logistics software, consignment tracking, erp, global positioning, tracking | No Comments »
