Transport Management

Transport costs are an essential part of complex supply chains and of great importance in the supply chain management of companies. Increasing transport volumes, from both land transport and overseas containers to the unpopular and very expensive air freight, and the current sharp rise in freight rates associated with this are driving companies to prioritise cost-cutting measures. In addition, the reliability and planability of the transports is constantly decreasing, which threatens the security of supply and makes expensive additional stocks of items/materials necessary in order to secure it. Companies must therefore assess for themselves what significance transport management will have for them in the future and what objectives can be achieved through it. The development of a transport management strategy can essentially result in a target vision, which should have elementary components. For example, which targets are to be achieved and how can I measure this using suitable target criteria. Which transport concepts fit the individual requirements and which associated measures are to be implemented. Then it must also be clarified whether future transport management is part of the core competences in the company's logistics organisation or whether this is purchased as a service from a 4PL provider.

The basis for a long-term improvement of transports in terms of costs and quality (adherence to deadlines, avoidance of damage and incorrect deliveries) is first of all always the critical assessment of the current situation and the identification of optimisation approaches in the transport concepts and processes based on this. This can also be done, for example, by carrying out any shadow calculations with standard models for detailed benchmarking of transport and contract logistics services. ebp uses a database with freight and logistics cost rates and standardised and systematised time values, so-called MTM time studies, to determine the required working hours in warehouse processing. In order to be able to carry out a systematised, comparable transport tender that also meets common compliance requirements, tried and tested templates are often used for the specifications and the preparation of the tender documents. The selection of the logistics service providers in question requires sound knowledge of the transport market and the transport service providers suitable for the specific case

The development and operation of an operational transport management system always stems from the need to handle the transports in a company's supply chains more efficiently, reliably and transparently. The central question is whether to establish these functions with the necessary dispatchers, logisticians and transport managers within the company as a separate organisational unit or to outsource these functions/services to an external 4PL service provider. In most cases, the focus is not even on the entire 4PL scope of services, but essentially only on the so-called control tower function for the planning & control of transports. Of course, this can then be accompanied by standardised freight cost controlling and regular cost optimisation measures through freight repurchasing / transport retendering and the reorganisation of transport concepts. In addition to the question of whether these logistics activities are part of the company's core competencies or not, a key factor in the make-or-buy decision is whether the effort involved is proportionate to the benefits. Another central element, in addition to the necessary staff with the required expertise, is the use of suitable transport management software, which must either be purchased at a high price or leased.

In addition to the needs analysis and the design of a suitable transport management system for a company, ebp also supports in the evaluation of the make or buy question.