THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
Logistics Tech Outlook Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Logistics Tech Outlook
Shannon Vaillancourt, PresidentMost organizations today face conflicts in meeting the needs of finance and the dynamic nature of logistics. The challenge for a CIO is to deliver one solution that satisfies two different audiences within the company while meeting the needs of each carrier that a company partners with. The Intelligent Invoice ManagementSM software implements a path-breaking logistics solutions process that includes diagnoses, develop, and deploy—or the 3D process as RateLinx defines it. Through the 3D process, the software collects three standard data sets: shipment tender record, carrier invoice, and shipment status. The data is then cleansed, standardized and used to meet logistical needs. RateLinx is one of the few providers to create actionable data without requiring additional infrastructure or resources. After diagnosing existing problems in invoice or shipment orders and drawing an analysis on the company performance, RateLinx develops strategies that address underlying problems.
As part of Intelligent Invoice ManagementSM, we are also collecting additional data around the status of an order such as its plan and tender date to provide predictive capabilities
In one instance, a popular flooring and surfacing product distributor wanted to analyze and optimize their freight spend through real-time analytics. Despite the accuracy of the distributors invoicing procedure, the client wanted to capture cost at the order level. With RateLinx Intelligent Invoice ManagementSM, the client was able to quickly view the best options for shipping a particular order with detailed information that tied each freight invoice to the order number. By analyzing the information, RateLinx allowed the company to identify lost savings. Moreover, the software was flexible enough to integrate with the client’s existing SQL and business IT systems, and soon they were making accurate decisions relative to freight management.
“As part of Intelligent Invoice ManagementSM, we are also collecting additional data around the status of an order such as its plan and tender date to provide predictive capabilities,” says Shannon Vaillancourt, President, RateLinx. This additional data is integrated with a carrier’s shipment status. The predictive engine, built into the software, uses the combined data to provide greater visibility and alerts in case a shipment will be late. With RateLinx’s solution, they can change the shipment to a more expedited method to ensure that products are received on time.
Continually innovating solutions to align with market needs, RateLinx works jointly with customers and is responsive to their feedback when it comes to solving problems. “Greater collaboration with customers coupled with a data-first approach provides us a competitive advantage in the market; we will continue to develop solutions that provide long-term value,” concludes Vaillancourt.
In this in-depth analysis, Gartner found that with rising global parcel delivery volumes from multichannel retail and B2B e-commerce shipments, shippers still lack multi-carrier parcel management tools to optimize their shipments. They aren't finding multi-carrier parcel optimization solutions in ERP, TMS, OMS, and WMS, which creates a need for standalone MCPMS solutions.
ShipLinx TMS is unlike other MCPMS standalone solutions because it's a TMS that specializes in multi-carrier parcel management and is part of a flexible TMS platform. The multi-carrier parcel management capabilities can be used on its own or as part of the ShipLinx TMS platform for end-to-end transportation management optimization. Additionally, RateLinx was acknowledged in the MCPMS Market Guide for its expansion beyond shipping planning and optimization into freight auditing.
ShipLinx TMS offers these essential and advanced capabilities, including:
• Integration with any OMS, WMS, and ERP
• Expedited parcel execution
• Optimized multi-carrier parcel manifesting
• Accurate and fast label and document creation
• Avoids domestic and international delivery delays by adhering to carrier compliance
• Parcel consolidation to save more
• Real-time parcel visibility to better serve customers
• Reporting/analytics to find trends and cost savings
• Parcel optimization selects the best carrier based on rules for cost savings
• Automated rate shopping
• Accurate parcel freight payment
• Electronic last-mile delivery
• Returns management
• Advanced cartonization
• Cross-border and Pick-Up and Drop-Off
"I knew there was a better way to manage parcel shipments. That's why I wrote the code for ShipLinx, a solution for multi-carrier parcel management. Over the years, we've refined it into a comprehensive TMS that spans from planning to settlement, allowing businesses to pick and choose the features they need. ShipLinx TMS is unique in its extensibility, enabling clients to add additional functionality to meet their individual needs while offering unlimited scalability," said Shannon Vaillancourt, RateLinx founder and CEO.