How Manual Shipping Processes are Costing Your Company Time & Money

These days, all types of manual working processes are being replaced by advanced technology. And now that automation and similar efficiency-enhancing software capabilities have become mainstream, it simply makes sense to reduce or eliminate time consuming or repetitive work.

Pen-and-paper based processes are being left behind all across different industries, providing more time for employees to devote to important, mission-critical pursuits. Why shouldn't your shipping and logistics processes experience the same improvement?

It eats up considerable time and financial resources to undertake these processes manually - maybe more than you realize.

Manual rate shopping

Taking time, leaving money on the table

Rate comparisons are crucial in shipping and logistics circles. Some managers pride themselves on always being able to find the best rate for client shipments, saving money and getting items to their destinations on time and on budget. But how much time is wasted getting to this point? And how can you truly be sure that you got the most cost-efficient rate available?

Shopping manually for freight quotes often equates to switching back and forth among carrier websites, and comparing the differences in price and schedule yourself. Wouldn't it be easier if all of this information was in a single location, and you could simply see all your options based on load size, carrier and price?

Window switching

The inefficiency of multiple, disconnected platforms

Speaking of switching between different windows, this time consuming and inefficient process doesn’t just pop up during rate shopping. In addition to searching over carrier websites, your employees are also likely wasting time (and money, by extension) when they need to switch between your various internal software solutions to get the details needed to support shipments.

Consider this - for each, individual shipment, you may need to visit:

• Your CRM platform to obtain the sender name and address.
• Your WMS or inventory management platform to check that items are in-stock in the warehouse.
• Your ERP, to ensure that everything aligns with current resourcing plans.

And then, on top of this, you still need to shop around for the best carrier rate. That's a considerable amount of time spent switching between windows and platforms.

Download our Transportation Management System Guide

Invoice auditing

A productivity black hole

In addition to wasting time and leaving money on the table with rate shopping and the use of several, disconnected platforms, there's also the invoice auditing process to consider. While not the most exciting activity, auditing is crucial to make sure no mistakes were made, that duplicate or unnecessary charges weren't included and to ensure that all outstanding balances have been paid. However, doing this by hand can take more than twice as long as an automated solution, and also adds to the risk that something might be missed - including opportunity for savings.

Save Time and Money  

These are just a few of the places where time and money may be wasted through manual shipping and logistics processes. The solution is to deploy an advanced transportation management system that's easy to use and puts all the necessary tools and information right at your fingertips.

FreightPOP includes innovative rate shopping to help you streamline comparisons and ensure you choose the most cost efficient option every time, saving you as much as 20 percent on freight costs. Our platform's integration capabilities let you eliminate the need to switch between windows - key data from your ERP, CRM, WMS and other platforms can automatically be pulled into your TMS, saving you time and hassle. And our automated invoice auditing helps catch any transaction mistakes or other issues, resulting in up to 15 percent savings.

FreightPOP isn't your run-of-the-mill TMS - we take the complexity out of shipping and logistics to help you save time and put money back in your pocket. Check out our interactive savings calculator to learn more.

For more information on TMS software, see our Ultimate Guide to Transportation Management Systems.