What Forwarders need from a Freight Management Software

Posted by Softlink Global on October 6th, 2021

If we were to provide a simple answer to the question \"What Forwarders need from Freight Management Software?\" we could put it as - One, Two, and Three.

To elaborate, an ideal freight Management Software must unite all operations and branches into one common platform to smoothen collaboration between the two most important entities: customer and you, and finally to enhance the functioning of multiple verticals and departments like customs, transport, warehouse, financial & accounting and more.

As companies emerge from the pandemic, the focus will be to intensify operations, and a lot will ride on how companies align their goals with processes. Whatever expectations companies had from technology in freight forwarding, the pandemic has heightened those. Forwarders want software that brings more agility in the process, more clarity of demands, and more power in decision-making. Let us explore these qualities in detail.

ONE PLATFORM FOR CONTROL AND VISIBILITY

The complex and herculean task of managing the various links in freight forwarding demands great planning skills. Shippers and other customers are demanding faster movement of cargo. To make matters more complex, freight forwarders are unable to squeeze out more profits for adding efforts behind meeting this demand. Therefore, turning to the new breed of freight management software renews their hopes. This is because a common platform is designed to level the playing field for all operators. Freight forwarders themselves can be assured that all their assets and third parties are optimized to provide the best rates and schedules for all involved. This creates a single virtual supply chain pipeline that is visible to all parties, making shippers, forwarders, third parties, and customers all winners. Freight software with such benefits grows in rank and acceptance.

FROM CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

No business has been able to sustain itself for too long by subsiding their customer\'s expectations. The increasing number of new Freight forwarders is making it tough for players with legacy software to impress tech-savvy customers. Growth can only come by when you can generate leads that can be converted into eventual customers constantly. Sales CRM modules in freight solutions are the missing piece of the puzzle. A spreadsheet with leads and prospects cannot track your sales team\'s performance and provide useful insights to do better.

To empower customers, you must provide them easy access to:

• View, edit, and approve Bill of Loading drafts
• Make shipment bookings via the Internet
• Provide their Invoices, outstanding payments & statement of accounts

Enabling your customers with tools and technology in freight software leads to heightened levels of customer satisfaction.

SEAMLESS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN FUNCTIONS

Simply consider the internal process when a customer requests for shipping a commodity, say, from China to the US. From the feasibility to the availability of resources, you want to understand the best routes and rates that you could offer your customer. Not to mention a freight solution that must handle multiple bill types and currencies like the yuan and US dollar. This is resource-intensive work when done without the aid of tools and modern freight solutions.

With multiple legs of coordination required between departments, freight software bridges the gaps and effort required to arrive at the best rates for preferred routes. Workflows act as the engine that keeps the organization\'s machinery running seamlessly. In an integrated Freight ERP Platform, every interlinked department takes cognizance of the requirement of the organization. Thus, there is improved internal communication & information exchange between the departments resulting in:

• Reduced job turnaround time
• Better macro-and micro-level overview of the company
• Enhanced processing and prioritizing of orders

A single database provides information and real-time access to generate various performance reports of jobs, branches, shippers, carriers. It also means having an overview of your spending, earnings, receivables, and payables. Forwarders want their freight management solution to never miss even the smallest relevant detail about their company.

So an integrated solution that provides complete collaboration and visibility across functions and brings transparency between you and your customers, along with the integration of multiple business functions from a centralized database, is the desired feature from freight management software in today\'s time.