How ERP is Driving the Logistics and Transportation Industry
The logistics industry is the backbone of commerce and supply chains around the world. Logistics needs high levels of competency when it comes to managing high volumes of real-time data, fulfilling supply chain management, freight management, transportation, warehousing, storage, and maintenance tasks. ERP for logistics industry is a definitive tool that can handle constant changes, uncertainties, and unpredictable cost fluctuations with automation and superior system intelligence.
“ A Logistic & Distribution ERP System integrated with business processes can allign the following elements business System”
- Labor cost
- Material cost
- Freight cost
- Fuel Cost
- Payment follow-ups with clients
- Maintenance costs
- Asset Management
- Import/export duties
- High Valuation Asset Tracking
- Maintaining stock records of materials
- Record of damaged goods
Advantages of relying on a Logistics ERP Solution
Key modules in an ERP system for the distribution business.
The Accounts module of an ERP system in logistics offers insights into the key accounting processes and outcomes of your logistics business. Automated financial records and entries of accounting activities such as Sales Invoice, Purchase Invoice and Payments can be viewed, edited (controlled editing), escalated, etc. The features include:
- Multi-type and multi-currency accounting report generation
- Payment receivables reminders
- Automatic PO, invoice, and bill generation
- Detailed analytical reports on sales, purchase, & gross profit generation
- Management of tariffs & discounts for both suppliers and customers
- Maintenance of rates across different modes (Road, Air, Rail, Sea, etc.)
- Auto-configuration of new financial modules
- Carrier Rate integration
- FTL and LTL rate engine integration
- Revenue leakage detection
- Flexible customer invoicing capabilities (order cancellation, reorder, new orders, discounts, loyalty programs, discounts, etc.
The CRM module in a distribution ERP system will help strengthen customer relations and gauge customer expectations and experience with the logistics services. Multiple channels of customer touch-points like e-mails, feedback, grievances, ticketing system, auto-reminders for a callback, etc. can be integrated with an ERP system in logistics to render results that help leverage customer satisfaction. Social media metrics and posts analysis are the key capabilities of this ERP module.
The Accounts module of an ERP system in logistics offers insights into the key accounting processes and outcomes of your logistics business. Automated financial records and entries of accounting activities such as Sales Invoice, Purchase Invoice and Payments can be viewed, edited (controlled editing), escalated, etc. The features include:
- Multi-type and multi-currency accounting report generation
- Payment receivables reminders
- Automatic PO, invoice, and bill generation
- Detailed analytical reports on sales, purchase, & gross profit generation
- Management of tariffs & discounts for both suppliers and customers
- Maintenance of rates across different modes (Road, Air, Rail, Sea, etc.)
- Auto-configuration of new financial modules
- Carrier Rate integration
- FTL and LTL rate engine integration
- Revenue leakage detection
- Flexible customer invoicing capabilities (order cancellation, reorder, new orders, discounts, loyalty programs, discounts, etc.
In-house fleet to carry out tasks while reducing the total cost of operations can be managed with this module for ERP distribution. Visibility on asset condition, planned and unplanned maintenance activities, maintenance budgets and the management of the complete life cycle of the assets can be obtained using this module.
Maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities can be pre-planned with the predictive analytics capabilities of the ERP system in logistics
Some important features include:
- Seamless Asset induction to an existing AMSn
- Cost-efficient asset retirement plan recommendationsn
- Fleet allocation based on maintenance schedules, trip route, delivery volume, and cargo compatibility
- Full and partial options for work order capitalization
We help manage in-transit, goods outward, emergency, and central hub connectivity with this module. Activities like arrival, departure, no-claim of goods, returns, resource planning, parent-child execution, carrier schedules, quantity mismatches, good consolidation, segregation, hub audits, quality checks, compliance and more can be managed with this module.
This module helps in the management of material request and procurement. The vital functionalities include:
- Request for Quotation creation
- PO creation for the best quote
- Manage multi-vendor quotes
- Purchase price data analytics
- Delivery time and product quality analysis
- Buffer stock maintenance and automatic stock purchase requisition
ERP in logistics can help manage in-house and contractual employees at distribution hubs, dispatch centers, and support centers efficiently. The features of this module include:
- Employee attendance management
- Automatic Payroll & expense claim processing
- Leave/holiday management
- Insurance/Expense claim management
- Job openings and applicant management
- Professional Appraisal system
- Training and orientation
- Feedback collection
This module helps the management assess why the demand for business is low and what improvement plans need to be laid down. It helps provide best-in-class customer support and grievance management mechanisms.
The features include:
- Customer issue tracking, escalation, and resolution quality analysis
- Generation of tickets and auto-email notifications
- Management of invoices for maintenance and repairs
- Customer feedback management
- Automatic digital assistance monitoring for common queries