Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2018
need and given that making that kind of change is so hard I dont see a reason to change If your software handles everything you do you are in the right spot If that tool works stick with it Even so things change Regulations and the demands they make on your system change Your business may change with new market segments Or your customers may want certain capabilities your TMS needs to deliver Then maybe its time to take the plunge Reasons to replace your TMS How do you know your current system isnt cutting it There are several factors you can consider Can your system support your growth plans At At Dupré Logistics Verrets first task when he came on board in 2016 was to see if the existing software 1 they had could support the growth plan He found the system was probably scalable to meet the first benchmark but that it would probably not be adequate for much beyond that So he instituted a three step approach to the problem upgrading the TMS first ancillary systems second and finally the back office part Is your system sustainable If youre running old legacy software that has not been regularly updated or upgraded it could be at the end of its useful life Supporting old versions of software is expensive Any integrations will have to be retrofitted to the old software which is time consuming and costly All of which can add up as you consider ever changing regulations such as hours of service or fuel taxes Its an obsolescence issue Wiesen 2 says Some systems are no longer sustainable Does it cost a lot to maintain your system Related to the sustainability issue adding new applications and integrations to an old system can be very expensive as each one will have to be retrofitted So much so it may no longer be financially prudent to stay the course Wiesen says If a company needs major hardware or infrastructure investments to keep a system going its not worth it Especially since many current systems dont require expensive hardware investments If you are spending any money on hardware to run your TMS you shouldnt be says Tim Higham CEO of InMotion Global maker of AscendTMS The same goes for a dedicated IT staff to keep it all running Many TMS providers offer 3 JULY 2018 HDT 55 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM A trucking companys TMS may include integrations with maintenance and other applications PHOTO TMW SYSTEMS
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