How to manage your flows in the digital time ?

Establish a precise vision of logistics flows

In 2022, the logistician wishes to establish a precise vision of
the flows of the logistic chain in order to :

• to increase the profitability of the company,
• to remain competitive with these competitors,
• reduce the carbon emission of the supply chain,
• and to satisfy the end customer with a delivery that meets their expectations.

This fourfold and complex goal cannot be achieved if the
management of the tasks to be carried out remains
disorganised and slow to achieve. The stakes of steering are
high for all the company’s departments.
Establishing an accurate vision of logistics flows is essential; all
logistics operations are concerned :

• The supply of raw materials for production,
• Preparation of orders by batch or by unit depending on the nature of the goods, to the distribution logistics function.

Whether your company uses in-house resources or relies on
external service providers, each flow must remain competitive
and optimised.

Defining an all-encompassing strategy with digital
solutions

All the players in the financial, commercial, industrial and
administrative departments work together to define a
comprehensive strategy whose primary goal is the company’s
sustainability and profitability.

This strategy places logistics flows at the heart of the business.
Without these flows being properly managed, the company’s
activity loses its footing. Managing them with agility has become
essential.

For many years, one of the strategic challenges of the supply chain has been the management of flows in real time, which is now based on the new generation of digital tools.

At DDS Logistics, these new innovative tools are :

• TMS Shipper software,
• The collaborative transport platform Join2ship,
• And the digitalization platform for international purchasing DDS Sourcing.

They are based on state-of-the-art technologies such as
artificial intelligence AI and machine learning.

From TMS to collaborative platforms, new functionalities help
reduce the impact of transport hazards (climatic, energy, etc.).
The global strategy of shippers, freight forwarders and
transport companies is now based on the ability to interface
with digital solutions.

Manage the incoming flow (supply and stock) and the outgoing
flow from the warehouse to the end customer, between
The logistics function is an integral part of the winning strategy
for the company. The various departments must therefore
integrate the logistics specialist into their strategy and take into
account the innovations to be made to reduce the financial
costs of the supply function, stock management, warehousing
and the delivery function.

Global logistics is a strong link in the company’s profitability,
both upstream and downstream of the business.

The importance of the immediacy of customised KPIs

At the Supply Chain level, it is essential to retrieve data from
the various performance indicators that you have customised
according to your sector of activity.

This is one of the functions of flow control.

In real time, totally instantaneously, each KPI must be
measured and transferred to the ecosystem via the digital tool.
The proactivity and market position of your company depend on
this immediacy.

By means of a TMS tool, the divisions concerned will have
direct access to the various selected KPIs.

These can be, for example :

• The rate of perfect orders,
• The rate of order fulfilment,
• The time it takes to make an order available,
• The reason for return,
• OTD (On Time Delivery),
• The cost per product (or per type of product),
• Loading time per delivery,
•  The filling rate of the trucks,
• Or the carbon footprint per delivery, etc

Thus, if one of the customised indicators monitored in real time
drops in performance, by means of analysis alarms, it is
possible to generate corrective actions very quickly.

Anticipate, act, analyse and improve, these are the 4 actions
that a TMS tool helps you to carry out.

Real-time traceability: the winning asset of TMS
software

Transport logistics management has undergone a major
evolution since the advent of digital tools such as the TMS,
Transport Management System.

Indeed, their implementation in the supply chain drastically
facilitates the monitoring and real-time analysis of flows. For
example, by tracking GPS data, the position of vehicles, and by
retrieving traffic information, it is easier and more efficient to
plan routes and optimise journey times.

Road traffic fluctuates greatly depending on the time of day and
also on the time of year (traffic jams when going on holiday,
leaving the office, etc.). Machine Learning integrated into digital
solutions acts as a catalyst for the management of transport
plans.

When your company uses the digital tool, the system learns
about your transport habits and retrieves data about them.

With each iteration, thanks to Data Learning, it optimises :

• Transport times,
• Driving times for delivery drivers,
• And fuel consumption.

Real-time traceability is the guarantee of improvement in
transport performance management.
Flow management in transport plans is now the action that
should not be neglected! Think about it!

Collaborative solutions are in high demand to manage physical and data flows

Collaborative solutions are in high demand in the transport
market. They are able to ensure the reliability of information as well as
the automation of ongoing procedures.

At DDS Logistics, the Join2ship platform enables the
management of the flow of appointments for both pick-ups and
deliveries to customers.

When an incident occurs during delivery (late delivery,
damaged package, interrupted cold chain, etc.), this complete
traceability facilitates :

• Customer satisfaction through controlled delivery,
• It also addresses the issue of product returns by anticipating delivery incidents.

The various Supply Chain actors are notified of the Reverse
Logistics operation even before the product is actually returned
from the warehouse docks.

All the resources needed for this product return are therefore
committed very quickly.

Every partner in the collaboration platform wins when
implementing this solution in your ecosystem.

Managing logistics flows to meet government constraints

National, European and international regulations are very
demanding. They are delicate and precise to process and
require the special and systematic attention of the logistics
manager.

All operations are scrutinised and analysed in order to meet the
company’s strategic challenge as well as the different
legislation.

Transport conditions (dangerous products, cold chain, etc.),
customs, drivers’ driving time, energy consumption of vehicles,
carbon footprint … :

The list of data to be monitored and controlled is
growing month after month, to the point of becoming the
bête noire of the transport function.

By integrating a digital tool into the flow management system
(such as the Shipper TMS), automated logistics tracking
includes this legal data. As they evolve, updates to new
standards are automated via the cloud.

DDS Logistics, at the cutting edge of digital
technology for personalised logistics flow
management

At DDS Logistics, our developers know the challenges of
managing the various flows within B2B and B2C companies.

From physical flow to documentation data and time data,
everything is taken care of digitally. Contact us if you have any
questions about workflow optimisation