It is a time when the entire economy today is surging towards a well connected operational infrastructure. Movement of products and information has become the primary focus and with the help of a more connected environment has enabled better visibility. Logistics and Supply Chain is an industry that is involved in the operational planning, procurement, and distribution and hence shipping companies need a more robust and highly function management tool with a wide range of capabilities.

One of the major goals of a Supply Chain Management solution is to maximize customer value and to increase the companies a competitive advantage. There are many solutions in the market and many companies also opt for customized packages. Either a ready-made package or an in house built solution some certain prerequisites or characteristics are key essentials to keep in mind while choosing an apt Logistics management solution.

Flexible order & Billing management:
One of the key areas for any logistics management solutions is a perfect order and billing management module. This is one capability that cannot be ignored and is of top priority as the software should be able to create orders and also have the feature to charge customers from a centralized location. This is a major way helps managers to reduce the work operations and thereby increase the efficiency of the movement of goods particularly when handling diverse customers and consignments.

Higher Real-time visibility of movements:
The capabilities of the internet been made available in the hands of customers it is imperative to say that end to end Supply chain visibility is the most essential feature a supply chain management solution should possess. Customers should be provided with real-time visibility about the movement of their cargo from source to destination and it should be an integral feature of every supply chain solution. This feature not only enables customers a better understanding of the services provided but helps organizations to respond to changes in the due course of transit.

Better forecasting ability:
Better and accurate resource planning is the key to running a successful logistics operations. This can be achieved only through a good forecasting tool as they enabled them to anticipate customer demands that will help in the planning of resources accordingly. Such tools not only helps companies to eliminate unnecessary purchases of raw materials but also reduced the requirement for storage.

Mobility with Mobile Apps:
Its the time wherein mobile stands first for all businesses and companies to have to transform its operations to a very mobile conducive environment for their operations. Logistics companies who haven’t adopted the mobile environments have to drastically turn their pages to highly functional mobile applications. Apps offering real-time alerts and up to date information which is avail and accessible from anywhere is considered as the most essential of all today.

Accurate analytics:
Analytics plays a key role today in planning and implementing strategical changes in supply chain and investing in such software will assists more in process evaluation and reporting that will make a world of a difference. Analytical tools make a sea change and offering to logistics and supply chain operations that will help in capitalizing on captured data.

Summary:
It doesn’t matter whether your organization is on a look to purchase third party software solutions or to develop the same right from scratch. One has to understand the basic prerequisites which the supply chain management software has to cater to and that will help the logistics companies manage their resources and plan operations in the most viable manner.

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