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A company’s access to and control of its own data is one of the most basic, yet critical, things a company needs to run and grow a better business.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many businesses, including carriers in the trucking industry, to question not only how they operate, but how they store and access their data – and how they use it.
Are employees spending hours manually and repeatedly entering the same data into spreadsheets and the company’s TMS? Are workflows broken and scattered across multiple platforms? Information is stored in different places such as TMS which is only on front end servers, LDs, accounting system, smart phones, thousands of broker applications, factory portal and many fuel and credit cards? Are employees constantly calling to provide cargo updates? After all, is it impossible to know whether a truck, driver or shipment is profitable at any given time?
The pandemic has highlighted these process efficiencies and shown that streamlining processes, digitizing operations and leveraging data are not simply competitive advantages, but critical to business survival moving forward.
A simple, cloud-based and automated solution is needed for carriers, especially small and medium-sized ones, to survive and thrive in the digital information age.
Enter PAPs
Hans Galland, CEO and founder of BeyondTrucks, sees the solution to this need as process automation platforms (PAPs), tools designed as a central hub to help carriers thrive in the fast-paced, data-centric trucking business.
“Small and mid-sized carriers often don’t have the budget or patience to implement ERP solutions like TMS. But as their operations grow, they need a more robust and time-efficient solution than spreadsheets to enable them to consolidate data to make smarter business decisions. This is a whole new era of transportation technology.” – PAP – was an inspiration to be born, “said Galland.
It sees the technology not only as the next business process tools after TMS, but also similar to the revolutionary leap from traditional phones to smartphones.
“PAP is software that enables businesses to automate repetitive business processes, streamlining operations for easier and improved service. Truly a quantum leap. Serving as the next step from existing TMS systems, PAPs further simplify the process of managing fleets and ultimately enable smarter decisions,” said Galland.
PAPs save operators time and hassle by consolidating information into one central location, which reduces the need to switch between different platforms. With all the data in one place, carriers can make more strategic decisions about their fleets, whether they run basic analytics or use advanced statistical methods like machine learning and AI to improve the profitability of their operations.
Users can enter data using the system’s optical character recognition technology, which saves a lot of time compared to manual data entry. PAPs automate tasks such as scheduling and dispatching shipments, sending shipment updates to shippers, invoicing, expense payments, and driver settlement. Native financing capabilities such as factoring allow ship owners to access funds immediately.
Galland is not the only one who sees the benefits of PAPs.
Wolfgang Lehmacher, head of supply chain and transportation industries at the World Economic Forum, said, “Small and mid-sized trucking companies account for more than 75% of US trucking capacity, but many lack the resources and technology to manage their operations. efficiently. As the world moves towards digitization, it becomes imperative that they become more digital, automated and data-driven. Process automation platforms like BeyondTrucks can help trucking companies and the U.S. economy become world-class.
One service provider that is finding success with BeyondTrucks’ PAP is Jay D. Varga, director of operations at Package Pro Logistics.
Di Varga said: “Digitalisation and automation is the future. I was wasting a lot of time manually handling paperwork including invoices. All the TMS options seemed difficult to use, expensive, clunky and outdated which is why I chose to go with the PAP platform because it is cloud based so I don’t have to pay for upgrades and has an easy to use desktop and mobile app. By automating my invoices, expenses and workflows, I was able to add more revenue to my business and still save time.
PAP vs. TMS
For years, TMS has been a popular tool for service providers to digitize operations and store data. While TMS can be powerful, most of these systems are front-end software, often requiring IT departments to manage the servers they reside on and pay for expensive upgrades, maintenance, and customer support. This can work for large carriers with human and financial capacity, but it is less desirable for small and medium-sized companies that do not have the same resources to maintain a server.
Most TMSs function more like digital filing cabinets and lack the ability to build consistent workflows and integrated data. This, in addition to the complex nature of many TMSs, often requiring additional staff to enter data in multiple locations, can cause more challenges and more work than simplifying processes.
PAPs were originally developed for small and medium service providers to improve the way users interact with and access data.
PAPs are cloud-based, meaning users can access them from anywhere they have an Internet connection. The security of the cloud, with multiple backup copies, ensures that critical data is never lost, so there is no need for expensive servers to store data.
But these systems are more than just places to store information. They are specially designed to connect and streamline tasks in the practical process.
Galland explains: “PAPs are fundamentally different from modern TMS: PAPs use dynamic data, while TMS, even cloud-based SaaS, use a static data interface to seamlessly integrate many different tools. Data in PAPs flows seamlessly, thanks to close local integration and native development of specific features.
The easy-to-use PAP interface allows users of any skill level to quickly choose how to use it without the need for expensive and time-consuming training.
“PAPs were born out of the need for a more flexible, adaptable, easy-to-use and smarter platform to manage the trucking business. Born out of a need for smaller carriers, it’s incredibly attractive for larger fleets. The result is a more efficient team and real-time visibility into how your business is performing. Who doesn’t like it?” Galland said.
Ultimately, PAPs’ simple interface will allow more fleets to digitize and automate their operations so they have more important things – more time and better data.
Click here to learn more about PAPs and BeyondTrucks’ PAP solution.
Download the free industry white paper The Future of the Midsize Truck: Opportunities to Leverage Automation for Operations, People, and Finance here.
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