I spent two hours yesterday shoveling a foot of snow from my driveway, steps, and sidewalk. I managed to clear only 85% of it. My oldest son, after coming back from a run, finished the job in less than 20 minutes.
Like an old tilling ox, I’m becoming less efficient with age.
Moving on, a bit stiff and sore, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:
- Trade groups call for prioritized vaccine access for logistics workers (DC Velocity)
- British Ports Are Struggling Under a Crush of Containers (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Busiest U.S. seaport, buried in imports, plucks out toys to load Santa’s sleigh (Reuters)
- Walmart and Gatik Go Driverless in Arkansas and Expand Self-Driving Car Pilot to a Second Location
- Elemica Acquires ProcessWeaver, Integrates Parcel TMS
- BluJay and FourKites Renew Partnership to Provide Increased Value to Joint Customers
- Amazon Location – Add Maps and Location Awareness to Your Applications
- Digital Supply Chain Leader, SDI, Announces Strategic Partnership With Contactless Fulfillment Innovator, BoxLock
- CloudTrucks Raises $20.5 Million Series A
- Waresix acquires Trukita to connect more of Indonesia’s fragmented logistics chain (TechCrunch)
- How retailers are preparing for more returns than ever this holiday season (ModernRetail)
- Freight Volumes Positive for Second Time in Two Years (Cass Info Systems)
- Truckload Turnover Rises in Third Quarter (ATA)
- Digital LTL Council ready for launch, electronic bill of lading first on the agenda (FreightWaves)
- Biden introduces Buttigieg as his nominee to lead the Department of Transportation (NBC News)
Parcel No Longer The Forgotten Mode in TMS
Twenty years ago, virtually all of the leading transportation management system (TMS) vendors stayed away from adding parcel capabilities. Simply put, they didn’t want to deal with the unique rating and other requirements associated with parcel shipments, especially label compliance. Instead, they pointed you to a handful of standalone parcel shipping partners.
In recent years, however, TMS vendors have been adding parcel capabilities, either organically or via acquisitions. The driving force, of course, has been the rapid growth of e-commerce. Companies that did little or no parcel shipping a decade ago, including manufacturers and retailers, now find themselves having to incorporate parcel more seamlessly and intelligently into their overall transportation planning and execution processes.
A few years back, you had the merging of Kewill and LeanLogistics (now BluJay Solutions) that brought together a leading parcel shipping vendor with a leading TMS provider. In May 2017, Descartes acquired ShipRush, “a leading provider of e-commerce multi-carrier parcel shipping solutions for small-to medium-sized businesses.” This past February, 3Gtms announced its acquisition of PaceJet, a cloud-based, multi-carrier shipping software provider. The latest development: Elemica announced its acquisition of ProcessWeaver, “the leading first-to-final mile multi-carrier parcel TMS solution provider.” Here are some details from the press release:
ProcessWeaver’s solutions will be integrated into Elemica’s Digital Supply Chain Network, including the Eyefreight TMS solution. This will give clients access to advanced shipment planning and freight cost management capabilities, increasing their freight-related cost savings and control.
ProcessWeaver’s multi-carrier shipping solutions automate the execution processes required in warehouse and distribution operations that must pick, pack and ship high volumes of small parcel and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments. Operators are ensured compliance with carrier data exchange, reference numbers and labeling. The solutions are offered in native ERP as well as hosted cloud models. ProcessWeaver also brings strategic partnerships to Elemica along with advanced integrations with customer ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Netsuite, Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, Acumatica and Epicor.
Simply put, parcel is no longer the forgotten mode in TMS; it is becoming a must have capability for almost all shippers.
And with that, have a happy weekend!
Song of the Week: “Pure” by The Lightning Seeds
