SAP SE

SAP TM: Deploying a Holistic Solution for Connected Transportation To address the increasing complexity and volatility of global logistics, shippers and logistics service providers must optimize logistics processes and improve service while increasing visibility and control. The SAP® Transportation Management application streamlines end-to-end processes for goods movement across all transportation modes, helping you improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. Meeting customer expectations for rapid, accurate delivery of goods is a growing challenge for logistics professionals. Thanks to the surge in e-commerce and omnichannel models, products move across multiple tiers of a global supply chain. Sharing information effectively across the logistics network requires the ability to communicate with large numbers of supply chain partners, who use a wide variety of desktop and mobile communication devices. With the growth of real-time logistics and transformative technologies, logistics service providers that value efficiency also must be able to collect, analyze, and utilize Big Data from billions of sensors, telematics, and other advanced devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). While handling more data and greater complexity, transportation managers are expected to reduce spending as a percentage of cost and maximize the return on each asset. To enhance service levels, companies need better logistics visibility so they can offer reliable, on-time delivery. They also must improve corporate sustainability and regulatory compliance. Meeting these needs requires a holistic business solution that offers efficient connectivity to business partners and external systems, enabling streamlined communications across the value chain. You also need a solution that optimizes your end-to-end transportation management process and helps you meet your supply chain execution mission. SAP Transportation Management helps you improve customer service and enhance delivery capabilities while reducing costs. You can accurately forecast transportation demand, negotiate freight contracts, receive and consolidate orders, monitor and track your shipments, and maximize the return on your transportation spend. Centralized, standardized transportation operations help you streamline the freight-costing process. Real-time analytics offer instant insight into key strategic and operational performance parameters to help you focus on improvement areas with reduced data complexity. With real-time operational insights from a variety of data sources, you can tightly monitor and limit the number of expedited shipments. The solution offers role-based functionality, modular implementation, and deep, native integration with SAP Business Suite applications. It supports large and midmarket companies by simplifying key processes and streamlining complex, high-volume operations. Both shippers and freight-forwarding companies can use the solution to handle domestic and international transportation. It can help organizations optimize and consolidate freight spend across both inbound and outbound freight movements. Functional areas of SAP Transportation Management: STRATEGIC FREIGHT MANAGEMENT Whether you are buying or selling freight services, you need a solution that optimizes capacity for all transportation modes for both common and remote shipping lanes. That’s why SAP Transportation Management offers strategic freight management features that help you forecast freight needs, collaboratively manage the process of buying and selling freight capacity, and efficiently create freight agreements. The software supports the entire freight capacity management process for all transportation modes using one integrated solution. You can enable flexible and efficient freight capacity procurement through freight contract negotiations and automated electronic capacity reservations that include shipping instructions. Simple modeling of complex scenarios and powerful what-if simulations help you choose the strategies most likely to enhance profitability, cost efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Real-time reporting helps you measure compliance against carrier and customer agreements and identify opportunities for cost savings. ORDER MANAGEMENT Accurately receiving orders and efficiently processing them are critical capabilities in the logistics business. SAP Transportation Management helps you receive order-based or delivery-based transportation requirements manually or electronically from multiple order management systems. You can confirm, plan, and execute orders; coordinate delivery with the warehouse; and communicate order status with business partners. The software offers the following order management features: Creation of dynamically generated, optimized routing proposals for orders based on business rules to avoid extra freight cost and deliver better customer service Holistic integration and management of all transportation demand with order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes, with change management in real time based on business rules to help ensure a closed-loop communication cycle Customer delivery commitments enabled through synchronized sales order scheduling Integration with order and delivery data in the SAP ERP application, including full cross-system order access and visibility into the status of each order TRANSPORTATION PLANNING Achieving on-time, low-cost freight delivery requires sophisticated transportation planning. SAP Transportation Management helps you optimize your transportation plan down to the level of individual shipments and containers – improving resource utilization and reducing transportation costs. You can consolidate domestic or international shipments, as well as shipments that use single or multimodal transportation. The software helps you achieve the right level of centralized or decentralized planning so you can identify synergies and meet your delivery goals. You can use the following planning features: Manual, map-based, or automated planning and dynamic replanning functions that consider constraints, utilize real-time location information, and offer insights from huge volumes of data to optimize freight planning and tendering Improved pallet building, using flexible rules-based optimization of products and mixed packages while considering constraints such as package attributes, product stacking rules, height requirements, and customer-specific requirements Visual load planning, helping you visualize vehicle space and optimized loading based on vehicle attributes (such as dimensions and weights), axle weight constraints, stacking rules, and delivery stop sequences Determination of the most efficient combination of modes, routes, resources, and optimal carrier selection by factoring in costs and penalties Consideration for dangerous goods attributes in freight planning and management. TRANSPORTATION EXECUTION A critical need for efficient and effective transportation is the ability to execute a plan and adapt it to real-life events in a dynamic environment. Well-coordinated planning and execution can help you cost-effectively deliver goods when and where customers expect them, while handling delays and disruptions. Direct real-time integration with SAP Extended Warehouse Management, which automatically notes changes in freight documents until the freight has been received or loaded, and shares truck arrival and departure information between the two applications Comprehensive templates for road, sea, and air to print documents as well as settle freight Flexible communication among business partners using B2B messaging, collaboration portals, mobile apps, Web interfaces, file upload and download, print documents, e-mail, facsimile, and SMS messages Integration with the SAP Global Trade Services application, which includes trade regulation compliance features for handling export declaration, import declaration, and transit and security filing FREIGHT SETTLEMENT Accurately managing transportation charges and cost settlement with carriers and customers helps you optimize freight costs. SAP Transportation Management offers comprehensive freight cost management functionality for costing, auditing, settlement, and reporting. Key features include: Advanced freight charge calculation and mode-specific charge and tariff management for road, rail, ocean, and air Accurate freight cost allocation across orders and materials for material valuation and order profitability analysis Freight settlement features for accruals posting, carrier self-invoicing, invoice verification and payment, and credit memo processing Invoice dispute management supported by tolerance settings and workflows Integration with SAP ERP / S/4HANA for freight settlement and invoicing, with general ledger posting, material valuation, and order profitability analysis Freight cost reporting using an interactive freight cost dashboard Group company logistics, enabling centralized logistics operations with consolidated, standardized logistics costing, even across decentralized companies ANALYTICS AND REPORTING Managing transportation operations effectively requires instant access to data as we enter the era of data-driven logistics. SAP Transportation Management includes several comprehensive, flexible decision support tools that help you stay informed and make faster, smarter business decisions. You can display key performance indicators and slice and dice data with user-friendly tools. The analytics and reporting tools in SAP Transportation Management include: Graphical dashboards that use the SAP HANA platform to support real-time, data-driven decision-making Flexible reports (including ad hoc reports and queries) across all areas of transportation, which can be easily consumed and help reduce data complexity