Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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WORKFLOW TOOLS AUTOMATE EVERYDAY PAPERWORK, SPEED CASH FLOW BY AARON HUFF C ommercial and private fleets always are look- ing to automate the "quote-to-cash" cycle. Most already are on the right path by using trans- portation management software designed for this purpose. Still, one of the biggest obstacles is how to handle the stream of data coming in from different sources and formats. Orders arrive by phone, fax, Websites, e-mails, spread- sheets and electronic data interchange. After orders are entered and loads are assigned and delivered, there are even more sources and formats for data and documents involved in invoicing customers and paying drivers. For years, document imaging systems and services have helped to clear the way, but the early versions did nothing more than replicate the workfl ow of using paper trays for an inbox and outbox. People still had to view documents and decide what to do with the content. A growing number of fl eets now are using workfl ow tools to automate the cycle from start to fi nish. These technologies can capture data from Websites, e-mails and other documents and convert it to a format easily con- sumed by TMS systems. Many also are using technology to automate the routine tasks and focus resources on clearing the exceptions, such as invoices with missing information. This so-called "active" or "progressive" workflow has made order entry, invoicing, payroll and other processes become more efficient. Rather than paying people for repetition, companies are using knowledgeable workers to do more productive work that contributes to profit- able growth. "The goal is to take away physi- cal paperwork and the process of sending information around to different departments." – MICHELLE RAMER, PROJECT MANAGER, PEGASUS TRANSTECH PEGASUS TRANSTECH'S TRANSFLO NOW MOBILE IS DESIGNED TO SPEED DOCUMENT DELIVERY BY ALLOWING DRIVERS WITH ANDROID PHONES TO CAPTURE AND SEND HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES ELECTRONICALLY. Orders EDI has – and perhaps al- ways will be – the standard for automating business- to-business commerce in the transportation industry. Increasingly, however, more shippers and third-party lo- gistics fi rms require carriers to visit Websites to retrieve and send information that used to be done through EDI, such as receiving load offers and updating ship- ment status. For shippers, Websites can eliminate the legacy costs associated with EDI, such as a trained staff, as well as the setup and testing costs to connect with carri- ers. But for carriers already accustomed to using EDI, Websites can drain effi cien- cy – especially for custom- ers with a large volume of transactions. Fortunately, the process of sending and retrieving data from shipper Websites can be automated just like it is with EDI. COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2012 63