Transportation operations software provider TMW Systems unveiled new features, functionality, services and integrations for its products at the company's Transforum conference in Orlando, FL. Conference attendees browsed through and demoed some of the latest, along with new product and service offerings from more than 60 exhibitors.
TMW says the new offerings, features and functions for its lineup as well as its partners "increase the speed and usefulness of decisions that can improve operating efficiency, business income and customer satisfaction." But TMW President David Wangler noted he's most excited about the business intelligence community the company is looking to foster, where customers can safely access and share information and knowledge.
"Whether it's multiple TMW systems, multiple areas of a single TMW system, or our system and somebody else's, the ability to get that information on a single view and slice and dice it the way you want, visualize it and share it is pretty exciting," Wangler told Fleet Owner. "If you go a step further from that, the notion of creating a community that can benefit from the fact that they produced this data and you can aggregate it for these folks to consume, to me, that's huge.
"We have a large enough community, and if there's the right exchange, the right value proposition, and you can exchange that information and really get insight into what's actually happening in the market as opposed to what you're doing in one office to the next, I think that will drive a ton of efficiency," he said.
Updates announced at the conference include:
• Value Engineering, a new service designed to provide TMW customers insight and analysis to improve business performance through combined data analytics and industry benchmarking.
• TMWSuite Fuel Dispatch has new software tools to improve short-load consolidations as well as "general performance improvements to increase end-user effectiveness," according to TMW. New capabilities include inventory forecasting for holidays and managing discrepancies in tank readings.
• TMWSuite Brokerage software has been integrated with 3G-TM to deliver additional rating capabilities to support truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments. The new functionality improves customers' ability to rate shipments accurately and offer more competitive price quotes, TMW says.
• TMW Operations software now offers planners and dispatchers commodity-based loading guidance designed to maximize equipment utilization as well as enhanced cross-dock capability to facilitate planning, execution and billing of "turnpike doubles" combined movements. According to TMW, the resulting improvements in data accuracy and efficiency can reduce back-office work.
• TMW Back Office has improved support for agent-based pay scenarios to allow companies to grow business using an agent model. Automated processing of billing and settlements further reduces manual effort required and allows end-users to focus on exceptions, according to TMW.
• TMWSuite LTL Operations now allows for LTL consolidators who incorporate rail service, including rail reservation and drayage capabilities. Route optimization powered by Appian DirectRoute automatically routes daily deliveries and identifies optimal truck assignments for new pickups as they are called in during the day.
• TruckMate software now features a redesigned handheld solution for managing freight at a cross-dock that's intended to improve data collection and reduce loading errors with a more intuitive, streamlined interface. Increased rating capabilities provided through an integration with 3G-TM offer rating support for truckload and LTL shipments, which TMW says can improve accuracy in rating shipments and provide a more competitive price quote.
• TMW Business Intelligence software and services offer new data elements for TMWSuite, Innovative, TruckMate and TMT Fleet Maintenance solutions that expand reporting and dashboard options. TMW says it has added drag-and-drop capabilities in Data Warehouse Explorer and Visual Analytics software to make creating new dashboards faster and easier.
• TL2000 software now boasts improved features like a driver schedule snapshot and tariff rate import capability using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet template.
• Innovative IES software includes integrations with new mobile communications providers and fuel card and fuel purchase system providers. A new web-based IES Mobile application can provide operations information without being tethered to a desktop.
• Appian software includes optional Google geocoding functionality; a Scenario Manager tool that can run multiple routing scenarios; an automated Fixed Routing Manager tool designed to reduce the need to perform daily manual route uploads; a Resource Planner tool with a single view of driver and truck schedules; an automated feature for delivery appointment setting; and a new mobile tracking and messaging app for iOS, Android and Windows devices.
• TMW Asset Maintenance software includes a new Tire Analyzer mobile app to measure and record air pressure and tread depth by wheel position; new web-based Shop Scheduler app for managing appointments, plans and repair orders by maintenance bay and time slot; and support for multi-currency purchasing and reporting. TMW says the product's Mechanic Workstation mobile app can improve efficiency and productivity of mechanic work, and the TMT Service Center point-of-sale solution has newly enhanced workflow and invoicing features.
• TMW Optimization software's ExpertFuel tool provides in-cab directions to fuel stops and fuel pricing feeds from EFS and Comdata as well as a scheduling module that supports calculation and transfer of hours of service/estimated time of arrival/projected time available data. A web-based user interface now displays TripAlert status with visual mapping from ALK, and TMW says it has integrated a number of MatchAdvice features.
For more information, visit www.tmwsystems.com.
