BFF International

Monitoring, the best solution visibility and control of goods

November 11, 2022/0 Comments/in Transport/by Celeste Diaz

Monitoring, the best solution visibility and control of goods.

Price or product quality is no longer the primary basis for customer loyalty. With the logistical strain imposed by the pandemic, the rise of e-commerce and the digitalisation of all industries on the doorstep, customers value the experience they receive much more highly. To this end, freight and transport monitoring is the pearl that companies should not leave to chance.

Today, delivery tracking is the critical factor affecting customer loyalty and new demands across sales channels, so most recipients expect to know the status of their shipments in real time. A satisfied customer will buy again and may become a loyal customer promoting word-of-mouth marketing. Let’s look at what monitoring is and how to choose the best tool.

Freight monitoring for the transportation of goods

Complicated or non-transparent monitoring generates customer anxiety, which can trigger the final experience. Digital updates are almost essential for the logistics industry. With the help of digital trends shaping the future, real-time monitoring of goods is an added value in the supply chain. Logistics and digital transformation enable insight into shipment location and delivery status, track location, protect cold chain integrity and optimize route selection.

Monitoring is the ability to know the status of a shipment or track transport units at all times. This constant tracking of goods increases logistics efficiency. However, guaranteeing 100% effective monitoring requires prior work to know the tool focused on these results.

Why a security system in freight transport?

Some of the events that require assistance from a security expert are:

Fires.

Assaults.

Kidnappings.

People in need of emergency assistance.

Robberies with a firearm.

Robberies with a knife.

Satellite tracking of GPS units.

Satellite tracking of people.

Violence.

There are several aspects that help a monitoring centre to be efficient and to function correctly. Among them are:

Having personnel highly trained in reacting to protocols

Having a good operational team.

Knowing what and how to do when suspicious packages and calls are received.

Training goes hand in hand with good management, results and satisfaction of the monitoring center.

Ways to apply:

GPS devices, where priority of vehicles and cargo is critical.

Digital platform, which provides visibility and control of operational and logistics management, ideal for obtaining valuable information for customers.

The experience standard is the new business paradigm. How to retain customers and offer them up-to-date solutions and information are two elements that will play in the balance to stand out from the competition.

Some steps to collect information, understand the benefits of monitoring and choose the best tool:

Understand the specific needs of each business.

Immerse yourself in virtual communities and analyze customer comments and opinions.

Understand the importance of the omni-channel experience.

Understand customer frustration as a negative chain factor.

Analyze and test customer management software (CRM) to gather information.

What are the advantages of a digital platform for freight transportation?

Among the digital trends in logistics, freight management and visualization platforms provide optimal monitoring and respond to a closer follow-up of the goods’ journey. Adaptability, scalability and compatibility are essential factors in choosing the right tool. As a strategic partner, we have powerful software that provides full visibility and control of the goods. Elis is our logistics operations management platform.

Road transport in Europe: on autopilot towards an automated market? 2019 - AsstrA news

Benefits of operating with monitoring systems for your goods?

View all active operations.

Track shipments.

Detect possible delays and incidents.

Reduce extra expenses in logistics.

Controls departures and arrivals through a dynamic calendar.

Provides statistical reports.

Processes digitized documentation.

Increases security in case of eventualities during transit.

What is customer experience?

Customer experience is the perception of how customers treat a brand. The market appeals to emotions to create links between buyers and companies. In this way it anticipates needs and behaviors and seeks to make that bond a positive one. These perceptions drive customer trust and loyalty. In other words, if the customer feels well treated and finds solutions to their specific needs, they are likely to create a positive bond.

The logistics industry must invest in these long-term relationships, in line with digital trends, and offer a personalized experience. In this sense, the impact of monitoring of transporation is relevant because it allows huge amounts of data to be collected, processed and responded to the demand for speed and increased logistics capacity.

A good experience is built on the quality of the product or service and the link with the people offering it. If this experience is positive, business growth is enhanced and brand promotion finds an organic path to customer retention.

What are the challenges of today’s technology?

Logistics competition is set to continue to grow, so companies must manage today’s technology and take advantage of opportunities through a more flexible retail experience. Not surprisingly, the challenges of e-logistics put the customer experience at the forefront.

Key challenges include last mile management, specialized IT and network talent, sustainability as a short-term goal, and return or reverse logistics policies.

Last mile distribution is an essential step for companies to meet their customers’ expectations.

Efficiency in the logistics chain

Satellite tracking and tracing ensures that goods are tracked throughout the entire product movement. Monitoring of the truck fleet is very important during all stages of the supply chain. It assists in the complete supervision of last mile deliveries in real time.

Tracking allows immediate visualization of the satellite location of the transport trucks. Thanks to its functions, recipients can know every detail that is of interest to them, such as the route that is traveled, the location or the physical condition of the unit. Failure to implement vehicle tracking can cause delays in deliveries. Remember, the customer comes first. That is why this service is indispensable to keep you fully aware of the movement of your goods.

When a vehicle tracking mechanism is not implemented for the freight forwarding service, the effectiveness of all logistical processes is put at risk. This is because the various tasks in a supply chain are interconnected. If one fails, all the others can fail.

Transport optimization with technology

November 11, 2022/0 Comments/in Transport/by Celeste Diaz

Transport optimization with technology.

Companies must manage complex, border-crossing supply chains with inefficient manual processes, long process times, increased risks and a host of regulatory requirements that characterize such supply chains.

In order to overcome all of these challenges, it is essential to automate and control transportation management and processes; increase inventory and cost visibility; and reduce costs, time and risk factors. The only way to achieve higher profits is to outperform the competition and this can only be achieved by automating management with technology.

The software makes it possible to seize new opportunities, strengthening and expanding customer satisfaction by optimizing all transport management processes.

The goal is to design and optimize the entire supply chain network to automate the management of transport processes, eliminating information silos and lack of process continuity to achieve logistics visibility and control throughout the global chain. In this way, an effective plan can be created to meet the demands of products on the move.

Companies around the world and in all sectors – manufacturing, retail and distribution – need to optimize their transport operations for better decision making. The software must have tools for strategic and tactical supply chain planning and transportation execution to create a plan for products in motion and then execute that plan through supplier collaboration to improve turnover, increase customer satisfaction and ensure customer loyalty. All of these benefits allow for better decision making.

Transport planning and execution processes must encompass all modes of transport. Companies need to determine what the supply chain will look like, what inventory is needed, where inventory should be installed in order to get the best transport prices, develop and execute transport plans for own and third party assets. In this way, the most efficient logistics route can be created to achieve the best results and improve visibility from the time the order is created to the delivery of the product.

Companies should cover different areas according to their specific needs:

Transport planning

Transportation planning allows you to analyze shipment orders based on origin and destination, consolidate loads, and determine the most appropriate way to move freight based on delivery dates and budget for the move.

With point-and-click functionality with interactive map graphics, it is easy to intelligently route and schedule shipments in the chain, develop strategies, or implement dynamic transportation plans in real time.

Transport planning allows optimisation of daily or weekly transport plans through load consolidation, transport selection, inbound and outbound integration, including routing of common carriers. Daily or multi-period transport plans can be created, as well as tactical transport planning with “what if” scenarios, improved fleet design and capacity. The full spectrum of specific needs is covered, lowering costs and improving service to customers.

Network design

Network design must be integrated with tactical planning to achieve better results; it aims to solve supply chain modeling, optimization problems, including product input and output, strategic and tactical planning and global and regional planning. The point & click function with interactive mapping allows you to view the entire logistics modeling and design and optimize the entire supply chain network, balancing warehouse and inventory costs along with transportation and production costs to create greater efficiency according to customer demands.

A good network design facilitates decision making regarding new properties, plants, distribution centers, etc. Better investments in equipment can be made, budget constraints can be accommodated, options for material sourcing, plant locations, transport and customer requirements can be adapted and much more. Other advantages are being able to address manufacturing planning, inventory positioning, market analysis, strategic pricing and map-based graphical modeling.

Route planning

Route planning provides the technology necessary to develop the strategy to implement a dynamic, real-time route and enables intelligent routing by scheduling transport assets, using point-&-click functionality and interactive graphical maps.

This type of planning is specifically composed of two integrated applications:

Route design: a strategic and tactical tool that can be used to optimize service strategy, workload and to design master routes and zone routes.

Route dispatching: an operational tool that can be used to schedule vehicles and drivers using optimal multi-stop routes and track progress as they move along their route and stops.

Route planning covers the entire spectrum of the routing process and allows for lower costs and improved customer service.

Other important aspects to cover in the transport and logistics process to achieve efficient management are:

Tactical planning

Tactical planning has a map-based interface that is the ideal tool to model logistics visually. This application allows the design and optimisation of supply chain logistics. When integrated with Network Design, tactical planning is able to model the entire supply chain by optimizing problems at a specific time or over several periods. It allows solving tactical production planning problems, including production origination, seasonal changes in demand, inventory and cost changes in different periods.

Transport purchasing

It allows optimizing the entire process from quotation and determining the best pricing while minimizing costs within the transportation network and meeting business constraints. This application is designed to help shippers find the supplier that best meets their transport requirements.

Shippers can prepare a request with all the necessary requirements and then evaluate quotes and select the lowest cost one that meets their needs. A map-based interface is ideal for evaluating the options and determining the best match.

The importance of optimizing transport management

In a highly competitive world, it is very important to optimize transport management and all its activities in order to achieve product visibility and thus customer satisfaction. We recommend the following functionalities:

Self-service business intelligence

Allows users to easily analyze data and generate reports, as well as export that data to an external source to be used to create another analysis tool of their choice.

Map-based graphical interface

Visually represents operations in a map-like context and allows manipulation of logistical objects directly on the screen such as locations, orders and routes. Commands relevant to the selected object can be accessed. This graph is designed to facilitate visualization, analyze the configuration and performance of the supply chain.

Emissions modeling

Helps to model and optimize the carbon footprint in order to be greener and more sustainable in the operation of the chain. It enables modeling of variable and fixed emissions; modeling of greenhouse gas emissions associated with various processes and entities in the supply chain network, such as production plants, warehousing, distribution centers, processing machines and transportation; and modeling of emissions at the product level.

Optimisation Technology: supported by sophisticated mathematical algorithms, allows optimisation of transport plans. They can include multi-stop transports, continuously moving routes, consolidated freight through pooling points.

Globalization demands that all companies be prepared to work across borders. They must be prepared so that the chain can be profitable, competitive, low cost and efficient wherever in the world it must operate.

The logistics and transport operation must be aligned with current business needs, and spreadsheet processes are no longer sufficient. The market demands that companies become more efficient with technology in line with the times we live in.

In conclusion, some of the benefits that technology brings to your transport processes are reduced delivery times; improved customer satisfaction; optimized compliance with import and export regulations; increased profitability; better visibility of freight and supply chain partners; reduced inventory; improved cash flow; and increased turnover.

Facts to consider when choosing your business transportation

November 8, 2022/0 Comments/in Transport/by Celeste Diaz

If your collaborators must visit several clients, or make different transfers due to the type of service you offer, then business transportation is the best option for you. With this type of transportation, you will have less worries when moving your work team from one place to another during their working days.

For companies, choosing a business transportation service is not easy to make the best decision when choosing one. In order to make the right choice, you must consider different factors.

These are the most important facts to consider to choose your business transportation.

Time

By having a transportation service, the processes to make trips or transfers are much more direct. That is, you will have a plan that caters exclusively to your needs. There is no waiting in line, you do not have to do so much paperwork and this is reflected in the execution time. With another type of transportation, private or public, you could go through some inconveniences that are not in your hands.

Cost

Having a transportation service will invariably be beneficial for your company, since you do not have to quantify the trips and the cost of each one of them, but you will have the immediate availability to move wherever you need, whenever you need it, without having to worry about the cost of each trip. You will have a specific service for the type of needs you have, and always with a plan that adapts to them.

Security

It’s important that both you and your employees feel safe and protected when traveling to visit your clients. Public transportation will hardly provide the protection and/or security of being able to arrive safely to the final destination, and executive transportation is much safer than the previous one.

Organization

Access to vehicles that will allow you to get organized prior to the meeting with your client, which you can use to finish preparing what you have to present, or to finish concentrating on your meetings and not put your attention on other concerns.

Characteristics of the vehicle

On many occasions, image is one of the main factors you consider when choosing between a cab or a private vehicle. With your executive transportation, be sure that you will have a good visual impact to make a good impression when visiting your clients, because at Alamo we have fleets and vehicles that adapt to your needs.

Comfort

Definitely, comfort is one of the factors to consider when choosing this type of service. This will better support your employees, both physically and psychologically. With more comfortable transfers, the improvement will be reflected in their performance.

These are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing an executive transportation service. In BFF, we have these and many other services to suit your needs as a small, medium or large company.

What influences the choice of means of transport

There are several factors that can be conditioned by one choice or another, as far as international transportation is concerned. The aspects that have the greatest impact are:

Price.

Delivery times.

Documentation.

Customs formalities.

Security.

Competitiveness, company image, reliability and seriousness, are factors that can also be affected by a bad choice in terms of transport in international trade.

Therefore, when it comes to choosing the means of transport to be used for export (or import), the following variables must be taken into account:

Distance to be traveled or itinerary.

Freight cost.

Frequency of transport and average delivery time.

Characteristics of the goods.

Unit value of the goods.

Weight and volume of the product to be loaded.

Customer needs and stock requirements.

Adjacent needs and costs (such as warehousing or inventories).

Necessary documentation in international transportation

The adequate choice of the means of transport in an international operation has a lot to do with the knowledge of the conditions to which each option is subject. Experience and training are key to better understand the strengths of each type of transport, but they are also required when taking into account the documentation that will be necessary in each case. The most common examples are:

Ocean: nominative, order or bearer bill of lading.

River: bill of lading.

Air: air waybill.

Road: bearer bill of lading, nominative, unimodal, to order, joint or indistinct.

Rail: waybill.

Multimodal: multimodal bill of lading

As you can see, choosing the type of transport is not as simple as you might think a priori, since there are many variables to take into account. Finally, we give you a summary of which type of transport is usually the most advisable for each type of shipment, as well as its advantages:

Sea transport

If your cargo has a large volume or weight, and/or is not very urgent, this is the most suitable means of transport. Goods such as bulk agricultural products, minerals, metals and large irregularly shaped items are best transported by sea. The main advantages of this mode are:

Ideal for large volumes.

It’s the most economical by volume.

Worldwide coverage.

Air Freight

If your goods have to reach their destination quickly, air transport is the means of transport par excellence, especially for the technology, automotive and perishable goods industries, such as foodstuffs and some medicines. The main advantages of this means of transport are the following:

Speed

Little handling of the goods

Reliability of delivery

Increased safety

Road transport

If your goods have to be transported short distances and/or need flexibility in distribution, road is the best way. Size, weight and weather conditions restrictions must be considered. The main advantages of this mode of transport are as follows:

Increased cost-effectiveness.

Local, international and rural deliveries

Savings on packaging compared to other modes

Rail transport

If your shipment is bulky and does not have a great urgency, this means of transport is ideal because It’s transported to the destination in a single trip. However, you must consider that at each end of the rail journey another means of transport will be needed to complete the shipment, generally complemented by road transport. The main advantages of this mode of transport are as follows:

It’s the most efficient way of land transport.

Fast deliveries over long distances.

Large capacity

Multimodal transport, what is it and what does it consist of?

November 4, 2022/0 Comments/in Transport/by Celeste Diaz

Multimodal transport is when different modes of transport are used in the logistic processes of a company. With multimodal transport, it is possible to ship and transport materials and goods faster and more efficiently. In a few words, multimodal transport is understood as the transfer of goods from their origin to their destination using more than one means of transport (land, sea, river, air). Multimodal transport exists at the national and international levels with different transport contracts depending on each case.

Efficient multimodal transport allows the transfer from one means of transport to another without the need to handle the goods they contain, so that there can be no rupture of the load unit, which means that the goods cannot be separated. The creation of large port terminals connected by road, rail and inland waterway to the centers of production and consumption has driven an incredibly fast development of multimodal transport in recent years.

The organization of an international transport to cover the journey from a point of departure to a point of destination requires two or more different means of transport, that these means operate in several different countries and that several international transport contracts are issued according to each means used.

Therefore, multimodal transport consists of a service that is contracted through a logistics operator, an agency or a freight forwarder, which is responsible for transporting the goods from the point of departure to the final destination. And in this journey, different means of transport are used, i.e. more than one vehicle.

But this is usually outside the customer’s control, and it’s the operator who is responsible for managing the service. Although different means of transport are used during the journey, to be considered as multimodal transport it must meet the following requirements:

The goods or cargo must be compact as it was delivered at origin, it’sn’t possible to separate it into smaller elements, imagine a full truck in this case could not be carried out in 2 trucks, there can be no breakage of the load. Because of multimodal transport, it’s possible to transport goods in bulk, as well as to carry out domestic multimodal transport operations.

Essentially, the concept of multimodality will be subdivided into intermodal transport, in which only one load measure is used, and combined transport, in which the goods are transported in different means but within the same transport chain.

Characteristics of multimodal transport

Only one contract is required

It’s the only means that allows the use of a single contract, all others require more than one.

National and international scope

Multimodal transport has both a national and international scope, since it allows the use of several means of transport, which means that it can reach almost all parts of the world. This is a factor that causes a great use of this modality by important companies.

There is no distance limit

The distance can be both long and short, since there is no clause that establishes a limitation for the distance to be covered by multimodal transport.

Different means of transport

The main feature of multimodal transport is the possibility of combining different means of transport, i.e., for example, we can use a railroad, a ship and a truck for the same transport. In other words, the customer will be able to decide whether to use only one type of means of transport or to combine it with others.

Tracking of the goods

Another of the fundamental characteristics of this type of transport is that the goods can be tracked through digital systems and satellites, so it’s a very useful aspect when transporting high-value goods.

Multimodal transport and its main advantages:

Costs and travel times are reduced throughout the operation.

The user assumes less risk of loss or theft of the goods, since he only has one interlocutor.

The FBL has preference of entry and passage at customs. The overall scheduling of the route and the economic, human and logistical costs are simpler.

However, multimodal transport might also have a number of disadvantages:

There are legal and operational constraints in application of international standards.

Security is still high, so terminal inspections continue to limit operations.

There is no comprehensive structure for multimodal transport, which means that there’s no infrastructure to facilitate multimodal operations.

The structure of demand is deficient; the lack of flow compensation affects the entry of containers into the interior.

There may be both operational and legal limitations when applying international regulations.

There are usually inspections at terminals for security reasons.

It’s a transport with procedures that are not very simple due to the lack of investment in infrastructures that make it possible.

Therefore, multimodal transport is very advantageous when transporting goods internationally, thanks to the advantage of having a single logistics agent.

To this we add the cost reduction of signing a single agreement. The speed of delivery and the lower cost of delivery means that the multimodal transport customer is able to offer his goods at a better price.

Multimodal transport and its types of combinations

Any multimodal transport uses at least two combinations of the following types of transport. Depending on the distance or the route, the transport provider or the client himself, depending on his knowledge, will choose the best option to reduce costs and delivery time.

Ground transportation:

It‘s the most demanded transport and the most used. It is based on point-to-point transportation with land vehicles ranging from small delivery vans to mega trucks and trailers. Land transport is further divided into pallet, groupage and full truckload shipments.

Sea transport:

It’s the most suitable when it comes to long distances, perfect for shipments between continents. It is undoubtedly the most common means of transport on international routes. It can be carried out using different types of vessels.

Air transport:

Undoubtedly the fastest option but also the most expensive. Its main advantage is its availability and fast transit in deliveries. You can send any goods to any part of the world in a single day.

Rail transport:

In the last years it has suffered an increase in its demand due to the fact that it reduces the price of transport and speeds up considerably the delivery times when it comes to very long distance shipments.