6. AquaMCG Services for Transportation Management Systems
AquaMCG believes that Transportation Management Systems will be one of the popular technology investments for companies and logistics providers in India. Hence it is important to take a structured approach to evaluation, selection, project planning, deployment and change management for the implementation in an organization since it is in all probability a key transformational initiative in the customers’ organization that will require careful planning and strong expertise in program management
Keeping in mind the complexity involved in making a decision of the right software package, AquaMCG offers consulting solutions to customers to make the TMS decision easier for customers. AquaMCG uses a structured framework to do a complete evaluation and to map the business requirements of the customer to arrive at a ‘best decision’ matrix. As part of our best practices, we believe that it is important to involve key senior personnel from the Customer organization whol will be the champion for the successful deployment of the program.
AquaMCG in addition brings to the table a strong ecosystem of critical stakeholders – software vendors, system integrators, hosting solution providers who will work with the customer to successfully ensure the implementation of the chosen TMS software. AquaMCG’s key value proposition to the customer is to provide a single point of accountability to the customer and provide support throughout the implementation lifecycle so that the customer can focus on their key core areas of operations.
AquaMCG does not attempt to provide a pre-conceived solution to the customer since we believe that each customer’s situation is unique especially with respect to Transportation needs. Hence we bring in our knowledge of the best practices from global companies and of mainstream software vendors to come to a ‘right solution’ for the customer.
7. TMS – Key Vendors
The transportation management system (TMS) market continues to be led by i2 Technologies and the Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) product; however, several vendors are closing the gaps and gaining on the leaders. Below is the comparative study of the key vendors:
|
Vendor
|
Product Evaluated
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Strong Points
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Shortcomings
|
Market Position
|
|
i2 Technologies
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Transportation & Distribution Management Suite
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Procurement, Visibility, Tracking and Trace, Modern Architecture, Event Management
|
Partner Collaboration, Customer Support
|
Leader
|
|
Infor
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Infor SCM Transportation Management
|
Multiple deployment option, proven functionality, legacy customer base from Baan, Arzoon.
|
Heterogeneous product architecture, carrier management, freight payment, internationalization
|
Contenders
|
|
JDA
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JDA Transportation and Logistics Management
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Procurement, Freight payment, Analytics
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Not good for 3PLs, legacy product architecture
|
Strong Performers
|
|
LeanLogistics
|
On-Demand TMS
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Operations outsourcing services, partner collaboration, carrier benchmarking
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Complex optimization, multimodal planning, lack of internalization
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Contenders
|
|
Manhattan Associates
|
Manhattan Associates TMS
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Driver dispatch optimization and execution, WMS integration, procurement
|
Parcel, air and rail support, limited international market presence
|
Strong Performers
|
|
Oracle
|
Oracle Transportation Management (OTM)
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Ground transportation planning, freight payment, implementation services, product strategy
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Managing asset based fleets, global trade management, lack of SaaS deployment option
|
Leaders
|
|
RedPrairie
|
RedPrairie TMS
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Continuous planning and optimization technology, parcel capabilities, fleet management system
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Longer, costly implementations, limited procurement capabilities, rail support
|
Contenders
|
|
SAP
|
SAP TMS
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Global reach, event management solution, partnership strategy
|
Integration with WMS, Analytics
|
Contenders
|
Table – Comparative study of the TMS vendors (Source: The Forrester Wave™: Transportation Management Solutions, Q1 2008, Patrick M. Connaughton)