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Supplier Community

Supplier Community Event: Customer voices and supplier feedback on Transport Management

The Supplier Community Event on the topic of Transport Management was a complete success. Valuable tips and tricks paired with practical insights from Bosch Building Technologies and ZF Friedrichshafen — discover all the highlights of the event here. As Manager for Supply Chain Collaboration and Transport Management, Martin gave the opening speech of the event. He pointed out the benefits for suppliers when using the solution: seamless communication centralized in one place and traceable for both sides at all times. This is because the demand and ordering processes intertwine:almost all FPAs (Forwarder Pick-up Advices) are based on previous demand notificationsand the ASNs (Advance Shipping Notification) are then based on the FPAsThis eliminates both media breaks and double entries. Insights from customer voicesChristian Schwab (Head of E2E-Logistics) demonstrated the comprehensive and successful use of the Transport Management solution at ZF Friedrichshafen: both inbound and outbound transports are managed centrally, regardless of the type of transport — whether land or sea freight. ZF relies on the cooperation of suppliers and a holistic approach. Around 50 plants are currently fully connected to the solution, handling around 1,000 shipments per day. Impressive figures, but there is more to come: Christian is planning further expansion towards a seamless, worldwide usage.Alexander Radtke (Vice President Logistics) presented the use of SupplyOn Transport Management at Bosch Building Technologies - from the initial motivation to the planning and strategy for 2024: Nowadays, the solution is used in inbound and resource planning, in manufacturing as well as to improve the ecological footprint. Alexander incorporates supplier feedback into further solution development. On request, the booking of transports was recently optimized and simplified for suppliers. The goal for 2024: 100 % coverage of inbound transport.Life hacks around Transport ManagementIt wouldn't be a Supplier Community Event if tips & tricks for even more efficient use of the solution weren't also on the agenda. Daniela and Matthias ran through typical scenarios from everyday supplier business and revealed helpful life hacks on…Using views and filters sensiblyCopying, cancelling or deleting FPAsSetting up warningsPrinting labelsAutomation with EDISpeaking about effective usage, Andreas, Manager for EDI, presented the benefits and requirements of an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) integration. Here, one system sends data automatically to another, avoiding manual data entry. This saves time and effort and is also less prone to errors. New feature, yes or no? Suppliers votedWho could give a better outlook on the further development of the solutions than Mirjam, the Product Manager herself? Firstly, she presented the planned new functions. She then asked the audience to vote on whether an address book feature for carrier data would be helpful and should be realized. The majority of the community voted in favor of introducing the function. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for taking part in the poll and look forward to incorporating user feedback into the development of the solution. However, it is not only during the Supplier Community Events that suppliers have the opportunity to contribute to product development. As Mario, founder of the Supplier Community and Head of Supplier Management, reported, suppliers can currently vote for the next feature to be implemented in the Supplier Forum.We would like to thank everyone involved in this event for their contribution to making it a complete success and are already looking forward to the next one!
Supplier Community Event: Customer voices and supplier feedback on Transport Management
Inside

Navigating the bustling metropolis: a business trip to Shanghai

Stepping off the plane into the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, I could feel the energy and excitement in the air. I embarked on a remarkable journey to one of China's most vibrant and economically significant cities. It is home to numerous multinational corporations, financial institutions, and tech giants. During my trip, I had the opportunity to progress the project for “Transport Management Outbound for ZF China” for two pilot plants and support my Chinese colleagues with an internal application training. Together with the ZF local colleagues and Qianqian Shan and Xiaowei Zhang from SupplyOn Shanghai we clarified the detailed process steps and worked on the specification of China-specific requirements for Transport and freight cost processes to guarantee a smooth implementation. During those two weeks, I could experience a better understanding for the Chinese colleagues, the project conditions, and the local network. The SupplyOn China colleagues made it easy for me to feel welcome and supported me with whatever I was willing to do.They regularly made sure that I was tasting every food worth to try; During lunch we had a lot of different dumplings, buns, noodles, soups, and a lot of milk tea and snacks. We also went for Hotpot one night – that was definitely one of my culinary highlights! Besides that, I was lucky to be in China for Mooncake Season and tasted a lot of different flavors, colors, and sizes of Mooncake. (Moon festival was shortly after my departure on September 29th, 2023).Moreover, I was invited by Hong Rupeng to travel to the deep-water terminal of Shanghai Seaport for one sunny Sunday. We took the trip via the 42km long bridge to the island where this terminal is located and admired a huge number of containers waiting to be loaded and checked out the destinations of a few smaller ships with the vessel tracker on site. Although the container traffic seemed to be rather calm on that day, the port scenery was highly impressive. The Container throughput of Shanghai International Port (Group) is more than 40 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) per year. Thanks again for bringing me to the biggest port of the world!I appreciate the very warm welcome, dedication and hard work making this trip a memorable and productive experience. Your kindness and thoughtfulness made a significant difference in my experience, and I am so grateful for your hospitality to make me feel comfortable and valued.Next to the fruitful training and brainstorming sessions, we had a lot of unexpected daily adventures, like a spontaneous dancing class in preparation for the SupplyOn Shanghai 15-year birthday celebration, or a visit at a Chinese hairdresser, what added a special dimension to our time. I also had the chance to take part in the “Bobing” game, what is a special dice game from the region the SupplyOn China Head Zixi Zheng comes from. It is played only in mid-autumn and heavily focusing on rolling the dices to get as many fours as possible to be lucky next year.These are some for the lasting memories from the business trip. I gathered profound appreciation for the modernity, culture, and culinary delights of this dynamic city. I am confident that the insights gained, and strengthened connections during this trip will continue to benefit our projects and collaborations in the future.So, I left Shanghai with a sense of awe and admiration for this captivating city, and I can't wait to return for another adventure.
Navigating the bustling metropolis: a business trip to Shanghai
SCM Insights

Inbound transports: boost transparency and efficiency with fully automated transport notification

The sharp rise in energy prices has a direct impact on transport costs. Especially now, it is extremely important to exploit all available savings potential. Bundling of transports, high utilization of loading capacities and timely transport notifications are important levers to keep the price explosion under control. In addition, reduced inventories demand secure, monitored transport handling to prevent delays from leading to costly production losses.This means logistics managers need not only immediate, i.e. real-time, information about delays during transport. Moreover, they need quick answers to questions such as: "Which materials are affected by the delay?" Or: "What was damaged during transport?" (more…)
Inbound transports: boost transparency and efficiency with fully automated transport notification
SCM Insights

Real-time transport visibility: what really matters

Nowadays, everything is getting ever more complex and volatile. Today’s characteristic all comes down to "disruption is the new normal". But the key is to defy all odds in the best possible way. To stay agile and resilient. Be it a traffic jam, a shipwreck, a container shortage, a strike, severe weather, a volcano eruption or a pandemic that throws everything into disarray. No matter the cause, companies need to ensure smoothly functioning supply chains. (more…)
Anja Weber · July 15, 2021 - reading time < 6 Min.
Real-time transport visibility: what really matters
SCM Insights

Why Transport Management should be an important component of your digitization strategy

It' no longer a secret that Transport Management can reduce costs and increase delivery reliability. Consequently, more and more SupplyOn customers are using our Transport Management Solution (TMS) to consolidate shipments, optimize routes and automatically check freight invoices.These are just three reasons which have the potential to cut freight costs by more than 10%. But what other reasons also speak for integrating Transport Management into your digitization strategy? (more…)
Why Transport Management should be an important component of your digitization strategy
SCM Insights

Transport ahoy! Securing supply despite high volatility

For more than a year now, logistics and supply chain managers around the world have been struggling with unprecedented challenges. The impact from the first coronavirus-induced shutdowns, when supply chains and transportation networks around the world collapsed, continues to ripple through the industry. High volatility in demand, natural disasters and vessel incidents such as the recent one blocking the Suez Canal have further aggravated the situation.Problem is, transportation capacity is extremely scarce and in hot demand. Numerous aircraft are still grounded. Container shortages continue to persist for quite a while. All of this is not only hampering sea and air cargo, but also road transports.As a result, freight rates skyrocketed, as did uncertainty for manufacturers that rely on smoothly functioning logistics chains. In many cases, it's unclear or at least hardly possible to plan when exactly their materials are going to be transported. So, the ever more pressing question is: How can companies best secure their shipments and thus ensure the flow of supplies to their plants and customers? (more…)
Transport ahoy! Securing supply despite high volatility