The Transportation Management System is of great importance for logistics management in today’s information times. TMS has its shortcomings, but its benefits for an organization are more significant and have a lasting impact (Helmke, 2012). The Customer Relationship Management is the integration of people, technology, and processes which have evolved from developments in information technology and company shifts in customer-centric processes (Kerr, 2016). The ERM commands and maintains activities related to the access and transfer of electronic records to protect unauthorized access and changes that could be applied to the electronic records (Brooks " Smallwood, 2012). The ERM is the sphere of management that controls the entirety of the electronic documents from the development to the disposition. The paper makes a summary of the functions of both the Transportation Management System and the Customer Relationship Management. The article will also make an overview of how the Electronic Records Management system controls a set of applications developed to track and store records. The paper further makes an analysis of Decision Support System and how it is applied in helping managers.
The advantages and components for the three systems were then analyzed, and a conclusion of their benefits towards the businesses was made.
Transportation Management System
The Transportation Management System is a program that was developed to simplify the process of shipping. It is part of the supply chain management that deals with solutions for transportation (Kerr, 2016). TMS makes it possible for shippers to automate the methods they have in place and acquire crucial insights to save and cut the time spent on the future shipments. It promotes communications between the Order Management System and the Warehouse Management System or Distribution Center of an organization (Kerr, 2016). The products of TMS have logistics management hub roles in a cooperative network of shippers, customers, and carriers. The modules common in TMS are execution, route planning and optimization, payment, freight audit, load optimization, carrier management, order visibility, and advanced shipping (Kerr, 2016). This paper will elaborate on the transportation management system and the customer relationship management highlighting their roles in businesses.
The Benefits of TMS
The first benefit of TMS is that it offers technological capabilities whereby the shipper will have the technology that they require to make routing choices using carrier mix, transit time, and quotes. The centralized location of quoting will prevent the unnecessary stress and time used during the booking process (Kerr, 2016). The second benefit is that TMS simplifies the process of carrier selection by enabling a person to gage the shipment sent and do a comparison with the carrier in the network. Through the management of this procedure in a central place, one has the ability to look at previous shipments and match similar merchandise swiftly to the right carriers. The third benefit of TMS is it enables the tracking of freight that’s already on the road and provides alerts if there are any transit exceptions or delays from one location (Kerr, 2016). The last benefit is that it gives business insights whereby it will provide comprehensive insights and reporting abilities.
The Challenges of TMS
The first challenge of TMS is that it can be challenging to keep quotes organized and time to consume, as one needs to call different carriers to get quotes. Selecting the best carrier with TSM will be challenging, and shipments are never the same. Some purchases are temperature and time sensitive; others demand special delivery services while others have to be handled with extreme care (Kerr, 2016). This means that single carrier cannot handle all the shipments. The third challenge is that tracking shipments can be very challenging as most businesses do not always use the same carriers for all their freight. As a result, the freight tracking process becomes very challenging. Gathering insights when a TMS is not in place it will be hard to ascertain which carrier has the cheapest rates or the highest percentage of on-time shipments (Kerr, 2016).
Customer Relationship Management
The CRM is an approach used by businesses to handle customer relations. A typical example IS the rewards card program that is offered by many customers (Helmke, 2012). Stores usually provide their customers with free cards which make it possible for them to access special deals and discounts every time they swipe their card when they checkout. The card also tracks every purchase of the customer and enables the stores to establish a customer profile that is exceptionally detailed based on their purchasing habits (Helmke, 2012).
Components of CRM
During the first phase of the CRM, the software puts together the information and documents of the customer into one CRM database so it can be easy for business users to access and manage them (Helmke, 2012). There have been additional functions that have been added to the CRM systems over time that have made it more useful. These additional features include recording of some customer interactions over the phone, email, social media, and other modules based on the ability of the system, automating a number of workflow automation processes (Helmke, 2012). They include things like alerts and calenders, tasks, and enabling the leaders to track productivity and performance depending on the what the system is logged with (Helmke, 2012).
Other components include marketing automation which mechanizes repetitive duties to improve marketing abilities in the business lifecycle at different. For instance, it can send the prospects marketing materials automatically by social media or mail as the system receive the sales prospects with the aim of changing a sales lead to a full-fledged customer (Helmke, 2012). The next component is sales force automation which are tools that track interactions with customers and automate specific company functions of sales cycle that are essential to attract, follow leads, and acquire new clients. The third component of CRM is automatic contact center which is designed to lessen tiring aspects of the job of a contact center agent. The automatic center can involve prerecording audio that helps to solve problems for the customer by distributing information (Helmke, 2012).
Geolocation technology is a CRM system component that can develop geographic marketing campaigns depending on the physical location of the customer sometimes combining it with popular location-based GPS apps (Helmke, 2012). CRM systems also have workflow automation which aids the business to optimize processes by consolidating mundane workloads thus allowing the employee to concentrate on creative and demanding tasks. The CRM is also composed of system management whereby sales that leads are tracked allowing the sales teams consolidate analyse, and monitor data for leads in central position.
The Benefits of CRM
Customer Relationship Management system has the ability to increase sales by up to thirty-seven percent, productivity by up to forty-four percent, and forecast accuracy by up to forty-eight percent (Helmke, 2012). One of the main benefits of the CRM system is that it can aid in identifying and result in new leads easily and also categorize them accurately. The complete, precise, centrally saved data about clients and prospects, the sales employees can concentrate on the right customers resulting in a gained competitive advantage (Helmke, 2012).
The second benefit of CRM is that it increases referrals from existing customers as a company gets to understand their clients’ better, cross-selling and up-selling opportunities get clearer which provides the opportunity to acquire new business from the existing customers. Information also ensures that the business is able to keep their customers happy with better service. The third benefit is that CRM improves products and services through information on their customers’ views of the organization.
Types of CRM Technology
There are four primary vendors of CRM software which are Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP. Other vendors are popular among the small to midmarket organizations while the four mentioned above are the first choice of large companies. The CRM technology is provided as either Cloud-based CRM, On-premises CRM, or Open source CRM (Helmke, 2012).
Electronic Records Management
An Electronic Records Management system is explained as a computer program or a set of applications developed to track and store records. The ERM utilizes precise controls to command and maintain activities related to the access and transfer of electronic records which aids in protection against unauthorized access and changes that could be applied to the electronic records (Brooks " Smallwood, 2012). The system can be used to supervise the creation and maintenance of files within classification arrangements, administer retention and clearance schedules, and manage access and use. The ERM system should be able to seize records developed by the business systems and applications of a company. It should be able to capture a record together with any related metadata and arrange them within a classification scheme. The extent of metadata that is to be attributed to electronic records is more significant because their implicit metadata is different from the physical files.
An electronic record can have a variety of distinct parts or digital objects. The system that is used to manage these different components must have the ability to sustain and reconstruct all of them as a genuine and reliable duplicate of the original record. As explained above ERM is the sphere of management that is wholly responsible for controlling the entirety of the electronic documents from the development to the disposition. There are four key drivers in the management of electronic records in the organization. They are compliance, business continuity, better effectiveness, and improve efficiency (Brooks " Smallwood, 2012).
The Benefits of Electronic Records Management Systems
Numerous benefits have been experienced since the introduction of ERM systems to organizations. One of the benefits is the single point of storage for records which ensures that files do not get lost as all of them are stored in a central location, and even when a file is classified wrongly, it will be easily located using a search functionality that is advanced (Brooks " Smallwood, 2012). The second benefit of ERM systems is that through the use of advanced search functionality to find records decision-making gets improved. The easy access to company records results in better decision-making as it helps enhance the day to day operations of a company and the capability to come up with correct and well-informed decisions. The third benefit is that the system ensures that there is an orderly process which standardizes the manner in which records are changed and updated. It provides some advantages like the ability to correct earlier mistakes that were done on a previous version of the document.
The fourth benefit of Electronic Records Management system is that allows the multiple uses of data using the same information. For instance the ability to view a single record by different users in different locations at the same time while the paper-based only a single user could only see the documents. The final advantage acquired from ERM systems is that it gives a variety of opportunities to manage and safeguard confidential records. The ERM system involves the application of an audit trail on every file allowing the user to quickly see the people and documents that they viewed, what changes they made, and when they did it (Brooks " Smallwood, 2012). Unlike the cabinet where unauthorized people leaving no physical evidence could access records.
Database Management System
The Database Management System is a program that is used for the formation and administration of databases. It gives users and computer experts a systematic way of establishing, recovering, updating, and managing information. The DBMS enables the end user to develop, read, update, and edit data in the database. The system acts as a connection between the end users or operation software and database and makes sure that the information is always organized and continues to be easily reachable (MAHAPATRA, 2013). The DBMS controls three crucial aspects which are the data, database engine which enables the access, locking, and modification of information, and the database schema that explains the logical structure of the database. These three crucial aspects help in giving adequacy, data integrity, security, and same administration procedures. The DBMS supports administration tasks such as change management, backup and recovery, and performance monitoring. A lot of the DBMS is also responsible for automatic restarts, recovery, rollbacks, logging, and auditing activities.
Examples of DBMS include Clipper, dBase, FileMaker, FoxPro, MySQL, Microsoft Access, SQL Server, Oracle, and RDBMS (MAHAPATRA, 2013). It is crucial that database management systems have a method of communicating with each other as there many of them that are available. As a result of these most of the database software have an Open Database Connectivity driver that enables the mixing of different databases. Oracle, IBM DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server dominate the high-end markets of DBMS. Microsoft Access and FileMaker Pro dominate small organizations and home users (MAHAPATRA, 2013).
Advantages of Database Management System
The use of DBMS to store and control information has its positions as well as overheads. One of its most significant benefits is that it gives the end users and application programmers the ability to connect and utilize similar information while maintaining data integrity. The best protection and maintenance of data as it is being shared is through DBMS rather than establishing new redundancies of duplicate details reserved in new documents for every new function (MAHAPATRA, 2013). The system gives a single store of information which is accessed by many users in a way that is controlled. The DBMS also provides data security, logging and auditing of activity, uniform procedures for data, information abstraction and independence, strong data integrity abilities, and locking mechanism for simultaneous access. It also provides simple access applying a standard application programming interface, capacity to retrieve from system failures and faults including recoverability and restartability quickly, and experienced computer expert to balance the demands for many applications making use of the same information (MAHAPATRA, 2013).
Another benefit of this system is that it can be applied to enforce reasonable, analytical management on the information. It also gives economy of scale for handling significant amounts of data as it is designed for such services (MAHAPATRA, 2013). Lastly, the DBMS has to take up additional work to achieve these benefits which result in overheads. The system will occupy a lot of memory and CPU than other simple data storage software. It is also evident that all kinds of DBMS have demands for different forms and levels of software resources.
Decision Support Systems
The DSSs are software-based systems that are designed to aid managers in making decisions through the access of large volumes of data acquired from several related data systems that are part of organizational business processes like the office automation system (Sauter, 2014). The DSS involves the application of summary exceptions, information, trends, and patterns through the use of analytical designs. This system aids in developing decisions but does not provide a decision it only helps the people making it. The individuals making the decision put together crucial data from documents, raw data, individual knowledge, and business designs to understand and find solutions to challenges and finally making the decision.
The decisions in the DSS can either be programmed or non-programed. The programmed choices are merely process and general work routines that are automated. The non-programmed decisions are ones that take place in unusual and non-addressed situations. The DSS mostly involves the non-programmed decisions which mean that they do not have an exact content, format, or report. Some of the attributes of DSS include adaptability and flexibility, easy to use, they have a high level of interactivity, efficient and effective, and the decision makers have complete control (Sauter, 2014). Other attributes include support of the access of data, ease of growth, and they are standalone, web-based, and integrated.
Characteristics of DSS
The DSS helps the decision makers in unstructured and semi-structured problems. They function as support for managers in some managerial levels which can be from the top executives to the line managers. They aid in the coming up of interdependent and sequential decisions. In the DSS choice, decision, implementation, and intelligence are supported as well as various process and styles of decision making (Sauter, 2014). Finally, the DSS provides support for both individuals and groups because of problems that are less structured they usually demand the involvement of several people from different organization levels and departments.
The Advantages of DSS
The first benefit of DSS is that it improves the efficiency and speed of the processes required for decision making. It increases the capability, competitiveness, and control of the organization’s future decision making. It promotes interpersonal communication as well as learning and training. Since the DSS is mostly applied in non-programmed decisions, it uncovers new strategies and provides new evidence for the unusual choice (Sauter, 2014). The last benefit of DSS is that it automates the processes used by managers.
Components of Decision Support System
The DSS has three elements the first one is Database Management System whereby it provides the needed information from internal and external databases. The second component is the Model Management System which stores and accesses designs that managers apply in coming up with decisions. The third component is support tools which include online help whereby it has error correction mechanisms, it uses interfaces, pulls down menus, has graphical analysis and helps user interactions with the software. There are a number of ways in which the DSS can be classified which can include Text Oriented, Compound, Database Oriented, Solver Oriented, Spreadsheet Oriented, and Rules Oriented (Sauter, 2014).
Types of DSS
The first type of DSS is Status Inquiry System which aids in the handling of decisions in management, middle-level management, and operational levels such as daily job schedules to operators or machines (Sauter, 2014). The second type is Data Analysis System which demands the use of comparative analysis and applies the utilization of algorithms like cash flow analysis and inventory analysis. The third type of DSS is Information Analysis System whereby it analyzes data, and an information report is established such as the accounts receivable systems, sales analysis, and market analysis. The fourth type of DSS is the Accounting System which is focused on tracking data on accounting and finances like accounts payable and receivable, and final statement that are in charge of monitoring the most critical aspects of a business (Sauter, 2014). The last type of DSS is the Model-Based System which are stimulation or optimization models that are used in making decisions which are infrequently used and develop essential rules for management.
Conclusion
The Transportation Management System is a software that was developed to simplify the process of shipping. It is time savings as it reduces the time spent in conducting shipments and an organization can also be able to track freight. The Customer Relationship Management aids the company to understand their customers, so they can improve their service and productivity resulting in their clients providing them with referrals. The Electronic Records Management tracks and safeguards for records and enables the viewing of one document by multiple users from different locations. It also simplifies locating and organizing of documents. Unlike old cabinet method of storing records, the ERM system it safeguards confidential records whereby no unauthorized person can acquire them and if they try there will be physical evidence left. The Database Management System has simplified and enabled end users to develop, acquire, update, and control information. It also ensures that end users and application programmers can connect and utilize similar information without compromising the integrity of data. The Decision Support System is a software that has developed to make the process of decision making faster and more efficient but it does not necessarily provide a decision.
References
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Helmke, S. (2012). Customer Relationship Management. Statistical Methods in Customer Relationship Management,
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MAHAPATRA, R. P. (2013). DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. S.l.: KHANNA.
Kerr, P. (2016). Transportation System Management and Operations. Transportation Planning Handbook, 355-410. doi:10.1002/9781119174660.ch10
Sauter, V. L. (2014). Decision support systems for business intelligence. Chicester: John Wiley " Sons.
