Barcelona. October 14th, 2019 –  Your carrier or logistics company has decided to hire a TMS (Transportation Management System). Or else, already has a Transport TMS but needs to switch to one that adapts better to your company’s needs. AndSoft has drawn up ten tips to guide you through the selection process. 

1. Custom or off-the-shelf solution: Initially, a custom solution would be fully adaptable to the requirements set when the solution was selected. However, the evolution and maintenance would be much more expensive. Most off-the-shelf solutions can adapt to the specific needs of each client, and continuously grow, evolve and keep adapting.
2. Available resources: Are we prepared to deal with a system change? Do we have the internal resources and the company knowledge required to drive change? Do we need to provide support or replace and release resources for the project? It is essential that a project team is defined that involves all the areas in the company so that each of them brings the specific know-how to provide a comprehensive view of the workflows.
3. Which are the essential needs? The essential needs the new solution has to meet must be clearly described. A specification of all the essential functionalities has to be developed, classified by business area.
4. Which needs do we wish to meet?  Meaning what aspects could we improve in our current situation that we cannot undertake, but wish we could implement. What would we like to do? Making an ABC classification of the company’s needs based on whether they are essential, necessary or desirable will provide a clear view of the project scope and the project phases.
5. Which areas are critical? We need to identify the processes/areas that require special attention to avoid business paralysation.
6. Is the provider knowledgeable about the industry? The selected provider should speak the same language as the system users, understand their issues and the solutions to be provided.
7. Product type: Are we looking for a SaaS or a license-based solution? Each company has to decide what best suits their needs. 
8. Solution’s flexibility, scalability, and  modularity: The solution’s modularity and scalability should be a priority when it comes to selecting a solution. Modularity is required in order to ensure the needs are met at any time without the need to over design the solution. Scalability is required to support business growth.
9. Level of integration with the existing systems: It is essential that the TMS can be integrated with the rest of the company’s systems, as well as with those of clients and providers.
10. Provider’s support: Type of support delivered by each provider, language, time zone and conditions.

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