TMS System Selection | Transportation Consulting

Take the guesswork and anxiety out of the selection process with our objective approach to solution selection.

Our transportation system evaluation and selection process increases success in finding the right partners and reduces risk through our experience with the market available tools and our experience designing and implementing transportation planning, execution, and settlement solutions, including integrating with carriers and other service providers to improve in-transit and supply chain visibility.

The transportation systems market is complex – there are several deployment methods and partner types, as well as innumerous niche embedded and integrated software as a part of the overall solution. Navigating these players, and tying back the desired outcomes based on functional and technical requirements, is very difficult.

Shippers and logistics service providers are faced with strategic decisions and questions, such as… Do we partner with solutions offered by our current ERP or WMS partners? How do we think about on-premise vs. hosted vs. true multi-tenant software-as-a-service providers? What should we think about the up-and-comers? How do rating engines, mileage calculators, visibility solutions, and freight-pay solutions integrate with the transportation software?

System selections and implementations are complex in transportation due to the number of solution scenarios and the integration complexity involved. Transportation touches so many parts of the organization (internal) as well as many trading partners and service providers (external). Designing the appropriate solution and approach to implementation is daunting; however a well-defined process supported by market expertise leads to an overall more successful outcome at a lower risk.

Managing software vendors as they propose their solutions is also a complex process because each shipper and logistics service provider has unique needs and pricing models vary from the software solution providers.

Evaluating the quotes and value of the one-time costs (implementation and/or licensing) and on-going costs (subscription, hosting, maintenance [vendor-provided or client-side supported]) should be tied back to the business case and expected total cost of ownership; aligning these can be difficult and requires recent experience in these negotiations.

Our transportation consultants can help you pick the best transportation system that fits your business.

By utilizing our consultants for transportation system evaluation and selection, clients benefit from:

Transportation strategy development
Market knowledge on the vendors and solution landscape
Well-defined and proven methodologies through each phase
Process design and engineering
Integration development and experience
Functional and technical expertise
Software and solution vendor management
Pricing and total cost of ownership knowledge
Implementation and post-implementation support experience

Meet One of Our Industry Experts

Geoff Milsom

Meet One of Our Industry Experts

Geoff Milsom is Senior Director of enVista’s transportation strategy and consulting services. Geoff has more than 10 years of experience delivering transportation strategy, operations and systems improvements to clients in various industries.

Ask An Expert

Requirements planning is the first step in the selection process

Key executive stakeholders, managers, and users provide insight into the strategy, direction, and current state processes. We document the relevant current state process and integration flows in order to educate ourselves and inform internal stakeholders on what is happening in today’s environment.

We identify functional and technical gaps (assuming a system to manage transportation currently exists) and develop to-be future state process and integration flows and requirements. These documents will be shared with proposing solution vendors in the request for proposal (RFP) document sent out to the targeted vendor group. Working with the client team and stakeholders, we develop the RFP document that will be distributed to the targeted group of responders.

After a brief period of time for the vendors to ask questions, prepare a proposal, and review responses, a short-list of providers are selected to the next phase of system evaluation and demonstrations. Those demonstrations are scripted for the specifications of the client, and site visits are scheduled so that the respondents and you can learn about each other’s operations. Responses and demonstrations are scored, and the finalist(s) are selected with the client.

Final selection begins with the negotiation and implementation evaluation details so that the client has a very good sense of expectations on the project.

At the end of the project, enVista, you, and solution vendor(s) have evaluated and selected the solution that will meet the strategic objectives, as well as the functional and budgetary requirements.

Why enVista?

enVista takes the guesswork, anxiety and subjectivity out of the selection process by offering an objective approach to solution selection. enVista’s consultants have practical implementation experience on many solutions, allowing us to quickly recommend a short list of viable solutions that match our customers’ functional requirements, technology direction, and price point/return on investment.

By executing hundreds of technology evaluations each year, enVista’s consultants know the strengths, weaknesses and functionality of all leading Supply Chain Execution (SCE) applications on the market.

Our extensive domain expertise and firsthand experience with leading business systems bring immediate, valuable technical expertise and insight to client teams.

Most importantly, enVista’s vendor agnostic approach and data-driven evaluation process result in an unbiased technology assessment, ensuring solution investments meet your long-term business, technology and industry requirements at the lowest total cost of ownership.