All executives love numbers. And even if they're not sports fans, they all play to win. So it's a natural that TMS (transportation management systems) are becoming a hot topic since they enable planners to keep score by providing metrics on the functions that keep their companies competitive and profitable. "TMS solutions deliver a valuable perspective on how things are working," says Stephen Brown, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting in Toronto. "By helping users an- alyze data, they can pull out insights that offer up opportunities to improve operations while at the same time seeing areas where they are possibly getting ripped off." As for savings, Brown cites the example of a client, a major US consumer packaged goods manufacturer, that after installing a large 12 TMS solution achieved eight-figure annual savings representing 10% of its global transportation costs. "It was already well-known for its world-class logistics practices," he says. "It reached that level of return after a nine-month implementation and 15 months of operations."
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