Automating Transportation Procurement Leads to Sustained Savings for Carriers, Shippers and 3PLs

Automated Transportation Procurement = Win-Win for Carriers and Shippers

At the start of the new year, it’s common for shippers striving for an optimized supply chain to review their carrier options to make sure they are benefiting from the ideal mix of carriers.

These shippers can benefit from software that automates the transportation procurement process, but what about the carriers?

At SMC³, we’re constantly talking with all of our customers – carriers, shippers, 3PLs and other logistics stakeholders - to get a sense of their challenges with the industry and where they see opportunities, but to also collect information about the broader transportation market.

This year, shippers have told a tale of a softening market, so carriers are seeing more bid events.

Rates had eased compared to 2018, and quite a few shipper customers were outbidding their shipments.

Shippers who had been taking a wait-and-see approach to rate fluctuations, and in some cases even declined to re-bid their freight in 2018, re-entered the RFP market.

They were trying to secure better service and lower pricing, and when it made business sense to their carrier partners, they succeeded.

SMC³ Bid$ense®

Bid$ense® helps customers automate transportation purchasing within their overall procurement process, a crucial step when looking for a competitive edge in the fast-paced supply chain arena.

The automated procurement solution, which provides immediate access to more than 500 carriers, leads to quicker RFP turnarounds, standardizing carrier responses to shipper inquiries and streamlining the entire process.

Bid$ense also retains bid history so bidders can learn from the past as they plan their next event, allowing shippers to see deeper into the procurement process and connect with trusted carrier partners again and again.

The fact is that most bidders embarking on the RFP process don’t have any visibility beyond their tier-one providers. Shippers that gain a complete picture of their supply chain end up with smarter, more rewarding carrier partnerships.

On average, shippers who automate their RFPs receive bid responses from 30 carriers. And while Bid$ense is a crucial tool for shipper sourcing events, the solution brings benefits to all parties involved.

Carriers receive more data from shippers, giving them a complete picture of a shipper’s freight. With this data, carriers are able to make optimized pricing decisions, and that leads to shipper savings.

Carriers also like bid automation because they can quickly select the freight that’s right for them, bidding on shipments that fit well within their business.

Both carriers and shippers win when supply is closely matched with demand and carriers can allocate capacity where it’s truly needed in real time.

The end result of using bid automation is more efficiency in network planning for the carriers, which results in lower rates and better service for shippers.

Bid$ense leads to lasting, symbiotic business relationships among carriers, shippers, and 3PLs leading to sustained transportation savings that eliminate inefficiencies and saves valuable resource time. Saving time and money on sourcing events, whatever your role in the supply chain, is always a good thing.

To learn how SMC³’s Bid$ense can drive value for your organization, peruse the paper “Strategic LTL Bidding for Minimum Cost & Maximum Efficiency,” watch a detailed demo (above) or contact SMC³’s Customer Support team at [email protected] and get started on your next bid.

Related Article: What is “Skinny Dipping” in Logistics Negotiations?

Related Paper

Strategic LTL Bidding for Minimum Cost & Maximum Efficiency
This paper details how SMC³ designed Bid$ense for complete procurement transparency, and how you’ll move ahead with ease and confidence toward best-choice carrier qualification and truly strategic LTL procurement. Download Now!

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