Gartner 2019 Interview: TMS No Longer Taking a Back Seat to WMS and Other Supply Chain Technologies

Q&A with Dan Clark Founder and President of Kuebix

Dan Clark (pictured above), founder and president of Kuebix, creator of the industry’s fastest growing transportation management system, talks about his key takeaway from the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference and how the latest supply chain and transportation technologies are affecting market trends and what approach Kuebix is doing to connect the shipping community.

What Is Your Number-One Takeaway From Gartner 2019?

The conversation has really moved from higher-level concepts around digitization to companies talking about practical applications. Companies are actively converging their foundational systems with new digital strategies and technology.

I was struck by the increased interest in the presentation on Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS). In years past this presentation was in the smaller theater but this year it was in one of the large rooms and it was packed.

TMS is no longer taking a back seat to WMS and other supply chain technologies.

It’s front and center on the agenda of C-level executives to update their current transportation systems and/or bring on new technology. I’d credit the big push toward having real-time visibility across the supply chain with driving some of this trend, along with the fact that C-level executives are gaining a better understanding of everything that TMS can do.

Their customers expect them to be able to perform like Amazon and to meet those expectations companies need a connection to carrier networks. That’s what TMS does. It’s about building out the load correctly and then assigning it to the right provider based on service levels - all in an effort to meet customer demands.

What Are The Key Market Trends, From Your Perspective?

For years, people have been talking about a concept called “the network effect.”

The idea is that when any person or company joins the network - everyone benefits from increased opportunities for networking, collaboration, etc. Because TMS has moved outside the 4 walls of companies with today’s cloud-based systems, we are starting to see “network effects” in transportation management.

Cloud-based TMS has the power to connect shippers, carriers, suppliers, customers, brokers, freight forwarders, and 3PLs to collaborate and find efficiencies the same way that LinkedIn and Facebook connect people for social networking. Every time a new company connects to the network, every member of the network benefits from increased opportunities.

How Is Your Organization Reacting To These Market Trends?

At Kuebix, we’re building the largest connected shipping community driven by our modular, cloud-based TMS that scales to meet the needs of small to enterprise-sized companies.

Kuebix customers manage all their modes and contracted carriers in Kuebix PLUS they leverage savings on truckload spot quotes, opportunities to fill fleet backhaul, and other discounts and benefits because they are part of our network…and more are joining every day.

With the emergence of digital freight marketplaces, it’s the perfect time for a TMS that has built a giant shipping community to plug into these marketplaces to provide value to customers on truckload spot quotes in the same system that they manage all their contracted rates and shipments.

This is one example of what we are seeing with The Network Effect in transportation management, and there will be many more benefits to come for members of our network.

Brokers and carriers want to be able to acquire shippers at a low cost, so we built a TMS that incorporates those shippers plus an enterprise-class, cloud-based platform that serves as a transportation ecosystem for everyone - the carriers, the shippers, and the emerging digital freight matching platforms.