Selecting a software product to enable your business to grow and profit is not an easy task. There are many considerations to make, and mistakes in this area can be very costly, affecting your long-term business future.

The 6 most important considerations to make when selecting enterprise transport software

If you intend to expand into other areas, open depots in other states, or collaborate with suppliers and customers, you should install a system that is scalable. Scalability means giving you the ability to grow the system i.e. increased number of transactions, additional users, increased functionality, etc.

We have seen many sites where the system could not meet the demands of the growing transport organization, resulting in slow performance and use of standalone systems such as excel spreadsheets, whiteboards and other mechanisms.. None of these disparate products can integrate with each other, leading to duplication of entry, repeated mistakes, slow decision-making and lower productivity.

Predictions for the road transport industry point to sustained growth in this sector. Plan your systems accordingly to cater for future growth.

Imagine entering a booking (or have your customer entered it directly on your website), knowing the relevant details are automatically populating your Dispatch, Rated Consignment, Invoice, Rated Driver/subby Payment, RCTI and Driver Electronic Manifest programs. True integration shares the relevant, up-to-date information with different operational areas - instantly.

Integrating saves time by reducing double handling, saving on paperwork, and making information available to the enterprise as well as customers and suppliers. It also results in fewer data entry mistakes, minimizes revenue leakage and provides accurate driver pays.

You may have developed specific internal processes that suit the way you do business. Some of these idiosyncrasies could be altered to suit a standard software product, but sometimes they are so critical to the flow of operations and customer expectations that they need to remain part of your workflow pattern. Choose a software product that has the capability to accommodate your needs, efficiently, economically and comprehensively. Ask for an analysis of the customization requirements before you commit, and obtain a written statement of product fit so you know exactly what you will be getting for your money. Develop milestones in the project to check on customization progress.

Make sure the software can grow with your changing needs and that this does not constrain you in the future. Product fit over time is far more important than apparent fit now !

Here, it is important to ask a few critical questions, as there are many ways that vendors can disguise a less-than-robust web presence.

Characteristic of Electronic Trading:

• What security features does the system provide ?
  
• Does the system provide a data integration capability (B2B) ?
  
• Does the system offer a comprehensive self-serve capability (B2C) ?
  
• Can the system do real-time validation to ensure accuracy of information ?
  
• Can the Customer/Supplier generate reports & extract information in real-time ?
  
• Can the system support large volume transaction throughput ?
  
• Is the system user configurable and maintainable ?

Here, it is important that you do not build your enterprise business systems with stand alone packages (stovepipes) to get all the functionality your business require.

Can the solution provide all functionality for:

• back-office (financial) management ?
  
• operational (transport, warehousing & logistics) management ?
  
• asset (fleet, workshop, service) management ?
  
• equipment (container, pallet, etc.) management ?
  
• enterprise reporting ?
  
• web services (customer/supplier integration) ?
  
• mobile commerce (driver/fleet integration) ?

What customer references can the vendor offer to you so you can check the quality of after sales support, the level of internal technical expertise, extent of service professionalism within the organization, and product reliability?

In order to get the best value out of your purchase, it is important to know that the vendor will be around to assist you if some difficulties arise. For example, you should know that a user can call or email support engineers to correct a software bug, or create a different procedure for you, and receive a fast, friendly response every time.

Ask for a general description of the skill levels of support engineers, contact referees and request case studies. Implementation is a critically important phase (especially when masterfile and default information is being set up), so check the references to see if this on-site phase was done in a systematic and clear manner, complete with documentation and hand-holding at going live.

Is there an on-line help channel for system users? This will speed up user skills and improve user acceptance levels.