Selecting a supply chain partner is a difficult decision for shippers. You want to ensure that a capable, experienced, and safe third-party logistics provider (3PL) is managing your loads—your hard work and dedication. Of course, no two 3PLs are the same, and many factors play into your decision. Your decision should go beyond the bottom line. Shippers might ask the following questions when selecting a company to manage their supply chain
1. Does this provider have the experience to manage my supply chain efficiently?
2. Will this 3PL do what’s right, even when no one is looking?
3. Does the 3PL’s technology system allow for network optimization and visibility?
4. Will my goods arrive safely and be handled with precision and respect?
Ultimately, a supply chain partnership is more than cost. It’s about added value. Ruan's Integrated Solutions offer it all, from Dedicated Contract Transportation (DCT) to Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) to Value-Added Warehousing (VAW). Through our superior technology, experienced, safe team members, and process focused on continuous improvement, we build the best solution possible for your business. In this four-part blog series, we’ll highlight ways that Ruan adds value in the areas of experience, integrity, technology, and safety.
Powerful Technology with the Experts to Operate It
Ruan offers our customers an integrated, proprietary supply chain platform with best-of-breed logistics tools. Ruan's customized transportation management system technology, RTMS2.0, combines transportation management software from OTM and TMW; JDA’s network design and warehouse management applications; and Ruan's custom intellectual property.
RTMS2.0’s functionality allows to seamlessly manage multiple processes including, system architecture; order management; optimization and planning; resource dispatch; execution and communications; freight audit and pay; reporting analysis; real-time tracking; dock scheduling; yard management; warehouse management, and more.
More important than the technology platform itself is the team of experts behind it. Our technology solutions teams are consistent from the beginning of a customer engagement and throughout the lifetime of the partnership. “This knowledge about a customer’s business, how the systems are set-up for that customer, along with the 80+ years of expertise that our teams have with our applications, means that we can be very nimble with technology changes to address our customer’s needs and respond to process changes and improvement opportunities quickly,” said Director of Integrated Solutions Graham Page. These experts are also adept at using the platform to create an efficient, value-added logistics and transportation solution that works best for your business—and your business alone.
Ruan was an early adopter of mobile technology, and our IT team has recently been focused on next generation mobility with the fleet-wide rollout of our custom app, RedTrak. One of Ruan’s top priorities is to leverage our mobility platform to increase driver productivity and ensure regulatory compliance across the business. The Android app integrates with our automatic onboard recording device app and RTMS2.0. The RedTrak app is where drivers view orders, complete arrival and departure information, and enter load details such as weight and pieces. The information is instantly available to our office team members and customers.
Our main objectives when developing mobile apps are to provide flexibility and agility; improve the driver experience with better response times, enhanced device usability, and stronger stability; support the demands of our customers with an increased ability to capture and store real-time freight data; lower the cost of ownership with more responsiveness to change; and continue our focus on compliance and safety. We have achieved all of these objectives and more with RedTrak, and we continue to invest in other forms of mobile technology to ensure that our business interactions function similarly to our personal mobile interactions, which, thanks to consumerization of IT, is something employees and customers expect.
In our next installment, we’ll cover technology that enhances the safety performance of our operations. Contact us today to learn how your company can benefit from our team of technology experts.
Also in this series: Check out how your company can benefit from our extensive transportation and logistics experience; our unwavering commitment to integrity; and how safety is foundational to Ruan culture.