Delivery Tracking Software: An Extension to Your Business Productivity

The shipping industry is constantly on the lookout for new technologies and innovations that can help improve service. Delivery tracking, for one, is one of the latest innovations that help shipping companies and businesses reassure their clients about their deliveries. In the past, it was simply impossible to track shipments once they have been picked up and signed for. The next you would hear from your package was when and if in fact, it had arrived at its final destination. Thus, the only way to know whether a packaged reached its ultimate destination is if it got there. It is even more frustrating to track packages that have gotten lost in transit. Because of this inaccurate record keeping, the parcel delivery industry was forced to re-evaluate operations, which led to the development of highly efficient tracking systems as implemented by most businesses today.

Thanks to reliable delivery tracking programs from trusted mobile solution developers, it is easier to keep an eye on important papers, packages, and documents that need to be delivered. Instead of waiting it out until the package has actually reached its destination, it is now possible to track shipments each step of the way through a tracking number, which can tell you exactly where the package is, even while in transit.

This is especially helpful when it comes to international parcel delivery, where shipments go cross-waters and territories. Tracking systems work via a number system, where consumers can use a specific tracking id to see pull up details of where the package has been or where it currently is. More sophisticated software can even pull out the exact time that the parcel was picked-up, handled and processed, flown to the company's headquarters, sorted into its proper classification, and then sent off to its destination.

Elements of Inventory Tracking Software

Business operations can be enhanced with good inventory management. Inventory tracking helps you determine future requirements based on information regarding variables that can improve or reduce sales, such as transportation costs, warehouse space, market fluctuations, and vendor reports. Make inventory tracking easier by introducing a good inventory tracking software into your business. You can tell that the software is good if it has the following features:

• Ease of use. Your software needs to be user-friendly and compatible with your existing computer or data systems.
• Simplified data entry. A good inventory tracking system lets you enter data easily, but still gives you the option to manually enter codes. There are tracking software that can obtain information through barcode scanning.
• Security. Of course, you need to make sure that the software can prevent theft or prying eyes from accessing your data. For added convenience, security features can include tracking of data access, so you'll know who accessed the data and when.
• Electronic Data Interchange. There are software developers who have integrated online and shipping inventory access from FedEx and UPS on mobile devices. This feature is useful for wholesale distributors and manufacturers.
• Cloud-based. This makes the inventory easily accessible by everyone in your inventory management team from their tablet, computer, or smartphone. This enables them to easily make changes and update the information in real time.
• Custom reports. Some types of inventory tracking software provide customised reports that can be sent to you on a scheduled basis. This lets you view the summary of inventory reports.
• Keeps you well-informed. An inventory tracking software must tell you what's in stock, what you've ordered and when it will arrive, and what you have sold. It eliminates the need for you to manually check on those things, making the tracking process easier. It can also simplify control over inventory rights when using POS (point-of-sale) software systems. It gives you the option to track sales and pricing of the products, too.

Delivery Tracking Software: A Must For Your Supply Chain

Logistics is crucial for a business that makes products from parts acquired from suppliers and then sold to customers. Whether you have a simple or complicated supply chain, you need a delivery tracking software to make sure that the flow of your transactions and delivery of items go smoothly. A supply chain needs to be monitored to ensure efficiency and productivity. A delivery tracking software can help you monitor the costs and possible errors, too.

Like most supply chain organisations, you probably deal with challenges like time constraints, costs, and product or service quality. You need to make sure that you can promptly and cost-effectively get the right products to their customers.  A delivery tracking software can simplify the workload in your company and help your supply chain business continue to thrive.

Without the right tracking tools, it is easy for your company to be left behind. Even if you are running a small supply chain business, you need to make sure that your products can be delivered on time. High-quality tracking tools are available at a more affordable price and they are versatile enough to be compatible with your computer or your smartphone and tablet.

With delivery tracking software, you can improve the productivity of the driver and user, minimise the average cost per delivery, improve the cash flow through potential same-day billing, and improve the accuracy of delivery by reducing second runs and returns. The software ensures SLA compliance by providing real-time updates on the status. You can also reduce expenses on vehicle maintenance, fuel speed, administration, paperwork, and mobile phone bills.

It's important to get a reliable delivery tracking software for your supply chain business. Make sure that it can provide you with features like real time job monitoring and dispatch, full item tracking and tracing, electronic proof of delivery, GPS vehicle tracking, and system integration.

Pros and Cons of Field Service Software

A field service management software works to ease and automate scheduling, optimization, and dispatch of different kinds of services and goods (products or human resource) to the field. It involves multiple (and sometimes simultaneous) scheduling and dispatching of goods and people to different locations, thus minimizing costs while maintaining high quality customer service. Just like any other optimization systems, field service software and automation systems have their own pros and cons:

Advantages of Field Service Optimization and Management Automation:

1. Excellent customer service. Through FSA, field workers and technicians gain access to a customer's work history, as well as his or her preferences, which allows for the valuable service recommendations. When customers get this kind of personalized service, field workers are then seen as proactive and valuable partners.

1. Faster revenue generation. When your field workers are able to quote rates, provide invoices and accept payment for the service on the spot, then cash flow becomes faster. Not only that, you also eliminate the tedious and time consuming shuffling around of paperwork from the field to the office and back, as transactions happen real time. Simply put, field service automation and management systems put the money right in your pocket faster.

1. Interactive and optimized scheduling. With access to every field worker's itinerary and schedule, dispatchers in your back office can easily assign and adjust time slots so field men can quickly react to changing schedules. New jobs are quickly assigned even on the fly—which means more jobs can be fitted into a day of work. This way, more customers are served in less time.

1. Accuracy. Automation also promotes accuracy, not only in scheduling and dispatching but in quoting estimates and collecting payments.

Disadvantages of Field Service Optimization and Management Automation:

Cost is probably the main disadvantage of automating field service optimization and management. Systems and software that allow this kind of optimization often cost much, but the price you pay is nothing compared to the productivity, accuracy, efficiency, and value that these systems add to your business, especially when running a busy and in-demand operation.