In a continuous improvement effort to better serve its customers, Ruan Transportation Management Systems is transitioning to a new, wholly integrated transportation management system called RTMS2.0.
RTMS2.0 is a customized transportation management solution that combines software from one of the leading TMS providers, other best-of-breed logistics tools, including several load planning tools and a warehouse management application, and Ruan's custom intellectual property.
"Our goal was to replace our previous TMS with a leading transportation management system that will augment Ruan's competitive advantage in our core business of dedicated contract carriage and third party logistics," Senior Vice President and CIO Ben McLean said. "This change in technology will allow us to continue to focus on providing customized solutions for our customers, while providing us with industry-wide functionality updates from a preferred software vendor. We evaluated many offerings from some of the largest software companies in the world, and the software we chose ultimately provided the functionality that was best suited to our dedicated and 3PL operations."
RTMS2.0 offers a number of benefits and improvements over the company's previous transportation management system. McLean said it will bring improved dispatch efficiencies because it has a user-friendly interface and better asset management functionality. In addition, RTMS2.0 will feature improved billing capabilities and significantly improved data business intelligence functionality.
"This system will allow us to better serve our customers through more efficient, standardized processes and accurate, accessible data. RTMS2.0 will allow us to respond more quickly to customer needs through a simplified architecture and updated technology," McLean said.
Since the software is built using newer technology, Ruan's IT team can deliver customer enhancements more efficiently. And because RTMS2.0 is highly configurable, many customer-specific changes can be implemented without having developers write new software. In addition, because recent college graduates and those in the military have a greater familiarity with newer technology and user interfaces, Ruan can therefore continue to recruit the best and brightest talent, and the training process for new operations team members will be completed more quickly.
In order to ensure a seamless transition, RTMS2.0 is being deployed in four phases so that each terminal location can receive the necessary training to best use the new system. The first phase began in November of 2011.