The last 12 months have been disruptive, causing many industries to rapidly adapt to the fast-changing circumstances.
One question that continues to be raised amongst procurement professionals thinking of moving to a more automated work environment is: 'What are the best (must-have) procurement management software features for 2022?'.
If you’re contemplating adopting new software to manage your procurement, the features each supplier offers are a key consideration. They need to be fit for your specific freight procurement requirements and enable procurement your team to improve their data accuracy, reduce human error and fast track procurement cycle times and tendering processes.
The automation and digitisation of mundane tasks will allow teams to then spend their valuable time to focus on more strategic initiatives. Here we take a look at the must-have features for procurement teams in 2022:
1. A cloud-based rate management system
A cloud-based rate management system stores your rate data securely online, so your team just need their log-in details and an internet connection to access all your rates.
This feature will grant your entire team instant access to the latest freight rates from anywhere in the world, which ensures seamless collaboration and efficient workflows across the globe. The biggest advantage of a cloud-based rate management system is your team get complete transparency in the supply chain and can make data-driven decisions.
Centralised rate management is truly a must have for large, global teams as everyone can leverage the data at scale, no matter how many freight contracts they’re manage worldwide.
2. A built-in sustainability calculator
Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in logistics. Consumers are demanding that businesses are transparent about their CO2 emissions and how they’re contributing to a sustainable future. This impacts every aspect of a company’s processes from how their goods are manufactured, all the way through the supply chain.
To ensure your business meets consumer’s sustainability expectations, you need a plan in place to address any questions or concerns regarding the CO2 emissions within your supply chain and take steps to reduce pollution.
This is why a platform than enables you to measure and reduce CO2 emissions for your freight routes has become a must-have procurement feature in 2022. If you want to reduce the footprint of your transports, you must first create a uniform basis to measure and improve. Having a tool that monitors and benchmarks the CO2 emissions will enable you to develop a realistic strategy based on actual data that leads to real results.
As the father of modern management, Peter Drucker, said, “If you can't measure it, you can't manage it”. This old adage rings true in sustainability eLogistics as it’s now imperative for supply chain teams to have data that demonstrates you’re moving towards a sustainable and carbon-neutral future.
3. Automatic freight tendering
Creating RFQs and tendering for freight is an incredibly time-consuming and manual process. It’s complex, repetitive and prone to human error.
That’s why the cornerstone of any procurement solution is digital freight tendering solution that automate workflows to drive efficiency and time-to-value. Your freight tendering feature should…
- Automatically create RFQs based on your needs
- Be intuitive and easy to use
- Automatically notify you of any errors
- Include an integrated scenario builder, so you can instantly compare quotes.
Automated procurement software features reduce the burden on your team and empower all users to be more efficient, accountable and informed in their decision making.
4. Integrated market intelligence
How do you know you’re getting the best price for your freight? And how do you know the best time to tender lanes? You compare your current rates to market prices.
However for busy procurement teams, constantly comparing rates against current market prices is too time-consuming and impractical. That’s why having market intelligence integrated into your freight procurement platform is a must-have logtech feature in 2022.
Integrated market intelligence links to your current rate card and instantly notifies you when rates drop for your preferred lanes, so you can tender them at the perfect moment and get the best price.
If your pair this feature with automatic freight tendering, you can tender these hot lanes regularly, so you consistently get the best freight prices without burdening your team with a heavy administrative workload. This game-changing feature ensures you always get the best freight rates – quickly and easily.
Read The Ultimate Guide to Autonomous Freight Procurement to learn more about integrated market intelligence.
5. A freight calculator
Freight procurement is deeply complex nowadays thanks to globalised trade, increasingly complex routes and a surge in demand for shipping. This means when you’re managing contracts for a lot of different lanes and routes, it can take time to find out how much transport will cost with your contract carriers or which mode of transport you should use for a new shipment.
If your freight procurement platform has an inbuilt freight calculator, you can cut through the complexities of today’s market and instantly compare different routes and modes of transport to find the best option for your transports.
You can even check your invoices digitally and convert currencies automatically – so you can save time and save money by ensuring you never overpay for your freight again.
Are you looking for the best freight procurement software in 2022 that includes all five of these features? Book a demo with our specialist consultants, and see how our freight procurement platform will innovate your processes in 2022 and beyond.
About SHIPSTA
SHIPSTA powers smart logistics procurement with a digital platform that connects shippers and carriers to ensure a frictionless procurement process for spot and contract buying, entirely online. It automates complex tasks, provides unrivalled visibility and supports fast data-driven decision making.
Designed and built by experts in logistics procurement, SHIPSTA is bringing transparency, automation and efficiency to the global logistics industry. It is used by some of the world’s largest companies to respond to market volatility, control freight costs and manage risk. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Mertert, Luxembourg and Hamburg, Germany.
