Control tower visibility delivers functional awareness to improve customer service and load execution.
Logistics teams have long relied on evolving technology to drive efficiency and gain visibility over their transportation networks – from simple spreadsheets to digital load boards. As expectations for speed and transparency in logistics processes have increased, so has the need for faster, more accurate visibility solutions.
This blog explores the power of control tower visibility and presents relevant use cases for logistics teams. Learn more in our Control Tower TMS Feature Overview.
What is a Control Tower for Visibility?
Control tower benefits traditionally revolve around visibility. In reality, modern control towers have the power to do much more. Control towers provide the ability to visually manage transportation transactions using customizable maps, filter options, and summary data to drive efficiency and collaboration. This allows logistics teams to search for the correct info, visualize and identify exceptions, and quickly take corrective actions as needed.
The Power of Visibility
Visibility alone is only so powerful. In the hands of people who know how to use it, visibility becomes a tool to take meaningful action against exceptions, quickly and efficiently. The power of control tower visibility is recognized by its capabilities to assist in three areas:
Searching
The power of visibility relies on the ability to filter and search for relevant loads and shipments. Filters could include mode of transit, origin, destination, pickup or delivery date, customer representative, or exception type.
Visualization
Control tower visibility is useless without an easily accessible and intuitive graphical interface. Visualization tools provide clear micro- and macro-level views based on set search parameters. This allows users to identify exceptions quickly.
Taking Action
The most powerful aspect of visibility lies in its ability to drill down to regional or load levels to manage exceptions in real time. Control towers take visibility data and make it meaningful and actionable, empowering logistics teams to be strategic and efficient decision-makers.
Control Tower Visibility Use Case: KAG Logistics & MercuryGate
KAG Logistics utilizes MercuryGate Control Tower to manage brokerage operations and execute complex fuel delivery services. Let’s take a deeper look at how MercuryGate Control Tower gives KAG a competitive advantage through the power of visibility.
Brokerage Operations
- Individual Broker Workflow – Advanced search filters allow KAG Logistics to present map views of each broker’s individual book of business. This enables brokers to identify exceptions for loads at risk of missing on-time delivery or pickup. As a result, brokers can proactively work to notify customers and troubleshoot with carriers. Individual-level views help brokers prioritize their workdays by focusing on the most urgent issues. The Control Tower has increased efficiencies across the brokerage team and made it possible to scale rapidly, managing more loads with an unprecedented level of service.
- Manage Expired Tenders – KAG’s brokerage loads are primarily spot-rated and assigned to carriers, but when a tender expires without being accepted, the broker is responsible for locating a backup carrier for the load. With Control Tower, brokers easily filter for Expired Tenders and drill down on an impacted area to locate nearby carriers with capacity. This advanced visibility saves time and helps brokers avoid costly load failures.
- Management View – Control Tower’s search and visualization features provided KAG managers with greater visibility into individual broker performance and productivity. This function helps managers identify gaps in team performance and informs the development of training and coaching activities.
Fuel Delivery Services
- Load Execution and Fuel Outage Management – The fuel supply chain constantly changes throughout the day, so the ability to divert and reroute trucks in real time is essential. Control Tower allows KAG to recognize fuel rack outages, identify all trucks that need to be rerouted to new fuel rack origins, and update routing in just a few clicks. The ability to take action quickly minimizes the frequency of missed deliveries and empty station tanks, ensuring KAG customers’ don’t miss out on valuable revenue.
- Accurate ETAs and Status Updates – Fuel transportation leaves little room for error. Fuel stations demand accurate ETAs to prepare for deliveries and minimize the impact on their customers. KAG relies on Control Tower mapping to provide accurate status updates and to-the-minute ETAs for crucial fuel deliveries.
MercuryGate Control Tower: The Solution for Efficient Customer Service and Visual Load Execution
MercuryGate Control Tower helps shippers and brokerages harness the power of visibility with advanced search and visualization functions to take action on critical real-time exceptions.
To learn how Control Tower leads to best-in-class customer service and visual load execution and more specific use case examples, don’t miss our webinar from Velocity 2022.
