Dynamic Rulesets and the Advantages of Workflow Automation

Technology supports advantages of workflow automation like increased productivity and control.

This blog explores the advantages of workflow automation and how using dynamic rulesets can streamline your planning and logistics management by automating processes.

Leveraging dynamic rulesets within our MercuryGate TMS supports growth and scalability. This workflow automation technology empowers organizations to overcome real-world supply chain challenges from the first to the final mile across all modes.

Market Dynamics and Customer Demands Drive Increased Expectations

Numerous market dynamics impact the supply chain, including:

  • Accelerated speed of business. More companies are offering home delivery than ever, so they need to be equipped to better support these models, particularly in the last mile.
  • Faster turnaround without compromising quality. Shippers want to ensure that product quality is going up while also providing higher volumes of in-demand goods to meet customer demand.
  • Scalability across the organization. Companies want to grow at scale. Shippers may look to expand product offerings or target markets. Logistics service providers may offer additional modes of transport or expand geographic coverage.
  • Reduce errors and increase consistency. Errors and oversights can result in significantly increased costs and eroded profits. Managing exceptions is critical in today’s fast-paced market.
  • Meet and overcome unexpected challenges. Shippers need the flexibility to adapt quickly. This includes exception management on a shipment level, all the way up to multimodal transportation network optimization when market disruptions threaten existing supply chain plans.

By leveraging automation in transportation with dynamic workflows, organizations can adapt to evolving customer demands and shifting market dynamics to ensure continuity in the execution of freight shipments.

Defining Dynamic Rulesets (DRS)

Within the MercuryGate TMS dynamic rulesets (DRS) and workflow automation allow users to apply business rules and automation.

DRS are preinstalled in any new version of MercuryGate. DRS perform unique actions against different system triggers and can be set to fire under highly specific conditions. A new TMS install contains around 270 condition combinations and triggers, each of which defines a unique dynamic ruleset.
Each dynamic ruleset configuration represents actual code written specifically for a customized TMS. Configuring a DRS in any form requires programming and code manipulation. Therefore, it is intended only for advanced users that have completed the MercuryGate DRS certification course.
Additionally, DRS are database-level configurations. They are saved locally to an organization’s private server and comprised of our base code. Dynamic rulesets are not affected by new releases. This allows for high levels of customization without developing true custom code that requires maintenance in the future.

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The Value of DRS and Workflow Automation

The true value of dynamic rulesets lies in their ability to automate workflows and minimize labor hours invested in time-consuming manual tasks.

Advantages of workflow automation using dynamic rulesets include reducing clicks and tedious data entry. Workflow automation minimizes the risk of user error within standardized workflows, such as adding or copying reference numbers and auditing invoices for accuracy.
Dynamic rulesets are highly customizable. You can apply rules and logic within workflows while you control which objects are affected to a high degree of precision. This applies to both the individual object and the hierarchy level. Conditions allow exact specification of which objects you interact with after a legitimate trigger event. Additionally, the inheritance principles used throughout MercuryGate TMS enable users to apply changes to specific enterprise levels and hierarchies.
Also among the advantages of workflow automation is that DRS are highly adept at handling exceptions to meet unique customer or carrier requirements. For example, if a customer requires additional data or documentation for processes, a dynamic ruleset can be configured specifically to handle those exceptions without affecting any other typical workflows.

As a result, you enjoy greater flexibility to meet unique customer needs without adding manual steps to existing workflows.

Advantages of Workflow Automation

The advantages of workflow automation using dynamic rulesets can be summed up to include:

  • Speed and efficiency across users.
  • Better business process and error reduction.
  • Advanced customization for unique customer requirements.
  • Simplified scalability across the enterprise.

MercuryGate users realize the benefits of workflow automation through:

  • Enhanced workflow best practices within the team and the TMS.
  • Customer-agnostic solutions that don’t lock in a piece of functionality to a specific customer, but instead, evaluates that function for usability across customer workflows.
  • Reusable functions that can be turned off and on as requested. Functions can be customized without reinventing the wheel with a new dynamic ruleset configuration.
  • Increased operations ownership of processes since teams can see how other internal users utilize the TMS and mirror processes that fit their specific departmental needs.
  • The ability to easily adjust workflows after you go live to ensure continuous improvement and efficiency over time.
The benefits of configuring DRS to drive dynamic workflow management can result in value across your organization: time savings, error reduction, broader team empowerment, and standardization of processes with the flexibility to adapt.

To learn more about the advantages of workflow automation using dynamic rulesets, watch our Velocity webinar on demand. It highlights how dynamic workflow management enables process efficiency and optimization within MercuryGate TMS.

See the advantages of workflow automation in action.

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