Section II. TACTICAL PLANNING FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE
Transportation and logistical planning that take place BEFORE the
operational "execution" control aspects of actually making the shipment include
activities relative to Steps 3-6 of the TOC. Referring back to Figure 1.0, once the firm
sets strategy in how transportation relationships and activities are to be performed, then
the firm must establish tactical policies and procedures for "planning"
short-term transportation services. Typically, Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
play a big part in addressing how steps 3-6 are performed in the front-end tactical
planning sessions. This is an area of potentially high cost savings as related to
transportation and logistics services.
In this section of the Guide, cross-functional teams are encouraged to match actual
customer service requirements to selected modes based on transportation user-provider
relationships that the firm has decided to utilize in moving freight under the shipper's
control. The planning horizon provided through order management systems is crucial in
these steps since a key value is how much time and visibility the shipper has to plan to
move shipments. Most often, the shorter the shipment-planning horizon, the higher the
costs are for moving the freight. Many TMS rely upon longer lead times to effectively plan
shipment allocations. If shipment planning is rushed and hurried, transportation costs
suffer.
Action items in this section include consolidation opportunities, improved shipment
staging and inventory deployment practices, and core carrier programs. The authors give
you sound pointers in establishing cost-effective programs for saving dollars for the firm
in the tactical and practical use of transportation modes and providers of transportation
services. Team Group B, composed of mid-level managers and planning/program technicians,
analysts and specialists from customer service, transportation, shipping and receiving,
and purchasing have major responsibilities for Action Items to be discussed in this
section of the Guide. Materials schedulers and expediters, indirect materials users,
credit analysts, advising banks and international intermediaries, as well as national
account managers are frequently consulted in tactical planning.