One order runs the whole process, not six tools.
The forwarder takes the order in one programme, the dispatcher plans the route in a second, a third watches working time, the workshop keeps its own spreadsheet, and the accounts retype everything at month end. Every retyping is a chance to make a mistake and an hour nobody counted.
Three things that disappear along with the retyping
- 01
One source for the order
The order lives in one place from intake to invoice. Dispatch, the workshop, compliance and the accounts look at the same record, so nobody works from last week's version.
- 02
Integrations instead of exports
The system plugs into the tools a company already runs: ERP and forwarding systems exchange orders and statuses automatically. We do not rebuild the client's world on our side, we connect to it.
- 03
The same process across sectors
One loop handles a freight movement, a field task and a service job. The vocabulary changes, the mechanism does not, so a company with a mixed fleet does not need two systems.
What this flow is made of
Process control is not a single feature. It follows from handling transport from the vehicle position through to the invoice, so there is more to say about a completed job than that it was done. Below are the points where FMS and TMS work off the same data.
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Order book
A client order with loading and unloading points, goods and requirements. The entry point of the whole flow and the only place an order is created.
Order book -
Transport planning
A timeline, the autoplanner and an ETA calculated with driver working time. The autoplanner proposes assignments; the dispatcher approves them.
Transport planning -
GPS fleet tracking
The vehicle position and the route as driven are the foundation. Without them a report says what was meant to happen, not what did.
GPS fleet tracking -
Reporting and analytics
Vehicle data, including real fuel consumption, enters the bill alongside kilometres and route costs. Profitability is then calculated on what was actually used, not on the rate card.
Fleet TCO report
Six steps in one order record
The order book takes the job from the client. Planning arranges it into routes on a timeline, with the vehicle combination and crew assigned. The autoplanner proposes assignments and the dispatcher approves them. The app in the cab receives the route and returns statuses and documents. The transport route card counts kilometres and costs. Invoicing closes the loop. That is six steps of the same record, not six programmes that have to be reconciled at month end.
Process control – common questions
- 01
Does everything have to be replaced at once?
No. Modules come in one at a time and connect to each other, and whatever stays on the client's side is connected through integrations. Starting with one area does not close the door on the rest.
- 02
What does the system do on its own, and what stays with people?
The system calculates, proposes and watches deadlines. Decisions stay with people: the autoplanner proposes assignments and the dispatcher approves them; the system prepares the invoice and the accounts decide when it goes.
- 03
Does this work for a mixed fleet?
Yes. The same loop handles trucks, vans, cars and specialist equipment, and equipment without its own device exists in the system as a record.
- 04
Where does integration end and a new module begin?
Integration moves data between systems. A module runs a process. If a company already has an ERP, it keeps it and exchanges orders and statuses with it rather than running transport in two places.
- 05
How does FMS differ from TMS in this flow?
FMS looks after the asset: vehicles, records, service and cost of ownership. TMS runs the order: intake, route, execution and invoice. In one system those two layers use the same data instead of exchanging files. The difference is expanded in transport management system.
- 06
What about companies that already run a forwarding system or an ERP?
They keep it. Orders and statuses flow between the systems automatically, so transport is not run in two places at once. The scope of integration sits in transport management system.