Next-generation appointment booking application leverages real-time supply chain visibility to facilitate collaboration between shippers and carriers
FourKites®, the #1 real-time supply chain visibility platform, today announced that it has launched Appointment Manager℠, its universal appointment booking solution, in India, Australia and New Zealand. The cloud-based solution helps warehouses, distribution centres and manufacturing facilities collaborate efficiently on pickup and receiving time slots, saving significant time and improving daily operations and partner relationships. In addition, the highly configurable solution allows shippers and carriers to eliminate excess dwell time on site, eliminating detention fees and significantly reducing carbon emissions.
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Facility schedule management is a notoriously time-consuming task for shippers and carriers alike. With carrier dwell averaging over 3 hours per day, according to FourKites data, Appointment Manager improves facility productivity and reduces carrier wait time by more than 50%. Highly configurable for personalised requirements, Appointment Manager enables shippers and carriers to collaborate in real time, and allows carriers to self-book their preferred time based on real-time transit conditions, thereby eliminating hours of daily administrative work and error-prone manual processes.
Specifically, Appointment Manager offers the following benefits:
- Labour optimisation: Leveraging FourKites’ Dynamic ETA® to provide the most accurate times of arrival, teams can better allocate labour and resources based on real-time data and shifts in expected arrival time.
- Ease and compliance with carrier scheduling: Appointment Manager creates a single appointment layer accessible to both shippers and carriers to streamline communication and facilitate collaboration. Time slots are created by the facility to ensure adherence to preferred scheduling, business rules and specific commodity requirements.
- True end-to-end visibility: Powered by real-time supply chain visibility data from FourKites, Appointment Manager extends visibility even further into the facility via one streamlined interface. With FourKites, stakeholders receive a comprehensive, end-to-end view of shipments from point of origin to predictive insights that help orchestrate activities in the facility.
- Diminished carrier detention costs: With optimised scheduling, carrier dwell on site can be virtually eliminated, helping shippers avoid detention fees and fines for truck queues on public roads.
- Reduced carbon emissions: Scheduling and operational efficiencies driven by Appointment Manager reduce time carriers spend in the yard by hours and eliminate a significant amount of on-site carbon dioxide emissions.
“We are excited to extend the easiest, most flexible appointment booking application to the APAC market,” said Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites Founder and CEO. “This groundbreaking solution helps shippers across the globe optimise end-to-end visibility, efficiency and sustainability, as well as adapt quickly as their business needs change. We’re thrilled to be launching Appointment Manager in Asia Pacific, specifically tailored to the needs of local facilities.”
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