National Logistics Management 801-110 the shipment had been confirmed,it was put out for bid to the customer's contracted base of premium freight carriers.Carriers had a 30-minute window to respond,which was extended if no bids were initially received.Once the closed bids were received,EMS would prioritize the bids according to parameters the customer had established,factoring in quality rating,contracted cost, equal opportunity participation requirements,and availability.An NLM team member would make the actual award,typically to the top-rated bidder but on occasion to another bidder.In the latter case,the team member would document the rationale for not awarding a contract using information from EMS.For example,awards might be redirected if the carrier had been having service problems, the receiving plant had directed the award to someone else,the carrier had noted that there would be additional charges not reflected in the bid,etc. Once the bid had been awarded,EMS provided information on the status of a shipment throughout its delivery lifecycle.Carriers and receivers were tasked with entering tracking data into the system;most complied to preserve their performance ratings and to provide better service. Suppliers were responsible for creating an Advanced Shipping Notice(ASN)within an hour of the shipment,which would alert the recipient to its scheduled arrival.A module of EMS updated the ASN with delivery tracking milestones as the shipment made its way to the customer.Suppliers, however,did not always create their ASN in a timely fashion,and even when they did,there could be data entry errors,such as transposed numbers.When they occurred,these errors made it impossible for EMS to automatically match the ASN to the shipment and then NLM employees were required to complete the step manually.To date,NLM had not designed an effective supplier compliance system and had targeted this area for future enhancement.When ASN were correct and complete,EMS could process 65 transactions per minute. NLM continued to evolve EMS over time,taking advantage of XML13 and other web-based technologies to provide the most robust and flexible application possible.In addition,NLM had begun experimenting with emerging Internet technologies,such as the potential for incorporating a Global Positioning System to track carrier location and wireless devices to allow customers to access updates on the road.Carriers used the system extensively,some going so far as to build their own custom applications to monitor EMS and to alert the carrier when attractive loads were available for bid. NLM Benefits While there were no initial benchmarks to indicate how widespread the cost inefficiencies in premium freight had been,it was clear that NLM had added value to the automaker's business over the years.Analyzing the difference between the estimated cost of using the automaker's preferred carriers and the cost of using carriers sourced through NLM revealed that plants saved between 25% and 35%.Selecting the best mode of transport(ground,water,or air)generated up to 53%of the savings,an additional 34%of the savings came from selecting carriers with low-cost bids,and another 13%came from consolidating LTL shipments into more efficient bundles. NLM's deep understanding of the automaker's premium freight activities allowed them to suggest a wide range of other improvements.For example,suggesting an innovative approach to consolidating freight bound for a Mexican plant resulted in over $165,000 of savings for the automaker.Based upon a review of the types of transportation modes requested by various plants in comparison with actual needs,NLM suggested a change in transport mode preference that had the potential to save the automaker another $309,000. 13 XML,or Extensible Markup Language,is a language that allows for a automation of transactions and interchange of documents on the World Wide Web. 9 This document is authorized for use only in Logistics Managment by Chung-Li Tseng from July 2011 to January 2012.National Logistics Management 801-110 9 the shipment had been confirmed, it was put out for bid to the customer’s contracted base of premium freight carriers. Carriers had a 30-minute window to respond, which was extended if no bids were initially received. Once the closed bids were received, EMS would prioritize the bids according to parameters the customer had established, factoring in quality rating, contracted cost, equal opportunity participation requirements, and availability. An NLM team member would make the actual award, typically to the top-rated bidder but on occasion to another bidder. In the latter case, the team member would document the rationale for not awarding a contract using information from EMS. For example, awards might be redirected if the carrier had been having service problems, the receiving plant had directed the award to someone else, the carrier had noted that there would be additional charges not reflected in the bid, etc. Once the bid had been awarded, EMS provided information on the status of a shipment throughout its delivery lifecycle. Carriers and receivers were tasked with entering tracking data into the system; most complied to preserve their performance ratings and to provide better service. Suppliers were responsible for creating an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) within an hour of the shipment, which would alert the recipient to its scheduled arrival. A module of EMS updated the ASN with delivery tracking milestones as the shipment made its way to the customer. Suppliers, however, did not always create their ASN in a timely fashion, and even when they did, there could be data entry errors, such as transposed numbers. When they occurred, these errors made it impossible for EMS to automatically match the ASN to the shipment and then NLM employees were required to complete the step manually. To date, NLM had not designed an effective supplier compliance system and had targeted this area for future enhancement. When ASN were correct and complete, EMS could process 65 transactions per minute. NLM continued to evolve EMS over time, taking advantage of XML13 and other web-based technologies to provide the most robust and flexible application possible. In addition, NLM had begun experimenting with emerging Internet technologies, such as the potential for incorporating a Global Positioning System to track carrier location and wireless devices to allow customers to access updates on the road. Carriers used the system extensively, some going so far as to build their own custom applications to monitor EMS and to alert the carrier when attractive loads were available for bid. NLM Benefits While there were no initial benchmarks to indicate how widespread the cost inefficiencies in premium freight had been, it was clear that NLM had added value to the automaker’s business over the years. Analyzing the difference between the estimated cost of using the automaker’s preferred carriers and the cost of using carriers sourced through NLM revealed that plants saved between 25% and 35%. Selecting the best mode of transport (ground, water, or air) generated up to 53% of the savings, an additional 34% of the savings came from selecting carriers with low-cost bids, and another 13% came from consolidating LTL shipments into more efficient bundles. NLM’s deep understanding of the automaker’s premium freight activities allowed them to suggest a wide range of other improvements. For example, suggesting an innovative approach to consolidating freight bound for a Mexican plant resulted in over $165,000 of savings for the automaker. Based upon a review of the types of transportation modes requested by various plants in comparison with actual needs, NLM suggested a change in transport mode preference that had the potential to save the automaker another $309,000. 13 XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a language that allows for automation of transactions and interchange of documents on the World Wide Web. This document is authorized for use only in Logistics Managment by Chung-Li Tseng from July 2011 to January 2012