Lean takes its TMS global

Software-as-a-service transportation management solutions provider LeanLogistics officially launched its LeanGlobal extension for ocean freight booking, tracking and settlement.    The software-as-a-service transportation management systems provider LeanLogistics on Monday formally launched LeanGlobal, an international extension to its flagship LeanTMS product that allows users to procure and execute ocean shipments within the company’s existing platform.
   Several years in the making, LeanGlobal is seen not as a separate product, but as an integrated and broadened platform, company officials told American Shipper in a briefing.
   LeanGlobal essentially uses format fields that are familiar to LeanTMS users to allow them to book full container loads with a shipping line, create the associated customs documents, and manage the booking through to execution, including configurable visibility milestones.
   Lisa Kerr, the software provider’s director of commercial intelligence, said LeanLogistics’ emphasis over its entire product line has been on user experience and providing actionable intelligence.
   The decision to build a TMS with the ability to capture ocean freight was based on characteristics of LeanLogistics’ current customers. In the briefing, officials noted that 50 percent of its customers ship full container loads as do a similar number of prospects considering investing in TMS. The company had heard from LeanTMS users that it wanted similar capability for global modes.
   “We heard from shippers about the time-consuming issues they were experiencing moving ocean freight, from accessing sailing schedules to communicating shipping details with multiple parties, and created this software solution,” said Josh Hunt, director of product management at LeanLogistics. “Shippers can take control of their ocean freight management all the way down to container level reporting in a single workflow.”
   The product is designed to sync not only with the company’s existing domestic platform, but also with its WebSettle freight payment and audit product, allowing users to settle invoices from carriers through the same platform as they book capacity, manage and track the shipment.
   Visibility milestones are configurable based on the characteristics of the user’s transportation network. LeanLogistics has partnered with the ocean e-commerce platform INTTRA for vessel booking, the global trade management system provider Amber Road for trade compliance functionality, and ocean liner shipping database provider BlueWater Reporting for sailing schedules.
   The trade compliance capability doesn’t just include documentation generation. LeanLogistics offered restricted party screening tools to one pilot customer through its collaboration with Amber Road.
   The single workflow is also intended to allow users to create reports and analytics around their ocean shipping activity.
   LeanLogistics’ SaaS platform is available either as a standalone browser-based software tool or as a managed service, where the company essentially becomes the transportation department for its shipper customers.
   In pilot tests with a number of clients, LeanLogistics said it improved client productivity by 30 percent and reduced transportation costs by at least 10 percent. The improved efficiency is largely through eliminating staff time associated with manual booking and tracking of ocean shipments, while the reduced transportation costs is tied to a better understanding of a company’s freight rates through access to a single instance of rate information.
   The tool also allows ocean shippers to make decisions about their use of freight forwarders – whether to retain them for services outside of booking capacity with container lines and providing track and trace updates.
   For broader context, the TMS market is crowded and fragmented for management of domestic modes, but a more limited number of providers are offering such capabilities for ocean and airfreight.

   Correction: A previous version of this story indicated LeanGlobal includes booking for less-than-container load ocean freight.