What is Enterprise Software?
Enterprise software can mean different things. One definition is software that covers all departments and functions within the company – from order taking to billing. What the software really does, according to Ernie Betancourt, president Innovative Computing Corp., is "connect the dots." It's a system that connects all the departments within a firm so data can be moved between departments without being entered again.
That sounds simple enough, until you start to consider what a trucking company does each day. Dave Mook, chief technology officer at TMW Systems, says the best way to understand what enterprise-wide software does is to consider what happens when a trucking company gets an order to pick up and deliver a load.
The first step is when the order comes in. The company needs some form of order entry application and probably some form of EDI or electronic data exchange for order downloads.
"Those processes need some intelligence," Mook says. "You want to know whether to accept or reject the order at the time it comes in based on the capacity you have available." So, you need to know how many trucks are available and where they are.
Then there's a planning function: strategic planning to smooth out your network so you have trucks where you need them when you need them, and tactical planning – which drivers get the loads, which loads are brokered out, which loads are rejected and what price you charge for the load.
Mook notes that in small organizations, the planner and dispatcher is often the same person, while in larger firms, the dispatcher is separated. "You need to know which drivers have the hours, which ones need to get home, which ones need to come in for training. Once the load is assigned, you have to monitor ETA and keep an eye out for breakdowns. You need to communicate instructions to the driver, by either phone or mobile communications device. Once the driver arrives, you need to monitor for detention."
The people who did the work need to get paid, so there is a rating and invoicing process. Maybe some customers want their invoices sent electronically. Once the invoicing is done the driver or contractor must be paid, which leads to a payroll or AP function. You need to know which drivers are going through payroll (company drivers) and which ones are contractors. In each, there are a number of complexities such as tracking advances, expenses, payroll taxes (possibly from a number of states), garnishments, etc.
Then that information needs to go into the financial system with AR collections and AP settlements rolled into a general ledger. Then there are supporting functions like human resources, regulatory compliance, maintenance (which trucks need to come in for scheduled PMs), log compliance, fuel tax reporting. Plus you have to manage your fuel network and imaging interfaces.
Trying to keep track of that process when you run several hundred tractors would be very labor intensive. A true enterprise system will handle all of these tasks and provide management tools for strategic planning purposes all from the initial order entry.
"It seems simple," Mook says. "I've got a truck and you have a load, so let's do some business. But there is a lot of technology involved."
Another thing to remember is that not all packages do all things, and not all carriers need software that does. Carriers that do local LTL work or other applications where the trucks typically refuel at the terminal don't need fuel optimization applications. Likewise, most of these types of carriers will not need mapping or satellite communications capabilities.
Many software makers interface with third parties for things such as mileage or mobile communications applications. "In two or three areas, we interface out to a vendor," says Matt Cacace, McLeod Software. "For example if you were using our LoadMaster software to create an order for a load from Seattle to Memphis, you would want to get miles attached to that order. LoadMaster doesn't calculate those miles but will interface with Rand McNally's software or ALK's PC*Miler program and then bring those miles back into the system."
Other functions that might use a third party's program include mobile communications, maintenance, mapping and fuel optimization applications.
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