Transport management system

CarLo

The logistics software CarLo, which has been well established on the market for over 30 years, supports users such as forwarding and logistics companies during the entire transport process! From quote calculation and transport planning to freight calculation and the creation of statistics.

In the FAQ area, you can find all answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding our Transport Management Software (TMS).

Master Data

In the past, information about customers, vehicles and employees was managed in a myriad of Excel lists or programmes; with the transport management system CarLo, you can pool all of the information in one central system.

DON’T WASTE ANY TIME

Digital order management

One of the most time-consuming tasks is the entry of orders. The TMS CarLo offers optimal support for this task, no matter if you enter orders manually, via an interface or via text recognition.

  • Prevention of errors due to automatic checks
  • Quote management
  • Templates
  • Workflows
  • Cyclically recurring orders
  • Web service interfaces (API)
  • Processing of XML/text/CSV/Excel files
  • Automatic import and export
  • Formats frequently used in the industry, such as IFTSUM, Fortas, etc.
  • Connection to freight exchanges
  • Collaborations with Cargoline, Online Systemlogistik, and many more.
  • Create orders directly from PDF files or e-mail texts
  • Text recognition (OCR) also for scanned documents
  • Reading of tables in order to create item rows
  • Editor for the creation of templates for each customer
  • Automatic determination of the appropriate template
  • Additional details can be found under Document management
QUICK ENTRY Icon Magenta QUICK ENTRY Icon Weiß
QUICK ENTRY
INTERFACES Icon Magenta INTERFACES Icon Weiß
INTERFACES
TEXT RECOGNITION  Icon Magenta TEXT RECOGNITION  Icon Weiß
TEXT RECOGNITION

Intelligent transport management

Intelligent transport planning helps you plan tours more efficiently and facilitates everyday planning work. Our truck management software provides an intelligent truck route planner as well.

BASICS

  • Customisable
  • Multiple editing possible
  • Conditional formatting
  • Drag & drop
  • Restriction tests

TELEMATICS

  • Transfer of tours and orders
  • Actual-time and status messages
  • Chat functionality
  • Data exchange of photos and documents
  • First telematics system with voice control of app functions
  • You can find more information HERE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  • Effective tour planning based on experience
  • Estimates of delays and reliability of drivers
  • No loss of knowledge in the case of personnel changes
  • Individual restrictions
  • Continuous and independent adjustment of the model
  • You can find out more about artificial intelligence in transport planning HERE

MAPS & ROUTING

  • Visualisation of vehicles and orders
  • Tour planning via drag & drop
  • Truck management system with truck route planner

RESSOURCE USAGE PLANNING

  • Timeline view of all resources, vacations, sick days, appointments, bank holidays
  • Conditional formatting

QUICK STEPS

  • Individual restrictions such as loading metres, weight, volume, etc.
  • Optimal grouping of transport orders
  • Enhancement of utilisation and efficiency in tour planning

Calculation

With the help of powerful calculation functions, the transport management system CarLo supports you in determining prices for your invoices or credit notes. No matter whether you work with flat rates or complex tariff tables – everything can be performed fully automatically if desired.

  • Calculation by flat rates, tariff tables and much more
  • Invoices and credit notes
  • Automatic calculation
  • Manual or automatic allocation of incoming vouchers
  • Reminders for dunning
  • Barcode recognition for automated document filing
  • Digitisation of existing documents
  • Automatic grouping of related documents based on pages or barcodes

Statistics and reports

This area in the TMS CarLo allows you to quickly and easily evaluate and analyse all of the key figures that you need for your company.

  • Visualisation as a diagram, table, traffic light or pivot table
  • Automatic dispatch of Cockpits
  • Possibility of export to Excel

DON’T WASTE ANY TIME

Workflows

Automated work processes, so-called workflows, combine and organise the individual components and steps within a work process. In the logistics sector, that involves, in particular, the interaction of employees, plants, consignments or tours.

  • Automatic data transfer in information fields
  • Prevention of transmission errors
  • Allows for scheduled printing processes and e-mail notifications
  • Improvement of communication and process optimisation

Document management

Create and administrate all of your freight documents and invoices in the transport management system CarLo. They are customised according to your needs, printed, sent via e-mail or transferred via interface.

  • Documents are filed with the corresponding data record
  • A file name can be used for automated allocation
  • Documents can be allocated to particular categories
  • Display of document validities, for documents such as quotes and contracts

 

  • Launch the scanning functionality directly from CarLo
  • Barcode recognition for automated document filing
  • Digitisation of existing documents
  • Automatic grouping of related documents based on pages or barcodes
  • 100% in-house development – one central contact
  • Drag & drop of e-mails and PDF files in Document Entry
  • Creation of .NET business objects such as orders and fleet
  • Typing of documents, extraction of PDF files from e-mails
  • Reading out barcodes in PDF files
FILING Icon Magenta FILING Icon Weiß
FILING
SCANNING Icon Magenta SCANNING Icon Weiß
SCANNING
TEXT RECOGNITION Icon Magenta TEXT RECOGNITION Icon Weiß
TEXT RECOGNITION

Administration &
rights management

An elaborate user and role concept allows you to determine in detail which data and functions are available to the user. You can manage all settings easily and centrally.

  • Individual user management
  • Allocation of user accounts to specific groups
  • Configuration and management is handled by own administration
  • Data security and protection against unauthorised access
DON’T WASTE ANY TIME
Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist crm.svg

CRM

  • Collection of customer data, activities and potential customers
  • Individual categorisation of contact data
  • Allocation of notes, tasks and alerts
  • Easy maintenance, updating and checking of existing data
  • Connection to Outlook
Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist lademittel.svg

LOADING UNITS

  • Overview of loading unit stock, e.g. palette accounts
  • Automatic loading unit posting via Order Entry
  • Reconciliation of accounts with loading unit invoices or credit notes

VACATION PLANNER

  • Paperless administration of vacation requests and permits
  • Central overview of the entire company
  • Administration of sick days, absences and remaining vacation
  • Well-arranged calendar view
  • Restriction test within Transport Planning

CUSTOMISATION THROUGH ADD-ONS

With our CarLo product family, we offer you a comprehensive all-in-one solution for all forwarding, transport and logistics processes. The TMS CarLo is the heart of our product family and is complemented by innovative add-ons. You can quickly and simply combine them with CarLo–thus, all of your individual business processes can be seamlessly integrated in one system.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

What is a TMS?

By definition, a Transport Management System (TMS) is a software that deals with the planning, execution and optimisation of physical goods movements and ensures efficient transport logistics. The abbreviation TMS is also often used for Transport Management Solution or Transport Management Software. Ideally, the TMS integrates all steps of the shipping process and supports dispatchers during their daily business, i.e. in planning and executing domestic and international transport orders. For instance, a Transport Management Software includes modules for managing, costing, invoicing, documenting and executing transport services by road, air or sea.

Why is a TMS important?

Isolated IT solutions and chaotic processes that have grown historically are a major difficulty. In a network like this, it is often difficult to maintain an overview. Uncertainty quickly prevails in the case of changes and adjustments. As an all-in-one solution, a Transport Management System provides a remedy Ideally, it integrates all processes in one system, reduces the IT complexity and avoids errors that arise through switching between systems or errors due to manual processing.

A severe skills shortage is a constant companion in the logistics sector–with regard to dispatchers and also to drivers. With automation and system support in daily work, a TMS facilitates significant time saving and gives employees space for complex projects. Thus, a TMS can also simplify the cooperation between different users.

Another difficulty are the increasing customer requirements and the wish for forwarding companies to provide services. The customer wants to be informed of the location of the goods at all times (Track&Trace) and immediately be notified of problems or delays. Ideally, he can access all necessary documents in electronic form (freight documents, invoices, etc.). In this respect, a Transport Management Software increases customer satisfaction through increased transparency and higher transport quality.

In the logistics sector in particular, the high level of competition and price pressure, which also arises due to cost-effective foreign forwarding companies, is a challenge. In this case as well, a TMS can offer the decisive competitive edge, especially if not only the goods transport service itself from A to B is required, but a complex combination of different means of transport.

What are the advantages of a TMS?

A TMS can contribute significantly to the digitalisation of a forwarding company and offers the following advantages:

  • Simplification of the delivery-chain processes
  • Automation of business processes
  • Improved transparency during the transport
  • Time saving, since fewer manual steps lead to faster processing, fewer delays and shorter delivery times
  • Increased customer satisfaction through live updates and reduced shipping delays
  • Quick investment payback
  • Central control of transport processing
  • Reduction of management costs and of invoicing errors
  • No complicated transport planning with Excel or on paper
  • Promotion of paperless work
  • Manual errors are avoided
  • Better training for new employees
  • Cost saving through optimisation of utilisation and reduction of empty routes

The Transport Management Solution CarLo gains points with the following advantages:

  • Intuitive user interface thanks to optical orientation towards the Office solutions
  • Individually configurable thanks to modular add-ons
  • High flexibility for all transport sectors and their individual requirements
  • No long adjustment period or expensive trainings required thanks to clear UI design
  • Many helpful functions available in the standard version, such as drag & drop, live refresh of changes, conditional formatting and much more
  • Many interfaces to other systems possible
  • Informative, automated evaluations
  • Use of artificial intelligence proactively supports planning, e.g. while determining ETAs or selecting carriers
Which functions does a TMS have?
  • Transport planning including graphic planning
  • Management of all transport orders
  • Master data entry/maintenance for business partners and staff (CRM)
  • Costing of transport costs
  • Consignment tracking with status messages
  • Telematics
  • Forwarding freight calculation
  • Warehouse management
  • Fleet management
  • Staff planning
  • Connection to existing IT systems through interfaces

Years of experience in the logistics and IT sector have made Soloplan an expert. That is why the following functions are also implemented in the Transport Management System CarLo:

  • Digital order processing through OCR scanning
  • Creation of digital freight documents/delivery documents
  • Integrated digital document management
  • Numerous assistants and restriction tests: Appointments, vehicle utilisation (volume, weight, store places), tour contribution margin, remaining driving time of the driver, mixed loading prohibitions and many more
  • Automatic tour planning under observance of many specifications, such as vehicle type and time slots
  • Individual evaluations, such as the degree of utilisation, profits, empty routes or planning quality
  • Calculation functions
  • Vacation planning, resource management and loading unit management
  • Configuration of workflows for automated work processes
Is a TMS suitable for my company?

There is no general answer to this question. However, the suitability of a TMS can be assessed roughly based on some key figures, such as the number of users, the number of transport orders and the size of the fleet.

A TMS can be useful for all companies concerned with logistics and offer added value:

  • Classic forwarding companies
  • Freight brokers
  • Automotive
  • Building material
  • Food
  • Intermodal transports
  • Industry and trade
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Heavy loads
  • Bulk cargo
  • Silo and tank logistics
  • Partial and full loads
  • Air and sea freight

For all of these sectors, the standard version of the TMS CarLo, without individual programming, can already integrate the usual tasks, interfaces and processes. You can find a list of references from different sectors on the References tab. Please feel free to contact us for detailed references and more information regarding your sector.

For which company sizes is a TMS useful?

The company size itself is a secondary matter in the decision-making process. The following aspects should be taken into account when considering whether a Transport Management System is useful for a company:

  • Which parts of the transport process are to be processed in the TMS?
  • How complex are the internal processes and transport routes?
  • Which tasks and steps in everyday work is the TMS to integrate?
  • Which and how many different user groups are involved in the process in the company? (E.g.: warehouse, sales, dispatchers, drivers, etc.)
  • Which modes of transport are to be integrated?

As any software solution, a TMS also requires time and money. Nevertheless, purchasing a suitable TMS pays off very quickly. Especially due to the saving potential with regard to costs, as well as with regard to time during the entire process and for all users. In the age of staff shortages and increasing staff costs, the TMS facilitates further company growth, since more tasks can be completed with the same number of employees.

Soloplan caters for customer wishes with an individual requirements analysis in the first discussion and the detailed recording of the current state. Due to its modular structure, the Transport Management System CarLo can be adapted to company-specific requirements and company sizes. Thus, it is suited for small transport companies, medium-sized forwarding companies and international groups.

Which telematics systems can be integrated in CarLo?

Thanks to CarLo’s open architecture, fully integrated bidirectional communication with almost all telematics systems is possible. Tour and order data is sent to the driver and status information is returned. Furthermore, GPS information, digital documents, driving and rest times or information on the cooling chain are available.

Which customers from my sector work with CarLo?

CarLo can be used universally as a software solution for all sectors from the entire world of logistics. Under References, you can find an excerpt of our customer testimonials, sorted by country or sector, as well as video portraits. We will gladly send you additional references matching your field of activity upon request. Contact us now at info@soloplan.com.

Which shipment modes can be integrated in CarLo?

CarLo can professionally integrate all road, air and sea transports. Not even complex transport chains across country borders, with different time zones, with different currencies and with many companies involved in a transport are an obstacle.

Can an existing financial accounting system be integrated in CarLo?

Yes. Upon request, all desired interfaces can be developed. The effort required differs depending on the programme. Many interfaces are already included in the standard version. All other interfaces and special adjustments can be programmed individually for each customer, based on a detailed requirements analysis.

How is the customer’s master data entered in CarLo?

In our software, information can be imported and/or exported in many different ways. Within the scope of the initial installation, Soloplan can take over the initial import of the master data upon request of the customer. That way, significant bureaucratic efforts as well as errors during manual data transfer are avoided and the customer can work on the system with his data directly after the go-live.

How is CarLo implemented?

At Soloplan, the process up to the go-live has the project designation “Ready2Work”. A dedicated project manager is assigned to each customer. This project manager is responsible for the coordination during the implementation phase and is the main contact for the customer. Additionally, the project manager creates a milestone plan before the start of the project. Prior to the installation and training appointments, all of the required steps are defined with the project manager in an elaborate and individual concept.