Order Management Blog Category - SPS Commerce Mon, 15 Dec 2025 23:10:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Predictability pays off: why retail leaders are cracking down on constant order changes https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/combating-purchasing-order-volatility/ Fri, 12 Dec 2025 22:27:16 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=761306 Retail used to win on speed, selection and the ability to pivot fast. If you could respond quickly to trends, you stayed ahead. If you could move inventory faster than competitors, you took the lead. But the ground has shifted. Today, the biggest advantage isn’t speed — it’s stability.

Demand now swings in sharper, less predictable cycles. Transportation costs fluctuate week to week, and labor availability changes month to month. Yet retailers and suppliers are still expected to deliver precise, reliable execution with almost no margin for error.

Teams aren’t just trying to stay ahead of trends anymore; they’re trying to stay ahead of volatility. In that environment, predictability becomes a strategic asset. And across the market, retailers are already making the shift:

  • They’re building more resilient and transparent supply chains designed to withstand disruption — not react to it.
  • They’re tightening control and increasing item-level visibility as demand becomes harder to forecast.
  • They’re using digital planning tools to stabilize inventory instead of responding to every fluctuation in real time.

In short, retailers aren’t chasing chaos anymore — they’re engineering calm. The shift toward steadier, data-driven operations is clear. Yet even as supply chains become more resilient, one quiet destabilizer remains: constant order changes.

The mid-cycle adjustments, delayed acknowledgments, quantity edits and shipment updates that happen after a truck is already rolling may seem minor on their own, but together they’re costly. They disrupt planning, confuse systems, slow execution and quietly drain cash, undermining the very stability retailers are working to build. And they happen every day, often unnoticed and almost always underestimated.

The data tells the story

When SPS Network Intelligence examined the real movement of orders across the retail network, the pattern became impossible to ignore. The analysis covered 1.2 million purchase orders, 4.8 million associated documents and $9.7 billion in merchandise volume — a scale large enough to reveal where volatility starts, how it spreads and what it ultimately costs.

Across that dataset, one signal cut through: order volatility is far more common, and far more expensive, than most teams realize.

The findings were consistent across categories and order types:

  • 6.5% of total merchandise value, or $634 million, was exposed to volatility-related risk. That exposure represents inventory sitting longer, shipments moving inconsistently and cash tied up for days or weeks longer than planned.
  • Every 1% reduction in volatility returned $9–10 million in cash flow back into the operation.
  • Even categories known for stable, predictable demand — including grocery — showed meaningful volatility, underscoring that this isn’t an issue limited to seasonal or trend-driven businesses.

The operational consequences were equally clear.

Every small change — whether a timing update or a line-level edit — creates a series of downstream ripple effects: delayed shipments, mismatched inventory, extended dwell times and lost sales opportunities. A single mid-cycle adjustment can trigger rework across ERP, WMS, transportation and store systems.

As one retail operations leader put it: “A single delayed PO can freeze a week’s worth of sales and tie up millions in inventory.”

Volatility doesn’t just slow down one order. It compounds across the network, introducing friction at every handoff and silently pulling performance, liquidity and customer experience in the wrong direction.

Explore the complete findings in our on-demand webinar:
Pulling back the curtain on network-level volatility

What order volatility is and how it drives cost

Volatility isn’t just a process issue. It’s a financial one. At its core, order volatility is the variation or fluctuation that occurs throughout a purchase order’s lifecycle: timing updates, quantity edits, line-level changes or shipment corrections. These shifts often seem routine, but they introduce uncertainty at every step. And uncertainty creates rework, delays and added cost.

Volatility can originate from multiple touchpoints:

  • Timing updates that adjust acknowledgment or ship-by dates
  • Quantity changes made after the PO is issued
  • Line-level edits affecting individual SKUs
  • Shipment corrections made after goods have already left the warehouse

Each update triggers a downstream chain reaction. A single header-level change may force multiple revisions across ERP, WMS, carrier or 3PL systems. That rework absorbs time, slows decision-making and reduces the predictability of both shipments and inventory placement. SPS Network Intelligence found that even minor fluctuations compound as they move through the network, lengthening cycle times and increasing operational strain.

How volatility impacts financial performance

The financial impact is equally clear. When orders change mid-cycle, inventory spends more time in transition, tying up cash and extending the cash conversion cycle. Carrying costs — often 20–30% of inventory value — rise as goods sit idle or move inconsistently. Teams lean on expedited transportation to recover lost time. Missed windows introduce penalties, deductions and lost sales opportunities. The ripple effect touches every KPI:

  • Delayed orders
  • Higher fees
  • Reduced operational efficiency
  • Lower OTIF
  • Narrower margins and tighter cash flow

Across $9.7 billion in analyzed order volume, SPS identified more than $600 million in merchandise value exposed to volatility risk. The pattern is direct: the more an order changes, the more value is put at risk.

This is why predictability matters more now than ever. In a market defined by thin margins, tight schedules and unpredictable demand, stability isn’t just operational efficiency — it’s liquidity, profitability and resilience.

How leaders are fighting back

Volatility has become a direct threat to profitability, especially as margins shrink and demand grows more erratic. What used to be minor exceptions now trigger downstream delays, stranded inventory and costly last-minute workarounds.

The retailers making progress have one advantage: earlier visibility into when, where and why orders are changing. With that clarity, they plan better, react faster and prevent issues before they spread.

Predictability strengthens execution by improving visibility across the PO lifecycle, reducing shipment mismatches, sharpening cash-flow accuracy and enabling clearer retailer–supplier communication. Unpredictable orders do the opposite — slowing goods midstream, weakening forecasts and compounding cost across the network.

Leading organizations counter volatility by focusing on a few core habits:

  • They benchmark how often orders change and what it costs.
  • They connect POs, acknowledgements, ASNs and shipments into a clear real-time view.
  • They create shared accountability with suppliers to address issues early rather than react late.

These behaviors are part of a broader journey toward operational maturity. Most retailers progress through four stages of predictability, moving from reactive processes to more stable, data-driven execution. Each stage builds greater visibility, reduces variance and strengthens financial performance — especially in high-volatility environments.

Organizations that reach predictive maturity consistently see 12–18% better on-time delivery and 20–30% faster acknowledgment cycles, leading to fewer surprises, faster turns and stronger liquidity.

Predictability doesn’t remove problems — it reveals them early enough to stay in control.

The bottom line

Order volatility is the quiet force undermining even the best-built supply chains. Small changes ripple into delays, deductions and trapped cash — costing far more than most teams realize.

Leaders who take volatility seriously are already seeing the difference: fewer surprises, stronger turns, higher OTIF and more confident planning.

In a market defined by tight margins and unstable demand, predictability pays off — every single time.

Learn more with the predictability pays off analysis

Explore the research, data, and frameworks behind these findings in our new analysis,
Predictability pays off: How retail and supply chain leaders turn order volatility into a competitive advantage.

]]> Tariff Refunds: The Operational Nightmare Businesses Aren’t Ready For https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/tariff-refunds/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:09:15 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=760333

In this article, learn about:

  • Current landscape of tariff updates
  • Potential outcomes of tariff refunds
  • Data and timing problems of refunds
  • How to get your business refund-ready

Current Landscape of Tariff Updates

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week on whether Trump’s emergency tariffs were legal. Coverage focuses on constitutional questions and economic forecasts.

Yet almost no one is addressing the operational question: if tariffs get struck down, will companies be able to prove what they’re owed?

It can only be assumed that the chaos that followed the escalation of tariffs could be even messier to untangle in reverse.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC the government might need to refund “about half the tariffs”—potentially $750 billion to $1 trillion—if the Court delays its ruling until mid-2026. He called unwinding that amount “significant disruption.”

Two Potential Outcomes of Tariff Refunds

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could handle refunds one of two ways:

  • The easy way: Use the tariff classification codes already embedded in every import entry to identify affected shipments and process automatic refunds through their ACH system.
  • The hard way: Require every importer to file individual refund requests for each and every affected entry. For unliquidated entries, that means Post Summary Corrections. For liquidated entries, it would mean administrative protests.

NOTE: The CBP has done “the easy way” before. When the Generalized System of Preferences program lapsed in 2018, CBP issued automatic refunds to importers who’d filed electronically with the proper codes. The process took about three months.

The CBP processes roughly 105,000 merchandise entries daily. That number climbed in 2025 when millions of de minimis packages became subject to formal entry requirements. If refunds require individual requests, large, sophisticated importers with dedicated trade compliance teams will recover their money. Smaller operators will struggle.

Furthermore, court filings have already warned that refunds would be “chaotic and administratively burdensome.”

The Data Problem Most Companies Haven’t Considered

Even if the CBP chooses the easy path, most importers face an internal challenge: they don’t have the resources to perform the investigation needed to prove what they’re owed.

Tariff duties get paid at the entry level, often by customs brokers working from commercial invoices. Those payments flow to the CBP. The corresponding costs flow into ERP systems, sometimes as separate line items, sometimes absorbed into landed cost calculations, and other times handled entirely outside the primary accounting system.

Most finance teams lack visibility into which orders paid emergency tariffs, how much was collected, and even what the refund amount should be.

The knowledge gap created by emergency tariffs is the same one that surfaced during tariff escalation when buyers asked for analytics showing margin impact by SKU. Most systems couldn’t answer because tariff costs and product costs lived in different places.

The Unpredictable Timeline of Tariff Refunds

Refunds won’t arrive uniformly. Rather,

  1. Entries filed electronically with proper Chapter 99 classification codes would get processed first.
  2. Entries requiring manual review would take longer.
  3. Entries where importers missed filing deadlines or didn’t maintain proper documentation might never get refunded.

Meanwhile, companies will need to decide whether or not they should:

  • Wait for refunds to hit their bank account before adjusting pricing
  • Pass expected refunds through to customers immediately
  • Or absorb costs to rebuild margin that compressed during tariff implementation

Each choice has second-order effects:

  • If you lower prices before receiving refunds, you’re betting on a timely government processing speed and your own documentation quality.
  • If you wait, competitors who moved faster capture market share.
  • If you absorb refunds without adjusting prices, you’re making a margin decision that may or may not align with how you handled the original tariff increases.

None of these choices can be made confidently without knowing which SKUs were affected, by how much, and what the timelines were.

The Invoice Problem

When tariffs increased, many suppliers changed how they presented costs. Some added explicit tariff line items to invoices. Others built tariff costs into product pricing to keep EDI documents clean. Some used separate statements or periodic true ups.

If refunds come through, the way they chose to document and communicate these costs will determine how easily businesses can reconcile what they’re owed against what they receive.

  • Companies that kept tariffs as separate line items can trace costs more easily.
  • Companies that absorbed tariffs into base pricing will need to reconstruct cost basis by entry date and classification code.
  • Companies that handled tariffs outside their primary invoice flow may struggle to connect refunds back to specific products or customers.

The competitive advantage goes to whoever maintained clean data architecture when tariffs were implemented. The penalty for messy systems won’t be obvious until refund checks arrive, and, when they do arrive, there could be challenges around tying those refunds to individual SKUs and timelines.

Leveraging B2B Data Exchange for Refund-Readiness

Most companies thinking about refund readiness are asking the wrong questions. They’re wondering if they should be exploring new solutions, AI-capabilities, or specialized partners to figure this out.

The better question is: Is there a way to connect the data you’re already exchanging?

Your B2B transactions contain most of what you need to defend a refund claim and decide what to do with the recovered margin. Purchase orders and acknowledgments establish which SKUs were ordered, at what cost, and on what date. Advanced ship notices timestamp when items are moved through your supply chain. Invoices show where tariffs were embedded or separated, and how adjustments were handled.

The challenge isn’t missing data. It’s that these documents live in separate systems that don’t talk to each other.

  • When a broker is filing an entry with Customs, they’re working from commercial invoices.
  • When finance is booking costs, they’re pulling from ERP.
  • When operations teams are tracking inventory, they’re logging into warehouse management systems.
  • When you need to reconcile a refund against what you actually paid, you’re manually connecting pieces that should already be joined.

Four Key Questions to Check your Refund-Readiness

  1. Do all purchase orders that became shipments have corresponding ASNs and invoices? Gaps mean weaker traceability when reconciling what the government sends back.
  2. What’s the lag between order, shipment, warehouse receipt, and invoice? Large or variable gaps complicate matching entries to physical flows.
  3. What percentage of invoices reconcile cleanly to shipments at the carton and SKU level? Low match rates signal data quality problems auditors will question.
  4. Which items were direct import where your customer was importer of record? Refund proceeds likely flow to them, not you.

Conversations Between Trading Partners

Like all things in the supply chain, there are many wrinkles that must be ironed out between trading partners.

For buying orgs working with brands on direct import programs, there are three questions to consider with your partners:

  • Who receives the refund on each flow, and if it’s shared, how? Through redit memos, future cost adjustments, or allowances?
  • What documentation validates pass-through? Entry numbers, tariff codes, duty amounts, payment dates?
  • What cadence for reconciliation keeps the exchange stable while finance books cash?

For anyone working with customs brokers:

  • Can you provide machine-readable files showing entry number, tariff classification, duty paid, importer of record, and ACH refund dates per line item?
  • How will you flag corrected entries or reclassifications to avoid double-counts?

For 3PLs handling your inventory:

  • Can we rely on warehouse confirmation timestamps and carton details to align physical receipt with entry dates?
  • What’s the cleanest source of truth for carton IDs that tie back to ship notices?

The practical answer is unifying your transaction spine (purchase orders, shipments, receipts, invoices, adjustments) with effective-date pricing. That creates a connected dataset showing which entries paid tariffs, what those entries contained, what you invoiced, and what margin resulted.

From there you can identify coverage gaps by trading partner, measure timeliness, flag direct import flows where refunds accrue elsewhere, and standardize how credits or price adjustments flow through without breaking document exchange.

In Closing

The heart of the issue is not tariff refunds. Refunds, rather, are creating the opportunity for building resilience by connecting commercial decisions and operational execution, helping you understand the impact of disruptions and make smarter decisions in the face of them.

TL;DR

If tariff refunds land, the winners will be the teams that can:

  • Prove what they’re owed
  • Reconcile it quickly to items, customers, and periods
  • Deploy the cash without creating pricing chaos, disrupting ASN/EDI flows, or damaging relationships

Align Your Data with SPS EDI

Organizations that have good visibility into their EDI documents can stay one step ahead of tariff refunds by keeping their systems in conversation with each other. Check out our EDI solutions with SPS Fulfillment to see if joining the network is right for your business.

]]> How to achieve order automation – even when customers don’t use EDI https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/pdf-order-automation/ Wed, 06 Aug 2025 22:14:32 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=751509 Manual entry of PDF orders drains time, slows down fulfillment and increases the risk of costly errors.

With an electronic data interchange (EDI) solution, you can electronically transmit documents such as orders, inventory updates, shipping notices and invoices. This not only eliminates time-consuming data-entry tasks and automates your order processes but also helps you support more clients and more retailers without adding operational strain.

But what about your customers who aren’t set up to use EDI?

If you’re like many suppliers and 3PLs, you work with a mix of retailers and clients who still send orders by PDFs, spreadsheets, emails and attachments.

Managing orders from non-EDI customers can be a step backwards into the inefficiencies of manual workflows. You have higher operational costs and an extra layer of difficulty when it comes to scaling and growing your business. Manual entry slows down receiving, creates downstream errors and adds cost to every order you handle.

There’s a better way.

SPS Commerce PDF Order Automation is the key to seamlessly processing non-EDI orders across your entire network, reducing effort, eliminating errors and enabling faster, more reliable fulfillment.

Navigating non-EDI order hassles

Once you’ve experienced smooth EDI order processing, the challenges of handling non-EDI orders feel even more painful, especially in a warehouse environment where every minute matters:

  • High operational costs: Manually entering orders into your system costs you both time and resources, driving up cost per order and slowing down the floor, especially during peak volume.
  • Errors and delays: The fallout of mis-keyed data for your business can be picking mistakes, incorrect shipments, chargebacks, damaged client trust and missed SLAs.
  • Limited scalability: The more your business grows, the more manually processed PDFs and emails simply cannot keep pace with client onboarding or seasonal volume spikes.

Outdated workflows are what keep many operations from reaching true supply chain efficiency.

Transforming non-EDI orders with automation

When you manage your EDI processes with SPS Commerce Fulfillment, you already have access to 400+ pre-built system integrations for ERP, OMS, WMS solutions and more.

Our PDF Order Automation uses your existing Fulfillment integrations to map and translate non-EDI orders directly into your EDI workflow. AI-assisted mapping and translation seamlessly integrates your orders into Fulfillment.

With PDF order automation, you can:

  • Process all orders through one automated workflow
  • Reduce errors and speed up fulfillment
  • Handle seasonal or rapid growth without increasing headcount
  • Free your CSRs and warehouse teams to focus on strategic and revenue-generating work

As the largest retail network with 4,000+ buying organizations, SPS is uniquely positioned to automate even the most complex, multi-client order channels.

Tackling the accuracy issue: OCR versus AI

You may be wondering how this works or be skeptical about success if you’ve experienced the shortcomings of solutions that claim to automate non-EDI orders with optical character recognition (OCR).

OCR behaves like a scanner: it recognizes characters, not meaning. For 3PLs, where order accuracy determines pick efficiency and shipment correctness, that’s a problem. When an “O” becomes a “0,” your warehouse ends up picking the wrong SKU — and the cost hits your margins.

SPS PDF Order Automation is not OCR. Our solution uses AI, so instead of just reading characters, our system actually understands the structure and meaning of the documents.

Thanks to AI-assisted mapping, our solution also learns how to match the fields in each unique PDF to the fields in your order system.

This proprietary technology extracts data with near-perfect accuracy. This ensures your PDF orders are processed just like EDI orders — precisely, consistently and reliably enough for warehouse execution.

SPS PDF Order Automation delivers the highest level of accuracy and efficiency, eliminating the concerns associated with legacy OCR systems.

Weighing the need: PDF order volume

While PDF Order Automation may seem like an obvious solution for high-volume businesses, it’s also valuable for low order volumes and for warehouses with mixed clients or unpredictable order patterns.

Manual processes for smaller orders still create inefficiencies, errors and unnecessary costs. SPS PDF Order Automation reduces these burdens, providing a scalable foundation that saves time and money now while preparing your business for growth.

Leveling up: now is the time

Automating non-EDI orders isn’t just about saving time—it’s a strategic move that prepares you to move ahead in a competitive market and accelerate your growth. Leading the way with innovative automation helps you better meet customer demands, handle growing order volumes and eliminate costly errors.

Whether you’re an existing SPS customer or just starting your supply chain optimization journey, SPS PDF Order Automation is a reliable, scalable solution that eliminates inefficiencies from your non-EDI workflows and prepares your warehouse for the future.

Non-EDI orders don’t have to slow your business down. Automating these workflows enables you to process orders faster, reduce your costs and focus on your business goals.

Ready to eliminate manual PDF orders? Talk to a rep to see how PDF Order Automation fits into your operations.

]]> Solving the 5 critical challenges preventing carrier success https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/solving-5-critical-carrier-challenges/ Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:21:45 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=750452 A load comes in at 9:03 a.m. It’s a high paying lane from a priority shipper, and you’ve got a driver to take it on right now. But your dispatch team isn’t equipped to respond in time. The bid goes unanswered while someone hunts down lane history in a spreadsheet and calculates rates by hand. By the time the team replies, the load has been taken by another carrier. Now your new customer is still waiting for onboarding paperwork, and the driver who could’ve taken the shipment stays idle.

At 9:46, you’re blindsided by changing requirements for another long-time customer, spiking load acceptance times. It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, but the full consequences of the bottleneck won’t be felt until the carrier scorecards are delivered. Your teams start to worry about keeping the shipper relationship alive as they scramble to manage the chaos.

Hour by hour, the challenges that come with outdated systems and disconnected processes combine to take their toll on revenue. At the center of it all is a tangled web of slow communication, manual effort and missed insight. But even the toughest challenges carriers face can be overcome with solutions designed to help transportation companies fit into the flow of today’s supply chain.

Let’s break down where it hurts the most and how implementing new solutions could prove to be a turning point for carriers.

1: Slow tender response time

Delayed response to load tenders leads to missed opportunities, slashed revenue and eroded trust. With shippers giving preference to carriers who respond quickly, inconsistent communication damages relationships and increases the chances of being passed over entirely. The longer it takes to respond, the less likely a carrier is to win profitable loads.

That makes reducing the time from receipt to response a high priority for carriers, and as transportation companies look to process optimization to push times down, load tender responses are a prime target.

As companies evaluate options to accelerate the pace of business, leaders are turning to centralized EDI solutions that can simplify tender responses. Instead of chasing down information, dispatchers can respond to tenders within seconds, helping boost revenue and keep preferred carrier status. The benefits of implementing an EDI solution can be far-reaching, as carriers find they gain added visibility on top of improved customer relationships.

2: Delayed shipper onboarding

Onboarding new shippers can require carriers to enter a danger zone of endless emails, redundant paperwork and disconnected workflows. When carrier teams are stuck in the weeds and unable to focus on performance or relationship-building, shippers experience downhill delays, confusion and frustration.

Ensuring that new customers feel comfortable and your systems align can help carriers shorten time to value. But what happens when all the new business results in a mess of disconnected portals and logins? As you take on more shippers, the need to work alongside their tech stack can drag efficiency down.

Some carriers are working toward standardized forms, real-time data validation and automatic system updates to reduce friction and error, but increasing numbers of transportation companies are opting for turnkey, full-service solutions with onboarding workflows already built in. This results in shippers being onboarded in weeks instead of months, allowing carriers to grow their business without increasing manual effort.

3: Lack of TMS optimization

Operating without a TMS—or with one that’s poorly configured—leaves carriers gambling with their shipments. There’s no reliable way to manage capacity, optimize routes or track carrier performance. The result is a mixed bag of effects caused by manual processes: slow dispatching, underused resources and excessive labor costs.

But even as more carriers move to a TMS system to handle these details, barebones implementations can leave out vital features, leading to processes that are only half as powerful as they could be. As carriers work to remain relevant in a fiercely competitive industry, ensuring that their TMS is supported by solutions that streamline other areas of the business can help them stay ahead.

As carriers fight to keep pace with their peers, more powerful TMS tools will be a deciding factor in their success. A centralized EDI system can integrate seamlessly with TMS platforms, enhancing their capability by feeding them real-time data. The addition enables better automation and more accurate routing while boosting the scalability of the business as a whole.

4: Weak shipper scorecard results

Without clear, trackable shipper scorecard metrics, performance management becomes guesswork. Are you meeting SLAs? Are certain lanes costing more than they’re worth? Without the numbers, you’re flying blind, and that’s risky, especially with shippers who expect transparency and proof of value.

Better scorecard results can strengthen partnerships with higher freight volumes and better contracts, while less desirable scorecard results can spell disaster for medium-sized carriers. But to get the best scores, it’s clear that carriers need the right solutions in place to manage common friction points that can drive scores down and leave dollars on the table.

Solutions that enable automatic metric tracking from load acceptance to delivery KPIs can best help carriers sidestep those friction points and achieve scorecard success. The result is a win-win situation: Shippers get the visibility they need, and carriers gain actionable insights to improve efficiency, win more freight and do it all with improved service quality.

5: Trouble turning growth into scale

As volume increases, so does the complexity of managing the people, systems and data needed to support a network of new customers. Without streamlined workflows, growth becomes unsustainable, leading to burnout, mistakes and customer dissatisfaction. That means operational inefficiency isn’t just holding carriers back from doing their best work day-to-day—it’s holding them back from scalable growth year-over-year.

Scaling logistics operations can be shackled by complexity as carriers expand operations to take on new business, with slowdowns surrounding billing and hiring compromising carrier revenue. As carriers manage a list of billing templates, schedules and workflows, the added complexity requires carriers to spend extra time handling shifting requirements.

The disruptions have led carriers to look for solutions that create a foundation for scalable operations by standardizing communication, automating routine tasks and consolidating fragmented customer portals. New solutions allow carriers to grow without having to chase down updates, reconcile documents or respond to avoidable exceptions, leaving teams to focus on strategy and service.

The turning point

The challenges facing transportation companies today are more about structure than speed. A centralized, full-service solution offers a framework for running leaner, faster and more resilient operations, and it shows in our original example:

It’s 9:03 a.m. and a high-priority customer posts a shipment that’s bid, accepted and off the dock faster than ever. Your team is on top of every reply and all your customers experience an onboarding workflow that’s fast and standardized. Drivers are busy, and every requirement is managed without extra personnel to manage it all. The upcoming scorecards look great, and you’re looking forward to taking on even more shipments next quarter as the excellent results keep rolling in.

Sound too good to be true? SPS for 3PLs Transportation Solution can get you there. In a business where every delay costs money and every inefficiency compounds, carriers who focus on modernizing their workflows can gain margin and momentum. That’s why SPS for 3PLs Transportation Solution was made to help carriers work at the pace of today’s supply chain and offer a standout customer experience in the process. Learn more here.

]]> 3 roadblocks to transportation scorecarding success for carriers https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/3-scorecard-success-roadblocks/ Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:53:24 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=750179 The entire supply chain depends on carriers to ensure timely delivery, cost efficiency and reliable service, putting transportation businesses under increasing pressure to perform. As shippers and customers raise their expectations, the carrier scorecard has become an essential tool for evaluating carrier performance through KPIs like on-time delivery, acceptance rate, tracking compliance, damage to goods and claims. But the value of scorecarding as a practice isn’t limited to shippers. With the right strategy and technology, carriers can leverage scorecards to win more business and strengthen their reputation.

Scorecard performance is a reflection of how well a carrier aligns with a shipper’s operational and strategic priorities. Earning high marks requires a combination of operational discipline, data visibility, compliance and adaptability. In today’s environment, where cost control and service levels are critical considerations, carriers that treat scorecard success as a core competency will be better positioned to compete, scale and lead their markets.

Strong scorecard performance opens doors to long-term, high-volume relationships with favorable terms, while a weak showing can limit growth, regardless of operational capabilities. But maintaining consistently strong marks is difficult without the right systems in place—especially in a complex, margin-tight environment where rules and requirements are constantly changing.

Here, let’s explore where carriers can focus to drive better scorecard outcomes and unlock growth.

Roadblock 1: Complex load acceptance

Though it may be a straightforward decision for an owner-operator carrier, developing load acceptance strategies for companies with multiple power units and shippers has become a multi-dimensional problem. Carriers must weigh margin, resource constraints, regulatory issues and the downstream impact of each load on performance metrics before taking it on.

Manual processes often lead to poor load selection, missed SLAs and rejected tenders, all of which hurt scorecard performance. Inefficiencies in carrier operations can also lead to higher logistics costs, damaged goods from inefficient loading and transportation delays, but a successful scorecard strategy can help identify underperforming areas of the business.

Carriers that implement data-driven load acceptance models can weigh profitability and performance impact side by side, enabling better decisions at scale. By integrating a modern TMS with EDI and visibility tools, carriers can streamline decision-making to improve and protect scorecard health.

Roadblock 2: Limited shipment visibility

Tracking compliance and milestone visibility are key metrics on most shipping scorecards. Without automated updates, accurate ETAs and real-time alerts, carriers risk falling behind, even if actual delivery performance is strong.

Supply chain disruptions, such as delays or damage to goods, also pose risks to visibility and scorecard success. With added stress around order and inventory management, stock levels may be kept low to avoid warehousing costs, so there may not always be a backup plan for late or damaged goods.

Lack of system integration, outdated tracking methods or overreliance on manual updates can all erode trust and lead to missed opportunities. Carriers that invest in telematics and connect their systems to shipper platforms demonstrate greater transparency, reduce administrative overhead and build stronger partnerships.

Roadblock 3: Changing customer requirements

Requirements change—constantly. As shippers evolve their strategies, they introduce new metrics and compliance standards, which can catch carriers off guard. New internal initiatives from shippers require carriers to quickly pivot and adjust their strategy. Without a way to stay in sync, the added communication demands can become a challenge.

With increasing emphasis on sustainability and efficiency, businesses desire carriers that align with their priorities. Scorecarding can evaluate carriers both operational and environmental metrics such as fuel efficiency and emissions reduction.

The most successful carriers implement internal governance processes to track changes, assign ownership and respond proactively. But not every carrier has the internal resources or usable data to manage this effectively. In those cases, partnering with a full-service analytics provider or managed service can help bridge the gap — providing strategic insight and hands-on support to keep performance in sync with changing demands.

Improving shipping scorecard performance goes far beyond checking compliance boxes to unlocking business value. Carriers who excel in scorecard metrics enjoy better rates, stronger relationships, reduced operating costs and priority access to freight. In a landscape where every dollar counts and every shipment matters, investing in the right tools and strategies is the path to sustainable growth and differentiation. See how the SPS for 3PLs Transportation Solution can help.

]]> Scaling smarter: Why trucking companies are prioritizing operational efficiency https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/scaling-smarter-carriers-operational-efficiency/ Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:58:41 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=749206 To successfully take on new business and work with top brands, carriers need to efficiently scale operations without overburdening their current resources. But as margins tighten and delivery expectations rise, trucking companies are tasked to do more with less. Whether in routing, communication or back-office operations, even small operational inefficiencies can directly impact the businesses’ ability to scale. This means operational efficiency as a practice has rocketed to the top of carriers’ priorities as they race to grow their operations to accommodate top shippers.

But achieving operational efficiency isn’t that simple, and scaling operations can stall in the face of common problems that cause delays and bottlenecks. Without the right strategies and solutions, teams can spend valuable hours chasing down updates, reconciling documents and responding to avoidable exceptions, compromising the scalability of the business as a whole.

In this blog, we’ll look at the challenges that stand in the way of scaling operations for trucking companies, and how persistent problems can be solved with the right mix of processes, people and technology.

Moving past inefficient manual processes

Today, many carriers still rely on spreadsheets, emails and other manual processes to manage critical business functions. Teams waste time rekeying data, working around multiple partner portals and tracking down missing documents, all of which cut into margins and take dollars away from the company’s bottom line.

Top carriers are now replacing outdated processes with digital workflows that connect shippers and data in real-time. Systems that reduce manual touchpoints and minimize errors allow businesses to more easily onboard customers and keep operations synced with their partner network.

An EDI solution can help trucking companies reduce manual processes by automating the exchange of load tenders, invoices and delivery confirmations between carriers and a network of retail and manufacturing partners. This reduces costs associated with time-consuming emails and data entry, allowing the business to operate with enough efficiency to confidently take on new shipping partners.

Navigating complicated billing requirements

Carriers that support a wide range of shippers know each has its own invoicing rules, formats and compliance needs. What works for one might not be acceptable to another, forcing carriers to maintain multiple templates, schedules and workflows. As carriers grow their partner network, the operational complexity grows with it, ultimately cutting into cash flow and damaging the financial health of the business.

But without automation, that level of detail introduces operational risk; incorrect or late invoices, disputed charges and delayed payments are common costly challenges that restrict revenue. A single mistake like sending an invoice in the wrong format or missing a required field can delay payments for weeks.

However, carrier technology solutions can streamline cash flow by enabling automated, rules-based billing that adapts to each customer, meaning carriers no longer have to manage a tangle of custom processes. Instead, they can standardize and automate billing across their entire customer base, allowing them to scale operations as they take on new business.

Relying on expensive employee hours

As they grow, many carriers discover a frustrating truth: adding more customers often means hiring more people just to handle the increased volume of paperwork and communication. What should be a success story quickly becomes unmanageable as operational costs rise alongside number of shipping partners.

Scaling by constantly expanding workforce alongside customer count is both inefficient and unsustainable. Labor costs quickly eat into margins while new hires require training, oversight and time to ramp up—and that’s not even considering the current challenges with finding and hiring talent.

Rather than building out larger teams to handle repetitive tasks, carriers are moving toward smart systems that offer the efficiency they need to handle additional customers. Automating document exchange, standardizing processes and implementing real-time data visibility allows carriers to support higher volumes and more complex operations without proportionally increasing headcount.

Without addressing the problems created by manual processes, complex billing and dependence on large workforces, it becomes impossible to operate a carrier business at scale. But proven solutions can help carriers grow without struggling with common challenges. Problems with billing, data exchange or process automation can be effectively managed with a combination of the right technology and team.

Want to see how SPS helps carriers achieve that combination? Read more about SPS for 3PLs here and discover a single-point solution that integrates seamlessly with your TMS, so you can elevate your efficiency to new heights.

]]> The cost of inefficiency: how siloed food supply chain data holds you back  https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/cost-of-inefficiency/ Tue, 27 May 2025 00:56:26 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=737880 The journey from farm to fork is complex, with food supply chain issues ranging from weather impacts and tariff restrictions to production facility specialization and storage and transport of perishable goods. At every step of the process, inefficiencies or poor information flows raise the risk of costly delays and hamper compliance efforts.

The challenges multiply when critical information is siloed throughout the supply chain.

Successful brands are upgrading information flow with modern technology solutions to streamline operations, maximize efficiency and support scalable growth and compliance.

Why are information silos problematic for supply chains?

When information is restricted between supplier partners or departments, it creates significant pain points, including:

  • Operational inefficiencies: Manual processes (like decentralized order management across different channels that require manual data entry or system integrations not tailored to your unique needs) are both time-consuming and prone to errors. Outdated practices make it difficult for suppliers to scale or adapt quickly to changes in consumer demand.
  • Poor data flow: Limited visibility into inventory levels, product movement and demand forecasts blocks proactive decision-making. When there’s not a timely flow of data across systems, suppliers struggle to make informed choices about production and distribution.
  • Costly delays: Shipping errors, inventory shortages and communication breakdowns can result in delays that impact product quality, food freshness and customer satisfaction. This can not only lead to lost revenue, but damage brand reputation.
  • Compliance challenges: Delays in meeting trading partner requirements – or adapting to changes – can sacrifice revenue and damage relationships. In addition, swift recall compliance requires end-to-end visibility into your supply chain.
  • Financial impact: Siloed supply chains lose you money. Outdated practices, wasted resources and missed opportunities increase operational costs and reduce profitability.

How can technology improve supply chain efficiency?

Modern technology solutions support a seamless, efficient supply chain. Upgrades offer key benefits, including:

  • Process automation: An automated solution like SPS Commerce Fulfillment streamlines order processing, reduces human errors, supports business growth and improves customer satisfaction. It also enhances efficiency via seamless integration with your ERP and can be customized to fit your unique business needs.
  • Improved collaboration: Product data solutions like SPS Assortment can help you keep up with trading partner requirements and update your information without tracking and executing changes by hand.  You’re able to provide the product details trading partners and consumers expect without the hassle of manual processes.
  • Enhanced data flow: When you centralize your data, you can scale processes to work with bigger amounts of data between more users and enable more types of analysis. Timely, accurate data also leads to better forecasting, inventory management and decision-making.

Why traceability is important for food supply chains

While the FSMA 204 compliance deadline may be delayed until 2028, traceability is always top of mind in the food industry. It’s essential for regulatory compliance, food safety and quality control. Technology solutions enable traceability with:

What’s the right supply chain technology for your business?

While your future success may rely on incorporating new technology, it’s crucial to choose the right technology that adds value to your business. Factors to consider include:

  • Scalability: Does the solution grow with your business?  A future-proof supply chain requires technology designed to scale and meet your needs as you grow and evolve.
  • Ease of integration: Can the technology easily integrate with your existing systems? Simplify the update process with solutions that seamlessly connect with your current technology, such as ERP, accounting or inventory systems, and who provide expert assistance to help with the implementation.
  • ROI: Will your investment result in improved efficiency and reduced costs? Successful brands have found that automation tools deliver measurable savings and performance improvements.

Why it’s crucial to move from data silos to connected partners

The costs of siloed supply chains escalate as brands grow. When profit margins are already slim, it’s critical for food and beverage suppliers to rise to the challenge of updating the flow of information with more efficient technology.

Today’s system automation solutions can streamline operations, reduce costs and simplify regulatory compliance, allowing you to build a more modern, collaborative supply chain network.

SPS Commerce is ready to be your partner in building efficient processes for a more agile and transparent supply chain. Connect with our team of experts for the people, processes and technology you need to begin your transformation.

]]> TMS and beyond: Why carriers are integrating specialized tech https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/tms-and-beyond/ Tue, 13 May 2025 05:49:40 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=737118

In today’s competitive freight market, efficiency and visibility are no longer optional. They’re essential elements of the supply chain, and when your customers and internal teams expect transparency from your operations, they can be the difference between growing your margins or watching them vanish.

But establishing efficient, visible processes can be a challenge for growing carriers that already have a lot on their plate. Some carriers may default to business as usual, relying on old, outdated manual processes to handle the complexity of doing business with leading shippers. Unfortunately, this can lead to bottlenecks, slowing the pace of internal work and adding additional risk to the customer experience.

Business-forward carriers are now focusing on integrating TMS (Transportation Management System) solutions into their operations, giving them more ways to handle the flow of digital information between their company and their customers. Carriers that want to take a further step can accelerate their workflows with support systems that enhance the capabilities of their TMS, offering even greater control and automation than what out-of-the-box TMS solutions can provide.

Here, we’ll break down the challenges and benefits of each growth stage as carriers integrate TMS solutions into their work:

Without a TMS: messy and manual

Fast-growing businesses that have not prioritized digital transformation can find themselves managing a flood of information by hand as they take on new business and maintain the contracts they currently have. But that initial rapid growth can plateau as carriers struggle to find new shipping partners with flexible visibility and acceptance requirements.

Dispatchers operating without a TMS may rely on manual processes like spreadsheets, whiteboards and sticky notes to communicate internally, often leading to missed messages and additional human errors. Loads might be scheduled and tracked via phone calls, texts or emails, further adding to the number of personnel hours required to keep the business moving at speed.

And because those logs and communications aren’t kept in one place, it’s even more difficult for carriers to create new efficiencies that allow them to take on new partners. Beyond the internal challenges, relying on manual processes can compromise the customer experience. Without a centralized system, it’s difficult to track where trucks are, which loads are active or offer real-time ETAs for customers.

The principal benefit of manual processes would be temporarily sidestepping the initial time and cost of digital integration, but this is a short-sighted savings in the face of even greater time and money needed to run a carrier business without a dedicated management system. When carriers don’t use automated document management and alerts, staying compliant with hours-of-service rules, maintenance schedules and safety checks become a time-consuming process full of errors and setbacks.

With a TMS: scalable and strategic

By contrast, carriers that implement a TMS see their internal processes simplified as they replace manual operations with automated workflows. A TMS can match available drivers with the best loads in seconds based on route efficiency, driver hours and equipment type—an impossible feat for a pen-and-paper operation. This means faster load assignments, fewer empty miles and improved driver satisfaction across a carrier’s entire workforce.

Additionally, many modern TMS platforms offer GPS tracking and live updates, giving dispatchers and shippers real-time visibility into truck locations, delivery ETAs and load status updates. But the benefits go beyond customer transparency; the ability to easily keep tabs on every resource in the field allows transportation companies the latitude to make better decisions as they plan for both the short and long term.

A carrier’s strategic planning is further boosted by analytics dashboards within the TMS that allow businesses to identify customers with the highest margin, optimize routes and fuel costs and improve on-time performance. Enhancing data-driven decisions can help carriers take on more of the right partners as they expand their footprint.

And as they scale, carriers can simplify compliance by integrating their TMS with a variety of other solutions, from logging devices to safety programs. Automating the flow of data between a carrier’s TMS and other solutions in their tech stack can amplify the efficiency of a carrier’s entire operational stance.

Enhancing a TMS: synchronized and streamlined

A TMS becomes significantly more powerful when integrated with other systems and data sources, transforming from an internal scheduling tool into a central nervous system for logistics. Effectively combining solutions can help eliminate silos, automate workflows and streamline decision-making internally, while also improving how carriers connect with a growing list of partners.

While a TMS can be integrated with telematics software, warehouse management systems, enterprise resource planning technology and more, the most effective integrations improve how carriers interact with shippers. Carriers that are not at the top of shipper’s transportation lists can find it hard to stay competitive, and rising in the ranks can often be a matter of meeting more of a shipper’s requirements.

Solutions that optimize load tendering and acceptance times can bridge the gap between a TMS’s capabilities and a shipper’s expectations by automating status updates as loads are picked up, in transit, delayed or delivered, keeping shipper informed without check-ins and phone calls. These solutions can also centralize logins and simplify billing by sending freight invoices directly from the TMS, shortening time to revenue and boosting cash flow.

But combining these solutions doesn’t just improve existing customer relationships—they help forge new ones. Some shippers won’t work with a carrier unless they can support certain kinds of electronic data, making an enhanced TMS solution a prerequisite to partnering with leading brands. As transportation companies take on more high-value contracts, they may find that TMS integrations are basic qualifications for doing business.

But there’s even more that an enhanced TMS system can do for carriers—especially when they’re backed by a full-service team of experts. Want to learn more about how SPS helps carriers stay in sync with their entire partner network? Learn more about SPS for 3PLs here.

]]> 3 impacts to streamlined shipper onboarding https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/streamlined-shipper-onboarding/ Tue, 06 May 2025 20:49:54 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=736154 Supply chain carriers are no longer just behind-the-scenes operators—they’re central players in shaping a brand’s reputation. Whether they’re delivering raw materials or finished products, carriers operate at critical points of the customer experience. And in a landscape where expectations are higher than ever, carriers are making their customer experience a strategic priority.

Faster response times, more training for reps and new customer support channels like chatbots are a few ways carrier businesses have chosen to handle the challenge. Unfortunately, these methods can merely act as a bandage for underlying operational bottlenecks that compromise customer trust. Addressing common inefficiencies at the junctures where shippers interact with carriers can help streamline collaboration and elevate the customer experience beyond the call center.

Here, we’ll unpack how supply chain carriers can improve customer relationships by paying closer attention to operational friction points that can cost them time and money.

#1: Accelerated shipper onboarding

For carriers, speed and agility are core expectations of the business, and they apply to everything from operations to bringing on new customers and partners. Still, many carriers rely on manual, outdated processes that slow down the shipper onboarding process, frustrate clients and hurt the bottom line.

Onboarding is one of the first interactions shippers and carriers have in a working partnership, and a smooth experience sets the tone, builds trust and reduces churn. Plus, a seamless, rapid shipper onboarding process shortens the sales cycle and boosts customer acquisition; carriers that offer faster onboarding stand out. If a shipper has to choose between a carrier that takes months to onboard and one that takes weeks, the decision is easy.

Solutions that automate onboarding can reduce manual data entry, errors and delays — all of which eat up time and devalue the customer experience. Streamlined onboarding makes customers feel prioritized while freeing up internal teams to focus on service delivery rather than administrative firefighting. As carriers evaluate options, they should look to implement fast, repeatable, tech-enabled processes that ensure they can scale partnerships and respond to new opportunities without breaking their workflow.

#2: Consolidated customer portals

Shipper portals give carriers access to new shipment information, documents, invoices, support and more. But as carriers grow, they may find themselves using a variety of disconnected portals across services, regions or business units. That fragmentation can lead to customer experience challenges that hurt both shippers and carriers.

A single, unified portal is easier to maintain and means carriers don’t have to juggle multiple logins, interfaces or support channels. It’s easier for internal and external teams to use and provides a consistent experience, regardless of whether team members are tracking a container or paying invoices. Plus, with a single point of connection, there’s less need for redundant infrastructure and additional support staff, saving the business more money.

As they move forward, carriers should consider adopting a platform that allows them to consolidate access while also enhancing visibility and simplifying operational workflow. Combining efficient data management with other industry-forward benefits like streamlined communication and simplified load acceptance can help carrier businesses further centralize their operations for even greater gains.

#3: Revamped communication

Every shipper has unique needs, data formats, SLAs and integration preferences. While flexibility is valuable, a tangle of shipping requirements can bog down operations and increase costs. On the flip side, ineffectively managing changing requirements can lead to the breakdown of the customer relationship as a whole.

But the pressure of handling the constant demand for information on shipments can’t be ignored. As carriers grow, the manual workarounds and one-off customer setups don’t scale, placing additional demand on internal teams and introducing room for errors. Streamlining how carrier businesses handle the unique requirements of each shipper makes it easier for them to serve more customers without proportionally increasing headcount or cost.

Solutions that automate the communication of critical load data can help growing carriers stay on top of shifting customer requirements without dramatically increasing resources. This means shippers can stay informed about the goods being transported in real time while carriers simplify operational load.

Smoother shipper onboarding, single-point solutions and instant communication can help carriers create a better customer experience as they grow their business.

See how the SPS for 3PLs Transportation Solution helps carriers deliver excellence at every turn with a solution that addresses their toughest operational challenges.

]]> 4 impacts from streamlining load tender response times https://www.spscommerce.com/blog/load-tender-response-times/ Tue, 06 May 2025 20:42:03 +0000 https://www.spscommerce.com/?p=736090 Whether you’re moving products across town or across the country, working with shippers and receivers can be a complex process. And the more sophisticated the shipper, the more detailed the process becomes. Getting these details right can demand extra time from carriers as they navigate additional documentation and requirements from their network of business partners.

Reducing the time from dock to dock is a critical part of their competitive edge, brand promise, and a major focus of company initiatives. Managing the growing complexity of shipping data is vital for carriers that want to work with top shippers, and meeting all of a shipper’s requirements can help carriers stand out as a top choice in a competitive field.

In this blog, we’ll unpack some of the far-reaching effects that load tender response times can have and how they can be improved via the introduction of EDI .

Impact 1: Improved communication

The faster and more consistent communication is between a shipper and a carrier, the more efficiently they can work together. Processes like updating a spreadsheet, keeping notes on a whiteboard or manually logging into multiple portals can significantly slow the load tender response times. That added time means some carriers could be passed over for competitors as shippers search for the fastest options. Speeding up the flow of communication between partners can impact the overall health of a carrier’s business.

The EDI 204 (Motor Carrier Load Tender) helps bridge the gap between shipper and carrier by instantly sending clear, consistent details that are essential to the proper intake for goods as they’re transported from location to location. Using the EDI 204 to accelerate load tender response times can eliminate delays from managing the flow of goods with phone calls or faxes and has the added benefit of reducing manual processes across a carrier’s entire operational footprint.

Impact 2: Centralized access

Carrier businesses are often tasked with juggling multiple portals, logins, and passwords for each shipper. As carriers grow their business, they may find that the time it takes to log into each of these systems individually can become unmanageable across a wide network of partners and affect their relationships as response time increases. If a carrier cannot reliably handle the day-to-day logistics of connecting with partner systems, they may find their growth path limited.

However, some load tender EDI solutions, like SPS for 3PLs Transportation Solution, offer the added benefit of bringing all shipper electronic communication together under a single login, cutting down on the time it takes to coalesce requests, reports, data and details from multiple sources. Centralizing access to all shipper portals at once can prove a significant time—and cost—savings for carriers taking on a greater range of trade partners.

Impact 3: Reduced costs

Labor costs are a huge consideration for carriers, and fluctuations in the availability of OTR personnel plus the rising salaries of office-based employees have transportation businesses searching for ways to reduce bottom line expenses. The added communication efficiency afforded by the adoption of load tender EDI can help businesses cut down on extra hours, but the cost savings go beyond right-sizing carrier workforces.

Load tender EDI solutions can also be integrated with TMS software and other applications to automate operations, saving even more time as processes are completed in the background rather than requiring worker time to finish. And with paperless operations, businesses can cut down on office materials and offer more options for centralized data access, trimming dollars that can add up to significant savings over time.

Impact 4: Added visibility

Carriers that want to deliver an outstanding customer experience pay close attention to the expectations they set with their shippers, but without accurate visibility into transportation and receipt times, carrier companies can misjudge essential timeframes and sacrifice longstanding relationships. Carriers seeking to grow their business by trading with top retailers and suppliers need to be able to communicate in real time and deliver key information to partners when it matters most.

Solutions that offer real-time visibility into shipment status allow all stakeholders to check in on progress and handle any issues proactively. In turn, the added efficiency helps with the planning and scheduling of shipments, allowing carriers to maximize space, workforce and timelines—and that added efficiency is just another example of how carriers are using EDI 204 to save on costs across their entire operation.

As the supply chain grows more complex, load tender response time becomes a critical component of carrier profitability. Driving enhanced efficiency isn’t just a matter of having the right people and processes in place—but having a full-service solution that can help you deliver the requirements, the communications and the tracking that leading businesses need right now.

Want to know more about how SPS can help? See how we help 3rd party logistics companies of every variety deliver incredible customer experiences for everyone in their network.

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