Technology is proliferating across the supply chain, and digitization and automation are becoming increasingly expected. It is important to ensure your company updates its technology before its processes become obsolete. One great way to get on the front end of technology innovation is to implement freight-pricing APIs into your day-to-day rate quoting and shipment booking processes. They have many benefits and are customizable to your organization’s operations.
Why Shipping APIs?
Freight-pricing APIs help improve the entire shipping process because they allow companies to integrate shipping, rating, tracking and visibility functionality directly into their existing systems/platforms and better share data along the supply chain. They also improve capabilities while minimizing human errors and delays in the manual transfer of data to supply chain partners. For companies without existing transportation management systems, APIs can be used through the provider’s user interface.
Here are the top four benefits of updating your company’s technology by integrating APIs.
Access to information in real time. APIs are seamless integrations that operate and update in real time, so as carriers change rates, that information is shared immediately through the freight-pricing API. Providers of shipping API aggregation platforms, like Banyan Technology, have immediate access to hundreds of carrier APIs and can share that information with their customers, allowing shippers or 3PLs to access their preferred carriers’ rates in real time in one place as well as book the shipment and process all the paperwork. Additionally, by automating the shipment process and data transfers, APIs help flow that information throughout the supply chain, benefiting each company along the way with instant updates, tracking and visibility.
Increased efficiency. By automating a number of administrative and tedious tasks, such as requesting quotes, submitting yearly RFPs, manual tracking and document retrieval, APIs create a number of operational efficiencies throughout the organization. They also free up your existing personnel to be refocused on more important tasks that can increase the overall effectiveness of your company.
Improved cost-savings. APIs allow you to send freight quote requests to multiple carriers at the same time and immediately receive freight rate estimates and transit times in response, allowing you to choose the best option for your needs. Because they are in real time, if there are lane rate reductions or discounts available, you will have immediate access to those rates. You can also look at and compare additional fees, such as accessorial or fuel charges, which could increase the price on some carrier options.
Beyond freight costs, you are also saving on staff costs because of the increased efficiencies noted above.
Improve decision-making with better data. By having access to data about every aspect of the shipping process, from order to delivery, all in one place, you will have increased knowledge to better make freight management decisions in the future. With the data you gain from using an API, your company can evaluate carrier or lane performance, freight rates, delivery status and more. This will allow for better negotiating with carriers in the future as well as improved partner relationships as the information is tracked and shared.
Are You Ready to Integrate Shipping APIs into Your Freight Management Process?
With the myriad benefits associated with integrating APIs, it makes sense to use them in your day-to-day freight management. From the initial integration, your company will be able to realize the benefits immediately. You can start saving on freight costs, creating operational and employee efficiencies, aggregating data for future decisions and better track your freight all in real time.
If you are interested in learning more about how freight-pricing APIs can benefit your business or have questions on how to get starting with a technology upgrade, reach out to a Banyan Technology representative at 844-309-3911, fill out our demo request form or hit the chat function in the corner.
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