Managing the supply chain is a costly proposition. Just ask Pete Sinisgalli, president and CEO of software supplier Manhattan Associates. At the opening of his company's annual users' conference, Sinisgalli said the cost of managing the supply chain in this country is roughly $1 trillion or 8.6% of Gross Domestic Product. And 60% of that is transportation costs.

Later that day, Modern talked to Ron Lazo of Manhattan about what the company's latest transportation management system (TMS) offering can do to control those costs.

He says that warehouse or DC managers as well as over-the-road carriers have better visibility, both inbound and outbound, into the movement of inventory with the software. The bottom line is generally a 10-20% improvement in order delivery as well as shipment to customers.

Carriers can see the availability of docks at a given time so they can "be at the right door at the right time and the driver can move on sooner," says Lazo. Meanwhile, visibility of that inventory before it gets to the facility lets warehouse managers plan the most efficient way to unload the trailer, helping to move it to its next stop. Another aspect of Manhattan's TMS also helps carriers to run their fleets more efficiently, reducing costs.

But the advantages don't stop there. "TMS and WMS (warehouse management systems) are coming together as an integrated, single process," Lazo says. With the two systems more unified, visibility is better than ever for both receipts as well as shipments, creating new efficiencies both within and outside the four walls of the warehouse.