Among the company's new offerings is a collection of managed services designed to help transportation companies reduce IT infrastructure
TMW Systems has announced the launch of TMW Managed Services, a service designed to help transportation service companies reduce IT infrastructure investment, ensure scalability, and optimize resources. TMW Managed Services offers enterprise-class application hosting and systems management to reduce the complexity of software implementations and project startups, improve application availability, reliability, and scalability, and lower the capital cost of major software implementations, the company says.
As a leading software development and solutions provider, TMW Systems already deploys comprehensive hosting services to fully manage back-end and customer facing operations for many of its software customers in industries such as freight transportation and waste and municipal fleets. The announcement formalizes those services for marketing and sales purposes.
Managed services are ideal for organizations that want to deploy new applications quickly, without managing the hurdles of hardware procurement, infrastructure upgrades, or IT staff expansion, all while aligning with corporate IT department policies. They can also provide business continuity assurance and co-location capabilities.
TruckMate 2009 Testing
Working with experts at the IBM Innovation Center in San Mateo, Calif., TMW Systems developers put the latest product release, TruckMate 2009, through a grueling series of simulated, high-volume freight bill transactions and dispatch activities performed by up to 2,000 concurrent users as part of benchmark testing for the enterprise transportation software application, the company reported. Average response times under even the highest loads were sub-second, demonstrating that TruckMate 2009 running on the latest IBM DB2 Enterprise 9.5 database can easily support the transactional volumes of busy regional LTL, intermodal, and truckload carriers.
Simulating a range of hardware environments found at trucking companies today, the benchmark was designed to recreate a varied mix of users performing activities most commonly done in transportation operations, including: creation of a new order; posting of that order with rating, supplementary charges, general ledger details and driver pay calculations, as well as dispatch work involving creation of a trip from a freight bill; assignment of driver, power and trailer to a load; and pickup and delivery status changes. Multiple test scenarios were defined for several distinct hardware environments, simulating 200, 520, 1,000 and 2,000 concurrent software users.
Current customers may request a copy of the document “TruckMate: IBM Innovation Center Benchmark Results” directly through their TruckMate technical support teams. For all other inquiries, please contact TMW Systems at 800.401.6682 or send an email request to
IDSC MatchAdvice V6.0
TMW announced the release of IDSC MatchAdvice V6.0, a milestone release for the popular power-to-load matching application that has been proven to reduce costs and improve asset utilization for truckload carriers. Along with reducing dwell and in-transit delays, as well as empty miles, the software safely maximizes driver and truck utilization.
IDSC MatchAdvice enables truckload carriers to dramatically improve capacity utilization while simultaneously reducing empty miles, in many cases, by as much as 15 percent, the company says. The software integrates with all major commercial dispatch systems, as well as custom or in-house managed operations systems. It works in real-time to present load planners or dispatchers with suggested load and power matchups that are calculated to generate the highest profits and improve asset placement throughout the freight network or truck operating circuits. Even expert dispatchers make faster and more profitable load assignment decisions with the use of IDSC MatchAdvice, the company says, because it instantaneously calculates the effects of multiple business factors that go into those decisions, such as: available and needed driver hours; customer delivery or pickup requirements and windows; driver home time needs; and movement of the truck to reduce overall empty miles.
A notable product enhancement is shift-based driver scheduling, which can optimize worker assignments for fleets that operate in scheduled shifts. This is a productivity boon to produce, grocery, and fuel delivery companies.
TMW Data Warehouse Platform
TMW announced the new data platform, Data Warehouse, making it easier for users at leading transportation, logistics and trucking companies to perform and increase accessibility to robust reporting, data mining, and statistical analysis. The Data Warehouse, an enhancement to ResultsNow by TMW, separates data intended for business reporting from daily transactional data into a structure designed specifically for fast and responsive query and analysis.
ResultsNow is a business intelligence tool introduced in 2003 by TMW as a real-time, performance monitoring and reporting tool that delivers concise management visibility to revenue, costs, and operational data. The TMW Data Warehouse is a no-charge addition to ResultsNow, available to existing and future TMW customers. ResultsNow is available for the enterprise transportation systems, TMWSuite and TL2000, as well as the popular TMT Fleet Maintenance software.
A Web-based, click-to-design reporting tool for the data warehouse requires no SQL query writing skills, extending its usability to personnel across an organization. Reports can be designed and run immediately on an ad-hoc basis and/or saved as permanent pages within ResultsNow for easy distribution.
“With TMW Data Warehouse, transportation firms can now incorporate data from multiple sources, such as financial databases, fleet maintenance systems and even mobile communications apps, along with their operational data, into a single reporting system without negative impact to their software performance,” says David Mook, TMW chief operating officer. “For mid-size and large firms, this technical approach opens new avenues for delivering timely business intelligence.”
Existing customers of TMW’s ResultsNow application should contact their TMW support team to request an upgrade to the new TMW Data Warehouse capabilities.
Native IBM i Version of The DAWG
TMW also announced that its popular exception alerting system, The DAWG, is now a fully cross-platform solution that includes a native AS/400/IBM i version for the TL2000 enterprise transportation software and TMT Fleet Maintenance-IBM i solutions.
The DAWG, named for its watchdog-like capabilities, was first released by TMW in 2004 as a business activity monitoring tool for TMWSuite enterprise transportation software. Another version was introduced in 2007 for TruckMate, also designed to scan transportation operations and automatically flag exceptions, allowing logistics operators and carriers to take immediate corrective action.
The DAWG adds real-time exception monitoring to most business intelligence applications used for transportation, including ResultsNow by TMW and CommandCenter. Users can set “alert thresholds” for key performance indicators or normal transaction types based on their acceptable ranges. The tool continuously watches operational systems for any data points that fall outside the preset range and immediately sends alerts to managers and staffers via e-mail to notify them of any issues.
The DAWG and ResultsNow by TMW were introduced in 2008 with default alerts and KPIs specifically developed for fleet maintenance operations running TMT Fleet Maintenance software. The newest release makes the DAWG available to companies on the AS400/IBM i version of TMT Fleet Maintenance and TL2000 enterprise transportation software.
Freight Analyst Application
TMW has launched the TMW Freight Analyst application for strategic decision support in truckload businesses. The browser-based software is now available for use with most major commercial trucking software—either Windows or AS/400-IBM i—and with operations systems that have been customized or are maintained in-house.
The rollout of the affordably-priced, cross-platform product comes after a successful release of TMW Freight Analyst earlier in the year that was limited to TruckMate Command Center customers.
TMW Freight Analyst integrates activity-based costing, revenue data, the impact of timing in areas like service performance and driver HOS. Additional capabilities include freight- flow analysis to identify ongoing business improvement opportunities in daily operations and in a carrier’s sales activities. Using the Market Rate Index (MRI) to compare a carrier’s lane and load pricing with current industry averages, the product also offers lane and bid pricing guidance to increase overall profitability. TMW’s Market Rate Index is the most comprehensive North American rating database compiled for the truckload industry, fed by actual freight transactions from a large population of carriers and updated each month.
TMW Freight Analyst is a dashboard-style snapshot of business intelligence that focuses on historical load and transaction analysis for management decisions, rather than daily KPI tracking. It incorporates a set of key features from the well-known IDSC Netwise software system but does not include the extensive configuration options, scenario and what-if analysis capabilities of that application.
TMW Improves Operations for Fuel Marketers
TMW Systems announced a growing portfolio of fuel supply chain management applications designed to meet the unique needs of fuel supply chain operations for convenience stores and other retail gasoline and diesel outlets. More than 11,000 tanker trucks delivering fuel across North America now fall under the management of fuel supply chain applications from TMW.
Including the foundation TMW Fuel Dispatch module, the powerful Inventory Services application and the newest optimization technologies to improve shift-based driver scheduling and right-sourcing fuel purchases, the TMW Fuel Supply Chain Transport Management System (TMS) now offers eight powerful modules that can be purchased separately or as an integrated system. Web portals for customer and carrier interaction, as well as integrated voice response (IVR) technology, are part of the application set that continues to grow as more companies turn to TMW for an alternative to costly fuel inventory management legacy systems. The scalable solutions fit the needs of diversified petroleum marketers, convenience store chains, vertically integrated oil companies and fleets dedicated to fuel transport. More than 30 companies in the U.S. and Canada have licensed TMW Fuel Dispatch for their operations since 2007.
A team of implementation and technical sales specialists at TMW Systems, experienced with the unique needs of the fuel supply sector, are dedicated for work with new clients of the Fuel Supply Chain Transport Management System, both during the product evaluation phase and post-purchase, the company says. The experienced team assures a thorough understanding of customer business needs and successful process transitions without loss of productivity, it says.
For additional information about the integrated applications for energy transport offered by TMW Systems or to arrange a demonstration or discussion with customer references, contact Steve Chilinski,
TMW and NAVTEQ Sign Agreement
TMW also announced the completion of a multi-year agreement to license NAVTEQ map data for a development program that will bring new geographic visualization and routing tools to customers of TMW’s extended software product portfolio. NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless, and enterprise solutions.
NAVTEQ map data is now onboard most in-vehicle navigation systems sold in North America and is an increasing component of location-based-services offered via the Internet. Plans for integrating navigation with TMW’s popular D2Link hand-held mobile device application are also being considered.
Initial development plans call for the integration of NAVTEQ map data into TMW applications already enabled to work with mileage and routing data commonly used in the heavy-duty trucking industry. Customers of TMW operations software will continue to be able to operate with multiple legacy mileage data sources to satisfy existing contractual obligations regarding such items as driver pay or customer billing calculations. They will soon be able to add the benefit of NAVTEQ map data and content for efficient daily routing, OOR alerts, business analysis and fleet status displays.
NAVTEQ recently participated in TMW’s annual user conference and exhibition, TransForum 2009, where over 1,000 attendees had the opportunity to learn more about the breadth of NAVTEQ data coverage and detailed content including NAVTEQ Transport, which includes detailed road attributes including physical restrictions, legal restrictions and HAZMAT warnings.
The first prototype integrations from TMW to include NAVTEQ map data will be on display at the TMW Systems booth during the ATA Management Conference & Exhibition this week in Las Vegas.
About TMW Systems
TMW Systems, Inc., is committed to delivering customer-driven solutions that help companies in the transportation services sector seize market opportunities while improving profitability and gaining a better return on information. TMW customers include 3PLs and shippers, private and for-hire trucking, brokerage, construction, ready-mix concrete, municipal fleet, heavy-duty repair and waste management operations. With offices in Cleveland, Ohio; Durham, North Carolina.; Indianapolis, Indiana; Dallas, Texas; and Vancouver, British Columbia; TMW currently serves more than 1,600 customers managing over 325,000 power units and maintaining more than 1.1 million assets worldwide, including North America, Europe, China and Latin America. For more information, visit www.tmwsystems.com or call (800) 401-6682.
About NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 192 offices and in 43 countries.
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