TMS API integrations are 2024’s buzzwords.
It’s simple. Forwarders simultaneously interact with numerous different parties in the logistics chain – such as customers, shippers, managers, transporters, etc. When the processes aren’t organized well, operational efficiency often takes the hit.
Forwarders have realized, though, that the adoption of (the right!) digital tools will enable them to increase revenue, lower operational costs, access better business intelligence for more agile pricing, and ultimately deliver a superior customer experience.
And that means APIs.
APIs that enable direct access to carrier rates are where it starts. BUT the real game-changer lies in APIs that provide the ability to connect to another system – eg. a TMS.
These APIs allow forwarders to connect their rate management systems to their TMSs or their rate management systems to their sales portals, all still with API access to rates from the over 60% of global air cargo capacity available online.
TMS API integrations therefore allow forwarders to price, book and manage shipments end-to-end, without picking up the phone, sending an email…or ever even needing to leave their platform of choice, saving up to one hour per team member per day.
That still leaves the million dollar question: Why integrate with third-party booking platforms like WebCargo?
Well, that’s also simple. Platforms like WebCargo uniquely offer neutral connectivity between players, sidestepping the need to standardize connections or aggregate business partners. As a result, they can be major drivers of efficiency, creating neutral ecosystems of cross-industry connectivity without requiring each vendor or customer to build connections with their entire network themselves.
This benefit becomes immediately apparent with freight forwarders. The ability to easily connect and transact at scale across multiple vendors – safely, securely and efficiently – unlocks speed and value that would be prohibitively expensive for each vendor to build and achieve on their own.
Don’t take our word for it. Kareem Naouri, CEO and Cofounder of Logistaas explains the inherent advantage of integrating with platforms like WebCargo:
Integration [with WebCargo] is a no brainer. It’s a very natural step. No matter how much I try, I’ll never be able to have a better solution than what you guys are offering.
So this is an approach that we generally take. We try to focus on what we are best at – being a TMS and to integrate with the best in every category within the supply chain ecosystem.
Maximizing Revenue: Naouri on the Power of Integration
Naouri doesn’t just point to the inherent convenience and financial advantages of integrating with eBooking solutions like WebCargo, he identifies a missed opportunity for maximizing revenue. Freight forwarders are looking for API integrations that enable them to quickly access and manage the pricing, capacity, routing and timing of their cargo, all of which can then be made available to shippers.
As Naouri puts it:
Integration will go a long way…Without the integration, freight forwarders would need to repeat the same steps, enter the same data manually. With WebCargo, the advantage is the redundancy of manual data. It’s much faster and more intuitive.
It’s just like a natural part of the daily process for the freight forwarder, so you don’t have so many extra steps, they can just click a button, a pop up window will open, they can see if they can get better rates or if they can book directly online without having to coordinate between so many different systems.
API connections are therefore key to staying competitive in today’s volatile market.
The ability to deliver a direct flow of information between all parties ultimately drives a forwarder’s operational efficiency and provides a better customer experience. This means that end-to-end air cargo pricing and booking from airlines through forwarders to shippers forms a crucial puzzle piece for maximizing operational efficiency and customer satisfaction across the entire logistics chain.
This level of transparency provided by API connections results in a 20x improvement in booking time for forwarders, and has meant a record one million transactions in 2023 alone!
One Platform to Rule Them All
Staying competitive in today’s volatile air cargo market is difficult, and maintaining an operational edge can often come down to a matter of clicks.
Naouri highlights the critical difference integrating with the right solution provider makes:
This sets us up better than other TMSs that claim to offer integrations – that we are integrated with the best, with the most advanced [booking platform], with the platform that has the best coverage and among all airlines.
And it sets us apart from TMSs that do not have any integration in that, users using our system will be faster, more competitive, and they will be able to offer more competitive rates.
They will be able to offer faster service to their customers and they will be able to do more with their time.
Specifically, WebCargo’s integration with Logistaas provides them with a cutting-edge combination of contract and dynamic APIs that streamline workflows directly from their TMS, with powerful features including:
Real-time pricing and capacity
Forwarders need direct access to data. When team members determine pricing and available capacity by relying on multiple rate sheets and over a dozen surcharges, it significantly raises the risk of costly inaccuracies that can increase booking times by 20x, not to mention the invoice reconciliation headaches this generates.
With APIs that provide competitive and accurate static or dynamic rates across 50+ leading carriers, forwarders can immediately surface all the information needed to make smarter booking decisions directly from their TMS.
Direct eBookings, complete with automatic eAWBs.
The manual transfer of data from a booking platform into a TMS simply invites human error. Eliminating double entries and providing instant booking with live confirmation pushed to a forwarder’s TMS, therefore enhances efficiency and reduces errors in the quoting and booking process.
This ultimately translates into lower sales costs and the ability to direct resources away from repetitive tasks and towards adding value and improving the customer experience.
End-to-end management
A fully digitized cargo pricing, booking and management process via API, allows forwarders to effortlessly stay on top of shipments with automatic document exchange after booking, and full track-and-trace.
By streamlining even post-booking workflows from a single platform – especially in combination with rate API and eBooking APIs – can increase team efficiency by as much as 86%.
In Plain English
TMS API integrations allow for a data flow that provides better transparency, with a lower risk of error, and of course, being able to make more intelligent, accurate pricing and booking decisions faster than ever before…all without ever needing to leave the TMS.
