The top reasons shippers plan to purchase a TMS or freight management software:

• Routing and Scheduling: Shippers want automation in order to save time and money spent on resources for processing freight shipments.
• Routing and Rating: Shippers want to know how to best optimize their route to save money as well as get the best rate whether they ship LTL, Truckload or small package freight. A good provider, who intimately works with carriers on your behalf and then maintains those rates, all while optimizing shipments based on your freight history through analysis, will offer the most value.
• Shipment Consolidation: Shippers want both technology and people to help ship freight more efficiently. To provide the highest freight costs savings, it’s imperative you take advantage of the capacity crunch going on in LTL markets and leverage experience through a provider whom can help in drop-shipping, multiple locations, and proper freight accounting to organize it all efficiently.  
• Carrier Selection: When you are ready to ship, do you really want to go to several websites, put in multiple quote inquiries, and HOPE you chose the right set of carriers who will give you the best rates, transit time, and limit of liability? When you are onboard with a TMS, it needs to have the ability for you to choose, much like a travel website does for hotels, the carrier who best fits your needs.
• Freight Payment/Auditing: Good TMS or freight management software technology has freight accounting services such as freight payment, freight auditing, and freight invoice consolidation. These systems, such as the Cerasis Rater, should also offer robust tools to analyze historical freight data and accounting in order to make future business decisions which further drive down costs.

If you are thinking about purchasing freight management software or making a change from your current TMS, contact Cerasis today or ask to receive a Cerasis Rater Demo from one of our Account Executives.

Cerasis will exhibit at the Eastec trade show in West Springfield, MA from May 13^th through May 15th at booth #3359 in building three.

This article highlights several trends that mid-sized manufacturers are either creating or may notice including, increased demand and a faster pace of business. Dusty and Mike go farther and underline several ways that ERP should and Global Shop is adapting to these trends to keep manufacturers operating at maximum efficiency and minimum costs.

To read how Global Shop has the ability to help our customers improve year after year by addressing current issues while remaining focused on the potential increase of ERP demands moving into the future, in “What Lies Ahead with ERP”, click here.

The new Version Management System (VMS) is a module that adds document revision management capabilities to the existing DCS. Users can check out documents from VMS to view or modify, while keeping the original file stored in the database. This prevents multiple users from modifying the same document at the same time. VMS can also store multiple revisions of a document by document-type. Security can be set for users and groups to determine who has permission to check out documents based on Link Type and File Extension. Customizable settings are available for documents based on Link Type and file extensions and users can automate VMS functions via the GAB SDK.

To learn more about GS Document Control™ or other applications of Global Shop Solutions’ One-System ERP Solutions™, click here.

The following is a letter from Martin Thomas of Idaho Correctional Industries about his and his company’s relationship with Global Shop since becoming a customer in 2008.

“Our mission at Idaho Correctional Industries (ICI) is to teach work and life skills to offenders to prepare them for a successful transition into becoming productive members of society.

To perform our mission, ICI must ensure that we are training offenders using up-to-date software, relevant business systems and current business practices. Before our partnership with Global Shop, ICI was successful in training offenders in the trades we teach but was lacking the technological side of training that is so important in today’s job market.

Prior to our implementation of one system (Global Shop) it was very hard to measure any one area of our organization. We had a myriad of different databases that tracked different information for each department. It was like having five racecars (departments) running on one track with five dashboards. Now with one integrated system I have one dashboard that shows all of the information for all of the departments in our organization in real time so I can make better business decisions.

We have been using Global Shop for three years and each year ICI staff and managers are basing decisions on the real time information for sales, operations, manufacturing, purchasing, shipping, and accounting information and reports that Global Shop provides. Having one system that can give a complete, accurate overview of the company in real time not only saves Idaho Correctional Industries time, but it saves us money too.

Our motto is “Building Partnerships, Building Lives” and we think that our partnership with Global Shop is an extremely important part of our success. Every day, Global Shop helps us build lives in our training program. Global Shop keeps us on the right track and helps us build the lives of offenders.

If your company is not using an ERP system, I highly recommend Global Shop for your organization. I am amazed at how far ICI has come thanks to Global Shop.”

Martin Thomas, General Manager

Click here to see the letter.

• Lower setup cost
• Shortened cycle times
• Increased on-time delivery
• Reduced administrative overhead
• Lower labor and material costs
• Improved productivity
• Superior customer service
• Accurate inventory tracking
• Elimination of manual spreadsheets

Global Shop Solutions’ One-System ERP Solutions™ serves as a central organizing hub for your entire business. It makes all the systems and processes more visible and integrates every step of the manufacturing process, so that employees can do their jobs more efficiently and, management can make better-informed, real-time decisions.

Best of all, Global Shop Solutions offers enhanced functionality so that the system grows with you. Global Shop Solutions’ One-System ERP Solutions™ integrates all of your business processes into one easy-to-use system that puts you in total control of your business. You make better decisions on the shop floor—this translates to leaner, more efficient operations and long-term improvements to your bottom line.

The first session on March 1st will focus on all the new tools customers can turn on in version 2012.2 (released in December 2012) and GSS Customer Cast Nylons in Willoughby, Ohio. Each session is usually attended by 100–200 GSS customers from across the world. Global Shop also emails a recorded version the following week so customers can continually keep in touch. For more information on Friday Features please email Cindy Pruneda or call her at 281-466-8113.

Starting February 20, Global Shop’s president and vice president, Dusty Alexander and Mike Melzer, will travel around the country helping current Global Shop customers implement best practices, learn updated features, and address specific needs and concerns. In order to ensure a more personal experience and address specific needs, Road Show seminars are limited to 50 attendees. As an attendee, your $150 pays for catered breakfast and lunch, as well as a wealth of knowledge for running your business more effectively. If you’re not a customer yet, our customer-centric Road Shows are just one more great benefit of joining the Global Shop family.

Here’s where we will be next:

• February 20, 2013 – Houma, LA
• February 21, 2013 – Dallas, TX
• February 22, 2013 – Houston, TX

Click here for a complete list of destinations of our 2013 Road Show.

For reservations, contact Carmen Johnson at cjohnson@gssmail.com.

See you there!

Be sure to grab a floor plan because Pacific Design & Manufacturing is actually a combination of seven industry-shows guaranteed to use every square inch of the Anaheim Convention Center —West Pack, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, Automation Technology Expo, PLASTEC, Electronics West, Aerocon, and MD&M West.

We will be in the company of a wide variety of industry professionals from manufacturing, robotics, electronics, aerospace, and more. The event will also feature several keynote speakers and presentations including Bill Betten, Technology Director at UBM TechInsights. And, if that’s not enough to draw you in, UBM Canon will be giving away a mini tablet every hour for all three days of the expo! Click here for more information on the Mini Tablet Giveaway.

If you haven’t already, register here for Pacific Design & Manufacturing and get ready to have a great time! And, don’t forget to stop by booth 3415 to say hi or see a demo of our One-System ERP Solutions™.

During this free 30-minute demo, we provide a general overview of the Global Shop system and its capabilities. Then, we dive into the specific features that help our customers increase their sales through on-time delivery, increased efficiency, decreased costs, and total visibility of your company’s processes.  Attendees are encouraged to ask questions during the demo and, every question will be addressed in the additional 30-minute Q&A session after the presentation.  If you’re curious about Global Shop can streamline your business just ask. We’d be glad to show you.

Our quarterly webcasts will cater to discrete manufacturers from all aspects of the industry – job shops, engineer-to-order, make-to-stock, and mixed-mode. So, don’t worry, you’ll be in good company.

Find out more about our “Trust Global Shop for Increased Sales” webcast and register here.

Automated Purchasing
Automated Purchasing works by generating a list of materials needed to purchase overall or through a cutoff date. Users can purchase based on requirements and/or reorder points, and quickly identify the best price by checking vendor quotes and purchase history.

Blanket Purchase Orders
By creating a blanket purchase orders, you can lock in the best price with a vendor. GS Automated purchasing also create releases against the blanket every time the material is purchased. From a single screen, users can determine the status of each order and tell immediately if it is in inspection, received, if the order is opened, closed, etc.

Purchasing Action Required
When work orders are rescheduled or customers change due dates, purchase order dates and required quantities can change. The Purchasing Action Required screen shows purchasing agents all of the modifications required to keep the jobs on schedule.

“Global Shop Automated Purchasing has streamlined our purchasing as well as reduced our inventory by six digits. In three hours per week, we can have PO’s automatically cut for hundreds of purchased inventory parts with diverse vendors, lead times, and pricing. This automation has greatly enhanced our inventory control by purchasing only items needed just in time before starting the job. In today’s competitive market, inventory control and management with automation tools such as GS Automated Purchasing combined with Global Shop’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) give us the tools needed to reduce costs by managed inventory, accurate costing, and labor reduction.”

– James L. Martin, General Manager, Martin’s Wood Products

“Global Shop’s Auto Purchasing has reduced our inventory from $1.5 million to about $400,000.”

– Mike Kelly, IT Manager, Arcadia Manufacturing

For more information on GS Automated Purchasing and the immense benefits it could bring to your business, click here.