iTECH: Synchronizing the Heartbeat

he heartbeat of virtually every business enterprise is the ability to process data. Pressure is mounting on motor carriers to move more data and move it faster and to more partners as customer companies extend their supply chains across borders and increase their reliance on air, rail and ocean carriers to augment highway transportation.

Fortunately, new software and Web services, along with an explosion in data transmission capabilities, is making it easier to share data and improve the efficiency of many back-office functions, according to some experts.

Shippers “want more integrated systems” from their carriers, said Jeffrey Keller, a management and technology consultant based in New York. “And in terms of back-office tasks, such as finance, administration and human resources, there is tremendous opportunity to look at how people function and to drive out costs.”