TMW Tailoring Its Software Offerings to Meet Evolving Needs of Customers

This story appears in the Oct. 1 print edition of Transport Topics.

ORLANDO, Fla. — TMW Systems Inc. is expanding the capabilities of its transportation management software to the evolving needs of today’s transportation providers, CEO David Wangler said.

Companies are “blurring or altogether erasing the lines between asset-based, asset-light and non-asset business strategies,” he said at TMW’s TransForum user conference here on Sept. 24.

“Today, the once convenient definitions of carrier, broker, [third-party logistics firms] and private fleet are all getting a lot fuzzier,” he said.

As these different business roles converge, one challenge for these companies is the disparate technologies, Wangler told TMW customers.

He said the software systems used by shippers and logistics providers to plan freight movements developed separately from the technology used by carriers, which was designed to improve visibility and asset utilization.

As a result, the logistics-oriented software suffered from a lack of visibility in the details of transport execution and available capacity, while carrier-oriented management software was not designed to start at the order or shipment level, Wangler said.

“. . . TMW Systems is working hard to eliminate many of those historical barriers,” he said.

Wangler announced that TMW is releasing new software products with this goal in mind.

One such feature, TMW Mode Planner, optimizes shipments based on mode and delivery time for TMW Suite users with 3PL operations. Mode Planner enables companies to simultaneously optimize shipments across both their own fleets and external carrier resources.

“This is just our first phase of functionality to serve the complex needs of the diversified transportation provider,” he said.

At the conference, TMW announced the release of its Transportation Modeler, the first new product introduced by its Appian group since TMW acquired the company, then known as Appian Logistics Software, in 2011. The Transportation Modeler provides multimode freight network analysis and optimization.

TMW also said it is introducing new business intelligence tools called Transport Analytics Visual Solutions, designed to offer customers insight about their operations in near-real time.

Wangler said the trend of converging roles of transportation companies has been driven by an increased desire for the information derived from tighter collaboration between shippers and transportation providers.

He said shippers expect their transportation providers not only to move their freight but also to provide “a continuous stream of information about that freight.”

Fully half of TMW Suite and TruckMate customers currently offer freight brokerage, Wangler said.

“These hybrid providers with their own fleets and brokerage operations are able to expand or contract more quickly in response to market opportunities while avoiding the need to directly invest in more tractors and trailers,” he said.

TMW also addressed its upcoming acquisition by Trimble Navigation Ltd., which agreed to purchase the company for $335 million.

The deal, announced in late August, will make TMW a sister company of in-cab communications provider PeopleNet Communications Corp., which Trimble purchased in August 2011.

Wangler reiterated that TMW will continue its relationships with Qualcomm, XRS Corp. and other technology providers.

“Our customers need and expect us to do that,” Wangler said.

The target closing date for Trimble’s acquisition of TMW is Oct. 2, said Ron Konezny, general manager of Trimble’s transportation and logistics division. Before his current position at Trimble, Konezny was CEO of PeopleNet.

Wangler said the Trimble deal also will accelerate TMW’s long-term plans to expand internationally and globally.

“We have solutions that we absolutely know are globally portable now,” he said. “What we haven’t had is a channel in place that could take us to market.”

When the deal is complete, executives from PeopleNet and TMW said, they will meet to discuss how they can work more closely to provide their customers better service.

“It’s probably early on our order of business in the fourth quarter,” Wangler said.

Konezny said that Trimble, which has completed more than 60 acquisitions in the past 10 years, will continue to look at acquisition opportunities in the transportation sector.

On Sept. 19, Trimble announced the purchase of Logicway, a Netherlands-based provider of payroll and expense automation focused on transportation and logistics.

Logicway’s 15 employees will become part of Trimble’s Mobile Solutions segment, which includes PeopleNet and TMW after that transaction closes.