Hamburg/Berlin, 29.04.2019 – Only those who leave on time can arrive on time. But in order to start on time, the driver must know how long it will take him to cover the distance. As in the private sector, this is also a challenge when transporting goods in industry or commerce. To help clients meet delivery deadlines and find the best transport route, leogistics GmbH, global SAP logistics partner in the area of SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM), and HERE Technologies, developer and provider of cloud-based map services, offer a joint solution: the integration of HERE Location Services into SAP Transportation Management (TM). As part of the cooperation, HERE Location Services products Fleet Telematics, Geocoding, Maps, Routing and Traffic will be used.
"The aim of cooperation in the field of transport planning is to combine the strengths of both partners. In addition to HERE's own services, HERE can also offer their integration through leogistics, while leogistics clients can benefit from the advantages of geodata in the transport planning process with SAP TM - all from a single source."
Geodata for transport planning and execution
leogistics uses geoinformation in SAP TM for transport planning and also for leogistics Track & Trace for transport execution. The use of HERE map data enables a plan/actual comparison. In addition, the indirect integration of HERE geodata also increases the accuracy of neighboring processes such as slot-booking or factory entrance control.
The example process makes it clear: On the basis of transport planning in SAP TM with HERE Location Services, an arrival at the destination at 9:40 am was predicted. Accordingly, the forwarding agent booked a time window for loading or unloading in leogistics Slot Management at 10:00 am. Similarly, the truck can enter the plant premises at the earliest 30 minutes before the booked time window for loading or unloading. With the help of the leogistics Track & Trace solution, which is also based on HERE Location Services, the planned arrival time is compared with the changed arrival time due to unforeseen events during the journey. If delays occur, the time window for loading and unloading as well as the time at which the plant enters is adjusted according to the real-time data.
"In combination with our leogistics Track & Trace solution, we want to provide our clients with the best data for transport execution. Traffic, road closures, construction sites, truck restrictions such as length, width, height, axle load and dangerous goods are just as important as the up-to-dateness of the road maps. Having been recognized by analyst firm Ovum as the world's leading platform for location-based technologies, HERE is one of the few providers of truck routing in Europe to be the ideal partner for us."
"Location-based technology helps to increase productivity and efficiency in the transport sector. With strong partners such as leogistics, we offer fleet operators and logistics companies the opportunity to benefit from our rich portfolio of digital maps and location-based services."
leogistics integration services – here location services
As part of its implementation in SAP Transportation Management, leogistics uses HERE geocoding to determine the geocoordinates of a shipping or receiving address. This is a prerequisite for the distance and distance determination, which must be determined for each start-finish combination. The whole thing is fully integrated into the SAP standard of the process controller in order to remain functional with future SAP TM or S/4 HANA Supply Chain for Transportation Management upgrades. The distance determination is relevant for the punctuality of the transports, the driver planning for compliance with driving and rest times as well as the freight cost accounting on kilometre or hour basis.
By using the custom routing functionality of the API, even non-public roads, such as private roads in the agricultural environment or on the yard area within the yard management, can be entered and provided with parameters. IT managers can dynamically switch all parameters transmitted to the HERE API on and off in a single user interface. To make the geocoordinates of the addresses and the duration and distance figures on the documents more tangible for the planners, leogistics visualises the route on the HERE map material, taking into account the road restrictions in all freight documents and the Transportation Cockpit.
