Terra Technology Introduces Groundbreaking Transportation Forecasting Solution

Prague and Norwalk, CT - Terra Technology, the most-trusted provider of innovative supply chain solutions for consumer products companies, today introduced Terra's newest solution, Transportation Forecasting. This addition to Terra's demand sensing portfolio provides transportation and warehouse planners lane-level visibility of promotions and other demand, enabling planners to proactively reserve capacity rather than scrambling to find carriers for orders already on hand.

According to Robert Byrne, CEO, Terra Technology, "Transportation planning is the next big savings opportunity for consumer products companies. Terra's Transportation Forecasting brings the visibility and rigor of finished goods planning to transportation planning, providing visibility into promotions and capacity issues and enabling manufacturers to create a proactive transportation plan rather than solely reacting to orders. Planning rather than reacting improves efficiency and lowers costs."

Today, transportation managers rely on the orders they have in hand to plan shipments. Because they do not have systematic, lane-level visibility into when a promotion is planned, they cannot schedule for the spike in demand. This increases transportation costs significantly and results in emergency shipments rushing around the country to meet demand.

Adrian Gonzalez, Director, Logistics Viewpoints for ARC Advisory Group, discussed Terra's solutions. "Innovation in logistics is about addressing the white spaces that currently exist in business processes and software solutions. One of these white spaces is the disconnect that exists between demand planning and transportation and warehousing processes. Transportation procurement, mode selection, and labor planning are all constrained by not having visibility to actual and forecasted demand. This is especially true when promotions are involved. The net result is missed opportunities for cost savings and productivity improvements. This new Transportation Forecasting solution from Terra Technology addresses this white space and complements existing TMS and WMS solutions."

Key Benefits of Transportation Forecasting

• Visibility into promotions enables transportation planning to contract transport to match the demand plan rather than react to orders on hand
• Analysis of network changes provides more accurate strategic sourcing, increases efficiency and saves natural resources
• Integration with transportation and warehouse management systems provides insight into capacity issues and resources required, increasing advance reservations and decreasing spot buying
• Better visibility improves carrier collaboration and intermodal use, aligning reservations with demand planning forecast and not just matching orders.

About Terra Technology
Terra Technology is the most-trusted provider of innovative supply chain solutions for consumer products companies. Terra Technology's solutions use better mathematics and downstream data like POS to improve supply chain performance, reducing forecast error up to 50 percent and inventory up to 20 percent. More accurate forecasts save money, lower inventory, improve customer service and decrease waste. Some of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies use Terra Technology, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Kraft Foods, Kimberly-Clark, ConAgra Foods and Campbell Soup.

SOURCE: Terra Technology