Are You Making Wise Investment with Shipping Software?

When shipping and logistics managers invest thousands of dollars in integrated shipping software solutions to streamline their supply chain, they do it in a presumption that in due course returns from such investment will make back upfront costs of software, hardware, installation, and necessary training for all departments involved. Indeed in favorable business conditions, marine software solutions have been tested and proven to simplify complex supply chain processes, enable revenue growth, improve customer service, and slash costs of operation.

But just like all business decisions, there are risks involved in software implementation as well as in choosing between bespoke and packaged options. Ideally, functional shipping solutions software, whether bespoke or packaged, should be able to deliver its supposed business value within its expected lifespan – before it becomes obsolete. However, there is no guarantee that this is going to happen. This is because there are many factors that are simply beyond your control such as the following:

1. IT and software products age very quickly.

2. Customer preferences change.

3. Business models evolve due to fast changing market landscapes.

With these factors at play, you cannot expect that processes involved in your supply chain management will be predictable and remain the same in, say, 10 years. At some time, you will need to modify or upgrade your system to make it work with current IT platforms. And, with the current pace of IT evolution, change can happen in a shorter period of time than you might expect.

So how can you ensure that your initial investment on shipping line software pay out within your expected payout period?

Minimize upfront investment and reduce time-to-value by choosing packaged shipping software solutions. Aside from the fact that packaged software is much cheaper than its bespoke counterpart, it is also easier to implement and requires significantly less technical training even for new users. Additionally, you don’t need to hire in-house programmers to maintain and upgrade your system. This results in lower operational cost and longer software lifespan, giving you more time to make back your initial investment.