Keeping tabs

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1998

The number of tracking and tracing products available today means shippers now have a wide variety of options to help them collect, manage, and transmit tracking data more effectively.

Ten years ago, tracking and tracing products were a rarity, but it's a very different story today. The development of operational strategies like Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing, Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), and Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI) means that shippers, carriers, and their mutual customers need to know where inventory is at all times. And they need to get that information quickly and

accurately. Fortunately, their needs are being met by a wide variety of tracking and tracing products that are on the market today. Here is just a sampling of some of the newest of these products.

Schneider Logistics Inc. has developed Schneider Track and Trace (STAT), an Internet-based tracking device. STAT is designed to track all transportation carriers in all modes for customers on Schneider Logistics' "SUMIT" system. Each customer has the ability to use in-house shipping and/or billing information as search parameters, rather than being required to use an additional set of special codes or shipment numbers to gain access to the information.

Furthermore, customers can trace freight by reference numbers, location codes, or city/state combinations for both pickups and deliveries, and can narrow their search by entering shipment-date ranges.