Real-Time Delivery SLA & Carrier Cost Management for Freight & Warehousing Operator
A centralized analytics solution for a freight and warehousing operator managing 5 warehouses and 15 carriers, helping the operations team monitor delivery performance, carrier spend, and inventory.
Track on-time delivery performance and identify SLA issues before they affect customers or accumulate across multiple shipments.
Compare carrier spending and cost per shipment to identify unexpected increases and inefficient shipping arrangements.
Monitor inventory and operational indicators across five warehouse locations from a consistent reporting environment.
The Idea Behind the Project
The client operated five regional warehouses and worked with 15 carriers. The operations team relied on weekly spreadsheets to combine information from the WMS, TMS, and carrier invoices and track delivery performance and shipping costs.
This process made it difficult to react to problems quickly. SLA breaches and carrier cost overruns could remain unnoticed for several weeks, particularly when issues only became visible during month-end invoice reconciliation. We helped bring the relevant operational and financial data into a centralized analytics environment for faster monitoring and follow-up.
Project Challenges
The client needed to improve control over delivery performance and carrier spending across a distributed logistics operation.
Main challenges:
- Operational and financial data was distributed across three separate systems.
- Weekly spreadsheet consolidation required recurring manual work.
- SLA breaches could remain undetected for 3–4 weeks.
- Carrier cost overruns often surfaced only during month-end reconciliation.
- Operations leadership lacked a consistent way to compare 15 carriers and five warehouse locations.
Provided Solutions
Data Integration
We connected the WMS, TMS/carrier invoicing, and order management system and established a unified data structure for operational reporting.
SLA Performance Model
We structured delivery data around on-time performance and SLA compliance to make delays and breaches easier to identify.
Carrier Cost Analysis
We incorporated carrier billing data and defined cost-per-shipment metrics to support comparison across the carrier network.
Warehouse & Carrier Views
We created reporting views that allow operations teams to analyze performance by warehouse and compare results across individual carriers.
Role-Based Access
We configured access by role and region so warehouse managers and operations leadership could work with the information relevant to their responsibilities.
Key Features Overview
SLA Performance Tracking
On-time delivery and SLA compliance can be monitored across shipments and operational areas.
Carrier Comparison
Carriers can be compared by delivery performance and shipping costs to highlight performance differences.
Cost per Shipment
Shipping spend is linked to shipment data to provide a clearer view of carrier costs and identify unusual increases.
Warehouse Monitoring
Operational indicators can be reviewed across all five warehouse locations to support regional management.
Inventory Visibility
Inventory levels are included alongside delivery and carrier metrics for a broader view of warehouse operations.
Issue Detection
Exceptions such as SLA breaches and unusual carrier costs can be identified earlier, giving operations teams more time to investigate and respond.