Supply chain design software provider LLamasoft has recently announced partnerships with three leading supply chain companies to provide it with data for its modelling customers. The improved data builds on LLamasoft’s provision of software services, which are designed to improve supply chain operations, including those in the automotive industry.
In the first agreement, Transplace, a 3PL and supply chain technology company, already a long-term LLamasoft partner, has increased its activity with the company by providing intra-Mexico benchmark truckload rate data. This complements the data already available for Mexico-to-USA truckload rates and intra-USA truckload rates.
“Mexico is the United States’ third largest trading partner (after Canada and China) and a large source of parts and components of the vehicles manufactured here,” said John Trestrail, LLamasoft’s data services product manager. “Transplace’s benchmark truckload data from major Mexican cities to the US border combined with their intra-USA truckload benchmark rates is a distinctive offering.”
In the second move, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium – which provides supply chain management benchmarking and best practices – will now supply LLamasoft with a sampling of its database, including metrics around freight spend, sourcing, inventory turns and distribution centre operations.
Tompkins tracks hundreds of metrics across vertical categories such as retailers, manufacturers and wholesale distributors.
“These data services allow automotive manufacturers and distributors to compare their performance and goals for transportation, warehousing, inventory, sales and sourcing with other manufacturers,” Trestrail told Automotive Logistics. “This is invaluable intelligence for checking their performance and vision against similar companies.”
Finally, Xeneta, an online sea freight intelligence platform, is now providing LLamasoft with benchmark port-to-port ocean service contract rates, information that is highly sought-after and difficult to gather, according to LLamasoft. The company said it would continue to offer an ocean tariff module as part of its standard data services subscription, but that the additional data will only be offered in the LLamasoft Data Services premium subscription package.
These partnerships will provide LLamasoft customers with additional resources from which to draw valuable global reference data for use in supply chain modelling.
“Data gaps continue to be one of the biggest obstacles to successful supply chain design initiatives,” said LLamasoft president and CEO Donald Hicks. “Partnering with Transplace, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium and Xeneta is part of our continuing effort to help make supply chain modelling faster and more impactful for businesses around the world.”
