Ryder System Inc., a provider of transportation and supply chain management solutions, announced that it has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for its systems and methods that integrate and optimize supply chain performance in the areas of shipment planning and execution. Ryder says the patent award provides it with intellectual property protection related to its Logistics Release process that improves supply chain integration and management of logistics for supply chains.
The key approach to the Logistics Release process is configuring the data to create a common Web-native data utility for each stakeholder in the supply chain. The Logistics Release process then creates an optimum shipment that takes into account weight, cube, packaging, stackability, pallet configuration and mode determination. The shipment receives a plan or “Release” with the logistics information and instructions for that shipment.
The plan is created and initiated prior to the movement of goods, and all events of the subsequent movement are controlled by this plan. Whereas the physical movement requires cross docks, terminals and sequence centers, the virtual movements are monitored continually by a “Control Tower” or central office from which all movements can be monitored, tracked and coordinated in real time.
Ryder says this capability significantly improves transit time and reduces the cost of integrating multiple transportation networks. The technology also includes exception-based reporting, which identifies events that vary from the Logistics Release plan and enables alternative actions and routing, and measures the plan’s progress against the actual results.
“Ryder’s Control Tower service helps cut inventory by improving operational execution, and now the business process supporting this service is recognized as unique,” says John Williford, president of Global Supply Chain Solutions for Miami-based Ryder.
