Slot Manager is described by FourKites as the industry’s “first no-touch scheduling tool for warehouses, plants and distribution centers”.
The company says its product allows shippers, carriers and drivers to benefit from significant time savings, smoother operations, reduced detention fees and a lower carbon footprint.
Using the latest update, shippers can specify the desired delivery date for both full truckload and less-than-truckload shipments.
Slot Manager will automatically select optimal slot times, securely share slot data across partner networks, and allow teams to proactively reschedule slots based on FourKites machine learning-based predictive ETAs.
Specifically, the updates to Slot Manager include the following:
- AutoBooker, a new feature that integrates with customers’ load planning platforms to select the best slot time based on the planned delivery date, enabling automated scheduling and carrier notifications based on real-time data. AutoBooker is highly configurable to shippers’ business rules, and accommodates the creation of calendars by commodity, carrier and more. AutoBooker is estimated to save up to 8 minutes per scheduled slot, says FourKites.
- LTL Scheduling. Slot Manager now allows the scheduling of less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments, including the ability to split slot times into smaller blocks to accommodate shorter unloading times, schedule appointment slots with shipments spread among multiple trailers, and schedule outbound shipments with multiple order numbers in a single trailer. This capability improves facility throughput for industries who are frequent users of LTL shipping, especially LSP, CPG and retail supply chains.
- Comprehensive Reporting. Shippers can now drill into details regarding carrier appointment compliance, facility metrics, capacity utilisation, arrival success and more to better inform carrier selection and drive operational improvements.
Commenting on the enhancements, FourKites founder and CEO, Mathew Elenjickal, said:
“Our new Slot Manager capabilities are a harbinger of what we’ve long been building toward: a new era in automated, interconnected and collaborative global supply chains, built on a foundation of real-time supply chain visibility. Efficient facility management is critical to the logistics industry right now, and our Slot Manager solution — in combination with Dynamic Yard and our industry-leading predictive ETAs — are enabling never-before-seen levels of productivity, agility and efficiency.”