Air freight is an important pillar of the Swiss forwarding company Lamprecht Transporte. Lamprecht currently operates a TMS system that specializes in land transport. In order to provide Lamprecht with a TMS that can be used consistently for all modes of transport, we are working together with our TMS technology partner ANAXCO on the development and integration of air freight and sea freight-specific components that will expand the Microsoft technology-based transport management system.
With airfreight experience and a clear strategy to the goal
It is often said that all beginnings are difficult. The ONE2025 project is different because, among other things, we have ensured a clear setup:
On our side, an experienced business analyst with many years of operational experience in air freight and sea freight has been supporting the digitalization project since the early stages.
Since September 2022, the as-is analyses have been carried out in all air freight locations in a short project time of just four months in personal meetings with management, super users and end users. This enabled a clear inventory to be taken.
To be or not to be: The path to a harmonized workflow
The results of the analysis of the air freight and sea freight processes were prepared in the requirements backlog. The requirements in the process perspective for each mode of transport were then compared with the workflows from the respective forwarding locations and assigned.
We were then able to coordinate the harmonized standard workflow proposal together with the stakeholders in a To-Be concept meeting.
The result is a new, harmonized workflow for future work.
Detailed work is paving the way to this goal, particularly in the area of internationally required documents or master data harmonization between all modes of transport involved, including land freight (road) and pharmaceuticals.
It is also important that the integral aspect of the new solution, including finance and controlling and the integration of external partners or authorities, is not neglected.
Agile project management ensures short project stages
Agile management is carried out with the help of recognized methods (SAFe Essentials). Work packages were derived from the agreed To-Be concept and their implementation was prioritized together with the stakeholders. In concrete terms, this means that all topics are cataloged and sorted by importance so that nothing is forgotten.
After around four months of project time, the air freight topics were already translated from operationally understandable language into concrete IT requirements.
They are implemented using an agile project management method including epics (requirements for a product that must be implemented within a certain time interval) and features (clearly defined functionality with the aim of providing end users with added value).
This not only describes the additional requirements for the new "standard" ERP software to be used, but also defines the new requirements for the Microsoft Power Apps world in order to implement the business requirements flexibly and promptly.
In the overall project, the Sea and Pharma business areas will be integrated into the new digital world in the same way after the Air topics. Together with our customer Lamprecht Transport AG and technology partner ANAXCO GmbH, we are therefore on the right path to an integrated ONE2025.