DDS Logistics’ TMS (Transport Management System) is currently used by four subsidiaries of Total’s EP (Exploration Production) branch. The medium-term objective is to deploy it in all other subsidiaries, mainly in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

The partnership initiated in 2004 between DDS Logistics and Total is going strong… and getting stronger.
The oil company plans to deploy the software publisher’s TMS solution – whose in-house name is “e-Transit” – at the main subsidiaries of the Exploration Production branch by the end of 2010. The objectives: tracing global import/export shipments to optimize them. “Delays in the delivery of goods can have very serious financial consequences, for instance with equipment, they can bring drilling machines or production rigs to a standstill“ Purchase/Contracts and relations O&M with EP subsidiaries manager Dominique Rondeau points out. “Monitoring all shipment stages (from parcel pickup at the supplier’s to unloading on arrival including customs clearance in-between) and thus better controlling them enables us to significantly reduce additional production costs induced by unanticipated delivery delays.”

This solution, which is deployed in collaboration with information systems consulting and engineering company Alti Consulting, uses DDS Shipper’s order, transport and tracking management modules and can be accessed via an Internet platform (Saas mode). It was developed along three key axes:

• Organization:

This solution helps planning, organizing and performing operations across the whole supply chain. It makes it easier to select modes of conveyance according to geographic zones and to group merchandise.

• Collaboration:

Thought up as a collaborative platform, this solution brings about a synergy between the external players (forwarders, inspection bodies) and the internal ones. It defines each party’s tasks and responsibilities and the estimated time necessary for each operation to be fulfilled.

• Traceability:

With the track & trace feature, ordered goods can be reliably located. For better responsiveness in case of unforeseen events, alerts can be issued and variance and exceptions managed.

Simplicity

The orders taken in SAP are automatically passed on to “e-Transit” and made available to all the parties involved (suppliers, forwarders, inspection bodies…).

At every shipment stage, the forwarders enter the relevant order status information in “e-Transit” in real time. “E-Transit works as a collaborative portal between the shippers and the providers. Not only does it allow orders to be filled in but it also simplifies and speeds up the processes between the different parties” Dominique Rondeau underlines.

There are more upsides to the deployment of “e-Transit”:

→        Financial: transport optimization and order grouping mean time is saved and import freight costs are reduced.

→        Operational: with real-time tracking of equipment forwarding operations, the line personnel are better able to schedule their work.

→        Quality: quality controls at suppliers’ are better coordinated, so more effective. In addition, because forwarders’ services are better monitored, contracts, so the services delivered, can be further optimized.

A Total Forwarding Manager in Abu Dhabi where the solution has been used since 2006 testifies:

“With e-Transit, I can keep internal clients informed and reassure them by tracking their orders and sending them weekly reports”.

“With this tool, several orders can be managed at the same time. It encourages forwarders to consolidate their shipments and helps selecting the mode of conveyance according to order priority.”

“This tool has improved relations and communication with foreign forwarders in Asia, the USA, and Europe. Now our European forwarder is really part of our team, and is really proactive”.