Make System Integrations Great Again with Michael Sternberg

Michael Sternberg and Joe Lynch discuss how to make system integrations great again. System integration is an IT process or phase concerned with joining different subsystems or components as one large system.


About Michael Sternberg

Michael Sternberg is the Director of Sales at 3PL Systems, a TMS provider based in Signal Hill, California. Prior to joining 3PL Systems, Michael held a series of positions with increasing responsibility in technology and business development. Michael earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Development from UCLA.

About 3PL Systems

3PL Systems provides transportation management system software to help make freight brokers more profitable – both by helping them bring in more revenue and helping them to operate more efficiently. 3PL Systems’​ BrokerWare is used to manage all shipping and transportation activities from one place, including dispatch, operations, routing, carrier selection, tracing, accounting, billing, collections, and much more. BrokerWare is a transportation management system (TMS) for Non-Asset Based Freight Brokers. Our freight broker software package has built-in support for many types of shipments including less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload (TL), expedited, rail, and any type of specialized equipment.

Key Takeaways: Make System Integrations Great Again

  • System integration is defined in engineering as the process of bringing together the component sub-systems into one system (an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the overarching functionality) and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system, and in information technology as the process of linking together different computing systems and software applications physically or functionally, to act as a coordinated whole.
  • Any discussion of logistics systems integration involves EDI and API.
    • EDI is an acronym for electronic data interchange. EDI facilitates the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.
    • API is an acronym for application programming interface. APIs are used when information between two program needs to be share data quickly. APIs are created by companies leaving parts of their software “open” so other software can easily integrate with them and request information. APIs are capable of syncing with software whenever there is a change in data.
  • System integrations are increasingly important to the logistics business because they enable shippers to connect their ERP system to their 3PL’s TMS. It also enable 3PLs to connect to a variety of third-party applications like visibility solutions.
  • System integrations involving older legacy TMS can be difficult, expensive and time consuming because their systems are developed on older software.
  • Transportation management systems built on older software may also have thousands of users, which complicates upgrading to newer more flexible softwares.
  • To make systems integrations easier select a TMS that is built on the newer software. TMS providers like 3PL Systems specifically develop their software to make systems integrations fast and painless.

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Michael Sternberg

3PL Systems

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