How much does rekeying transport orders into a TMS cost?

Count every step required for reliable order entry

The cost of entering a transport order is rarely limited to the time spent filling fields in the transport management system (TMS). Before entry, an operator may need to find the right attachment, match an email to a customer reference, open a portal or look up an address. Typing is followed by a review of dates and quantities and, in some cases, a request for clarification or a correction.

A sound measurement starts when the request is picked up and stops when the order has been created or updated, checked and made ready for the next step. Waiting time during which the operator handles another file is not active processing time. Preparing a follow-up, reopening the file and checking it again are active work and should be included.

Build a time-study grid you can actually use

A single average can hide a mixture of straightforward orders and unusually costly cases. The grid should therefore retain total active time and a small set of characteristics that explain the effort. There is no need to collect dozens of fields: keep the ones that help segment the work and support a decision.

• an anonymised identifier, the date and the team or role observed;
• the inbound channel and format: email, portal, EDI, PDF, spreadsheet or another authorised source;
• the operation type: creation, change or rework;
• active minutes by stage and the number of times the file was reopened;
• whether the request was complete and the reason for any follow-up;
• the outcome: entered without rework, corrected before validation, corrected after validation or handed off for a decision.

1. 01
   Define the scope

   Choose the teams, channels, customers and order types included, and write down the exclusions.

2. 02
   Sample real situations

   Observe several days and time periods so the study does not cover only a quiet window or an easy flow.

3. 03
   Time active work

   Pause timing while no work is being performed, then record a new rework line when the file returns.

4. 04
   Review the records

   Check that the same conventions were used and investigate extreme values instead of removing them automatically.

5. 05
   Segment before averaging

   Calculate times by file family, then weight them using the volumes actually observed.

Calculate cost per file and per month

The base formula is straightforward: cost per file = average active minutes ÷ 60 × fully loaded hourly cost. Monthly cost is that amount multiplied by the number of in-scope files handled during the month. The hourly figure should come from your management control team or internal costing method; it is not an industry benchmark.

Fictional example: an operations team observes 35 orders per day over 20 working days. Its grid records 1.4 minutes for finding information, 3.8 minutes for entry, 1.6 minutes for checks, 0.9 minutes for follow-up and resumed work averaged across all files, and 0.7 minutes for corrections. For the exercise, the company uses a fictional fully loaded hourly cost of €32. These values exist only to demonstrate the calculation.

Separate observed cost, releasable capacity and cash savings

Observed cost answers a descriptive question: how much time and resource does the work currently consume? Releasable capacity answers a different question: which portion could be avoided, moved to review or absorbed in another way? A cash saving requires an organisational decision that actually changes expenditure.

Removing an hour from one task may let the team handle more files, reduce a backlog or spend more time on exceptions. That hour has value, but it does not automatically reduce payroll. Conversely, avoided overtime, a reduced external service or a hire that is no longer required may affect cash expenditure, provided the effect is evidenced and not counted twice.

Use the measurement to choose where to act

The monthly total helps size the issue, but the breakdown shows where action is useful. Long search times may reveal scattered sources; long entry times may point to difficult inbound formats; repeated rework may expose incomplete orders or unclear checking rules. The right response is not always to remove typing. It may begin with standardising information, clarifying ownership or assembling the file more effectively.

If automated entry is considered, retain the original grid. It provides a baseline for a like-for-like comparison that also counts human checks, exceptions and remaining rework. The guide to transport order entry describes the workflow from email to TMS, while the pilot measurement protocol helps assess reliability without confusing speed with a correct outcome.

1. 01
   Prioritise

   Rank file families by volume, active time, rework frequency and criticality.

2. 02
   Choose a testable scope

   Select a sufficiently consistent flow so the comparison does not hide its exceptions.

3. 03
   Preserve the baseline

   Freeze the period, measurement conventions and starting formulas.

4. 04
   Measure remaining work

   After any change, include supervision, checks, excluded cases and corrections.