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Operations · 2004—2013

TNC2 — logistics operations systems

The applications that ran the daily operation of a road-freight carrier: transport notes and labels, customer tracking & trace, the drivers' mobile app and management reporting.

Client
TNC · TNC2 Logística e Distribuição
Role
IT Director · Systems Analyst · Senior Developer
Period
2004—2013
  • VB6
  • VB.NET
  • SQL Server 2005
  • SSIS
  • SSRS
  • ASP
  • Windows Mobile
  • Informix

At the core was TNC2Office, first written in Visual Basic 6 on SQL Server 2005 and later converted to VB.NET in Visual Studio 2010. Connected to the company's ERP, it covered overages and shortages, pickup planning, transport notes and label printing, customers, trailer trips, picking, PODs, refunds and incidents.

Around it grew the satellite applications: TNC2Clientes, which let customers integrate their own shipment files and print notes and labels; a web tracking & trace with the scanned transport notes in PDF and TIFF; and TNC2Mobile, a Windows Mobile app for drivers that exchanged files with the central server over FTP and recorded mileage, pallets, deliveries and incidents.

In the data layer: SQL Server replication so customers could check their shipments without loading the ERP, a linked server to the Informix database, SSIS packages that ran unattended and emailed reports, and SQL Server Reporting Services for operations and logistics. Geographic analysis, with volume maps by postal area, was in development.

What the system covered

Operations (TNC2Office)

  • Overages and shortages
  • Pickup planning
  • Transport notes and label printing
  • Customers and trailer trips
  • Picking and labelling
  • PODs, refunds and incidents
  • Dashboard

Customers

  • TNC2Clientes: shipment file integration
  • Web tracking & trace, with Excel export
  • Scanned transport notes (PDF/TIFF)
  • Transport notes emailed as PDF

Drivers (TNC2Mobile)

  • Trips loaded from the ERP
  • Trip states: preparation, vehicle, trip, closed
  • Start and end mileage and pallets
  • Deliveries with and without incidents

Data and reporting

  • SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Business Intelligence with SSIS
  • Replication and Informix linked server
  • Geographic information (in development)

Screens and diagrams

Architecture diagram linking the ERP, the central database, the logistics, customer service and reporting applications, and tracking & trace
Fig. 01 — Overview: ERP, central database and applications
TNC2Office main window with the operations menu
Fig. 02 — TNC2Office — operations menu
Dashboard with charts of transport notes by centre and state, delivery days and volumes
Fig. 03 — Dashboard: transport notes by centre and state
Tracking & trace web page with the list of deliveries, customer data blurred
Fig. 04 — Web tracking & trace, 2012 Data blurred
Diagram of the customer shipment files flowing through TNC2Clientes, web services and tracking & trace
Fig. 05 — TNC2Clientes: from the customer's files to tracking
Diagram of drivers' handhelds exchanging files over FTP with the mobile database and tracking & trace
Fig. 06 — TNC2Mobile: information flow between drivers and servers Data blurred
Trip control window with the list of trips, vehicle and driver data blurred
Fig. 07 — Trip control for the mobile app Data blurred
SQL Server Reporting Services home with the report folders
Fig. 08 — SQL Server Reporting Services
SSIS package control flow in Visual Studio
Fig. 09 — Business Intelligence: SSIS package for distribution
Map of central Portugal with postal areas shaded by shipment volume
Fig. 10 — Geographic information: volumes by postal area (in development)

Screens from 2012. Customer, driver and vehicle data have been blurred.

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