Digital transformation has become an inevitable trend in the Vietnamese Logistics industry, amid strong growth in transportation demand and increasing competitive pressure. However, despite clearly understanding the benefits of digitalization, many enterprises, especially SMEs, still face difficulties in implementation. The main reasons stem from outdated technology infrastructure, manual operating processes, fragmented data, and traditional management methods that have not kept pace with the market's development speed. This leaves enterprises confused about where to start the transformation, concerned about costs, afraid of operational disruption, and lacking a suitable direction.
In this article, let's join us to delve into the most common challenges that hinder Logistics enterprises in their digital transformation journey.
1. Challenge 1: Businesses rely on traditional desktop logistics software
Just a few years ago, every business relied on legacy desktop applications (desktop apps) installed directly on each computer in the office. This met basic operational needs. However, as order volumes increased and the demand for cross-departmental coordination grew, the desktop system began to reveal a host of limitations, especially concerning data access, scalability, and operational flexibility. Specifically:
Employee dependency on the installed machine - inability to work remotely
With desktop software, all data is fixed solely on the company's computer. This means:
- Sales cannot view quoting history when meeting customers outside.
- Documentation staff cannot check job status when at the port or visiting the field.
- Leadership cannot monitor operational status while on business trips.
Simply not being at the right machine means almost all information is "frozen," slowing down processing speed and causing the business to fall behind market pace.
Fragmented data - each department using a different file and software
When desktop software fails to meet the entire process, employees are forced to supplement it with Excel and various isolated tools for data storage. This leads to:
- Sales recording orders in one file.
- Operations updating progress in a different file.
- Accounting storing revenue and costs in a completely separate file.
This results in unsynchronized and inconsistent data. Even a small change in booking information or costs can lead to data discrepancies, incorrect deliveries, delays, or cost confusion.
Hours lost daily to manual data entry and reconciliation:
Desktop software often does not automate the flow of information between departments. Therefore, employees must:
- Manually re-enter data multiple times in multiple places.
- Reconcile information between files, fixing duplicates or incorrect job details.
This repetitive data entry consumes hours every day, reducing productivity and increasing the risk of errors in processing documentation, bookings, costs, and accounts payable/receivable.
Delayed consolidated reports - difficulty in decision making
Because data is scattered across dozens of files and unconnected software systems, aggregating reports becomes extremely time-consuming. Businesses often have to: gather data from multiple departments, manually cross-check, and reprocess it in Excel to generate reports on revenue, costs, and profit/loss per job. This results in delayed and inaccurate reports, preventing leadership from making decisions based on real-time data. Crucial decisions, such as adjusting selling prices, optimizing shipping routes, or evaluating sales performance, are postponed.
Difficulty scaling when increasing staff or opening new branches
Every time a business wants to: add new employees, a new department, or open a new branch, they must manually install the software on each machine. Furthermore, data synchronization between branches is not guaranteed, causing significant differences in processes and figures. This creates a major obstacle when the business seeks to expand.
The limitations of desktop software not only waste time, delay orders, and lead to data inaccuracies but also directly impact the customer experience and the business's competitiveness. While the market changes rapidly, businesses operating on legacy systems are easily left behind, losing growth opportunities to those who adopt more flexible technology.
2. Challenge 2: Businesses use Excel for manual operations, leading to time loss and data errors
Excel is a familiar tool for most Logistics businesses. In the initial phase, when the number of bookings is small and the process is simple, Excel can meet basic recording and management needs. However, as the business grows and the volume of information becomes more complex, Excel quickly becomes an “invisible barrier” that hinders operational productivity and exposes the business to many risks.
- Repeated manual data entry – hours lost every day: Logistics staff must enter and update a large amount of information every day, from bookings, carrier information, HBL/MBL, etc., all of which need to be detailed and accurate. Manual data entry is time-consuming, especially as processing demand increases, making Excel a slow and inefficient tool.
- Fragmented and overlapping data – leading to frequent errors: A Logistics business may use dozens of Excel files for different purposes: rate sheets, booking lists, HBL/MBL tracking, accounts receivable/payable, costs, reports, etc. Each file has a different format and manager, causing a lack of real-time synchronization. Just one missing number, using the wrong file, or forgetting to update by an employee can lead to errors throughout a process, such as incorrect debt calculation or wrong delivery schedule. In the Logistics industry, where every number is important, Excel makes errors difficult to control.
- Lack of real-time data – difficulty tracking progress and making decisions: Excel cannot provide: automatic notifications or real-time status updates, instant reports, or change tracking. This means managers don't immediately know which bookings are late, or sales staff cannot track progress to inform customers, leading to fragmented operations, lack of information, and difficulty in making accurate and timely decisions.
- Files prone to errors and data loss – high risk for the business: Excel becomes limited when: files exceeding 20–30MB cause overload, computers easily crash or corrupt, multiple users opening simultaneously cause data conflicts, or saving on a personal computer risks loss if the machine fails or if the employee leaves, taking customer data with them. Therefore, a small error in an Excel formula can falsify an entire profit report. If just one file is damaged, the business cannot access historical data for dozens of jobs.
- Unsuitable as the business grows: When the number of bookings increases from 50 to 300 jobs/month, Excel cannot handle it effectively because of: slow speed, difficulty organizing data flow, inability to automate, inability to track the performance of individual employees, and inability to scale up processes. Excel is only suitable for the initial, small-scale stage. Once the business grows, it becomes the biggest bottleneck.
In summary, Excel is only suitable for the small-scale stage. Once the business grows, it becomes the biggest bottleneck.
3. Challenge 3: Businesses use fragmented software, leading to unsynchronized data
In logistics enterprises, each department uses its own separate software to manage tasks. Initially, this model seemed reasonable because each department had its own optimized tool. However, when put into actual operation, this fragmented system creates a lack of connection between departments regarding data information, causing many obstacles for the business.
- Time-consuming reconciliation between departments: If even a small piece of information changes, such as local charges, booking numbers, or job status, all three departments must update it in their own separate software. This forces employees in each department to manually reconcile data daily, which is time-consuming for managing the workload.
- Discrepant and inaccurate figures: When each department updates a different data source, consolidating reports for the entire business becomes extremely risky, leading to incorrect profit reporting, inaccurate assessment of business performance, and a lack of basis for timely decision-making.
- Unsuitable when the business scales up: When the number of bookings increases to hundreds or thousands of jobs per month, the fragmented system cannot meet the data processing and customer care time requirements, resulting in revenue loss.
- isk of employees leaving – taking the data with them: When an employee resigns or transfers departments, the business risks losing the data entirely. This seriously affects customer relationships and internal operations.
4. Challenge 4: Manual customer management leads to lost opportunities & difficult customer care
In the Logistics industry, customers are not just simple shippers; they are also a continuous and long-term source of revenue. A single customer can generate dozens of bookings every month, have constantly changing needs, and demand fast response times. However, many Logistics businesses still manage customers manually, making the customer care process ineffective and causing them to lose potential customers.
- Customer information is scattered – sales can easily miss potential leads: When customer data is spread across multiple places like Excel, Zalo, email, or personal notes, sales representatives can easily forget or fail to follow up on new leads in a timely manner. This causes the business to lose opportunities right from the first step.
- No history of care – difficult to track sales effectiveness: The failure to fully record the history of quotations, exchanges, and customer care means the business doesn't know how far along the customer has been supported. This reduces service quality and makes it difficult to evaluate the work performance of each sales rep.
- Sales not clearly updated, management cannot know how many leads each sales rep has, what the conversion rate is, or the reasons for failure. This makes strategic planning and resource allocation difficult.
- No automatic reminders – easy to forget old customers: The lack of a system to remind sales reps to follow up causes them to easily neglect old customers or forget to respond at the right time. This reduces the customer retention rate and means losing stable sources of revenue.
- Data not linked between customer – job – revenue: Disjointed data prevents the business from tracking the entire customer journey from quotation to job creation and payment. This reduces the ability to analyze profitability per customer and makes accurate decision-making difficult.
- isk of losing customers when employees leave: When data only resides in personal files or phones of sales reps, the business will lose all customer information if the employee resigns. This directly impacts revenue and long-term customer relationships.
5. Effective digital transformation solution for businesses
Born from the difficulties of manual operation, scattered data, and lack of connectivity, Sota FMS emerges as a comprehensive management solution specifically for Logistics businesses. The system is deployed entirely on an Online platform, allowing businesses to work easily on computers, tablets, and phones, as long as the device has an Internet connection. This ensures all activities can be performed anytime, anywhere, optimizing processing speed and reducing dependence on the office or installed machines.
Flexible work with real-time data
SotaFMS allows all departments to work flexibly and connect closely thanks to real-time data updates. Sales can create quotes and view transaction history right when meeting customers; field staff instantly update costs and shipment status; and leaders can easily approve and track progress even while on business trips. All of this helps businesses respond quickly and accurately in all situations.
Smart freight operation on a unified platform
All freight forwarding operations such as shipment management, costs – invoices, work progress, debt reconciliation, and document issuance are integrated on SotaFMS. Thanks to synchronized data between departments, information is no longer inaccurate or duplicated, helping businesses easily retrieve data and minimize errors during operation.
Specialized CRM for logistics – optimizing customer care
SotaFMS's CRM system supports businesses in tracking the entire customer journey from lead to quotation, job, and revenue. Exchange history, sales performance, and follow-up tasks are all stored and automatically reminded. Combined with AI Chatbot, the sales team can care for customers more quickly and effectively, thereby increasing the conversion rate.
Instant financial reports – fast and accurate decision-making
SotaFMS automatically aggregates operational and accounting data to generate profit – loss, revenue, cost, and debt reports by job, customer, or route. The reports are all visual and instant, helping leaders no longer rely on manual Excel files and enabling them to make timely strategic decisions.
Automated data entry with ai-ocr – near-absolute error reduction
Thanks to AI-OCR technology, SotaFMS can read and extract data from bookings, bills of lading, or invoices in just a few seconds. This significantly reduces data entry time and nearly eliminates errors, ensuring accurate data throughout the processes.
SotaFMS delivers a comprehensive Logistics management ecosystem, seamlessly connecting from the input, such as customer management and quotation, to the job operation process – documents – costs, and the output, which includes revenue, cost, and accounting debt reports. All of this is performed on a unified platform, helping businesses reduce work processing time by up to 80% and limit data errors by 99% thanks to automation and information synchronization. As a result, businesses enhance productivity, optimize profits, and operate faster and more accurately, meeting the increasingly high demands of the Logistics 5.0 trend.
6. Conclusion
Digital transformation in the Logistics industry is not just a trend, but a mandatory condition for businesses to maintain their competitive advantage in an increasingly fierce market. However, barriers such as manual processes, dispersed data, fragmented software, and limitations from desktop systems make it difficult for many businesses to start or implement effectively. Correctly identifying the challenges is the important first step to building an appropriate digital transformation strategy, optimizing operations, and creating a foundation for sustainable growth aligned with the Logistics 5.0 orientation. Contact us for more information.