Material planning meets transportation excellence

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Seamlessly connect processes with 4flow TORO for better material and order planning results and improved transportation utilization

  • Break down planning silos

     

  • Cut costs by 20%

     

  • Go live in just 2 months

Is disconnected planning hurting your bottom line?

Late transport planning, organizational silos, and inefficient manual processes negatively impact material planning. 4flow offers 20+ years of integrated expertise in consulting, software, and services. Unlock measurable cost savings, improved utilization and  sustainable results with a unique approach.

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  • Do you frequently need to adjust plans to make them actionable for transportation?

  • Do your material and transportation planning teams work in silos, reducing overall efficiency?

  • Are manual processes limiting your truck utilization?

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Optimize your supply chain by integrating material and transport planning early on

Supply chain planning

  • Supply chain planning
  • Transportation planning
  • Material planning

Break down inefficient planning silos

Integrate material and transport planning for more efficiency and lower costs

  • Harmonize planning across functions

    Integrate transportation constraints into material planning and eliminate inefficient replanning

  • Establish structured planning flows

    Align teams and eliminate costly ad hoc decisions with standardized processes

  • Enable smooth supply chain execution

    Early coordination across teams ensures reliable planning and fewer disruptions

Reduce logistics costs at scale

Save costs through early planning alignment without sacrificing service quality

  • Maximize truck utilization

    Bundle shipments and align truckloads to reduce empty space and freight spend

  • Prevent costly last-minute changes

    Early planning optimization reduces shipment volatility and coordination effort

  • Reduce costs with early planning

    Factor in transport cost drivers from the start to avoid missed savings

Boost agility with smarter planning

Maintain control of your supply chain and adapt to volatility with flexible, data-driven planning

  • Adapt shipments without disruption

    Adjust call-offs dynamically to balance transportation, inventory, and demand

  • Stabilize demand and planning

    Proactive planning makes for stable demand and prevents the need for reactive adjustments in transportation

  • Increase flexibility, not spending

    Align planning decisions early on and enable adaptability without cost penalties

Maximize utilization, cut costs

Align call-offs and shipments early to boost truck loads and reduce freight spend

  • Increase truckload utilization and cut costs

    Align call-offs with transport capacity to build fuller, cost-efficient loads

  • Increase planning stability

    Account for transport needs early to streamline workflows and enable stable planning

  • Automate integrated planning

    Use smart algorithms to arrange loads and shipments directly in material planning

Communicate better and plan ahead

Improve transport planning quality by reducing costly last-minute adjustments

  • Align call-offs and transportation planning

    Factor in transport constraints early to prevent last-minute schedule shifts

  • Avoid peaks and extra shipments

    Balance demand and avoid costly peaks by shifting call-offs within time windows

  • Create stable, executable plans

    Reliable plans provide stability and enable better collaboration across teams

Automate and streamline planning

Reduce manual effort and create consistent, efficient transport planning workflows

  • Connect planning to your existing IT

    Data-driven transportation planning with seamless ERP and TMS integration

  • Create consistent planning flows

    Structured transport workflows replace ad hoc tasks and reduce planning complexity

  • Seamlessly connect planning tasks

    Cross-functional planning for feasible shipment schedules and fewer team silos

Early planning for reliable supply

Fewer last-minute changes through transport-aligned material planning

  • Provide feasible delivery schedules

    Create executable plans by aligning with real transport constraints

  • Avoid costly call-off adjustments

    AI-driven algorithms bundle call-offs early on for stable, efficient schedules

  • Improve planning visibility

    Leverage KPIs and dashboards to align call-offs with transport capacity

Balance inventory without extra costs

Avoid stockouts with smart planning aligned with transportation

  • Optimize material call-offs early

    Avoid late changes and coordination effort through early constraint checks

  • Standardize planning adjustments

    Apply smart planning rules to prepone call-offs and reduce inventory fluctuation

Reduce manual workload

Minimize manual work and last-minute changes with standardized, automated planning processes

  • Streamline routine planning

    Handle daily call-off decisions with built-in logic – no short-term changes needed

  • Replace spreadsheets and workarounds

    Move from manual patchwork to a connected, system-driven planning approach

  • Focus on proactive planning

    With fewer disruptions to handle, you can spend your time improving processes and material flow

Shift orders to facilitate consolidation and minimize costs

Many companies perform transportation optimization too late – either during execution or in tactical planning stages. At this stage, the opportunity to consolidate shipments has passed, leading to underutilized trucks and high transportation costs. Volatile demand makes effective consolidation difficult, often resulting in excessive freight spend and emissions.

4flow TORO shifts shipment planning to an earlier stage, enabling dynamic consolidation of material and sales orders. The solution bundles shipments for better truck utilization and lower costs, long before transport execution. Integrated 3D load planning reduces empty space, making your transportation more sustainable and efficient.

Unlock savings with early shipment bundling

Key capabilities for cost reduction

  • Dynamic order preponement

    Reschedules material and sales orders to bundle shipments and improve truck utilization

  • Sustainability optimization

    Reduces CO₂ emissions by minimizing unnecessary shipments and increasing load efficiency

  • 3D load planning

    Visualizes optimal truck loading to minimize empty space and streamline shipment planning

Integrate planning across your networks

In many organizations, order and call-off planning is siloed from transportation planning, focused only on production or customer needs. This disconnect leads to underutilized shipments, last-minute changes, and high transportation costs across inbound, intercompany, and outbound flows.

4flow TORO connects material and order planning with transportation planning in one integrated system. Transportation constraints are considered early, enabling better decisions, fewer adjustments, and greater efficiency. The software automates shipment consolidation across supply chain stages and transport types – from FTL and FCL to LTL, LCL, and milk run for material and empty flows – ensuring optimal utilization and lower transportation costs at every step.

Connect your planning from inbound to outbound

Key capabilities for end-to-end planning

  • Streamlined shipment execution

    Optimizes inbound, intercompany, and outbound shipments early for lower costs and better results

  • Cross-mode load optimization

    Ensures efficient container and truck usage across FTL, FCL, LTL, LCL, and milk run shipments

  • Elimination of planning silos

    Aligns material, order, and transport planning to avoid conflicts and reduce late-stage changes

Automate and accelerate planning without IT complexity

Transportation and supply chain planning is still often managed manually, using spreadsheets, outdated tools, or fragmented systems. The result? Inefficiencies, significant manual work, and limited flexibility to respond to change.

4flow TORO automates transportation-relevant planning steps to significantly reduce manual workload. The system supports seamless ERP and TMS integration, or it can be deployed quickly using a CSV workflow – ideal if you’re looking for fast, low-complexity optimization. Either way, you can make a smooth shift from reactive, manual planning to automated, data-driven decision-making without the need for lengthy IT projects.

Experience quick wins with smart planning automation

Key capabilities for automated planning

  • Automated shipment planning

    Reduces planner workload by adjusting call-offs and shipments automatically

  • Flexible system integration

    Integrates with ERP and TMS systems or works with CSV upload for quick deployment

  • Reduction of manual workload

    Transforms reactive processes into data-driven planning with fewer errors and more efficiency

4flow TORO across industries

Automotive

4flow TORO enables automotive manufacturers and suppliers to synchronize planning across suppliers, parts and users. By integrating transportation constraints early into material and order planning, 4flow TORO improves truck utilization, dynamically reduces inbound frequencies, and ensures material availability. The platform automates thousands of daily call-off adjustments and can be directly integrated in ERP and TMS solutions. This automation reduces manual planning effort, and enhances end-to-end planning stability, achieving up to 20% cost savings in automotive environments with dynamic manufacturing and demand. 

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Consumer goods and retail

4flow TORO empowers consumer goods and retail companies to optimize order and demand planning by aligning production, inventory, replenishment and distribution flows with transportation capacity. With this approach, — orders are consolidated early to improve full truckload (FTL) utilization or make dynamic adjustments to delivery frequencies. The software automates SKU-level shipment planning and standardizes logic across regions, channels and customers. This reduces manual effort, decreases per-unit shipping costs, and ensures on-shelf availability even during peak demand periods.

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Discrete manufacturing

4flow TORO supports discrete manufacturers to increase supply chain resilience. With early integration of transport and material planning, manufacturers can ensure components are always availabile when needed for uninterrupted production. 4flow TORO optimizes load consolidation and shipment timing across full truckload (FTL) and full container load (FCL) modes. The result: reduced transport frequency, fewer disruptions, and measurable cost savings—even in volatile supply environments. 

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Contact

4flow TORO is benefitial for many more industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical technology, high-tech, construction, and logistics service providers. Curious how 4flow TORO supports your industry?

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How much could you save on transportation?

Discover your savings potential in just three steps, completely obligation-free:

  1. Contact us to schedule a call
  2. Provide call-off or order data for 5-10 sample lanes
  3. Hear back with your savings potential within one week

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Case studies: Proven results with 4flow TORO

Discover how leading companies use 4flow TORO to overcome silos, minimize supply chain costs, and improve delivery performance.

From manual call-off adjustments to measurable savings

Case study

A global supplier of automotive and e-mobility components enhanced its MRP process with 4flow TORO to automate call-off adjustments and improve inbound transportation efficiency.

Challenge

Building on a successful transportation management collaboration with 4flow, the business aimed to go further – automating call-off adjustments and aligning material and transport planning to reduce manual effort.

Solution

  • 4flow TORO automates daily call-off adjustments via middleware integration
  • Intelligent algorithms optimize shipment timing and bundling
  • Go-live in 4.5 months, reducing FTL shipments – and costs
  • 14%

    lower transportation costs

  • 9%

    fewer FTL shipments

  • 7%

    better truck utilization

Optimized efficiency in complex supply networks

Case study

A global automotive manufacturer used 4flow TORO to optimize inbound shipments, improve transport utilization, and significantly reduce logistics costs across its global supplier network.

Challenge

Managing over 30 sites and thousands of suppliers, the manufacturer aimed to reduce its high LTL costs by integrating material planning and transport optimization into one efficient, automated process.

Solution

  • 4flow TORO automates 25,000+ schedule lines daily via SAP integration
  • Early bundling increases average shipment size and improved efficiency with 1,000+ suppliers
  • First rollout completed in 6 months – with cost savings from day one
  • 17%

    lower transportation costs

  • 35%

    higher average shipment size

  • <0.8%

    added container demand

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FAQs

Yes. 4flow TORO enables a phased rollout by starting with selected suppliers or lanes that have good data. Master data can be continuously improved and enriched during ramp-up.

4flow TORO limits inventory impact by controlling how far orders are preponed. Typically, only 10–20% of order lines need to shift to unlock savings. Users can fine-tune settings per material or lane.

Absolutely. 4flow TORO offers flexible options – from Excel-based workflows to full ERP/TMS integration. Start simple and scale integration at your own pace.

4flow TORO works with or without a TMS. It can operate as a stand-alone system or enhance existing TMS setups by pre-optimizing shipments, improving both efficiency and cost savings.

A first go-live typically takes 2–6 months, depending on your IT setup and scope. The process includes design, integration, testing, training, and go-live preparation in a structured rollout.

By consolidating or splitting call-offs, 4flow TORO improves truck and container utilization, reduces LTL shipments, and delivers up to 20% savings on transportation costs.

Yes. 4flow TORO supports road, sea, and air. It optimizes across FTL, LTL, FCL, LCL, and milk run shipments.

Most customers see ROI in 6-12 months. Key drivers: fewer shipments, better utilization, and lower costs – compared to minimal inventory impact and implementation effort.

4flow TORO dynamically adjusts call-offs within planning windows, balancing material availability and transport efficiency. This reduces disruptions and improves truck utilization.

A TMS executes transportation. 4flow TORO plans ahead – optimizing truck loads before call-offs are sent. 4flow TORO works 1-90 days in advance; a TMS manages shipments up to 48 hours in advance.

Used in combination, 4flow TORO pre-optimizes shipments, enhancing TMS performance for lower costs, higher truck utilization, and fewer disruptions.

You can quickly see your optimization potential in a few clicks with our free online calculator

If you’d like a more detailed analysis of your cost savings potential, or an estimate tailored to your network, our 4flow experts are happy to help. We can calculate your optimization potential for you free of charge based on a sample of your call-off or order data. Contact us to get started.

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Further reading

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