Third-party logistics provider (3PL) Menlo Worldwide Logistics has launched a set of transportation management tools that the company says will help shippers apply lean processes to transportation.

Menlo, an international logistics subsidiary of Con-way Inc., says the new tools use lean continuous improvement principles to better manage transportation networks. For example, Anthony Oliverio, vice president, supply chain services for Menlo says the new lean tools make use of value stream mapping to identify network issues. "We collaborate with customers to determine which [issues] to attack," he said during an interview at the Council of Supply Chain Management's annual conference in Philadelphia.

This is not a completely new move for the company. Menlo says it has applied lean practices in the past in distribution centers and other facilities that it manages for its customers.

The company now offers two primary services within the Menlo Transportation Services portfolio. Its Solution Engineering service uses technology tools to help clients design regional or global transportation networks. This service assesses customers' current networks and designs, tests alternative models, and provides roadmaps for implementing and evaluating those.

The company's more traditional Transportation Management service uses Menlo personnel and software to execute transportation-related transactions across all modes and geographies. Those include sourcing, contract management, tendering and managing shipments, providing visibility to orders and transportation transactions, settling and paying freight charges, tracking and managing claims, and generating performance analytics.