Custom Software Development for Logistics & Supply Chain
Integrated logistics platforms that connect your warehousing, transportation, and inventory operations into a single system built for how your supply chain actually works.
Logistics and supply chain operations run on a patchwork of systems that were never designed to work together. Your TMS handles transportation planning, your WMS manages warehouse operations, your ERP tracks inventory and financials, and your carrier partners each have their own portals and EDI requirements. Between these systems, your team maintains spreadsheets, sends manual emails, and makes phone calls to bridge the gaps that software was supposed to eliminate.
Seattle's position as a Pacific gateway makes supply chain complexity even more acute. Companies moving goods through the Port of Seattle, managing multi-state shipments, and coordinating with carriers across the Pacific Northwest's challenging geography face operational challenges that generic logistics software does not address.
Scale Labs builds custom logistics software for freight brokers, 3PLs, distributors, and supply chain operators who need their technology to match the complexity of their operations. We integrate with your existing TMS, WMS, and ERP systems while building the custom workflows, visibility tools, and automation that off-the-shelf platforms cannot provide.
Common Challenges in logistics
No End-to-End Shipment Visibility
Tracking a shipment from origin to destination requires checking multiple carrier portals, your TMS, and possibly calling the driver. Your customers want real-time updates, but you cannot provide what you cannot see yourself.
Disconnected Systems and Manual Data Entry
Order information entered in your ERP is re-keyed into your TMS, then re-entered into carrier portals. Warehouse receiving data is manually reconciled against purchase orders. Every manual touchpoint is an opportunity for errors that cascade through the supply chain.
Carrier Rate Management Chaos
Negotiated rates with dozens of carriers, each with different accessorial charges, fuel surcharges, and service level agreements. Your team compares rates manually or relies on outdated spreadsheets, leaving money on the table with every shipment.
Inventory Accuracy and Allocation Issues
When warehouse inventory counts, in-transit quantities, and ERP on-hand figures do not match, your team either oversells or carries excess safety stock. Neither option is good for your margins or your customer relationships.
Why Off-the-Shelf Logistics Software Leaves Gaps
The logistics software market is fragmented by design. TMS platforms like MercuryGate, Kuebix, and BluJay focus on transportation planning and execution. WMS platforms like Manhattan Associates, Körber, and Fishbowl focus on warehouse operations. ERP systems like SAP, NetSuite, and Sage handle financials and inventory at a high level. Each does its specific job reasonably well, but none of them provide the integrated operational view that supply chain leaders need.
The integration challenge is not just technical; it is conceptual. A TMS thinks in terms of shipments, a WMS thinks in terms of locations and picks, and an ERP thinks in terms of transactions. Translating between these models requires business logic that is specific to your operation: how you allocate inventory across channels, how you consolidate orders into shipments, how you handle exceptions when a carrier misses a pickup, and how you calculate landed cost across complex multi-leg moves.
For Seattle-based operations, there are additional gaps. International shipments require customs brokerage coordination, CBP compliance, and landed cost calculations that include duties, taxes, and brokerage fees. Pacific Rim imports through the Port of Seattle involve container tracking, drayage coordination, and customs clearance workflows that generic TMS platforms handle poorly if at all.
What Custom Logistics Software Looks Like
Custom logistics software creates the operational intelligence layer that connects your existing systems and fills the workflow gaps between them. Rather than replacing your TMS or WMS, we build the coordination engine that ensures data flows automatically, exceptions are caught early, and your team has real-time visibility across the entire supply chain.
For a 3PL, that might mean a client portal that shows real-time inventory levels, order status, and shipment tracking across all carriers from a single interface. For a distributor, it could be an order orchestration system that automatically allocates inventory, selects the optimal carrier based on cost and service level, and generates BOLs and customs documentation. For an importer, it might be a container tracking and drayage coordination platform that tracks shipments from port of origin through customs clearance and final delivery.
Unified Shipment Visibility Platform
Real-time tracking across all carriers, modes, and legs in a single view. Automated exception alerts when shipments deviate from plan, with configurable escalation workflows that notify the right people at the right time.
Order Orchestration Engine
Automated order-to-shipment processing: inventory allocation, carrier selection based on your rate tables and business rules, document generation, and label printing. Handle the daily order volume that currently requires manual intervention at every step.
Supply Chain Analytics Dashboard
Carrier performance scorecards, cost-per-unit trending, on-time delivery metrics, and warehouse productivity analytics. Make decisions based on data from your operations rather than generic industry benchmarks.
How We Build Logistics Software
Logistics software projects start with mapping your order-to-delivery workflow end to end. We trace how an order flows from entry through inventory allocation, pick and pack, carrier assignment, shipment execution, and delivery confirmation, identifying every manual step, system handoff, and exception handling process along the way.
Integration is the backbone of logistics software. We build EDI connections (204, 210, 214, 990) for carrier communication, API integrations with TMS and WMS platforms, and ERP connections for financial and inventory data. For cross-border operations, we integrate with customs brokerage systems and build compliance checking into the shipment workflow itself.
We design for the operational reality of logistics: high transaction volumes, time-sensitive decisions, and the need for exception handling that accounts for the infinite ways a shipment can go sideways. Our systems process thousands of shipments daily with automated exception detection and configurable escalation rules, so your team focuses on the shipments that need human attention rather than manually reviewing every transaction.
ROI for Logistics Technology
Logistics operates on razor-thin margins, often 3 to 6 percent for freight brokers and 5 to 10 percent for 3PLs. Technology improvements that reduce cost-per-shipment by even 1 to 2 percent have material impact on profitability. Automated carrier selection using your actual rate tables and performance data typically reduces transportation spend by 3 to 8 percent compared to manual selection.
Eliminating manual data entry between systems reduces errors that cascade into costly corrections: misdirected shipments, incorrect invoices, and inventory discrepancies. Our logistics clients typically see error rates drop by 60 to 80 percent after implementing automated data flows between their TMS, WMS, and ERP. For operations processing 500+ shipments per day, the operational hours saved from eliminating manual re-keying alone justify the investment within 6 months.
What We Build for logistics
Multi-Carrier Shipment Visibility Platform
Unified tracking across all carriers and modes, from LTL and FTL to ocean containers and air freight. Real-time status updates, predictive ETA calculations, and automated exception notifications. Customer-facing portal for self-service tracking.
Custom Rate Management and Carrier Selection Engine
Centralized rate database with automated comparison across carriers for each shipment. Factor in transit time, accessorial charges, fuel surcharges, and carrier performance scores. Integrate with your TMS or replace manual rate shopping entirely.
Cross-Border Compliance and Documentation Platform
Automated customs documentation generation for international shipments including commercial invoices, certificates of origin, and CBP filing preparation. Compliance checking against restricted party lists and product classification validation.
Warehouse Operations Intelligence Dashboard
Real-time warehouse productivity metrics: picks per hour, order accuracy, dock-to-stock time, and inventory accuracy. Identify bottlenecks, optimize labor allocation, and track SLA compliance across clients and product categories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can custom software integrate with our existing TMS and WMS?
How do you handle EDI requirements with carriers?
What about real-time tracking across multiple carrier types?
How does custom software handle the volume of a busy logistics operation?
Ready to Connect the Dots in Your Supply Chain?
Tell us about the visibility gap, manual process, or system integration challenge that is limiting your logistics operation. We will show you how custom software eliminates it.