The Future of B2B OMS: From Order Routing to Freight Automation

In today’s retail landscape, brands are asked to do more with less: more channels, more warehouses, more ship-to locations — and all with thinner margins. Traditional order management systems (OMS) were built to capture and process orders, while transportation management systems (TMS) handled freight planning and booking.

But in a world where one purchase order might need to be split across three warehouses, and freight costs can make or break profitability, OMS and TMS can no longer live in silos. The future is about convergence — a single system that manages both orders and freight, seamlessly.

Why the Old Model No Longer Work

Historically, the workflow looked like this:

1. 1. OMS: Capture the purchase order, validate against inventory, generate a pick/pack/ship order.
2. 2. TMS: Hand off fulfillment details to a separate system or broker, manually book carriers, and track shipments.

This separation made sense when brands ran from a single warehouse or fulfilled in bulk to a few large retailers. But as networks expanded, the cracks showed:

• Order complexity: Retailers now send POs to dozens of stores simultaneously.
• Multiple warehouses: Inventory is distributed coast-to-coast for speed and cost.
• Freight volatility: Costs swing daily, and manual routing can add six figures in waste annually.
  
  

The result? Brands juggling two systems, two workflows, and double the manual work.

The Case for Convergence

Modern retail distribution demands that order management and freight execution operate as one continuous process. That means:

• Orders routed in real time to the warehouse that provides the best combination of inventory availability, proximity, and shipping cost.
• Freight booked automatically at the point of order allocation — no emails, spreadsheets, or broker calls.
• Data unified so finance, operations, and retail partners all see the same shipment status and cost performance.
  
  
  This isn’t just operational efficiency — it’s a strategic shift. Converged OMS/TMS creates competitive advantage by lowering costs, accelerating fulfillment, and providing retailers with the reliability they demand.

What Automation Makes Possible

• Auto-split POs: A single Target order for 20 stores is distributed intelligently across warehouses in seconds.

• Optimize freight in-platform: Choose carriers dynamically based on cost, SLA, or retailer requirements.
• Eliminate manual approvals: Once configured, rules route and book automatically.
• Track true landed cost per order: Visibility into freight spend tied directly to each PO.

Real-World Example

One Skupreme client previously ran OMS and TMS separately. Orders were assigned in their OMS, then emailed to a broker for freight booking. Each cycle involved hours of manual coordination, delays, and inflated freight spend.

By adopting Skupreme’s converged OMS/TMS automation:

• Orders are routed instantly across three warehouses.
• Freight is booked natively inside the platform.
• The company now saves six figures annually on freight, while processing POs in minutes instead of hours.
  
  
  This isn’t an isolated story — it’s the new baseline for competitive retail distribution.
  
  

Looking Ahead

• From inventory publishing…
• To order routing…
• To freight execution…
• To real-time retailer visibility.

The Bottom Line

The era of separate OMS and TMS systems is ending. The future is integrated, automated, and intelligent.

Brands that embrace this shift will cut hidden costs, scale retail distribution seamlessly, and position themselves as preferred partners to retailers.

In the next article in our series, we’ll get tactical: “How to Automate Retail Distribution Without Adding Headcount."