A lorry leaving the depot at 6 am still generates paper: a printed delivery note, a route sheet in Excel and a phone call to confirm the drop. In a transport SME running 15 vehicles, that manual loop eats between 10 and 15 office hours every week. Custom logistics software removes the duplicated work by connecting what you already run: your ERP, your TMS and your inbox.
Why does your ERP not talk to your TMS?
Most Spanish transport SMEs run three systems that never talk to each other: an ERP for invoicing (Sage, A3 and Navision are the usual suspects), a TMS or an Excel sheet for route planning, and paper delivery notes the driver hands back signed at the end of the day. Every order gets typed two or three times. An admin handling 40 shipments a day spends 2 to 3 hours just copying data from one system into another.
That double entry has a measurable cost. With a typical manual transcription error rate of 2 to 4 percent, a company moving 800 shipments a month generates 16 to 32 incidents: lost delivery notes, miscopied addresses and invoices delayed because the proof of delivery has not come back yet. The problem is not your staff. The problem is that the ERP does not talk to the TMS and everything in between gets patched by hand.
Which processes can a logistics SME digitise first?
Digital delivery notes are the highest-return quick win in transport. The driver signs on a phone, attaches a photo of the delivered goods and the proof of delivery lands in the ERP within seconds instead of at the end of the day. That lets you invoice on the day of delivery rather than waiting 3 to 5 days for the paper to come back. For a fleet of 10 to 20 vehicles, a digital delivery note module with signature and photo capture typically costs between 3,000 and 6,000 EUR.
Fleet and route management is the second block: load assignment, mileage control, maintenance and inspection alerts, and a tracking panel where customers check the status of their delivery instead of phoning your office. Each status call costs 3 to 5 minutes of admin time; at 20 calls a day that adds up to more than 6 hours a week. A simple tracking portal removes almost all of them.
The rule for prioritising is always the same: digitise the process that burns the most hours first, not the flashiest one. Measure how long each task takes over one normal week, multiply it by the real hourly cost of the people doing it and rank the results. Our guide to business process automation explains how to build that ranking with real data before spending a single euro on development.
How does an API integration between TMS and ERP work?
An API integration between your TMS and your ERP is a piece of middleware that reads data from one system and writes it into the other with no human involved. When an order lands in the ERP, the integration creates the shipment in the TMS; when the driver confirms delivery, the proof flows back to the ERP and triggers the invoice. Neither system needs replacing, they just need connecting. A typical integration is delivered in 3 to 6 weeks.
What if your ERP is old and has no API? There are still options: scheduled file exports, direct database reads or vendor-specific connectors. This is the most common scenario in Spanish SMEs running ERPs that are more than 10 years old, and it can be solved in most cases. A 190 EUR technical audit, with an initial diagnosis within 72 hours, tells you which route is viable before you commit any budget.
How much does custom logistics software cost in Spain?
Realistic 2026 figures for a Spanish logistics SME: an integration between email, ERP or CRM runs from 1,500 to 4,000 EUR; a digital delivery note module or a tracking portal sits between 3,000 and 6,000 EUR; and a full fleet management system with TMS-ERP integration can reach 15,000 EUR depending on scope. A medium project is delivered in 3 to 6 weeks, a large one in 2 to 4 months.
The number matters less than how it is agreed. We work with a fixed price closed before the project starts: the same senior engineer who analyses your case writes the quote and delivers the work, with no mid-project surprises and no billable extra hours. If the scope is unclear, the 190 EUR audit, deducted from the project if you go ahead, defines it with a full report in 5 working days.
Typical example: 12 hours a week recovered with an ERP-CRM integration
A common scenario: a logistics SME in the Henares industrial corridor manages orders in its ERP and customers in a separate CRM. Every new order is copied into the CRM by hand, and every rate or address change has to be updated in both systems. At around 60 orders a week, the admin team loses roughly 12 hours a week to copying and cross-checking work that adds nothing for the customer.
How it is solved: a two-way ERP-CRM integration over API, on the order of 5 weeks and within the 1,500 to 4,000 EUR range. Orders are entered once and customer data syncs every 15 minutes. The goal is to recover those 12 hours a week which, at the real cost of an admin role, are worth more than 9,000 EUR a year, with a typical payback under 5 months.
How do you choose a provider without getting locked in?
Before you sign anything, ask three questions: who will actually write the code (the person selling to you or a subcontractor), who owns the code when the project ends, and what happens if you want to switch providers in two years. If the answer to the second question is not that you own it, repository and documentation included, you are buying dependency, not software. In logistics this matters twice as much, because the integration touches the data you invoice with every day.
At ASD Solutions the model is the opposite of the traditional consultancy: a senior in-house team based in Spain, no subcontracting, and the code belongs to the client from day one. If you are looking for a software development company in Madrid that understands logistics, the engineer who quotes your integration is the one who delivers it. And if you want continuity afterwards, a technical retainer from 500 EUR per month covers changes and support.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a TMS-ERP integration cost?
A typical API integration between a TMS and an ERP costs 1,500 to 4,000 EUR, with a fixed price agreed before work starts. If the project includes digital delivery notes or a tracking portal, the range rises to between 3,000 and 15,000 EUR depending on scope. Usual delivery time is 3 to 6 weeks.
Can I digitise delivery notes without changing my ERP?
Yes. A digital delivery note app captures the signature and a delivery photo on the driver's phone and syncs with your current ERP through an API or file exchange. Nothing needs migrating. The direct effect is invoicing on the day of delivery instead of waiting 3 to 5 days for the paper.
What if my ERP has no API?
It can still be integrated using scheduled exports, direct database reads or vendor connectors. That covers most ERPs older than 10 years. A 190 EUR technical audit, with an initial diagnosis in 72 hours and a full report in 5 working days, confirms the viable route before any quote is issued.
Who owns the code when the project ends?
The client, entirely: repository, documentation and credentials are handed over at project close. There are no compulsory monthly licences and no vendor lock-in. Maintenance is optional through a technical retainer from 500 EUR per month, and you can switch providers whenever you want.
How quickly does a project like this pay for itself?
For ERP-TMS or ERP-CRM integrations, 4 to 8 months is typical. The Coslada case recovered 12 admin hours a week, worth more than 9,000 EUR a year, on an investment within the 1,500 to 4,000 EUR range that paid for itself in under 5 months.
