Logistics operators, multimodal carriers, last-mile, e-commerce fulfilment, freight forwarders: the logistics and transport sector in Spain and Portugal is the circulatory heart of the Iberian economy. Madrid is one of Europe's main logistics hubs, Algeciras is the busiest Mediterranean port, Lisbon connects with Latin America and Africa. Behind every package delivered in under 24h there's a chain of systems: TMS, WMS, fleet management, IoT in vehicles and containers, telemetry, route planning — all critical, all integrated, all attackable.
How to prepare an IT decision in logistics and transport
A useful assessment starts with an operational map: sites, users, applications, equipment, vendors, change windows and owners. In logistics and transport, the priority is to understand TMS/WMS, warehouse connectivity and operational traceability; a product list without that context cannot support a comparable option or a realistic scope.
The operating map connects TMS, WMS, ERP, radio-frequency devices, carriers, telemetry and each warehouse link. It identifies processes that can continue in a degraded mode and those that require an alternative before any change.
Testing follows an order from receipt or picking through dispatch and tracking. It also verifies roaming, printing, barcode reads and integration queues, because an available interface does not prove the logistics journey completed.
Handover records dependencies, API owners, coverage zones, device exceptions and metrics by facility. Transport timings describe the client operation and do not become support or attendance promises.
Documentation remains useful through a visible date, version and owner. Assumptions that have not yet been verified stay marked as assumptions and do not become commercial commitments.
Handover records results, exceptions, relevant configuration, tests and subsequent controls. This lets the internal team distinguish a completed improvement from an outstanding dependency and measure the service against data agreed for its environment.
Defined coverage and escalation : service hours, priorities, response targets and third-party escalation are agreed per engagement; permanent availability or a fixed nationwide response is not assumed.
Typical challenges in logistics and transport
- Disconnected systems: TMS and WMS from different vendors talking via manually reprocessed flat files. Corporate ERP disconnected from TMS, nightly manual reconciliation.
- Last-mile without visibility: end customer doesn't know where their shipment is, driver doesn't have an optimized route, ops manager can't dynamically reassign stops.
- Vulnerable connected fleets: modern trucks carry 100+ ECUs on the CAN bus, unauthenticated telemetry, weak backend integration. Attacks on connected fleets are rising.
- NIS2 scope to be validated: applicability, category, obligations and dates are checked against current official rules based on activity, size, country and supply-chain role; the legal or compliance team owns the legal determination.
- Customs and documentation: AEAT, Autoridade Tributária and European customs still demand digital evidence, e-CMR not yet universal in mixed fleets.
- Inefficient cross-dock and picking: legacy WMS, no RF or voice picking, no automation integration (sorters, conveyors), peak-hour bottlenecks.
How we tackle it at Impulso
- TMS-WMS-ERP integration: middleware (MuleSoft, Boomi, n8n by scale) so systems talk in real time. Goodbye to nightly reconciliation.
- Warehouse connectivity: industrial Aruba WiFi covering the entire warehouse, specific segmentation for RFs and voice-picking, redundancy to avoid picking outages during peaks.
- Connected fleet security: VPN for telemetry, MFA on driver TMS mobile access, traffic monitoring from CAN bus to backend, Fortinet segmentation at each operations center.
- Cross-hop visibility: integration with the APIs of major carriers (DHL, SEUR, MRW, NACEX, TIPSA, CTT, Correos) so the end customer has a single tracking pane.
Regulatory framework for Iberian logistics
- e-CMR: Spain and Portugal are signatories. Full legal validity, universal deployment pending.
- Current transport rules: tachograph, documentation and timing requirements are validated by vehicle type, operation, route and registration date against the applicable official source.
- ADR (hazardous goods): digital documentation, driver training, TMS integration.
- GDPR and shipment tracking: recipient personal data, legal basis for tracking, retention. AEPD and CNPD logistics inspections are rising.
- AEAT / AT digitalization: SII, TicketBAI / Veri*factu in Spain, e-Fatura in Portugal — logistics ERP integration for real-time validation.
Why Impulso for Iberian logistics
- Case-by-case on-site coverage: our own team is based in Madrid and, elsewhere in Spain and Portugal, the suitable local resource or nearest available partner is assigned after location, resource, timing, scope and access are confirmed for each request.
- We approach logistics and transport projects from the actual environment, its dependencies and the priorities agreed with the client. Scope is confirmed after reviewing locations, systems, access, risks and owners.
- Planned rollout: each opening or change starts with a survey or inventory, prerequisites, an approved window, acceptance tests and a rollback plan.
- Central visibility for management: per-center dashboard, SLA, cost metrics by system and process.