In our research commissioned by Kaleris, the report highlighted the disparity in connectivity perceived between terminals and shippers. While terminals have advanced technology to provide sufficient operational transparency, shippers feel the visibility they receive falls short of their needs. 87% of terminals we surveyed think they provide adequate, good, or very good visibility. In contrast, approximately 25% of shippers think they receive good or very good visibility.
Terminals and shippers report that they only use 60-75% of the available functionality of their execution systems; 40% of those same terminals and shippers report that they have lost business because of this.
The capabilities of existing technologies are not always realised. In some cases, this is simply down to a lack of understanding of the system’s full functionalities. In other cases, it’s due to the interoperability that exists between systems. While advanced tools and platforms do well to enhance visibility in each node of the supply chain, these technologies rarely work well together. The lack of interoperability between systems triggers the silo of data, which leads to gaps in communication between today’s key supply chain technology systems. This interoperability also means that data and information ultimately end up transferred manually, which stifles productivity.
Addressing these challenges requires an approach that focuses on both leveraging existing solutions and connecting platforms to drive a more integrated digital ecosystem. Trading partners and technology companies that use as close as possible to 100% of the capabilities of their existing technology and prioritise integrations will drive a connected digital infrastructure across systems and partners. Rather than focusing solely on acquiring new systems, organisations should prioritise investing in ways to fully leverage and optimise their existing technology. This requires investing in the people that are required to understand and operate these systems.
Visibility platforms alone are not sufficient to resolve the challenges facing today’s supply chains. While they provide the foundation for understanding operations; a resilient and agile supply chain requires stakeholders to adopt an end-to-end visibility approach that enables actionable insights that are deeply integrated with execution. By using platforms designed to work together, supporting interoperability, and prioritising the full utilisation of existing technologies, the industry can move towards a more connected and resilient digital ecosystem.
The following recommendations in this article and article number twelve have been made to help bridge the visibility gap between terminals and their customers and ultimately enable better execution.
- Assess current technology capabilities.
As with any project, the first step is to assess the current situation. The well-known saying, ‘what gets measured gets improved,’ holds true for terminal operators and shippers seeking to improve operations. But you can’t measure what you can’t see, and therefore you can’t make decisions on information you don’t have.
Terminals and shippers need to first determine if their technological solutions are appropriate to enhance their operational execution. It may be that there has been investments in visibility solutions for one particular, siloed benefit, but these solutions lack the connection to other systems to be a successful foundation for advanced analytics, AI and visibility. Terminal operators and shippers must therefore assess the technologies and critically analyse where the tangible benefits are being generated. Are these technologies a good foundation for an advanced data strategy?
Discover more recommendations in next week’s article, or download the report now to read on.
For further insight into the areas highlighted in this article, download our thought leadership report, The Great Divide, created in partnership with Kaleris.
