A successful visibility strategy lays the foundations for an execution strategy that optimises terminal operations, improves efficiency, and ultimately ensures seamless cargo handling to meet customer expectations. The following three articles in this series of twelve explores how supply chain players can better leverage existing and new technologies to build a connected digital infrastructure.
Real time connectivity
Real-time connectivity ensures that all supply chain players have immediate access to relevant data, enabling faster, proactive decision-making. This is crucial for handling delays, such as equipment failures or congestion, and allows stakeholders to adjust schedules or reroute cargo as needed.
Terminal customers require live information to optimise cargo handling and routing, mitigate delays, and make decisions that improve customer satisfaction. For example, a shipper might reroute cargo to avoid congested terminals or adjust downstream logistics, such as warehouse scheduling, in response to a hold up in processing at a terminal. If the terminal experiences a failure in equipment that slows down the transfer of cargo across the terminal, the shipper also needs to know in real-time so that they can make proactive and timely decisions to minimise the risk of delayed cargo. This agility is especially useful when handling time-sensitive or high-value shipments.Â
Real-time connectivity also supports automated alerts. These have the potential to significantly improve a terminal’s visibility success. For example, if there is a delay in unloading due to high vessel volumes, automated alerts to stakeholders allow them time to adjust schedules, reallocate resources, or notify their customers or partners. Another example where automated alerts are critical to the business outcome is in the transport of perishable goods. For instance, a company is importing perishable goods and there are delays, resulting in temperature changes within a container. The shipper needs to be informed immediately so that it can contact the shipping company and potentially reroute its container to a temperature-controlled facility to save the shipment. By using container tracking alerts, all stakeholders involved in that shipment can be made aware of the issues and proactive decision making can be made to avoid costly losses.
Standardised and accurate data
Robust data validation, cleansing processes, and standardised formats are essential for ensuring accuracy and reliability across the supply chain. Automated quality checks further enhance this by identifying and correcting inconsistencies, helping terminals and shippers avoid errors such as incorrect ETAs or cargo status updates. Standardised data is foundational for uniting supply chain stakeholders and achieving interoperability. Consistent standards facilitate seamless data flow across applications, ensuring users can trust and effectively utilise the information. By enhancing data quality at the source, data standards eliminate the need for costly, time- consuming data sourcing and cleaning.
Clearly defined access protocols are equally important, specifying who can access what data, under what conditions, and at what frequency. This prevents redundancy, unauthorised access, and ensures stakeholders receive only the information relevant to their operations. (EDI) and API-enabled standards enable swift and consistent data sharing, preventing silos and fostering integrated views of inventory, demand, and transportation. This integration leads to better forecasting, enhanced customer service, and stronger supplier relationships.
For further insight into the areas highlighted in this article, download our thought leadership report, The Great Divide, created in partnership with Kaleris.
