Despite the benefits of operations visibility and the technologies that are available today to facilitate it, our research created in partnership with Kaleris found that there is a disconnect between the visibility that terminal operators believe they provide and the visibility that shippers feel they receive. In this article we will explore a number of contributing factors, focusing on the role of underutilised technology.
A knock-on effect of poor system integration and interoperability is that the capabilities of technologies are often underutilised. There are two primary causes of this. One is down to unfamiliarity of the full functionalities and the other is a lack of technology proficiency. 55% of terminal operators surveyed for this research said they use 60-75% of the full functionality of their execution technology. Only 15% confirmed they use 90% or more. On the shipper and customer side, 64% believe they use no more than 60% of the available functionality of their execution technology and 14% admitted they are not familiar with the full functionality of their systems at all. 88% of terminal operator participants also admitted that they do not receive adequate training on their execution technology the majority of the time.
The result of this is digital friction. This refers to the unnecessary efforts employees outside of IT spend on analytics and technology activities to complete a task. Eventually, employees become frustrated and less motivated to engage with these technologies. In turn, this can reduce productivity and increase the risk of poor decision making. One example where this problem exists is with the application of the PCS. Research by the World Bank Group found that many stakeholders lack clarity on the functionalities, benefits, and potential challenges associated with these systems.
One port operator told Thetius that sometimes the operational functions that are performed at a terminal are handled by union employees. There is very little training involved around data, which often leads to input errors. The port operator explained that streamlining operational processes to shift the focus for union employees from just inputting data to verifying that the data is correct is important.
The knock-on impact of employees not receiving the support and training they require to use technologies is high supply chain turnover. This is a significant barrier to optimising supply chain operations as it results in a loss of critical knowledge that is not effectively passed down. New hires require time to familiarise themselves with the organisation and its processes. This has the potential to lead to a dip in productivity and customer satisfaction as new hires may not perform as efficiently as experienced employees.
Another impact is the concept known as innovation standstill. This happens when talented workers leave an organisation because they do not feel that their skills are being fostered. This leaves organisations vulnerable to competitors taking over. Despite these findings, it is important to note that according to our survey, 49% of terminal operators are prioritising better leveraging their current technology investments to the fullest potential through additional training and process improvements. This indicates that there is a desire to work towards using existing technologies more effectively.
For further insight into the areas highlighted in this article, download our thought leadership report, The Great Divide, created in partnership with Kaleris.
