Zencargo, a global digital freight forwarder, empowering businesses to make their supply chain a competitive advantage, is proud to announce the renewal of its partnership with Denkavit with a new two-year contract focused on scaling global exports from the Netherlands to markets worldwide.
For over three years, Denkavit has partnered with Zencargo to manage its outbound ocean freight. Known for its young animal nutrition feed, Denkavit exports from the Netherlands to customers across the globe. The renewed two-year partnership reflects the value Zencargo delivers in enabling supply chain visibility and control.
As Denkavit’s control tower partner, Zencargo oversees all ocean freight bookings and coordinates with carriers and logistics providers to ensure timely, efficient global shipments. The Zencargo platform offers centralised booking management, milestone tracking, and performance insights.
Beyond execution, Zencargo supports Denkavit in optimising carrier performance. This includes providing detailed operational feedback, performance data, and managing escalations. These efforts strengthen partner collaboration and reduce risk across trade lanes.
“Zencargo has become an extension of our team,” said Gerard Van Beek, Logistics Sourcing Manager at Denkavit. “We work together closely on a daily basis to manage bookings, solve issues, and improve carrier performance. Their platform gives us the visibility we need, but it’s the ongoing collaboration and strategic input that drive better outcomes across our operations.”
“Denkavit has a clear vision for quality and reliability across their supply chain,” said Kyle Ingerman, VP Customer Success. “We’re proud to help them deliver on that vision by combining real-time visibility, agile execution, and strategic insights that improve performance year after year.”
Risk mitigation is imperative to reduce the risks of and damage from cyberattacks and other crises, writes Robert Strange (pictured below), Senior Engineer at Neo4j.
Supply chains have evolved into highly connected networks in recent years, driven by technological advancements that have made them ‘smarter’. While these innovations have positively transformed business operations, they have also opened avenues for new vulnerabilities, leaving supply chains susceptible to disruptions in both the physical and digital realms.
The growing risk of cybersecurity is a prime example of these vulnerabilities. The ransomware attack on Blue Yonder, a supply chain management software specialist, highlighted the severe disruptions such incidents can cause. This attack compromised the company’s managed services environment, leading to delays at several grocery and retail stores across the UK – delays not just in delivering goods but also in paying staff and managing schedules.
Blue Yonder’s attack underscores the need for scenario planning and robust mitigation plans to safeguard against these risks. These incidents can bring production to a standstill and significantly disrupt business revenues if plans to contain potential impacts are not mapped out in advance. Data plays a central role in keeping supply chain operations running efficiently and effectively, but the reality is these supply chains are currently not being safeguarded or optimised to withstand real-world disruption. As a result, many businesses are turning their attention to innovative technologies and strategies to strengthen resilience throughout their supply chains.
Overcoming the challenges of supply chain visibility
Supply chains are inherently complex in nature; a vast network of producers, warehouses, transportation systems, distribution ports, and stores from around the world. A single disruption in any part of this network can send the entire system into disarray, making visibility crucial in preventing a domino effect. Nonetheless, extracting valuable insights from raw supply chain data presents its own set of challenges. Traditional data models, which rely on rigid structures of tables, rows, and columns, struggle to effectively capture the intricate relationships between different data sets. Inflexible in their structure, analysts using these models have limited ability to extract valuable insights that could inform a response to disruption.
Mapping connections for smarter supply chains
This is where graph databases come into play. Traditional data models struggle with complex relationships, while graph databases offer a more dynamic approach. In this model, ‘nodes’ represent entities, like people, products, or locations, while ‘edges’ represent the relationship between two nodes – i.e., how they are connected to one another. The unique structure of graph databases is especially valuable for supply chain professionals wanting to benefit from digitally visualising their supply chain as the interconnected network that it is.
Rob Strange – Neo4j
To optimise transportation, a supply chain organisation could, for instance, create nodes to represent each wholesaler and retailer. These could be connected by edges to show the distances between them. Then, by running the appropriate query or request in the data model, the analyst should be provided with what should be the ‘best’ – fastest and cheapest – supplier from which goods can be transported ready for purchasing.
Understanding the relationship between different entities in advance can also be invaluable when dealing with unexpected disruption. Take the crisis in the Red Sea, for instance, where shipping companies are facing rising costs and delays due to rebel attacks. Graph technology could allow those managing supply chains to identify alternative routes or solutions pre-emptively, ensuring goods reach suppliers more efficiently, enhancing resilience, and minimising disruption.
The power of graph databases lies in their ability to map complex relationships between entities, making them a crucial tool for uncovering insights. Supply chains, which operate as networked structures, are naturally suited to this model, while the rigid format of traditional models makes it much harder to reveal these relationships.
Predicting and preventing disruption with digital twins
Supply chain resilience isn’t just a case of managing physical disruptions, it’s also about preparing better responses to those in the digital realm. Cyberattacks can significantly disrupt digital operations. As such, businesses are exploring digital twin technology as a tool for proactively combatting potential issues before they arise and conducting post-incident analysis.
Organisations are creating virtual replicas of their supply chains called ‘knowledge graphs’ to test different scenarios and predict multiple outcomes of cybersecurity risks. This means a connected, virtual model provides a comprehensive view of the supply chain and allows companies to understand how these systems interact at both a granular and holistic level. This picture encompasses the users and the groups they belong to, and the permissions granted to each member. As recurring or interconnected events are captured over time, the digital twin becomes more accurate. This enables both cybersecurity and supply chain analysts to act swiftly and more effectively while informing how they respond in the future.
Making these connections visible to cybersecurity analysts helps identify the most critical vulnerabilities and the potential attack paths that threaten resources. Analysts can then assess the likelihood of successful attacks by attaching the probabilities to each of those pathways, enabling them to reinforce security measures accordingly.
This insight is valuable because it clearly signposts when organisations need to map out other viable routes, reassess transit times, and evaluate cost implications. By combining cybersecurity modelling with supply chain optimisation, organisations create a powerful strategy that allows them to stay ahead of disruptions and re-prioritise resources in quicker succession.
Getting a grip on future events
As supply chains become more interconnected and worldly disruptions more unpredictable, organisations should aim to make the most of their connected data. By leveraging graph databases, companies can uncover insights into the relationships within their data, allowing them to proactively identify vulnerabilities and navigate uncertainty with confidence.
Recent rises in ocean freight rates in response to increased shipping demand has thus far had little impact on global port congestion, according to data released today by supply chain visibility and collaboration platform Beacon.
Shipping rates continue to rise globally, causing concern for port congestion (a combination of vessel anchor and dwell time) in the world’s largest ports. However, aside from the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan (China), the world’s largest container port, the knock- on effects of surging demand for ocean freight have not yet been uniformly experienced across ports in Asia, North America, and Northern Europe.
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan has seen a dramatic increase in congestion between April and May 2024, escalating from 4.6 to 8.7 days, while other major ports show varying levels of impact. A detailed analysis of 40 ports across Asia revealed that 22 reported increases in congestion in May compared to April. The average increase for these ports was 6.4 hours. In North America, out of 9 analysed ports, only 3 (Charleston, Oakland, and Houston) showed month-on-month increases between April and May. In Northern Europe, 5 of 11 analysed ports reported MoM increases, with Hamburg experiencing the largest rise at just over 10 hours.
Fraser Robinson (pictured below), CEO of Beacon, said: “While the increase in freight rates is contributing to port congestion globally, the impact varies significantly across different regions and ports. The global logistics landscape continues to evolve, requiring ongoing monitoring and adaptive strategies to mitigate the effects of congestion and maintain efficient supply chain operations. That is why supply chain visibility and collaboration is more important now than ever, to help minimise the impact of external threats and improve overall supply chain efficiency.”
Fraser Robinson, Beacon CEO
A detailed data breakdown follows, including a list of the top 5 ports with the largest increase in congestion between April and May. You can also download the full report here.
Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan saw port congestion nearly double between April and May 2024, escalating from 4.6 to 8.7 days. This sharp increase continues a trend of worsening congestion at the port this year . As a critical node in global supply chains, the increased congestion at Ningbo-Zhoushan underscores the port’s perpetual struggle with high traffic volumes.
An analysis of 40 ports across Asia revealed that 22 reported increases in congestion in May compared to April. The average increase for these ports was 0.3 days or 6.4 hours. Excluding Ningbo-Zhoushan from the analysis, the average increase drops to below 2 hours, indicating relatively stable conditions across most Asian ports. On a quarterly basis, only 13 out of the 40 analysed ports reported increased congestion.
In North America, out of 9 analysed ports, only 3 (Charleston, Oakland, and Houston) showed MoM increases between April and May. Quarterly comparisons indicate that only Charleston and Norfolk experienced congestion increases in Q2 compared to Q1, with Norfolk’s rise likely linked to diverted traffic from the nearby Baltimore bridge incident.
Northern European ports have seen a more pronounced increase in congestion. Out of 11 analysed ports, 5 reported MoM and QoQ increases. Hamburg experienced the largest rise, with congestion increasing by 0.4 days or just over 10 hours between April and May. Southampton (UK) showed a significant upward trend, with congestion up by 25% from the previous quarter, averaging 1.4 days this quarter.
The pandemic, Brexit, ongoing geopolitical conflicts, and rising inflation have placed unprecedented pressure on the global logistics industry. Soaring material costs, wavering customer demand, and disrupted shipping patterns are just some of the challenges businesses are continuing to face as a result.
Against a backdrop of such unpredictability, flexibility and adaptability remain crucial for logistics businesses. It enables them to better adapt to unexpected shifts in market conditions. While some businesses have sought to nearshore manufacturing operations or diversify suppliers in an attempt to wrestle back some control over the uncertain landscape, many neglect to consider how internal processes could hold more of the answers.
Although back-office accounting systems are rarely a focus for logistics leaders, modern cloud finance platforms can knit seamlessly together with other fundamental business systems to provide valuable features and insights. It can equip teams with better, more comprehensive data that can be used to make meaningful business decisions to maximise flexibility and opportunities for growth.
Strategic stock management
One of the crucial areas in which businesses can leverage data to enhance flexibility is stock management. Interoperable accounting systems can interact with, and share information across, other mission-critical programmes from third-party providers, including inventory management, to bring all the crucial data in one place. Stock levels can be scrutinised alongside financial and operational data in real-time so inventory can be scaled up or down strategically. This data-driven strategic stock management can help reduce the amount of money being held in stock that’s not being required at the expected rate, or unlikely to be used soon. This can free up the budget to be reallocated elsewhere, allowing logistics businesses to accommodate new priorities quickly.
Increased visibility and real-time reporting
Logistics managers need access to a detailed and up-to-date breakdown of costs to help inform decisions across the business. Interoperable systems automatically replicate data across systems, eliminating the need for error-prone rekeying or manual reporting and allowing users to easily extract relevant data. They can see cost data across different areas, including warehousing, labour, fuel and shipping, to evaluate spend and take fluctuating prices and market conditions into account. This granular visibility allows managers to quickly identify over or underspending, inefficiencies, and unnecessary expenses. They can then quickly and easily reallocate funds where they’re needed most. This visibility allows businesses to keep their fingers on the pulse of changing conditions and act quickly to maximise opportunities.
Greater insight also brings benefits to cash flow and helps teams ensure there’s enough liquidity to meet operational needs. With constant moving parts and continuous billing and payment cycles, managing all the moving parts can be a challenge. Yet, this data-driven insight, enabled by a centralised cloud finance platform, allows businesses to plan more effectively for unforeseen expenses or take advantage of opportunities that require quick financial action.
Streamlining operations with enhanced activity insights
With a comprehensive view of key operational information across the business, logistics leaders have all the information they need to optimise operations and streamline processes at their fingertips. It can help identify frequent sticking points or inefficiencies across the business and equip the business with the data they need to take effective action. Frequent errors in manual order picking, for example, and the knock-on impact on business finances, could indicate the need for new automated technologythat would quickly overcome challenges. This means resources can be adjusted accordingly, with employee time and effort being reallocated to more strategic and fulfilling business activities. This insight and data can be leveraged with individual expertise to deliver a better overall business outcome.
Final thoughts
The data and insight offered by modern, interoperable cloud financial systems provide a more granular and accurate picture of what’s going on in the business, the data-based evidence to make strategic changes, and the ability to identify and mitigate risks early on. This agility is crucial in adapting to rapidly changing market conditions, unexpected disruptions and new opportunities. While there’s a hope that the geopolitical landscape will settle somewhat in 2024, the businesses that take full advantage of their accounting software and operate with good visibility, control and flexibility will be better placed to weather the storm.
By Pascal Chandler (pictured), business consultant at cloud-based accountancy software bluQube
Kinaxis® Inc. (TSX: KXS), an authority in driving agility for fast, confident decision-making in an unpredictable world, announces that Alstom, global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, has confirmed the choice of Kinaxis’ solution to support the management of its industrial planning.
From high-speed trains, metros, monorails, and trams, to turnkey systems, services, infrastructure, signalling and digital mobility, Alstom offers its diverse customers the broadest portfolio in the industry. The company is present in 70 countries, and runs over 50 rolling stock and components production sites. Faced with increasing demand, the company has realised in recent years the need to equip itself with a powerful planning platform to engage with its customers and meet delivery deadlines and to identify and manage risks that could disrupt its supply chain and production.
The industrial complexity faced by Alstom and the increase of its production capacities, made it necessary to implement a transparent, agile, and accurate planning on all its rolling stock and components production sites, nine of which are users of the Kinaxis RapidResponse® solution since 2014. Thanks to the renewal of its agreement with Kinaxis, Alstom will progressively extend its use of RapidResponse to all its rolling stock and components’ sites.
“Kinaxis is today seen by the market as one of the leaders in supply chain planning. Our production constraints – similar to those encountered in the aeronautical industry – made us naturally turn to Kinaxis which has a strong expertise in this sector,” said Francis Henrard, Alstom Supply Chain Director. “Already mastered by our teams, its solution will allow us to accelerate our transformation plan by homogenising the processes and our methodology on all the sites and gain in efficiency.”
Kinaxis’ RapidResponse solution will enable Alstom’s teams to make the best decisions in a constantly disrupted environment by creating plans aligned with customer demand and simulating a wide range of planning scenarios while taking into account its commercial and operational constraints. This ensures that the company can most effectively arbitrate its launches, ramp-ups and potential production shifts according to its commercial commitments and corporate objectives.
The platform will integrate industrial planning to the existing ERP core model and extend end-to-end supply chain visibility to internal and external suppliers. It will also remove silos, improve business agility and planning performance.
“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with a leader like Alstom and help them gain agility and visibility in their supply chain planning.” said John Sicard, CEO of Kinaxis. “In these times of disruption, it is necessary for many companies to be agile to deal with the unexpected and to be able to get an immediate view of business risks and opportunities. This is exactly what our solutions allow Alstom to achieve.”
Everyday volatility and uncertainty demand quick action. Kinaxis® delivers the agility to make fast, confident decisions across integrated business planning and the digital supply chain. People can plan better, live better and change the world. Trusted by innovative brands, we combine human intelligence with AI and concurrent planning to help companies plan for any future, monitor risks and opportunities and respond at the pace of change. Powered by an extensible, cloud-based platform, Kinaxis delivers industry-proven applications so everyone can know sooner, act faster and remove waste.
Nexxiot, a pioneer in logistics digitisation and a leading provider of TradeTech solutions, has launched its new Nexxiot Cargo Monitor, a revolutionary sensor device which, it says, delivers unbeatable connectivity and data performance in a compact, easy-to-use design. The Nexxiot Cargo Monitor promises to revolutionise global cargo shipping by delivering unprecedented real-time visibility of the location, status, and condition of shipments anywhere in the world.
“There are approximately 40 million standard intermodal shipping containers in use around the world today, most of which are not tracked in any way,” said Matilda Bouchet, Managing Director, Head of Cargo at Nexxiot. “Until now, shippers and cargo stakeholders have had little to no visibility to their goods in transit. Nexxiot’s new Cargo Monitor device seeks to completely shift the paradigm by providing end-to-end visibility and critical data in a rugged, cost-effective, and easy-to-deploy package.”
The Nexxiot Cargo Monitor can be used to monitor the transportation of high-value and sensitive products, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, textiles, conditions-sensitive industrial products, electronics and more. The device is simply attached to the cargo within the shipping container. Nexxiot’s proprietary, purpose-built software provides a seamless user experience to identify cargo-damaging shocks, excessive humidity, condensation, temperature, cargo provenance, and security issues. The sensor can also connect to Wireless Maritime Services (WMS) which provides connectivity on ocean vessels at sea via cellular and IoT networks.
Users of the Nexxiot Cargo Monitor will have access to data-driven insights via intelligent cloud. Nexxiot’s leading TradeTech hardware is combined with powerful algorithms and innovative data science to deliver superior supply chain intelligence. The Nexxiot Cargo Monitor provides functionality across a wide range of cargo types and specific stakeholder needs that no other trade monitoring solution can achieve.
Other benefits of the Nexxiot Cargo Monitor include:
Complete visibility taken from prime data, direct from the cargo itself. Cargo owners receive information on location, conditions, handling events and get safety related assurances.
Shippers can prove the location, status, cargo quality and can demonstrate process accountability and transparency on delivery times to the receiver.
Carriers can improve safety performance and reduce issues resulting from mis-declaration of cargo.
Data is used to accelerate essential processes including freight declarations, customs checks and stowage planning to reduce journey times.
“The global supply chain has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years,” continued Bouchet. “Resource insecurity, geopolitics, blockages, and interruptions all serve to highlight humanity’s dependence on transported cargo to maintain a high quality of life. Manufacturers, retailers, and consumers increasingly expect to receive information on cargo location and quality. The new Nexxiot Cargo Monitor represents a quantum leap forward in supply chain visibility and intelligence.”
The Nexxiot Cargo Monitor incorporates several advancements in technology including a uniquely powerful transceiver with innovative antenna design and ultra-low power consumption. This sends essential data so cargo stakeholders can access critical information on the exact status of their cargo anywhere in the world, empowering cargo owners and shippers with unprecedented visibility of their goods.
The hardware device also includes on-board power management and recharging, diverse sensing capabilities, powerful connectivity, over-the-air firmware updates and a robust industrial design. These technical features put this new sensor in a class of its own. Active for 90 days, the data transmission is guaranteed for the entire length of the journey, even in longer international supply chains, no matter which route the cargo takes.
The new sensor joins Nexxiot’s most powerful TradeTech hardware line-up ever and is available to order now.
Whether it’s Superman, Batman or the Avengers: The German licensee of these motifs is relying on Setlog’s software OSCA to better manage its supply chain for the production and transportation of clothing with movie and comic motives.
The German marketing specialist for textiles and accessories of popular licensed brands signed a contract with Setlog at the end of 2021. With that, the company set the foundation to be up to date in terms of digitisation of supply chain management. Setlog’s OSCA SCM and OSCA CSR modules will go live at the end of the first quarter of 2022.
“With OSCA SCM, we can track our orders digitally via a transparent supply chain. We chose Setlog’s tool since it is the best solution in an international benchmark,” emphasises Holger Schmies, Managing Director and co-owner of the company. One of the reasons why the enterprise also uses OSCA CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is to be able to comply effortlessly with the regulations from future supply chain due diligence laws.
OSCA is easy to implement and makes it possible to quickly manage and control all supply chain processes. “The software replaces emails, Excel lists and last-minute calls about delivery changes,” explains Ralf Duester, board member of Setlog.
Whether Disney, Warner Bros, Marvel, Peanuts or Paw Patrol – the German licensee is holding licenses for popular comic and movie heroes. Textiles with prints of the characters are produced up to 85% in the Far East – the rest in Portugal and Turkey. In the future, the company will transmit all orders from its ERP system to its two dozen suppliers directly via Setlog’s software.
From order confirmation and delivery planning to transport bookings and shipments, the SCM software always serves as a central communication hub for all partners along the supply chain. With the software, the company can control costs, volumes, lead times, transport times and routing, carton packing lists (including label generation) as well as delivery dates.
The four logistics service providers the licensee works with will transfer transport notifications and tracking data directly into the Setlog platform to thus supporting a single point of access. For a digital data exchange of order and transport information with the TMS solutions of the forwarding companies, Setlog has developed a REST API interface. A KPI dashboard visualises the most important key figures for the employees.
All partners in the supply chain are informed simultaneously and in real-time as soon as delivery data changes or delays occur. Once OSCA goes live, all shipments will run through the system. For 2022, the company expects between 250 and 300 FCL container as well as LCL shipments to be centrally controlled and handled this way.
To easily comply with the regulations of future supply chain due diligence laws in the EU and Germany, the fast-growing company relies on the OSCA CSR solution. Within the system, the structures and tier levels of global supply chains are displayed transparently. New supply chain partners can easily be integrated into the system. Suppliers, agencies, factories and other upstream partners are added according to a standardised onboarding process.
“Due to our growth in sales, server space for certificates, email traffic and the work of the CSR department increased. With the help of OSCA CSR, we want to reduce these burdens and bring transparency to the processes,” explains Schmies.
The benefits of the solution include:
Easy tracking of audits as well as certifications including an early warning system that strikes as soon as the validity of the documents expires.
Violations of regulations can be classified and tracked in an uncomplicated manner.
The regulations (e.g. the Code of Conduct) are clearly presented and can be distributed simultaneously to all partners involved in the respective process.
Surveys to partners can be created and distributed quickly. The user can easily filter out unprocessed surveys.
Background
The topics of sustainability and certification are very important to the company. Some of the products are produced according to cradle-to-cradle principles. “Our suppliers completely disclose which materials are used for production and guarantee that no materials harmful to the health are used for this. The water for production comes from the company’s own water cycle and the electricity used comes from water or solar energy,” says Schmies.
In addition, the licensee manufactures textile products that are STANDARD 100 by Oeko certified. The company works in the Better Cotton Initiative, where farmers are trained to produce cotton in an environmental-friendly way, thereby increasing their income. The management is also committed to the Organic 100 Content Standard (OCS) and operates under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
The enterprise is also part of the Amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). This means that the company not only commits itself to high social standards and sustainability, but also ensures compliance with social and labour law conditions by auditing its production partners.
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