Tag: visibility

To better understand the state of European supply chains, FourKites, the real-time supply chain visibility platform, partnered with Reuters Events to survey over 450 supply chain leaders across the continent, with particular emphasis on the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. The responses represent a broad perspective of the concerns and challenges surrounding European supply chains, sustainability and the role of real-time visibility in streamlining operations.

Coming in the midst of ongoing disruptions caused by COVID-19, State of the European Supply Chain: Logistics, Sustainability and Visibility Report 2022 reveals that the demand shock, labour shortages, port disruptions and capacity constraints have accelerated the adoption of supply chain visibility solutions throughout Europe. However, while many companies have adopted new digital practices, more than 60% of European companies admitted they’re slow to react to changing trends in logistics technologies, according to the report.

Key findings include:

• Over half of all respondents are currently using supply chain visibility solutions, but one-third (33%) are having trouble improving data-driven processes such as forecasting, receiving operations and labour.
• The majority of respondents (67%) cited end-to-end freight traceability as their biggest pain point when transporting goods.
• More than half of respondents (63%) cited carriers providing inaccurate ETAs as a persistent problem.

“If we have visibility, we can be efficient and flexible,” said Ferenc Polgar, Global Distribution Operational Excellence Lead at Bayer. “We can communicate delays to our customers so they can adjust their operations and improve their experience. We can be more effective during peak distribution periods to make sure plans are going accordingly.”

“Being able to see your goods in transit is one piece of the puzzle, but it doesn’t help navigate the many disruptions and delays that inevitably take place once the product leaves the ship or warehouse,” said Matt Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites. “For that reason, the paradigm is shifting to full end-to-end supply chain visibility, wherein the goal is total predictive visibility across the entire supply chain, enabling proactive risk management vs. reactive problem-solving.”

Pain points vary

Looking at their three biggest pain points in transporting goods, respondents from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands had surprisingly different answers:

• The UK was relatively balanced, with 71% of respondents citing end-to-end freight traceability, carrier relationships, and dwell times as their biggest pain points.
• In the Netherlands, 75% of retailers and manufacturers said their biggest pain point was carrier relationships.
• In Germany, 100% of respondents were struggling with ensuring end-to-end freight traceability.

Overall, respondents indicated supply chain visibility improved their planning and inventory management (60%), customer service (56%) and increased efficiency (38%). In the Netherlands, 40% saw an improvement to customer service whereas in Germany that number was even higher at 100%. Meanwhile, in the UK 63% said that improved planning and inventory management is the primary benefit of visibility.

Even the most commonly used mode of transportation also varied widely across the continent: 63% of UK respondents cited full truckload as their key mode of freight, while 80% of Netherlands respondents are using less than truckload, and 100% of German respondents are transporting freight by air, both domestically and internationally.

Sustainability is a priority

The survey illustrates that sustainability is top of mind for today’s supply chain leaders. Over 80% indicated that they were either holding steady (44%) or increasing (40%) their commitment to sustainability, emphasising the urgency with which businesses understand they are required to act.

The two key supply chain sustainability goals articulated by respondents were the reduction of carbon emissions in transportation (39%) and manufacturing (31%), as well as the reduction of non-renewable packaging materials (31%). However, over a quarter of respondents also reported mapping sustainability impact throughout their supply chain as a challenge to modernising transportation assets.

“We use supply chain visibility data to understand better where there’s waste within the supply chain. Where do we have excessive empty miles?” said Paul Avampato, Head of International Logistics at Henkel. “We believe by reducing dwell time that we can keep the network moving smoother. The more we reduce dwell time, the less trucks that you have to put on the road.”

CLICK HERE to read the full report.

It’s not a matter of if disruptions will occur in the supply chain, it’s only a matter of time until the unexpected strikes and creates an exception. An exception does not necessarily guarantee a late delivery; it simply means a roadblock or challenge has arisen that requires immediate attention. This is why end-to-end visibility in a supply chain is so important, according to Boston (US)-based asset tracking company Tive.

The more real-time information you have regarding the location and condition of shipments the more proactive you can be with exception management. Immediately informing customers of any issues and the steps being taken to mitigate them will go a long way toward nurturing customers into brand ambassadors that will help grow your business.

Let’s take a closer look at shipping exceptions and the need for strong exception management in supply chains and how a lack of end-to-end visibility can hinder those efforts. As an added bonus, we offer five sure-fire ways an end-to-end visibility solution can help improve exception management in any supply chain.

Exception management in supply chains

There are plenty of reasons why delivery exceptions occur with in-transit packages. Here are a few of the most common:

Inaccurate shipping labels – Among the most common of all delivery exceptions occurs when the address on a package’s label is incorrect, unclear, incomplete, or undeliverable. It can take several hours or even days to track down the correct information manually.

Missed drop-off – Even when the delivery driver shows up on time and to the correct location, an exception occurs because no one is there to sign for a package that requires a signature to complete the final-mile delivery process.

The package goes MIA – Arguably the most severe exception, a package that goes missing for whatever reason could take days, weeks or even longer to locate.

Inclement weather or another force majeure – Winter storms, tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires are just a few examples of the things Mother Nature can dish out that lead to delivery delays.

Damaged packages – Sometimes it’s the shipping label that either gets knocked off or becomes illegible while in transit. Other times it is damage to the packaging itself that renders a shipment undeliverable. With the latter, a replacement should be sent out immediately.

Federal holidays – Major carriers most likely will operate with bare minimum staffs, if they operate at all, on days that are designated as federal holidays and observances.

Customs and clearance delays – International shipments often get stuck at the border due to missing documentation, labelling issues, or a staffing shortage.

Yard exceptions – Deliveries are often marked as completed because the shipment is within a certain distance of the destination when, in fact, the truck is sitting at a truck stop.

Lack of End-to-End Visibility = Exception Management Struggles

Normally exception management is tough enough. Without end-to-end visibility, it’s almost impossible to gain meaningful insights that need to be communicated to customers. The lack of real-time location and condition data in visibility solutions slows down response times and puts stakeholders in a reactive rather than proactive mindset. Having to send emails, make phone calls, and interpret legacy data associated with past shipments compounds the level of complexity. An end-to-end visibility solution that does not include configurable real-time status alerts (location, temperature, humidity, shock events, light exposure and more) is of little or no use when trying to prevent:

• Destroyed shipments, such as pharmaceuticals and vaccines
• Rotten perishables, such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and meats
• Loss of upset customers
• Fines and legal action from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies.
• Lost revenue

5 tips to improve exception management

In general, customers want their stuff when they want it, and they don’t really want to hear excuses why it will or might be late. That said, most will appreciate a heads-up when things go awry. They realise that stuff happens that is beyond anyone’s control. While it’s impossible to know exactly when and where disruptions will strike, it is possible to flag potential exceptions early. Here are five ways end-to-end visibility can help improve exception management:

Real-time tracking functionality – Best-in-class trackers provide real-time insights, such as location and condition (temperature, humidity, light exposure, vibration, shock events, tamper detection, and more).

Configurable alerts – An end-to-end visibility solution should include robust software that focuses on showing the real-time location and condition of shipments, providing alerts if there are issues with any shipment (temperature, delays, etc.)

Single source of truth – To maximise exception management capabilities, all systems and software in an end-to-end visibility solution should be collaborative and integrated with all the parties involved: shippers, receivers, carriers, and logistics service providers.

Route optimisation – Combine data from multiple shipments and analyse patterns of damage or delays, determine root causes of problems, and optimise future routes.

Send backup shipments – Early detection via end-to-end visibility provides the opportunity to send a replacement shipment, just in case the first one is indeed compromised.

Take exception management to the next level

Implementing in-transit end-to-end visibility will improve overall proactiveness in supply chain exception management. Tive’s proprietary multi-sensor trackers use global cellular connectivity and on-onboard sensors to provide real-time monitoring of shipments to keep all stakeholders informed regarding the location, climate and integrity of their shipments.

Tive’s cloud-based software platform gives stakeholders access to that information in real-time and from any device. The ability to configure custom climate and temperature thresholds, along with real-time alerts that will trigger when a shipment exceeds the acceptable ranges puts you a step ahead of the disruption and provides a powerful leg up in exception management.

A sensor-driven supply chain visibility leader, Roambee, and a leading digital freight platform, Transporeon, have announced a partnership that aims to bring the best of both worlds in real-time transport visibility: carrier telematics visibility through Sixfold and high-fidelity, real-time multimodal shipment visibility and intelligence via Roambee’s platform.

“Roambee and Transporeon joining forces denotes unified access to two major and unique global supply chain visibility platforms for customers across industries,” said Sanjay Sharma, CEO, Roambee. “Roambee’s sensor-driven visibility will enrich Sixfold’s telematics data with multimodal location accuracy and offer condition visibility, so customers can more actionably address supply chain risk around spoilage, damage, theft, missed connections, and more. The partnership’s substantial joint data set results in end-to-end, item-level visibility, globally, with 100% coverage of lanes and shipments regardless of the transporter or load size.”

Transporeon currently tracks approximately 20 million transports annually. Fast-moving goods such as food or electronics, slow-moving consumer goods including white ware/consumer durables, automotive, chemicals, and big logistics organisations are some of the industries that seek both telematics and sensor-driven visibility. Customers of all sizes across industries and across all modes of transportation (air, ocean, rail, road, and parcel) can now determine the level of visibility they need for specific shipments, then access it via one portal that integrates both companies’ capabilities.

“Whether a customer wants to track sensitive parcels from India to the U.S. or commodities going through Russia, this partnership can enable them to profit from the insights provided by one joint solution,” said Stephan Sieber, CEO Transporeon. “Our goal is to strengthen the native visibility network that is represented by Sixfold. We are developing solutions to the world’s top supply chain challenges by seeking out the strongest, most aligned partners possible. No single company delivers the best of both worlds – but this partnership does.”

 

FourKites, a leading real-time supply chain visibility platform, has announced that its European customer conference, Visibility 2021, will be held virtually on 7th October. The theme of this year’s conference, “Go Beyond,” presents a bold vision for supply chains of the future, centred around automation, innovation and collaboration. Supply chain leaders from across Europe have the opportunity to network, share best practices and insights, and collaborate on FourKites’ product roadmap during the world’s largest virtual supply chain summit.

“FourKites‘ Visibility conference is exactly what the industry needs right now,” says Roy van der Heijden, Business Analyst at Int. Transportbedrijf van der Heijden, a leading provider of freight transportation and logistics, as well as a recent addition to FourKites Premier Carrier List.  “End-to-end, real-time transportation visibility is a key priority for all companies, big and small, and I’m excited to hear from so many industry leaders and to engage with supply chain peers at this unique event.”

Now in its fourth year, FourKites’ annual conference brings together the world’s largest community of shippers, carriers, 3PLs and freight forwarders, together with industry experts and influencers, for a series of rich information-sharing sessions, presentations and brainstorms on the future of supply chain management and automation.

Supply chain leaders from Dow, Bayer, Zebra Technologies, AB Inbev, Yara International and other customers will take part in immersive sessions that explore the next generation of international ocean freight management; best practices for improving supply chain efficiency and sustainability; how to manage disruption; and how to leverage data to make critical business decisions. FourKites will also showcase leading-edge innovations with its strategic partners Volvo Group, Qualcomm Ventures and Zebra Technologies.

Former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski will deliver the keynote address. “Leadership is never an easy task,” Parazynski said. “And with the massive disruptions and uncertainty that have arisen in the supply chain over the last couple years, it’s a truly Herculean task to be a market leader and create differentiation in a rapidly evolving market. I’m honoured to address FourKites’ audience of market leaders as they push the boundaries of what’s possible and think outside the box when it comes to innovation for the greater good of the industry.”

“We are excited to bring together this unique community of collaborative supply chain leaders across Europe,” said FourKites founder and CEO Mathew Elenjickal. “The pace of innovation in this industry continues to accelerate as we work together with our customers to break down barriers across today’s supply chains to enable true end-to-end visibility, analytics and automation.”

In the year since Visibility 2020, FourKites has experienced record growth in its network, including load volume growth of over 50%, with up to 2 million loads and $100 billion in freight under management at any given time; 70% YoY growth in connected facilities, now totaling 6.4 million; 140% YoY increase in ocean and rail shipments; 97% growth in air shipments; and 22% growth in connected carriers in 176 countries across road, rail, ocean, air and courier.

In addition, FourKites introduced a number of industry-first innovations, including Dynamic Yard, which extends visibility into warehouses and yards; Dynamic ETA for Air, which provides highly accurate and automated ETAs on 100% of air freight, at a time when ETAs for air shipments have only been available 40% of the time and may be off by as much as two days; as well as Dynamic OceanSM, a next-generation international ocean visibility solution that encompasses advanced document management capabilities, robust collaboration features and support for bookings, with superior end-to-end real-time tracking.

A testament to the company’s breakthrough innovations, FourKites was also recently awarded a patent for its Smart Forecasted Arrival (SFA) capabilities, which provide companies with highly frequent and accurate ETAs for freight in transit — even when that truck lacks any technology (such as ELD) to transmit location data.

In April, FourKites was named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms, and it secured $100m in funding from Thomas H. Lee Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Volvo Group Venture Capital and Zebra Technologies to continue to define the future of supply chain automation.