It’s been a difficult two years for supply chain and, as we head into 2022, it’s clear that things aren’t going to get easier any time soon. The one constant has been disruption, and we’ve seen it everywhere — from computer chip shortages to a truck driver employment crisis. But there’s one area that has everyone’s attention, and that’s shipping.
The level of port congestion has been unprecedented, as has the two-fold issue with containers: the sheer volume we’ve seen either going overboard or lying uncollected or abandoned in ports across the world. And this has, of course, led to higher costs for companies as well as consumers and, increasingly, empty store shelves.
Managing the current shipping crisis has become priority number one, with President Joe Biden announcing 24/7 operations at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in an effort to clear the backlog in the run-up to the holidays.
I truly hope it helps, but I question if simply throwing more manpower at the crisis is the right thing to do. It feels like trying to reattach a limb with a band-aid! I don’t think the solution lies in working harder; it’s about working smarter.
FourKites, the world’s leading real-time supply chain visibility platform, is bringing that ethos to the industry. The company recently announced AI-powered enhancements to its Dynamic Ocean solution, enabling it to provide ETAs that are up to 40% more accurate than carrier-generated ETAs. Up to 40%! that could have at the ports. That increased accuracy can help prevent port congestion and better predict waiting times, reducing air pollution and fuel consumption. It can help better allocate resources and avoid conflicts which, in turn, could help with the current labor shortages. And ultimately, this will lead to increased efficiency and transparency in the global supply chain. Sounds good, right?
And to support their Dynamic Ocean solution, FourKites have also rolled out a new suite of demurrage and detention tools that provide customers with an early warning solution and actionable insights, replacing the manual and/or spreadsheet-driven approaches used by most shippers. And if you’re a regular listener to the podcast, you’ll know just how necessary it is to get shippers out of Excel and into the future!
These new capabilities mean that FourKites now provides the most advanced and robust solution on the market for real-time and predictive ocean visibility, exception management and cost controls, giving shippers the powerful capabilities to effectively manage and mitigate rising transportation costs during a time of constant upheaval.
This all goes to show that visibility is a vital piece in helping to solve the supply chain puzzle — not a passing trend. Gartner, the leading research and advisory firm who named FourKites a Leader in its Spring 2021 report, said that visibility is a top priority for supply chain leaders. And that demand for supply chain visibility has continued to increase in all modes, including requests for more insight and connection across international and multimodal shipments.
Because visibility isn’t just about looking on a map and seeing dots that represent your freight in transit. That insight and connection needs to go completely end-to-end — and ideally integrated into one single platform — to achieve the impact and improvements we all need. Businesses need to see where their containers are at port, in the yard, warehouse, stores and beyond. By gaining high levels of multimodal visibility, businesses can benefit in so many ways, from achieving higher levels of ETA accuracy and optimizing fuel consumption, to mitigating transportation risks and reducing carbon footprint. The importance of multimodal visibility cannot be overstated.
Gartner’s claims that demand for this level of supply chain visibility is increasing is reinforced by data from the FourKites platform. Over the last 12 months, FourKites has seen 450% growth in ocean loads tracked, and 40% growth quarter over quarter. Since launching Dynamic Ocean in April 2021, which covers 98% of global ocean shipments, 100% of terminals in North America and the majority of terminals in Europe, FourKites has seen a 50% increase in ocean visibility customers, including Yara International, International Forest Products and Zebra Technologies.
So as demand increases, as well as disruption, it’s essential to have innovative and forward-thinking brands like FourKites. Their new Dynamic Ocean enhancements have come in direct response to the shipping crisis. It makes me proud to see a business that is so committed to bringing the industry into the future and to delivering solutions that make life easier for all of us.
End-to-end visibility ultimately has the potential to create a more sustainable future and ensure a much smoother ride through the next, inevitable, set of disruptions.
Find out more about FourKites’ approach to collaboration and innovation, and their recent funding success.
