As technology in the logistics sector continues to gather momentum, software specialists believe it’s crawling rather than sprinting. “This is evident when we compare what freight companies currently offer their customers in comparison to the banking and retail sectors and travel and accommodation, to name a few, where information is available at your fingertips, any time of the day,” says Gideon Botha, founder of Glide on Freight.With more than 20 years of experience in the freight forwarding industry, Botha founded Glide on Freight, which he believes brings a new dynamic to freight management systems, bridging the current shortcomings. “Our software system was launched in the market in March this year, available as Software as a Service (SaaS), after a year in development.”According to Botha, it is all about improved efficiency, using technology to one’s advantage. “For example, many large freight companies still manually generate shipment estimates on Excel templates. Glide on Freight, however, breaks down a complex set of rules into an easily system-generated and automated process. A typical ex works import shipment estimate may take 20 to 40 minutes to prepare, where Glide on Freight currently generates this in under two minutes, from the time a shipment enquiry is received until the customer receives the detailed landed shipment costing in their inbox.”This, says Botha, is achieved through well-designed automation, system predictability and adaptive system learning. “Even individual customer rate profiles are on autopilot, maintained by the system on a f lexible and comprehensive set of rules, with auto adjustments to market conditions based on the logistics service provider’s preferences. We are currently on track to have any import, export or local distribution estimates done in under 60 seconds. To the best of my knowledge, this will be one of the first in South Africa, if not in the world.”Botha told Freight News the majority of cargo importers and exporters viewed their shipping function as a lifeline to their businesses – yet they had detailed accounting, production and planning systems in place and very little, if any, for their shipping department and functions. “Historically, they needed to rely purely on their logistics service provider to make decisions on their behalf, affecting the success and at times failure of their product supply and cost to market,” he says. “With Glide on Freight, cargo importers and exporters can have full visibility and decision making on their product supplies globally.”Botha believes during the fourth industrial revolution, more and more logistics companies and cargo owners will move over to highly advanced and intelligent systems, which will enable logistics professionals to steer their business in the desired direction, without the burden of repetitive tasks within a highly administrative-driven environment. “The pace and ease of system integration remain the key industry challenges, connecting a large number of stakeholders involved with any particular shipment movement,” says Botha, but he emphasises that software systems within the global logistics sector are currently in a mad race, albeit it still at a snail’s pace. “The landscape, however, is bound to change.”
