End-of-year roll-out scheduled, writes Alan Peat
FIVE MAJOR shipping lines have joined forces to establish a neutral transportation portal on the Internet.
Maersk Sealand, P&O Nedlloyd, Hamburg Sud, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and CMA/CGM are the investment players in the joint project - operating under the working name of INTTRA..
Also interacting on the system will be Safmarine, Crowley American Transport Line, Columbus Line and Alianca Nevegacao E Logistica.
INTTRA is initially offering track-and-trace; container booking (requests and
confirmation); proactive reporting; activity plans;
bill of lading information; reports and statistics. This system was based on customer requirements - identified by market research and trials with pilot customers.
On-going dialogue with users will decide on further services to be appended to the INTTRA system. The group is also currently exploring value-added services and alliances with other marketplaces and service providers.
The motivation for establishing this common platform, according to a spokesman for the lines, was from market demands. Customers are looking for more visibility, greater standardisation, and improved data quality along the supply chain, he told FTW.
It is a move away, he added, from individual carriers working with proprietary IT-systems and meets the market demand for one-stop shopping through one window across all the participating carriers, and standardising of the processes.
The competitive element amongst the lines is also not lost, he added.
The investing carriers recognised that there are significant customer and supplier benefits in standardising front-end applications, he said. Competition will be enhanced. Carriers will still compete on individual service performances, data quality, customer service and sales and marketing capabilities.
When will the new INTTRA system be open to the SA market?
Once it's active, it's active for everyone, P&O Nedlloyd's IT specialist, Rodney Hood told FTW.
It is due to be rolled out globally before the end of this year.
l Maritime Carrier Shipping recently announced that it had entered into an alliance with e-business facilitator metaship to create a process platform with a standard interface between the shipping line and its customer base to enable on-line cargo bookings and tracking of cargo.
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