Technology is shaping every facet of the global freight sector, from manufacturing and shipping to warehousing, competition, collaboration and customer expectation management.Jim Waters, vice president: marketing at Tive, says that with so many digital tools and technologies competing for management attention and investment, defining a clear digital strategy to help drive business efficiencies is crucial for future competitive survival: “One of the first steps to meeting the challenges of Industry 4.0 is looking into the different ways that communication from end-to-end can make an impact on your organisation’s shipping and freight operations. “There are a variety of different collaboration tools available that enable teams to streamline organisational workf lows. Many offer capabilities such as real-time alerts, instant messaging, video conferencing, social media integration, and more. “Visibility software is ideal for distributing the right information and messages at the right times to the right people. As is the case with all supply chain operations, remote workers are essential to a company’s success and must be kept in the loop as much as internal team members.”Waters says visibility over shipments is becoming the new standard. “Since visibility means different things to different companies, it’s important that vendors work together to deliver customised solutions to meet the needs of shippers and carriers of all types.”Asked about the top trends affecting the industry, Waters highlights the importance of integrating systems. “We need more and better data on one platform via application programming interfaces. Another trend we are seeing is the idea of working with partners collaboratively, sharing data and insights for the benefit of all.”He says companies spend at least 80% of their time obtaining and storing the data they need and 20% of their time interpreting that data to improve their operations, such as taking proactive measures based on real-time alerts to shipment location and condition.
