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Issue 2 2015 - Freight Business Journal


Shipping’s new weapon is now fully automatic


The shipping industry is changing in many ways and not least in the degree of automation in the booking and tracking process thanks to recent step-changes in IT capability. Taking a leading role in driving


change has been INTTRA, the global ocean shipping industry’s biggest electronic marketplace. An electronic platform for 64 different carriers and non-vessel operating carriers (NVOs), which together provide 90% of all ocean-going container shipments, approximately 22% of the world’s container traffic is booked through INTTRA – and that percentage continues to grow. It’s a 24 hours a day, 365


days a year operation, notes chief marketing officer Sandra Moran. Users can not only book shipments through INTTRA, but also arrange the necessary


ancillary documentation and take advantage of sophisticated track and trace facilities. Moreover, INTTRA is helping


users with predictive analytics that help them with their own growth strategies. Analytics can also help users minimise the likelihood or impact of any disruption to their supply chain, for example by predicting evolving ETAs (expected times of arrival) as any problems occur. INTTRA’s business model


is allowing it to take a lead on a number of trends and its management team are today shaping the shipping industry. Firstly, INTTRA’s head of global technology, Erik Gaston, points to the increasing importance of ‘mobility’ to the sector – the desire and indeed requirement of so many shippers and forwarders to be able to access relevant information while on the move,


whether by tablet, mobile phone or other mobile device. Moreover, it is much more than just being able to track and trace while mobile, says Moran: “People want to participate in the shipping process, not just receive data, while they are mobile.” The trend is increasingly prevalent in emerging markets but, across the board, it’s a common theme. Roughly 220,000 shippers are using the INTTRA network each day and most of them say that mobility is a critical issue. The second trend that


Gaston points to is the greater interconnectivity of business in general, and the shipping industry in particular, with large numbers of parties accessing the same information and, as necessary, adding to it. While adding complexity, that also allows for great richness of data and allows for the predictive


analytics that allows those involved in the shipping process to be more proactive, shaping events, rather than simply reactive to problems as and when they occur. Finally, the trend toward Cloud


technologies will be a big feature this year, Gaston suggests. “Watch for the industry to lessen its ties to the physical world in 2015, as private clouds proliferate,” he advises. The Cloud will be the “fundamental architecture” of the global supply chain, Moran adds, much more than simply a methodology for hosting data. Certainly INTTRA already


exists as a multi-tenant Cloud infrastructure


and this is


undoubtedly the way that we can all expect to operate in the future, she suggests, in an environment that improves awareness and better enables information to be used to speed business processes.


UK’s biggest port launches MyPort


The Port of Felixstowe, the UK’s busiest container port, has become the first port in the UK to release a mobile phone App that allows users to access information on containers passing through the facility. The App, MyPort, automatically alerts shippers, forwarders, hauliers and other customers with updates on a specific vessel or container. Notification e-mails are sent when a ship of interest arrives in the port and when the container is discharged, cleared and ready for collection. It works for import and export containers and tracks information in real time. Felixstowe’s finance director,


Mark Seaman, says: “We have listened to our customers.


They need accurate and timely information to plan and deliver efficient supply chains. To provide that we have launched MyPort App: it gives easy access to the latest information on the status of shipments as they pass


through the port. “The MyPort


app reflects


the Port of Felixstowe’s commitment to delivering for the real needs of its customers. It makes it easier for them to obtain the latest container and


shipping information, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Built for iOS (Apple) and


Android smartphones by internal port and external IT experts, the App includes the Haulier and Shipping Information tools available on the port’s website. It also incorporates a five-day weather forecast


for Felixstowe and


other useful information. MyPort was developed,


port operator Hutchison Port Holdings says, following consultation with the port’s customers and key stakeholders. Moreover, since its release, the App has been well received. “Initial feedback has been very positive,” the port insists.


Champ fights the corner for small forwarders


Champ Cargosystems has set up a new Champ Forwarding Systems subsidary. It will offer the Logitude software as a service (SaaS) platform to the small and medium size forwarder community. The Logitude platform is already fully integrated with Champ’s information and message distribution platform, Traxon CargoHub.


John Johnston, CEO of Champ Cargosystems, commented:


“We want to facilitate the air logistics community in its transition to a fully digitized process...with our Logitude SaaS offering, we will be providing tools to the small and medium size forwarding community to seamlessly integrate with the wider logistics chain.”


///IT Antwerp


users stay in the loop


The Port of Antwerp has been adding to its user connectivity function. The port’s Connectivity Platform, the online tool launched in 2013 to keep Antwerp users fully informed about the various possibilities for transport to and from the port, has been upgraded to include over 70 transport operators listing their intermodal connections, more than 280 shipping companies showcasing their maritime connections and 12 container shipping companies offering details of their empty depot network on the platform.


“Tens of thousands of users


have visited the Connectivity Platform this year and made intensive use of it,” says port alderman Marc Van Peel. “Since it was first launched, 200 container terminals in 15 European countries have joined the platform. With this handy transport planning tool we are able to promote our very wide range and the many service providers in the port of Antwerp. Moreover, the platform points our customers and service providers in the right direction, so that they can link up easily.”


WIN powers eAWB


connectivity


Pennsylvania-based forwarder D. T. Gruelle has adopted a new electronic (eAWB)


air waybill connectivity


software package developed by QuestaWeb of New Jersey, facilitated by freight industry software WIN. The QuestaWeb Export e-Freight Forwarding and Exporter application connects the forwarder to its many airline customers and allows data to flow seamlessly between them. QuestaWeb went live with Gruelle


D.T. in December


after a short period of implementation – work had begun on the switch in November. The latter used the software to move its first e-freight shipment just before the turn of the year on a Cathay Pacific flight from the US to Vietnam – D. T. Gruelle thereby avoided the paper AWB surcharge that has been introduced by the Hong Kong- headquartered carrier. “Our strategy at WIN is all about adding connectivity


for the forwarder,” managing director John DeBenedette told FBJ from his office in Bangkok. He and his team are particularly helping small and medium-sized forwarders,


some of which


have not found transferring across to eAWBs as easy or as financially viable as the larger cargo agents. WIN does not look to move


forwarders across to entirely new processes and systems so much as integrate their existing software systems with those of the 90 airlines WIN’s connectivity supports. “We are over the main hurdles of eAWB implementation


now,”


DeBenedette considers, both intellectually and from a software capability point of view. “Now we are at the stage where we will see much broader e-freight penetration. “We don’t want the smaller


forwarders to be left behind. That’s why it is so nice to see a forwarder such as D. T. Gruelle take the initiative in this way.”


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