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With the market being as volatile as it is, unforeseen disruptions at every stage in the supply chain have become a common occurrence, emphasising the need to build resilient and agile networks that facilitate quick response and minimise risks.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, heavy restrictions on transport and labour have thrown a huge spanner in the works, with missing production parts, missed handoffs and delays in meeting deadlines. Such events only drive home the fact that supply chain resilience is crucial to the continuity and profitability of every business now more than ever.

While there is room for improvement across multiple tiers of the supply chain, one major aspect to take care of is the visibility of shipments in real-time. Shipment tracking is interlinked with several tiers of the supply chain. If you achieve end-to-end visibility of all your shipments, you will be able to gain control over a crucial aspect of your supply chain management.

Here’s how an inefficient shipment tracking system invites more trouble during a crisis situation:

• Transportation delays

One of the most common disruptions is the delay in the Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs) of the shipments. This could be due to a number of factors such as overbooking and rolling, customs, unusual traffic and the like. Answering the question of “Where is my cargo?” becomes almost impossible with no way to anticipate these circumstances.

The next best thing would be the dynamic visibility of the containers. If timely updates can be sent to the client of the exact location and ETA, the client will be able to make due arrangements for the arrival with no major issues.

• Keeping the customer in the dark

The problem lies in the shippers blindly relying on their carriers to provide freight visibility. The schedules prepared by the carriers are not reliable most of the time, leading to delays in handoffs and costly penalties.

If the client has to manually contact the shipper for tracking information or go to their website to check the maps for each container of his, it is not only time-consuming and tedious but also prone to errors.

A third-party tracking system for improving freight visibility is the need of the hour where live automated updates on the whereabouts of your shipment are provided.

• Changing routes at the last minute

Unexpected circumstances can lead to several changes in the shipment journey, starting with changing routes. Adverse weather, labour strikes, technical malfunctions and customs are a few reasons why shipping schedules tend to change frequently.

Providing manual updates as and when such detours take place is a difficult task to carry out. Having an automated shipment tracking system does wonders in this aspect, notifying senders and recipients of any change automatically.

Automated solution for real-time shipment visibility

Planning and anticipating disruptions in real-time can help container lines and freight forwarders alike avoid revenue losses due to delays in supply chains. Advanced digital solutions are the answer to the problem of supply chain transparency.

Tracking your shipment on a unified dashboard and being able to pinpoint the exact location will be a major advantage to have over your competitors.

Be it indoors, outdoors or in-transit, reliable monitoring is possible with an automated tracking system.

Effortless tracking of all your international shipments:

An automated shipment tracking software doles out information and updates in a timely manner and is consolidated in one place.

• A unified tracking dashboard displays and sends out notifications about shipment arrivals and delays giving you plenty of time to take a proactive decision.

• Converting all the tracking data into actionable insights allows you to make informed business decisions, thereby improving efficiency of operations. Most digital tracking systems or IoT enabled tracking systems can be integrated with your existing ERP, CRM and so on.

• Challenges like delays in transportation, sudden change in shipment schedules or unable to notify the clients are all handled with the help of technology. Sending live notifications along with the reason for any disruption can be managed with ease. This allows for the client to predict and prepare for any unwarranted issues.

• An added advantage is the availability of tracking information as reports. With no additional effort to prepare and maintain documentation, these reports can be used to analyse and optimise your supply chains to maximum efficiency.

In a nutshell, you can gain 100% clarity across all your shipments and leverage predictive analytics to drive cost savings and quickly build supply chain resilience by automating tracking.

For more information on how we can provide you with a cost-efficient, resilient and robust supply chain, reach us here.