INTTRA Asia Technology Summit: Digitalization Expands, Need for Standards Increases
14 November 2018 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
INTTRA, the largest neutral network, software and information
provider at the center of the ocean shipping industry, hosted its
annual Asia Technology Summit in Singapore this week focused on
innovation to action.
At the Summit, INTTRA announced the launch of its INTTRA Rates
pilot, the planned expansion of Avantida into North America, and
the results of an industry survey highlighting top strategic
issues.
More than 200 senior shipping and technology executives accepted
the invitation to attend the Summit, with 70% representing C level
or SVPs in ocean logistics, and 30% representing technology and
logistics experts. By company, 42% were from freight forwarders and
BCOs, 41% technology companies, and 17% carriers. The event is
regarded as a forum for collaboration across container shipping and
is intended to advance the digital transformation of the ocean
freight industry.
Several important themes came out at this year’s Singapore Tech
Summit:
Data silos and incompatibility are a major challenge in the
maritime supply chain
- The inability to share data and
interoperate across the supply chain is the root cause of many
issues that still plague the industry. Existing silos make it too
hard to share data and to create collaborative processes. Issues
like lack of container visibility, the difficulty securing
container space, poor delivery time predictability and even booking
no-shows are symptoms of the core problem – information does not
flow freely between trading partners. A survey of Summit attendees
(results below) shows nearly 50% reported real-time container
visibility as a top concern of freight forwarders.
The industry needs data standards in order to ensure the free
flow of information between trading partners
- Having data standards and data sharing
protocols will dramatically improve the flow of information between
carriers, ports, freight forwarders and BCOs. The industry needs to
develop standards across a range of areas including APIs, EDI,
real-time container status, documentation transmission, IoT data,
and blockchain connectivity. The creation of agreed standards and
protocols is essential according to 91% of attendees surveyed.
Networks will be the key to achieving a truly intelligent
supply chain in ocean freight
- The core promise of a network is the
ability to connect once and interoperate seamlessly with all
network members. An ocean network based on established data sharing
standards will allow the container shipping industry to take
digitalization to the next level – predicting and anticipating
changes and automatically sensing and responding to unplanned
events. The good news is digitalization is increasing with the
survey showing that 71% of respondents are on their way to being
fully digitalized.
“Earlier this year INTTRA declared the industry is ready to move
from innovation to action,” said John Fay, CEO of INTTRA. “Much has
changed in a few short months to further move the industry toward
action, including the combination of INTTRA and E2open, the world’s
largest supply chain network. As the largest neutral network in the
container freight industry we are positioned to help address
long-standing challenges, including real-time container visibility
and better rates management, and in the process further advance
digitalization across the Ocean Freight ecosystem.”
INTTRA Announcements at the Summit
Rates Pilot Initiated
INTTRA revealed today that the INTTRA Rates pilot program it
announced earlier in the year has launched on schedule, with eleven
freight forwarders participating in the pilot. The participants
represent a broad section of the market, covering small, medium and
large freight forwarders. INTTRA intends to launch a fully
digitalized rates solution in the first half of 2019 based on the
results of the pilot. The current system for managing rates and
rate changes is inefficient and error prone, leading to errors in
30-45% of all freight invoices due to the manual nature of today’s
rate management processes. A digital solution will address this
issue.
Avantida to launch in the United States
Avantida, which recently launched in Mexico, has plans to launch
in the United States by the end of the year. Avantida continued to
grow in 2018 with 43% more registered users compared to the same
period in 2017. In addition to the US, Avantida plans to
expand to Scandinavia and Canada in the coming months.
Transactions have also enjoyed substantial growth, more
specifically in the area of depot services increasing by 61% and
triangulation services by 62% in 2018 so far.
Customer Survey
The event saw the release of a survey sent to Tech Summit
attendees to understand their business challenges and appetite for
digital transformation. The results support the themes outlined
above, including the increased need for standards.
82% said standards should be done by a neutral party
- 82% would prefer to see an initiative
started by a neutral party that works collaboratively with multiple
industry players to set and share data-sharing standards and
protocols.
- 18% would prefer that a small and
closed number of industry players (and/or IT companies) set
data-sharing standards and protocols.
91% said the creation of agreed standards and protocols is
essential
- 58% -- it’s an absolute necessity
- 33% -- it’s very important
- 9% -- it’s somewhat important
- 0% -- it’s not important.
EDI and API scored the highest, blockchain the lowest on
standards that will help shipping the most
- 26% -- EDI standards
- 26% -- API standards
- 16% -- eBill of Lading standards
- 14% -- Real-Time container status
communication standards
- 10% -- IoT standards
- 8% -- Blockchain standards
Real-time container visibility is a top challenge for BCOs
and Freight Forwarders
- 47% -- Real-time container
visibility
- 45% -- Securing space/getting
containers rolled
- 41% -- Managing rates and rate
changes
- 39% -- Delivery time
predictability
Overcapacity on trade routes is a top challenge for
carriers (Top four responses)
- 55% -- Overcapacity on trade
routes
- 52% -- No shows/ghost booking
- 48% -- Capacity management/asset
utilization
- 33% -- Data sharing
71% are on their way to being fully digitalized.
- 16% said 0-20% of their operations are
fully digitalized
- 22% said 20-40% of their operations are
fully digitalized
- 25% said 40-60% of their operations are
fully digitalized
- 24% said 60-80%. of their operations
are fully digitalized
- 13% said 80-100% of their operations
are fully digitalized
Of note, 16% of respondents are just getting started
digitalizing their businesses, 71% are well on their way to full
digitalization, and 13% are close to the finish line.
“While a significant percentage of respondents indicate that a
good portion of their businesses are now digitalized, much work
still needs to be done around standards for API and EDI, electronic
Bill of Lading and other aspects around interoperability,” said
Inna Kuznetsova, President and COO of INTTRA. “There is a demand
for better solutions, including real-time container visibility,
management of rates changes, reducing no-shows and improving asset
utilization. INTTRA is taking the lead in driving the development
of standards and network connectivity needed to make the
intelligent maritime supply chain a reality.”
About INTTRA
INTTRA is the largest neutral network, software and information
provider at the center of the ocean shipping industry. INTTRA’s
innovative products, combined with the scale of our network,
empower our customers to trade with multiple parties and leverage
ocean industry information to leading carriers and over 150
software alliance partners, INTTRA streamlines the ocean trade
process. More than 850,000 container orders per week are initiated
on the INTTRA platform, representing over one quarter of global
ocean container trade. INTTRA recently agreed to be acquired by
E2open, with the transaction expected to close by year-end 2018
after receipt of regulatory approval.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181113006275/en/
INTTRA:Mike Darcy, 1-973-214-6682mike.darcy@inttra.com
BSYA for INTTRA:Lisa Aurichio, 917-476-8366lisa@bsya.com