On 19 October 2021, Transporeon ran its free online 100-minute masterclass, Visibility Mastery. 13 industry specialists shared their expertise on digitalisation trends, visibility and how it can help transform operations to better prepare for the future and address key industry issues such as sustainability and Covid-19.
Data sharing is the future
MINES-ParisTech Supply chain and Production Systems Professor, Eric Ballot spoke about how a lack of supply chain digitalisation is a key barrier to achieving more efficient operations. He shared some technologies that will push more efficient operations, including communication technologies, Internet of Things, and algorithm-based technologies like artificial intelligence. Ballot explained that data does not instantly deliver to a company, rather the new coordination mechanism offered and the technology provider.
Roambee Vice President, Santosh Takoor, Tive Vice President Sales & Channel Partners, Dennis Perjet and Sixfold Executive Director Jesper Bennike, reaffirmed the importance of data sharing by discussing open API networks. Open visibility enables industry leaders to integrate and work together to provide customers with high quality real-time visibility (RTV), insights and global input from all the partners (shippers, carriers or 3PLs). This level of collaboration surpasses the standard RTV offering and allows customers to make informed smart decisions, explained Perjet.
“You need to go from data to intelligence and share it across,” agreed Takoor. Full visibility across the entire supply chain helps create a complete picture of what is going on. Sharing information is crucial, explained Takoor, without that, it is harder to make informed business decisions.
Sustainability matters
Not only is data sharing changing the face of logistics, it is also key in achieving sustainability goals. ALICE, Secretary General, Fernando Liesa spoke about how the Physical Internet will pave the way towards efficiency and sustainability in transport logistics. By enabling assets and resources (such as fleets, modes and warehouses) to be shared, combined and utilised smartly, sustainability and zero-emissions logistics can be achieved.
He explained that as data sharing is one of the most relevant enablers of collaborations, an open API RTV platform can help pool flows of data together to achieve this. Connections can be established between businesses regardless of the systems they use, resulting in easy participation. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” said Liesa.
Supporting this view, Boston Consulting Group Partner & Director Procurement, Dr. Marcell Vollmer highlighted sustainability as a growing trend for the future, particularly the importance of tackling Scope 3 emissions which he believes will be a game changer. Dr. Vollmer explained that a lack of high-quality data sharing, reliance on averages, difficulties monitoring suppliers are some of the barriers that need to be tackled to achieve this.
Building on this, Kellogg's E2E Performance Manager, Arturo D' Errico and Transporeon Sales Specialist RTV & Sustainability, Lukas Kramer explained how RTV can help to reduce emissions across operations and address Scope 3 logistics emissions by improving communication, collaboration and live, accurate data sharing.
Supply chains in a post-Covid world
Transport Intelligence Head of Research, Nick Bailey shared how the European road freight market had developed over the last 18 months since Covid-19, including growth, projected recovery, and impacts. He also highlighted emerging challenges and trends such as the market-wide decline in cross-channel traffic, both to and from the UK because of Brexit, further exacerbating the existing driver shortage across the UK and the shift towards sustainability.
Bailey explained that the development of technology serves to tackle such market challenges, changing the way road freight will operate across Europe. Digital technologies work to adjust challenges or inefficiencies and create value at various stages of the sources, execution and optimisation value chain.
“What we have seen is an increasingly tech-enabled market emerging as we begin to leave the Covid-19 pandemic behind us and look to the future development of the market we do so with deeper offers from technology providers into drastically addressing challenges at each stage of this sourcing, execution and optimisation value chain,” said Bailey. “With hard challenges come big opportunities to create extra value in an increasing tech driven European road freight market.”
Watch the recordings