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FROM TRADELENS

The automotive supply chain has changed rapidly over the past few years and its digital transformation has only accelerated as economic pressures from outside the industry spur modernization. Platforms and joint ventures are changing production models. We talked with two of our experts about new and persistent challenges faced in the automotive vertical. We also discussed the evolution of parts procurement and streamlined inventories — the new normal of Just in Time (JIT) and digital logistics platforms which are helping meet these challenges head on.

Getting customs and other government agencies to plug into TradeLens is the biggest win and endorsement of the platform. The next step for TradeLens is bringing its eBL to the Indian market. Starting in July, the first trials of this product will begin — the first of its kind as a carrier-back, blockchain-enabled digital title document. TradeLens is working with leading Indian exporters, importers, and their banks to drive for truly paperless trade.

True digitization requires dependable and trusted data which enables a virtuous cycle where organizations use and share data to their mutual benefit. That cycle is broken when you can’t trust the data, and that lack of trust has widespread impacts in the supply chain. TradeLens recently trained our attention on four approaches to improving data that will form a much-needed foundation for industry-wide change.

DP World, a leading enabler of global trade, has completed the early stages of integration with TradeLens a blockchain-based digital container logistics platform, jointly developed by A.P. Moller - Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and IBM (NYSE: IBM). The collaboration between DP World and the TradeLens platform will help accelerate the digitization of global supply chains.

Like with most business ecosystems, the functioning of global trade relies on efficient exchanges of information, especially of documents. While industries and ecosystems around the world are now digitizing associated processes and automating the bottlenecks, the business ecosystem of global shipping has been slower to realize innovation and digitization. TradeLens Workflows utilize blockchain smart contracts to automate and digitize multi-party interactions — this helps drive efficiencies across supply chains.

While intermodal transportation is a vast category that can include many methods of shipment, rail and trucking are the means most commonly associated within the industry. Assessing the benefits of intermodal transportation for any one business will depend on metrics collected by the industry. TradeLens provides secure and consistent access to unprecedented levels of event data including first and last mile, published directly from its source.

Daniel Wilson, Director of Strategy and Operations at TradeLens, joined the online version of Consensus in May to discuss digitizing one of the world's oldest industries and prioritizing the Apps that open doors for future development and monetization, not just for TradeLens, but for the industry as a whole.

Providing government authorities with access to upstream transport data is one of the features of TradeLens. On the platform, customs authorities have access to data related to their countries from the moment a booking is placed with a carrier. Updates on documents from different data sources and transportation milestones are shared in near real-time.

PT Salam Pacific Indonesia Lines (SPIL), a major regional ocean carrier in Indonesia providing reliable inter-island shipment throughout the archipelago, joins TradeLens, a blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform, jointly developed by A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM. The move is expected to give SPIL customers a richer experience by providing larger international access in addition to the ability to book, track shipments, or set-up finance payments using mySPIL, a mobile application that eases booking services.

In this time of unprecedented challenge, many organizations are trying to figure out how to survive. It’s no surprise that like any difficult situation there are valuable lessons to be learned. One lesson of the past few months is that disruption has few boundaries and when the unforeseen hits, our supply chains are vulnerable. Today’s global supply chains are complex combinations of manufacturers, transportation and government regulation.

Container shipping experts know that valuable data is frequently locked in paper or unstructured documents, while clients and partners demand live, detailed updates on the precise whereabouts of their consignment, or other pertinent details. TradeLens is providing vendors a way to better support customers with secure, authenticated information with confidence and trust, not just between trade partners but with respect to cargo owners and the data shared.

The bill of lading is believed to be the most important transport document in international trade: a mainstay of the global supply chain that’s present from origin to destination and critical to customs clearance, financing and ownership of cargo. But for as much as shipping has changed over the decades, not much about the bill of lading (BL) has.