The maritime industry and broader ocean supply chain are suffering from major and costly inefficiencies due to ineffective data sharing and poor cross-industry collaboration, a new report and industry survey released by the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network in co-ordination with Navis and XVELA, shows.
However, the shipping industry is in the midst of a significant transformation to increase efficiency, visibility and customer services, according to the study.
The study, entitled “Competitive Gain in the Ocean Supply Chain: Innovation That’s Driving Maritime Operational Transformation,” is based on a global survey of more than 200 executives and professionals from terminal operators, carriers, logistics providers, vessel owners, port authorities, shippers, consignees and other members of the global ocean supply chain.
The findings indicate importers, exporters, shipowners and other stakeholders suffer from poor visibility and predictability around shipments and are losing money because of a lack of partner synchronisation and insufficient data insight.
However, there is recognition, particularly among industry leaders interviewed, that digitisation and mindset shifts are afoot, and will be a boon to all players in the industry.
“Everyone benefits from collaboration and data sharing. It starts with the customers and moves to the carriers, then the terminal operators, vendors, freight systems, truck companies, and keeps going down the line. Closer collaboration is a compelling value proposition for each supply chain partner,” Andreas Mrozek, Global Head Marine & Terminal Operations for the Hamburg Sud Group, said.
Ninety per cent of survey participants said real-time data access and information sharing was important to increasing the efficiency and performance of the shipping industry. Eighty-two per cent said the industry needed to improve supply chain visibility, according to the survey.
The push for improvements will likely come from a combination of forces, according to industry executives. Shippers will push for better operational visibility, alliances will demand better ways for their carrier members to share information to improve efficiencies and customer service and terminals and port authorities will be under pressure to increase utilisation and optimise existing infrastructures.
