FourKites expands with Ocean Insights

PERFECT SIGHT

TRACKING • VASTLY IMPROVED SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY HAS CHANGED THE WAY GLOBAL LOGISTICS OPERATE, AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS ARE ON THE WAY

Being able to keep track of all shipments – from the heart of a continent to the middle of the ocean – and generating accurate predictions for transport timings are two of the most impressive developments in modern logistics. Furthering these developments are FourKites, a supply chain management provider for global organisations, and Ocean Insights, a data and market intelligence specialist.

FourKites and Ocean Insights have announced an exclusive partnership to transform container visibility. This strategic partnership creates a plug-and-play deployment model that integrates Ocean Insights’ ocean freight tracking data with FourKites’ real-time visibility platform to offer domestic and international logistics professionals full end-to-end visibility. This project covers modes of transport from global seaports to final destinations anywhere in the world.

FourKites works with the world’s largest network of shippers, carriers and 3PLs to deliver levels of insight that provide stronger and more proactive supply chain decisions. Ocean Insights combines container liner schedules and carriers’ container tracking information with neutral AIS vessel tracking data to give customers the ability to plan and monitor operations at the highest level.

Even though it was only launched five years ago, FourKites now tracks more than 600,000 shipments every day and has pioneered the industry shift to real-time visibility, enabling improvements in on-time delivery and supply chain optimisation based on actionable data and predictive intelligence. The network used by FourKites has grown to encompass more than 260 of the world’s top shippers.

The aim of this collaboration is that by combining FourKites’ global network with Ocean Insights’ real-time container tracking capabilities, import and export teams will be able to rely on a single system for door-to-door tracking anywhere in the world. This collaborative use of real-time data to assist diverse brands is expected to lower operating costs and improve on-time performance.

“We’re excited to now offer true door-todoor capabilities to our customers via the integration of our superior ocean data, together with FourKites’ over-the-road data and our powerful predictive platform,” says Dr Felix Richter, CEO of Ocean Insights.

“Now, supply chain professionals can better manage their operations and unlock value through a single, consistent visibility platform, regardless of international and domestic responsibilities,” adds Mathew Elenjickal, CEO of FourKites.

REAL-WORLD USE All modes of transport can benefit from the partnership between FourKites and Ocean Insights. Recently, Stolt Tank Containers (STC) announced the successful implementation of a new integration project with FourKites. This caters for all key status events that occur in the transport of Stolt’s tanks.

FourKites highlights the relevant information to customers using STC through the FourKites platform, simultaneously combining it with information from other suppliers of STC’s customers. “This new integration allows status updates to be communicated from STC to FourKites in real time,” says Shane Robertson, principal business analyst at STC business applications. “By harnessing our own extensive digital supplier network, we can automatically pass updates to FourKites whenever our logistics partners notify us of key status update events”.

The implementation of this integration with the FourKites platform is a major enhancement to STC’s logistics technology

portfolio and is expected to offer the potential for significant benefits to STC’s customers.

MAKING WAVES While the process of digitising the container and tank container supply chain has proceeded swiftly in recent years, the ‘blind spot’ in global tracking and telematics has long been the ocean leg. Connectivity is limited once a vessel leaves port, meaning that the visibility promised by digitised systems and ‘smart containers’ is no longer available. Using varied sources to be able to provide consistent visibility anywhere in the world’s oceans is what Ocean Insights has been working on since its launch in 2012.

Based in Hong Kong, Ocean Insights has become the most precise supply chain visibility supplier for oceangoing freight. In the beginning, Konstantin Borek, founder of Ocean Insights, saw a dire need for workflow processes and existing operations to be digitised when working in the ocean freight sector. After starting the businesses, Borek brought Richter (right) into the fold and, using Richter’s expertise as an automatic identification system (AIS) data specialist, Ocean Insights progressed into driving supply chain management processes.

“We have focused on ocean freight for many years, enhancing the supply chain visibility,” says Richter. “Ocean Insights’ strength lies in offering end-to-end ocean visibility; our in-depth knowledge and sophistication makes us second to none.”

Ocean Insights’ real-time information supports everyday logistics operations to enable its users to make the most informed decisions, but it was the introduction of the Container Sailing Schedules (CSS) tool that truly revolutionised the benefits for customers. CSS is considered by many to be the most accurate data tracking tool for ocean freight as it keeps track of more than five million sailing schedules every single day. This is essential information for shippers and associated businesses as it allows a level of accuracy never before offered to help with logistical planning and preparations for a huge swathe of the international supply chain.

“Our sailing schedule software is recognised as one of the highest quality on the market,” explains Josh Brazil, COO at Ocean Insights. “Others are notoriously full of holes and issues, but we give the data a human touch and make it usable.

“The usability of our software is excellent,” Brazil continues. “Customers can benefit from quick training and rollout, ensuring high return on investment as well as increased efficiency and excellent time savings, helping to make their customers happy. Recently, we have also been investing heavily in our predictive ETA capabilities, predicting not just the ETA of the next destination but also of the ports in between, something which we are unique in offering.”

One of the most prominent ways Ocean Insights has provided savings is through reducing demurrage and detention costs. Often, these costs are down to poor planning and mistakes on the part of the freight company. These fees have become transparent for Ocean Insights users and, when coupled with real-time data, customers are able to leverage and negotiate appropriate free-time rates with freight companies. There are plans afoot for this function to be improved in the coming months.

“As we look to the future, we will be continuing to bring added value to the market,” explains Brazil. “Numerous processes will be optimised and digitised over the next few years, and we want to remain at the forefront of this movement.”

In the last 12 months the Ocean Insights team has grown by an additional 15 or so to be able to handle the surge in demand for its services and to continue developing digital solutions that will aid the ocean freight sector in countless ways. www.ocean-insights.com www.fourkites.com