DIGITIZATION

Wasted time:

93 percent of logistics professionals are spending nearly half of their working day solely dedicated to addressing problems. A third of logistics professionals are spending a significant amount of time on manual transactions, with an average of 10 minutes per transaction, highlighting the need for digital adoption for even the simplest operations in the container operations industry.

(Source: Container xChange)

Real-time visibility

Forwarders and freight brokers see customer demand for real-time visibility as the second biggest challenge they face in 2023 (after price pressure).

This is seen most in e-commerce, where the need for more real-time tracking and automated processes has been the number one impact for the past five years.

(Source: Descartes)

“Investing in technology continues to be the top strategy for brokers and forwarders to address continuous economic and industry changes,” said Chris Jones, EVP industry at Descartes

“Top performing forwarders and brokers are much more aggressive in their IT strategies and investments to help sustain their competitive advantage and enhance profitability.”

(Source: Descartes)

Strategy

Investing in technology has been the top and dominant overall strategy for the past eight years.

(Descartes)

Competitive advantage

Top performing forwarders and brokers see digital customer self-service as a key differentiator. 43% of those surveyed by Descartes placed it as the top customer service advantage

(Descartes)

By automating just three processes – online marketplace for equipment and partner sourcing; container tracking, release references of live ETAs; and online chat for negotiating terms and conditions –one could save more than eight hours per week or four full working days per month.

(Container XChange)

Boosting the bottom line

Automating processes, with 60 percent saying it’s a strategy they use, has been in the top two choices for forwarders and brokers over the past eight years, along with offering more high-value services (chosen by 63 percent).

(Descartes)

“Digitization is the inevitable evolution for every industry, and the container logistics industry is no different,” said Christian Roeloffs, CEO of Container xChange.

“In today’s difficult times, companies are struggling with innumerable macroeconomic and geopolitical disruptions. With these manual processes, it can become even more difficult to do business. Our research shows that the move to digital tools can save time, increase efficiency and improve profitability. Logistics professionals need to embrace digital transformation to stay ahead in a competitive market.”

(Container xChange)

Greatest value

Digital customer self-service was seen as delivering the highest value, garnering 41% of responses, with automating carrier updates second at 34%.

(Descartes)