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INTTRA Asia Technology Summit: Digitalization Expands, Need for Standards IncreasesINTTRA, the largest neutral network, software and information provider at the center of the ocean shipping industry, hosted its annual Asia Technology Summit in Singapore this week focused on innovation to action. At the Summit, INTTRA announced the launch of its INTTRA Rates pilot, the planned expansion of Avantida into North America, and the results of an industry survey highlighting top strategic issues. More than 200 senior shipping and technology executives accepted the invitation to attend the Summit, with 70% representing C level or SVPs in ocean logistics, and 30% representing technology and logistics experts. By company, 42% were from freight forwarders and BCOs, 41% technology companies, and 17% carriers. The event is regarded as a forum for collaboration across container shipping and is intended to advance the digital transformation of the ocean freight industry. Several important themes came out at this year's Singapore Tech Summit: Data silos and incompatibility are a major challenge in the maritime supply chain
The industry needs data standards in order to ensure the free flow of information between trading partners
Networks will be the key to achieving a truly intelligent supply chain in ocean freight
"Earlier this year INTTRA declared the industry is ready to move from innovation to action," said John Fay, CEO of INTTRA. "Much has changed in a few shor months to further move the industry toward action, including the combination of INTTRA and E2open, the world's largest supply chain network. As the largest neutral network in the container freight industry we are positioned to help address long-standing challenges, including real-time container visibility and better rates management, and in the process further advance digitalization across the Ocean Freight ecosystem." INTTRA Announcements at the Summit Rates Pilot Initiated INTTRA revealed today that the INTTRA Rates pilot program it announced earlier in the year has launched on schedule, with eleven freight forwarders participating in the pilot. The participants represent a broad section of the market, covering small, medium and large freight forwarders. INTTRA intends to launch a fully digitalized rates solution in the first half of 2019 based on the results of the pilot. The current system for managing rates and rate changes is inefficient and error prone, leading to errors in 30-45% of all freight invoices due to the manual nature of today's rate management processes. A digital solution will address this issue. Avantida to launch in the United States Avantida, which recently launched in Mexico, has plans to launch in the United States by the end of the year. Avantida continued to grow in 2018 with 43% more registered users compared to the same period in 2017. In addition to the US, Avantida plans to expand to Scandinavia and Canada in the coming months. Transactions have also enjoyed substantial growth, more specifically in the area of depot services increasing by 61% and triangulation services by 62% in 2018 so far. Customer Survey The event saw the release of a survey sent to Tech Summit attendees to understand their business challenges and appetite for digital transformation. The results support the themes outlined above, including the increased need for standards. 82% said standards should be done by a neutral party
91% said the creation of agreed standards and protocols is essential
EDI and API scored the highest, blockchain the lowest on standards that will help shipping the most
Real-time container visibility is a top challenge for BCOs and Freight Forwarders
Overcapacity on trade routes is a top challenge for carriers (Top four responses)
71% are on their way to being fully digitalized.
Of note, 16% of respondents are just getting started digitalizing their businesses, 71% are well on their way to full digitalization, and 13% are close to the finish line. "While a significant percentage of respondents indicate that a good portion of their businesses are now digitalized, much work still needs to be done around standards for API and EDI, electronic Bill of Lading and other aspects around interoperability," said Inna Kuznetsova, President and COO of INTTRA. "There is a demand for better solutions, including real-time container visibility, management of rates changes, reducing no-shows and improving asset utilization. INTTRA is taking the lead in driving the development of standards and network connectivity needed to make the intelligent maritime supply chain a reality." About INTTRA INTTRA is the largest neutral network, software and information provider at the center of the ocean shipping industry. INTTRA's innovative products, combined with the scale of our network, empower our customers to trade with multiple parties and leverage ocean industry information to leading carriers and over 150 software alliance partners, INTTRA streamlines the ocean trade process. More than 850,000 container orders per week are initiated on the INTTRA platform, representing over one quarter of global ocean container trade. INTTRA recently agreed to be acquired by E2open, with the transaction expected to close by year-end 2018 after receipt of regulatory approval.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181113006275/en/ |