Real-time ETA and product visibility from the supplier to the warehouse: the winning combination for managing large import flows
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"A couple of years ago, changes to dates after the ship had left were rare and therefore manageable manually. Today, these exceptions have become the norm. There is not a single ship whose schedule is not modified, sometimes several times a day," recently testified Florence Lory, Import Manager at the CELIO group.
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An operational reality for supply chain teams that is not talked about enough.
The very high pressure on international transportation has a significant impact on prices and the availability of shipping capacity, but the problems do not stop once the goods are loaded: unexpected events on the shipping routes, rerouting, and other changes to the transportation plan have become more than common for shippers.
With supply chain tracking processes that urgently need to be adapted accordingly!
Florence Lory adds, "Today, we spend our days chasing forwarders for container dates, connecting to shipping lines systems, and sending updates on expected receipts to the warehouse. A considerable workload and a lack of reliability that weighs heavily on our productivity, but also on the performance of our supply chain." With so little real-time visibility into the execution of flows, the entire value chain is struggling, not just the warehouses, but also the Offer and Merchandising teams, not to mention the costs associated with uncontrolled demurrage.
To go beyond the information shared by freight forwarders and have an automatic update of the ETA, Winddle offers Live Container Tracking. Connected directly to shipping companies' systems, this add-on allows shippers to ensure real-time tracking data on maritime flows that are aligned with the reality of operations.
Combined with the functional scope of Orders & Shipments collaboration in Winddle (end-to-end and collaborative tracking of supply flows), real-time ETA makes perfect sense: at any time, all teams involved (supply chain, warehouses, sales, etc.) are alerted in case of delays or schedule changes of the vessel, and have complete information to make the right decisions and limit the impacts on the chain (control of demurrage, prioritization of warehouse receptions based on business priorities, proactive customer communication, etc.).
"With Winddle's Live Container Tracking, we now know the departure and arrival dates of the ships and on which vessel the goods are loaded. Combined with Winddle's granular visibility into order tracking, we are able to precisely identify which items are being shipped or unloaded and in what quantities", says Nicolas de Panafieu, Supply Chain Director at JJA.
"End-to-end precise control is crucial for customer relationships, as we must commit as faithfully as possible to stock availability dates and delivery dates for goods."
To learn more about Winddle's Live Container Tracking feature, talk to one of our experts.
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