Shippers are expressing a growing need for enhanced visibility beyond transportation to address supply chain challenges, particularly in areas like inventory management.
FourKites CEO Mathew Elenjickal highlighting how the requirement for visibility had “changed drastically” said that the pain point in the supply chain shifted away from transport into other parts, like inventory… there were a lot of inventory build-ups at different parts of the supply chain.”
Some companies have had a really difficult time during Covid, due to not having the right tech in place to manage and track cargo remotely.
Saying that transportation visibility is great Elenjickal said but we want to be able to use that to impact other parts of the supply chain”.
The industry’s response to the call for increased visibility has resulted in a surge in demand for complementary applications. Elenjickal mentioned while announcing the release of FourKites’ Inbound Visibility Solution, designed to track shipments from the pre-tender stage, providing actionable data throughout the order lifecycle.
However, there are conflicting signals regarding the adoption of new supply chain technology, with economic pressures driving a desire for quick returns on investment.
However, Elenjickal continued that the pressures in the supply chain have led to people wanting to inject investment into this area to create resilience, but shippers are being “very selective” as to the products that they take on.
While there is interest in investing for increased resilience, companies remain cautious in navigating the economic landscape.
Source: The Loadstar
