The freight procurement solutions industry may see a tectonic shift in the growth rate due to the growing importance of freight procurement across the globe. Freight procurement solutions enable the users to manage their freight procurements smoothly and also let them explore numerous possibilities that can ensure affordable procurement through real-time comparison mechanism. The import and export supply chain is the backbone of any country’s economy. To manage this process, effective freight management is necessary.
Freight procurement solutions industry cater to various industries across the world such as retail, agriculture, aerospace and defense, energy and utility, consumer electronics, FMCG manufacturing, and others. This aspect brings great growth opportunities for the freight procurement solutions industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created rumbles across various businesses around the world. The almost-worldwide lockdown has negatively affected the supply chain logistics and eventually, the freight procurement solutions industry also. Lockdown relaxations offer a glimmer of hope as operations are slowly returning to normal. Substantial improvement in the growth rate of the freight procurement solutions industry is expected in the post-lockdown period
This report on freight procurement solutions industry by Transparency Industry Research (TMR) is an excellent blend of various parameters related to the growth of the freight procurement solutions industry, the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, and the post-lockdown scenario.
Deployment of Bots Gaining Traction
Bots bring automation in repetitive or routine costs, which lead to improved efficiency, reduced costs, and rapid execution. The roots of bots deployment aren’t much deep in the freight procurement solutions industry but it may grab attention in the near future. Bots coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics may be of great help for making better business decisions and enhancing overall efficiency. Bots can be deployed on a large scale in the procurement sector for tasks like vendor master data editing, approving purchases, etc, thus bringing ease in providing freight procurement solutions.
Stress on Greener Side of Freight Procurement
Many initiatives and guidelines are in place for reducing climate impact from freight. The Smart Freight Centre and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) recently introduced Smart Freight Procurement (SFP) guidelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while freight procurement. Key players in the freight procurement solutions are being created in a way to track and identify carbon and cost optimization opportunities. For instance, the DHL Carbon Dashboard offers graphical modeling of the entire supply chain adhering to transport emissions. It also provides a detailed analysis of the emissions and offers solutions based on the same.
New Players Entering the Fray
New players are entering in the freight procurement solutions industry and aiming for competitive gains through partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and joint ventures. A classic instance is Alibaba, a popular e-commerce industry place. It recently launched a freight procurement solution through integration with Freightos, a logistics software provider. Through this solution, shippers will have access to a plethora of services, such as air and ocean freight coupled with shipment visibility. These factors serve as growth multipliers for the freight procurement solutions industry.
The collaboration of SimpliShip and Qwyk for joining SimpliShip’s freight management with Qwyk’s vessel schedule is also a classic instance of forging joint ventures for offering effective freight procurement solutions to the users. Such developments open doors of growth for the freight procurement solutions industry
Various freight procurement solutions are embedded with online bidding mechanisms to collect intermodal and truckload bids. Sourcing optimization tools are assisting transport organizations in the automation of high volume conditional bids with various suppliers. These features provide a cushion of convenience and comfort to the users. The use of cybersecurity across freight procurement solutions is helping add an extra layer of security and prevent data theft.
This article has been authored by Chaitali Gawande, Senior Analyst at Transparency Market Research, a Pune-based market-intelligence firm based. She can be reached at ict.tmr@gmail.com.
