Category Archives: Technology

Swift Cargo has announced joining the TradeLens platform, a blockchain enabled digital supply chain solution jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, to use its electronic bill of lading product. The TradeLens eBL, will digitize bills of lading, along with other critical transportation documents, on the Blockchain to vastly increase speed of original bill of lading issuance, transfer and surrender, a process that was traditionally manual and time-consuming which can now occur accurately and securely in minutes. Eliminating the risks and costs caused by lost or delayed documents have been a significant concern for the shipping, logistics and trade finance industries. With direct connectivity of all stakeholders within the TradeLens blockchain technology powered platform, total end-to-end visibility for Swift Cargo’s transportation documentation will now be available for their import and export cargo, sourced from a single platform. The TradeLens solution will provide transparency through the shipping cycle while addressing sensitivities too. “Innovation in the industry provides improved speed, transparency and efficiency for our international transportation documentation. This allows us to ultimately provide better service to our customers and at the same time capture improved efficiencies in our operations,” said Harish Pandeya, Managing Director Swift Cargo. He added, “Going beyond our objective of digitalization and providing timely and superior service levels to our clients, TradeLens will also help us reduce operational overheads and errors by enabling automation of significant parts of the documentation process.” Bimal Kanal, Head – South Asia, TradeLens mentioned, ” We are excited to see Swift Cargo join us on our mission to digitize the bill of lading process across all types of BLs. By eliminating the risk of lost documents, forgeries, delays and charges by using a blockchain …

Taking the supply chain to next level, Locus has released a smart supply chain decision-making platform ‘Locus NodeIQ’ which enables companies to perform end-to-end network and inventory optimization. Locus, which focuses on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, home services, third-party logistics (3PL), e-commerce and industrial enterprises, provides a portfolio of products that drive efficiency with AI and machine learning. NodeIQ automates strategic supply chain decisions that impact four key areas; flow, location, inventory, and strategic sourcing. With NodeIQ, users can optimise the movement of goods, from raw materials to delivery of finished products, identify optimal facility locations to address supply and demand gaps, optimise stock levels and improve strategic sourcing. NodeIQ factors in real-time constraints like service levels, lead times, costs and capacity to minimize costs and maximize efficiency. “A black swan event like the pandemic demonstrates the importance of agility in the supply chain,” said Krishna Khandelwal, Chief Business Officer, Locus, in adding, “But supply chains are enormously complex, and depending on the scope of the operation, the number of factors to weigh in while making the right strategic decision is truly beyond human capacity. NodeIQ’s AI-powered strategic decision-making capabilities let enterprises make the right strategic choices so they can stay agile and optimize results at every level.” Locus products are gaining users worldwide because the platform is simple to use. Supply chain optimization is a data-intensive function, but Locus uses AI and other advanced technologies to cleanse data, flag anomalies and deliver clear insights. Following the same product principle of ease and simplicity, Locus NodeIQ uses a digital twin approach to make it easy for clients to test various scenarios and drill down to …

MMC Corportation Berhad (MMC) has embarked on a major digital transformation of five ports, in partnership with global software solutions leader, Ramco System. The digital transformation will consolidate and standardise processes of MMC’s ports, which include Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP), Johor Port Berhad, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, Penang Port Sdn Bhd and Tanjung Bruas Port Sdn Bhd. The group-wide transformation was awarded based on the successful implementation of Ramco integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at one of Malaysia’s most advanced container terminal – PTP. This technological transformation programme will propel Malaysia to the forefront of global best-in-class ports – which plays a crucial role in mitigating supply chain challenges, including recent disruptions due to COVID-19. Building on an earlier implementation by Ramco Systems of an ERP system for PTP where about 90 per cent of the system has achieved Go-Live in phases over the past 10 months, the enhanced rollout will digitalise processes, while providing real-time business information. MMC will also be able to consolidate various business support functions (namely Finance, Human Resource, Enterprise Asset Management, Supply Chain Management, and Logistics Management) across ports into a single integrated ERP system – all accessible on an integrated dashboard. Over 8,000 MMC employees across the ports will be plugged into the platform on their computers/mobile devices which now eliminates duplication errors and other bottlenecks, allowing efficient business processes and enhanced data visibility. The system will also include smart features such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), which will provide employees with greater insight as well as predictive alerts and chatbots which can reduce human error and save time. This will lay the foundation for MMC’s broader strategy to enhance …

LogiNext has announced a milestone partnership with Alibaba backed Daraz. This partnership involved rolling out the LogiNext Mile platform over which Daraz has optimised and automated millions of orders over the past four years resulting in Asia’s largest e-commerce carrier network. Through this partnership, Daraz got access to LogiNext’s Mile platform for its logistics marketplace recently launched for a potential end customer base of more than one billion to empower local logistics businesses and establish their businesses with Daraz. LogiNext’s platform automates order capturing, scheduling, delivery associate compliance, handling peak event sales and the end to end customer experience for these smaller businesses supported by Daraz in its countries. For LogiNext, a pioneer in the field of logistics automation in North America, working with Daraz was a way to make inroads in Asia via a forward-looking high-tech e-commerce environment that Daraz fosters. Together, the partnership has improved Daraz Logistics marketplace’s last mile deliveries by tracking and accessing billions of location data points to deliver a superior customer experience to millions of end customers. “LogiNext’s Mile platform has been leveraged by several premier e-commerce giants across the globe. This partnership with Daraz has helped us solve some very real on-the-ground logistical issues native to APAC and it has given a framework for upcoming and existing e-commerce giants to usher in the new face of last-mile deliveries built on the basis of a world-class customer experience,” says Mradul Khandelwal, Vice President of Business Development at LogiNext. “At Daraz, we are always looking to innovate and bring the best technologies available globally for improved customer experience which in return yields to higher business performance. This partnership has proven to be fruitful for Logistics …

In an industry-first move, Welspun One Logistics Parks has introduced a unique, online ‘Partner Portal’ to effectively collaborate with their external stakeholders, especially landowners and brokers. The goal of this platform is to create a transparent and efficient mechanism that will enable sharing of leads and create a direct communication channel with Welspun One’s land buying and leasing teams. Presently, the process of lead generation in the warehousing and logistics sector is confined to traditional modes of communication. The introduction of an online and integrated platform is a major step forward by Welspun One to bring about digitisation in the industry, and is in line with initiatives like ‘Digital India’ where there is an increasing emphasis on creating online infrastructure. Elaborating on this unique feature, Anshul Singhal, Managing Director, Welspun One Logistics Parks, said, “High internet penetration and adoption of technology has accelerated digitisation across verticals. The industry needs a seamless platform to eliminate outdated and lengthy processes involved in land and leasing transactions. With our distinctive, tech-enabled offering – the ‘Partner Portal’, we aim to build a high level of transparency, seamless communication, and timely updates through a single, online channel.” He added, “All the leads fed into the channel are evaluated under a CRM that allows us to sort deals faster and help focus the efforts of the real rainmakers of the industry, our broker community.” The feature can be availed by landowners, brokers, customers and International Property Consultants (IPCs) by simply registering on the company website’s Partner Portal section. The registrant is then provided with unique credentials that allows access to a specific dashboard and enables them to introduce new leads for land transactions and/or for fulfilling …

Pluss Advanced Technologies (PLUSS) has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its Celsure™ box which is designed using Phase Change Material (PCM) technology to maintain specific inside-temperature. The Celsure™ box is a simple box-in-box transport solution with over 40 variants to maintain different inside-temperatures, ranging from -77C to +89C, for times ranging for a few hours to a few days. The Celsure™ box serves as a better and safer alternative to dry ice and conventional ice-packs and has reduced costs and complexities in transport and storage of perishables, vaccines and temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products. The patent was granted to the innovative method of arranging PCMs, which leads to precise inside-temperature control, under varying ambient conditions. The company has received a patent for Celsure™ from the European Patent Office in Germany also, and has applied for a patent in India, Singapore, and Brazil, as well. “PLUSS was formed to innovate on speciality polymers, to address India’s industrial and social and environmental challenges. With our genesis in research, we have been able to develop unique low-cost solutions for temperature control, using the concept of thermal energy storage. Our solutions have been adopted commercially, and the US Patent is a testimony to the robust technology being used for operational and cost efficiency in transporting temperature sensitive cargo,” said Samit Jain, Managing Director, PLUSS Advanced Technologies.

Enabling SMEs across sectors to take their B2B selling online, aaha Technologies has launched the latest version of DigiSell, a comprehensive, self-service platform which enables small and medium enterprises to create their own eCommerce store so that they can receive and process orders from B2B/B2B2B /D2C segments. With state-of-the art user controls and configurations – including dynamic B2B pricing, contracts, catalogue creation, ordering, tracking, inventory and stock management – the product is becoming a game changer for sectors as diverse as healthcare, food and agriculture, manufacturing, packaging, corporate gifting, apparel and construction, among others. Commenting on the launch of the product, Asokan Sattanathan, Founder & Chairman, aahaa Technologies said, “We are thrilled to be offering SMEs across a range of businesses the benefits of migrating their offline sales and distribution operations online. In the last year, the pandemic compelled many businesses to take various processes digital and there is no going back. DigiSell was created to enable SMEs in this mission and we remain committed to evolving in this domain.” DigiSell is an ideal solution for businesses to enhance distribution efficiency and grow their B2B sales. With its advanced technology, it has the potential to free up the sales team from managing cumbersome processes, present and promote products in the form of an e-Catalogue with client-specific dynamic pricing capabilities. It also helps businesses expand to new geographies and add new products and maintain a single system for all customer orders in both B2B and B2C sectors. Additionally, this platform empowers their clients to initiate ordering of contracted goods from anywhere, anytime, get real-time updates on deliveries and gain insights on product mix & sales trends dynamically. In terms of technology, …

CargoAi has announced to launch new features to allow freight forwarder to assess and reduce the CO2 emissions generated by their business activities. With the new features offered from CargoAi, freight forwarders can now choose routes and airlines based on their carbon impact and calculate the CO2 emitted from each shipment. Monthly CO2 emissions reports are also available to allow clients to analyse their own impact and monitor improvements. As powerful decision-making and CO2 emission calculation tools, these features are highly sought after by clients at a time when sustainability is playing an increasingly significant role in air cargo. Also, the free universal Track and Trace system enable any freight forwarder to track their shipment instead of checking with each airline and calculate at the same time the CO2 emission of the shipment. Finally, the monthly emissions report means forwarders can analyse their carbon impact and monitor improvements. “Cargo stakeholders have really become aware of sustainability, and carbon impact is a recurring topic in discussions with our clients. Through these new features, we wanted to highlight the efforts that airlines are making to reduce their emissions by allowing forwarders to choose their carriers on that basis. It was essential for us to take a position on this issue and to innovate, because it’s also another way of thinking about air cargo differently,” said Matthieu Petot, CEO of CargoAi. Several months of development work went into building this complex calculation system, with impartiality the primary goal. As a result, CO2 emissions calculations for all airlines are based on the IATA RP1678 methodology, which is approved by the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC). The European standard DIN EN 16258 can also be …

With supply chains becoming more dependent on mobile workers to meet productivity goals, Honeywell has partnered with FarEye, a low-code SaaS platform, to provide its intelligent delivery management platform to Honeywell mobile computer users. FarEye allows mobile workers with devices to manage, visually track and monitor delivery logistics operations. The company works with major retailers, carriers and consumers around the world to provide higher control on their delivery operations and provide a superior experience to end customers. Kushal Nahata, CEO & Co-Founder, FarEye said, “Indeed a milestone for both the teams who are on a journey to empower shippers and carriers to deliver better. As customers transform their businesses to keep pace with today’s ever-changing business climate, FarEye enables the customers to scale their delivery operations & create value. Together, we have been able to make a positive impact on businesses with the disruptive power of Honeywell technologies and FarEye’s intelligent delivery management platform which is built to solve the complex challenges that cost the supply chain and logistics industry trillions of dollars.” With the combined capabilities, Honeywell and FarEye aim to provide greater visibility of logistics operations through centralizing data that is usually scattered throughout the organization. This will help customers to achieve greater transparency enabling them to move from reacting to situations to real-time problem solving with end-to-end operational visibility. Honeywell also recently recognised FarEye as its ISV Partner of the year.

Locus has announced a new integration with Lytx® to ensure sustainable transportation operations with the next generation of fleet management technology. While Lytx provides GPS location information on vehicles, Locus uses the information to prepare the most optimised route. Additionally, Locus can utilise the planned route and location information to compare planned versus actual performance as well as power analytics and insights. The combined product offering of Locus and Lytx will enable fleet managers to optimise the total cost of ownership (TCO) driven by fuel economy monitoring, driver analytics, visibility, compliance management, and predictive maintenance alerts. For fleets, this smart management platform will help with higher asset utilisation, optimised route planning, better driver communication, and seamless interactions with shippers and warehouses, translating into cost and time savings for the fleet managers. “This partnership offers the perfect blend of analytics and routing capabilities to our customers,” said Krishna Khandelwal, Chief Business Officer, Locus, in adding, “The optimised routing reduces both capital and operational costs for local distribution while increasing service levels and revenue-generating activities.” “Many fleet managers today leverage multiple technologies and are looking for ways to consolidate so they can save time and focus on things that matter more,” says Frank Schneider, Director of Integrations & Partnerships at Lytx. “This integration will allow customers of Locus and Lytx to have a seamless view of all the data they need from both systems, so they can make informed decisions in an instant. Fleet managers can keep track of their vehicles through GPS, get insights into driving behaviors through our proprietary video and machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI) offering, dispatch technicians, and route vehicles.”