Cover Story
Ocean booking technology a linchpin for broader digitization
By Eric Johnson
Changes in the ocean freight booking landscape hold the key to unlocking broader digitization in the containerized supply chain , software vendors catering to shippers and forwarders say .
The thought is that as more ocean bookings are made electronically , and in a standardized way across ocean carriers , the data from that process can be better used upstream and downstream of that task . In other words , whereas a booking today is often done in somewhat of an isolated manner , an electronic booking that all shippers , forwarders and carriers can see would unlock better coordination before and after the booking is requested and confirmed .
“ The process should start with the booking and be augmented with the shipping instructions , the details of what was shipped against the booking ,” said Bryn Heimbeck , president of Trade Tech , a software vendor that sells primarily to non-vessel-operating common carriers ( NVOs ).
“ We as an industry focused on tracking first ... and we ’ re just sort of figuring out the booking .”
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“ The problem is we as an industry focused on tracking first , then [ shipping instructions ], and we ’ re just sort of figuring out the booking ,” he said . “ It happened in reverse . If you do it backwards , you get a process that doesn ’ t work as well as it should .”
While electronic bookings have been possible for two decades , Heimbeck argues it is still a largely siloed process , albeit digital . Trade Tech in May released a new booking platform for its customers intended to allow shippers , carriers and NVOs access to the same data in the same place . “ The fallback from INTTRA as the place to make bookings is making the bookings on the carrier ’ s website ,” Heimbeck said . “ But you have to work to get that all in one place . I hate doing extra admin work . I want to set a booking up , press a button and wait for an electronic response . And if I book one container with OOCL and another with ONE [ Ocean Network Express ] and another with COSCO , I don ’ t want to look at each of their websites to track that booking . I want it in one place .” www . joc . com July 29 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 11