Supply Chain Brain

help save you the time, cost and resources of developing and maintaining this data stream on your own system.

Of course, your company will have unique needs for Web services technology. To customize a system that will meet your data needs and complement your existing e-commerce investment, you can add “plug & play” Web services modules to create an integrated solution.

OPINION

pace of trade flows and events occur that can affect sailing schedules.

With up-to-the-minute fresh data, your employees won’t have to wait for cargo movement information or manually update changes about shipments in their ocean supply chain. So your people can spend less time gathering and organizing information—and more time managing it to your advantage.

Now you can receive the latest sailing schedules on demand from a single consolidated source, so you know when your goods leave and arrive. Instead of waiting for this data via electronic data interchange and batch file transfers to be processed, you can “mash” this information together and view it simultaneously to complete the necessary documentation to comply with new global shipping regulations.

For example, consider the recently enacted Importer Security Filing (ISF) Rule—better known as “ 10 + 2”—as part of the SAFE Port Act. To increase supply chain security, 10 + 2 requires importers and carriers to submit additional data to U.S. Customs at least 24 hours prior to a container being loaded on a ship destined for the U.S. With Web services, you can more easily meet this regulation by receiving this information faster from multiple sources and combining it at your company for easier entry in the necessary fields. This means you can ensure that shipping containers are moving at optimum speed, while avoiding costly penalties for non-compliance with 10

+ 2 and preventing customer complaints.

Due to terrorism concerns in global shipping, many other countries are following the lead of the U.S. in enacting more stringent regulations like 10 + 2. Web services can help make it faster and easier for you to access the data you need to comply with these regulations—and react to other new regulations and requirements that may arise around the world.

Leveraging Your E-Commerce
Investment

Web services technology enables you to leverage your existing investment in internal e-commerce systems. For example, with Web services, you can automate more aspects of the booking and tracking process to close up information gaps to speed up processing and open up workflow. And Web services make it easier to combine sailing schedule data with other external data sources to create powerful online productivity tools.

In addition, by providing a richer user experience and more effective automated processes, Web services can give your company the ability to react to changes in shipping schedules with velocity and agility. This is especially valuable in today’s volatile global marketplace, where prices and market demand can change overnight.

Web services also create the opportunity for “white labeling,” which enables you to designate a carrier or shipper as a portal for specialized types of information. This can

Meeting Challenges of Adopting
Web Technology

Like any change in business process, there’s more to adopting Web services for ocean shipping than how you use this technology in consumer applications. While gaining real-time access to shipping data is important, it’s critical that the data has been “cleansed” so it’s ready to be viewed and used by shippers and other information consumers in the supply chain. Otherwise, your applications may not be able to filter and process the data to your advantage.

This means your internal systems have to be prepared to receive (and send out) data that can be consumable by your company, as well as others in your supply chain. Web services also requires that data conform to Web-enabled standards so it can be universally viewed and used by a variety of applications.

If your company is just starting to embrace Web services, you’re not alone. Many importers and carriers are still in the process of incorporating these technologies into the way they do business. However, the sooner your company can adopt Web services, the earlier you can start to improve the accuracy of your shipping schedules, increase the productivity of your shipping personnel, and more easily comply with global shipping regulations.

A good place to start using Web services is sharing information across disparate systems in internal company operations. This gives you the opportunity to develop a comfort level with the nuances of Web services before distributing or receiving information to or from external sources.

It all adds up to bringing ocean shipping up to Web speed—something that all consumers have come to expect in virtually every aspect of their lives, both at home and at work.