Page 12: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Mar/Apr 2017)

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INSIGHTS

The Changing Face of

Shipping Logistics

By Greg Trauthwein yan Petersen is the founder differentiates Flexport from the rest of the pack. “In addition and CEO of Flexport. He is to our human logistics experts, we use modern technology to

Ralso the founder and ex-CEO provide our clients with real-time data on the locations of their of ImportGenius.com, the largest goods and unparalleled visibility into their supply chains.” provider of business intelligence to But, what does all that mean? In 2005, Petersen spent time the import-export industry. Armed living in China, for the purpose of working closely with manu- with an MBA from Columbia and a facturers and freight forwarding partners, essentially toiling

B.A. in Economics from UC Berke- in the supply chain trenches. It was here where he formulated n e ley, he is also a licensed customs his own ideas on what the supply chain could be. “While I s broker and freight forwarder, with was there, I was frustrated with the inef? cient and outdated r

P e e t his built company squarely around processes of shipping goods internationally. Nothing was ever an online dashboard backed by leading venture capital ? rms indexed properly and there was no software layer to help you like Founders Fund, Google Ventures, and Bloomberg BETA. ? nd and sort your goods.”

In April, Petersen told MLPro, “Before Flexport, I co-found- ed ImportGenius, a leading provider of business intelligence for Disruptive Technologies the import-export industry. Flexport is a tech-enabled freight According to Petersen, and although global trade is one of forwarder and customs broker, meaning that we help to coordi- the biggest and oldest industries in the world, it still operates nate the logistics of importing and exporting goods around the like it’s 1970. He explained, “The logistics and trade indus- world.” And, says Petersen, the ‘tech-enabled’ aspect is what tries have been content with their stagnation, so in 2013, I “In addition to our human logistics experts, we use modern technology to provide our clients with real-time data on the locations of their goods and unparalleled visibility into their supply chains.” – Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport

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