Page 60: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Sep/Oct 2017)

59 3rd Cover

TECHNOLOGY need to be involved. However, scaling from pilots to full implementation will require a use of a platform with strong identity management. It is needed to avoid the anonymity, typical for bitcoin implementation, as well as a disproportional impact on IT resources by requiring every supplier or vendor to become a part of hundreds of different blockchain networks,” said Kuznetsova. IN-

TTRA, she said, is currently involved in a pilot right … digitization elevates the importance of now to test this approach.

networks and platforms, allowing stakehold- ers to connect once and reach many trading

Big Data Defined - & Delivered

Predictive analytics is a term often bandied about, but partners. An average shipper connects to 25 seldom fully understood. In context of what it means to carriers on INTTRA’s platform. That’s a real- ocean container shipping, data analytics, for all stake- world example of how booking and ship- holders from every part of the supply chain, provides a ping instructions through INTTRA’s digital way to build and maintain high standards of operational excellence. In the carrier business, as one example, it platform reduces costs compared to doing it may facilitate a better pricing planning based on the one-on-one, or going to multiple web sites.

uptake in bookings. Freight Forwarders can use analyt- – INTTRA President and COO, ics to develop more accurate plans by comparing past

Inna Kuznetsova shipment reliability with the initial ETA of a container against the actual travel and arrival time. But transition- ing from ‘big data’ accessibility to a more user-friendly business analytics tool is another thing altogether.

Kuznetsova explains it this way: “Improving operational The INTTRA approach involves the packaging of data prod- excellence starts with standardization as well as visibility ucts to quickly deliver a return on investment for customers. and the ability to compare units in the same chain with how But, logistics, and especially for the shipping industry, operates they perform against each other. You have to standardize ev- with low margins and thus has a low appetite for huge, massive erything, and then you can compare various segments in the IT projects, which typically can take three to fve years to show chain, so you can then identify actions that will improve your a return on investment. That’s where INTTRA comes in.

weakest links. It starts with digitization, which reduces silos Kuznetsova told MLPro in October, “In our experience, by bringing operational and fnancial data together to allow packaging access to data with an easy-to-use interface with you to optimize by different aspects and parameters.” targeted tasks to address, such as reducing dwell time, has great success. We develop our Decision Support Dashboard

Security products with that in mind. For example, we offer a Dash-

INTTRA, like everyone else, addresses the cyber threat board that enables customers to analyze shipment reliability, daily. To that end, there were, says Kusnetsova, lessons to comparing container ETA versus actual arrival time, which al- be learned from the most recent cyberattack on shipping. For lows them to identify the most reliable shipping plan. Another example, those looking to fnd another layer of protection in helps to analyze detention and demurrage in various ports. All these uncertain times might consider leveraging INTTRA as a these solutions are packaged as separate products allowing booking channel may create an alternative in situations where our customers to select which features match their strategy, the primary system goes down. Like many stakeholders, IN- needs and operational priorities, and most importantly deliver

TTRA also sees promise in so-called ‘blockchain’ technology the best return on investment within the same year.” as another way safeguard critical and proprietary data.

“The neutral digital network means that we are not owned

A Look Ahead by a single Carrier or Freight Forwarder, so that allows us Digitization is rapidly transforming the ocean container to create value for all customers. Blockchain potentially has shipping industry. The intermodal supply chain has come a great value across a neutral network since it provides secure long way, to be sure, but there is more work to be done. In transactions with information only going to the parties that fact, as many as 51% of all shippers still book manually – 60 Maritime Logistics Professional September/October 2017 | |