Freight world must evolve collaboratively, not disruptively

Every day, technology is changing our world at a breakneck pace. And the world of global supply chain is proving to be no exception. 

At first blush, that seems like a win. And in many ways, it is. 

But data alone is useless. It needs context to be valuable. And in this case, that bigger picture is very complex. Global logistics can be dizzying, in fact. On any given day, dozens of factors drive decisions. Data points are pieces of the puzzle--or a jigsaw, really.

So, where do we go from here? 

Change is challenging for an industry steeped in tradition. Civilizations have shipped across oceans for centuries, with practices relatively unchanged. Now everything seems to be changing. 

But at Xeneta, we believe change is necessary--and that it can be done in a way that helps, not hurts, the industry. 

In the past, the industry norm was for the buyer and supplier to operate in silos. Openly sharing information was unheard of, even taboo. 

We believe that changing technologies must go hand-in-hand with philosophical and cultural changes in the industry. Our ways of thinking and operating must evolve along with technology.

We believe all of our industry must collaborate openly because we are all in this together.

As I write this blog, coronavirus has virtually brought our world to standstill. It underscores how connected, how dependent we are all on one another. 

It is no longer “us against them.” It is us against anything threatening to bring down trade. 

We realize these are tectonic shifts that will take time. And we respect that. We don’t believe that technology should drive change in a way that is unruly or upsetting. Rather, it should drive progress with a strong and steady hand. 

How we fit it. 

At Xeneta, we view ourselves as more than a tech company. We are your strategic partner. We have deep insights into how the industry works and where it is going. 

We strive to support the modernization efforts of industry leaders in logistics. Our company was built on the promise of making data accessible, breaking down silos across the entire industry and providing data transparency in an otherwise opaque world. 

We offer real-time market freight-rate data, with the largest coverage of trade-lanes in the industry. We are able to do this by providing one common platform that unites all players in the industry: shippers, freight forwarders and carriers. 

Our goal of modernizing the supply chain is not in the distant future – we are experiencing the promises of sharing data in the logistics industry today.