All stakeholders in the transport chain expect the smooth flow of goods and information. When it comes to complex transports, the comprehensive tracking of information is often lacking. Logistics providers must change this so as to provide the required transparency.
Unbundling: new transparency in the transport chain
Lufthansa Industry Solutions was recognized as a relevant player in the digital factory in the three use case clusters “Predictive Analytics & Maintenance”, “Traceability” and “Asset & Plant Performance Monitoring” by teknowlogy. According to teknowlogy, the leading independent European market analysis and consulting company for the IT industry, LHIND has proven to be able to address all related use cases in these categories.
Within the transport chain for private packages, shipment tracking has long been a standard that very few people would like to do without. The seamless flow of information, such as updates on flight delays via app, is also a matter of course for travelers when they book journeys involving multiple service providers. Today, B2B customers are also demanding digital services such as these.
But transports of substantial freight shipments across national borders and by multiple carriers are often significantly more complex. Many different logistics companies are involved in the transport chain. As a result, goods are often faster than the flow of information. At times, the individual service providers lack fast access to relevant information about parts of the transport chain. For example, a carrier picking up a shipping container is only rarely able to use the freight service provider’s core application to access information that is relevant for its part of the route.
Unbundling: part of any digitalization strategy
The transparency being demanded with regard to the complex transport chain requires the logistics industry to unbundle information. The system for container bookings, for example, has to provide selected information to the respective service providers involved in the transport process. This is made possible by integrating new technologies such as big data and by connecting new IT solutions to existing IT systems. Lufthansa Industry Solutions supports transport and logistics companies in this process. Working with its clients, Lufthansa Industry Solutions develops individual digitalization strategies that allow companies to rise to the changing demands for a transparent flow of information through unbundling.
Consistently focusing on unbundling and taking the idea to the next level enables transport and logistics companies to explore new business models. With the help of a comprehensive flow of information that integrates data from multiple service providers, for example, companies could broker transportation services including fleets and drivers. This would allow customers to rent fleets ad hoc and accordingly pay for just the individual transportation service in question, rather than having to have their own cars and drivers, but not making optimum use of their capacities.