Asia’s first digital freight forwarder will leverage TradeLens solutions to accelerate secure digitization in ocean logistics
Shipwaves, founded in 2015 and Asia’s first industry-leading digital freight forwarder, has recently joined the newly launched Maersk-IBM developed TradeLens platform.
TradeLens is an open and neutral industry platform underpinned by blockchain technology, supported by major players across the global shipping industry. The platform promotes the efficient, transparent, and secure exchange of information in order to foster greater collaboration and trust across the global supply chain.
The association between the front-running blockchain-powered supply chain solution and digital forwarder is aimed at accelerating the digitization of the ocean logistics space, especially in India and the Middle-East.
Having recently allowed shipping bills of lading to be filed over a blockchain platform, India has been betting big on blockchain-enabled solutions to digitize its maritime supply chains.
The TradeLens blockchain solution provides controlled, authorized access to secure and immutable transportation documents while bringing together stakeholders such as shipping carriers, ports, customs offices, and other players and stakeholders in the ecosystem through its platform.
Enhancing efficiency
Through this linkage, Shipwaves will be able to provide timely end-to-end supply chain visibility, secured sharing of digital shipping documents, and data directly from partners. This will enable the forwarder to improve efficiency and decrease operational costs by a significant margin.
Additionally, the smart-contract based workflows will automate and digitize multi-party interactions, which will result in improved efficiency.
“With Shipwaves collaborating with TradeLens, we have an important supply chain enabler furthering our joint desire of removing manual tasks and enabling digitized workflows in the logistics industry,” asserted Bimal Kanal, Head of TradeLens, South Asia.
Milestone
“Our association with TradeLens marks a significant milestone which will enable us to digitize our customers’ operations and lead them into the blockchain era of global trade. While we were one of the early innovators in the digital freight forwarding space, the ongoing pandemic taught us that, this alone is not enough. One also needs collaboration to enhance competence and expand capabilities,” affirmed Sajid Mohammed, COO, Shipwaves.
“Our SaaS products helped us gain deep insights into our customer’s IT Landscape and how they interact with their logistics teams and key players. We believe that the TradeLens platform will truly elevate our value proposition, allowing us to interconnect with shippers, carriers & other stakeholders. The important factor here is the use of innovative technology that ensures security, trust and transparency,” he added.
Enabling freight forwarders with data direct from the source to enhance their offering to their clients is a key tenet of TradeLens. Having directly connected with over 160 entities ranging from ocean carriers, ports, shippers, inland providers, and more, the granularity of data offered includes over 120 supply chain events including transportation plans, estimated and actual events.
Shipwaves was conceived as a logistics company fully built around the needs of shippers, and delivers solutions through technology and logistics expertise. It helps shippers around the world to plan, book, and manage their shipments by offering instant rates, quick quotes, online booking and real-time visibility, whilst offering value-added services like customs clearance, marine insurance, and advanced data analytics to lower freight costs, explained a company press communique.
Additionally, Shipwaves provides SaaS offerings to global Enterprise customers to automate their end-to-end shipping processes. It uses the latest technologies, automation tools, and predictive analytics to provide its customers with visibility and control over the entire shipment lifecycle.
The intuitive platform seamlessly connects shippers, carriers, and their partners to integrate and collaborate across the entire supply chain gambit. The company has multiple offices in India and the UAE and has tie-ups with several shipping, air cargo, trucking, and Fintech companies, the press communication concluded.
