- In May, the Digital Container Shipping
Association (DCSA), made clear its determination to consign the centuries-old bill of lading to history. - In a new report, the DCSA stated that moving towards a standard, paperless bill of lading will derive $4bn in potential annual savings at a 50% adoption rate for the container shipping industry.
- Since the first efforts to digitise bills of lading in the late 1990s, the promise of an electronic bill of lading for the container shipping industry has remained elusive.
A recently published article in the Splash 247 deals with the ideas and thoughts to make the shipping Industry simple, fast and cheap, through technology.
A lot of obstacles
In fact, Tradelens, the Maersk and IBM blockchain platform, goes so far as to call an electronic bill of lading standard the “Holy Grail of global trade”. Like the Holy Grail, there are
a number of obstacles on the road to attaining it.
“Eliminating paper from the shipping transaction will make every aspect of commercial container shipping better, faster, cheaper, more secure and environmentally friendly,” DCSA stated.
IoT connectivity for shipping containers
In June the association published IoT connectivity interface standards for shipping containers, potentially bringing greater transparency in the movement of goods around the world.
The standards can be implemented by vessel operators and owners as well as ports, terminals, container yards, inland logistics providers and other third parties to ensure inter-operability between smart container
solutions at the radio interface level.
“With these standards in place, carriers and supply chain participants will be one step closer to providing customers with an uninterrupted flow of relevant information regarding the whereabouts of containers and the status of their contents at any point along the container journey,” DCSA stated in a release.
Common set of processes
Back in January, the association published a common set of processes, as well as data and interface standards for track and trace.
Founded in April last year, the DCSA features the world’s nine largest carriers.
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Source: Splash 247
