According to a press release from OOCL, it has come up with a significant advancement in upgrading the MyOOCLReefer (MOR) service by leveraging the latest technologies.
Better handling of cargo shipments
According to the company, upgrades are to be carried out in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile and telematic devices to bring an unprecedented level of transparency, visibility and convenience to shippers when managing their reefer cargo shipments.
This level of access to information on the container can greatly help shippers in their cargo protection and inventory management process.
Real time monitoring of shipments
At sea, the real-time monitoring of the shipment’s schedule and substantially more accurate Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) can give shippers more control over the supply chain where timing of their products to shelf is of paramount importance.
On land, customers will appreciate the AI’s constant oversight on possible deviations to the container’s reefer settings where they can immediately take recovery action to any major impact affecting the cost, profit margin and market value of the shipment.
Latin American and African markets benefitted
Mr. Andy Tung, Co-Chief Executive Officer of OOCL, said, “OOCL has a very comprehensive network covering many major produce trading regions and we have recently extended our network to serve the Latin American and African markets as part of our focus on growth in these sectors.“
He added, “An increasing amount of our reefer business is related to temperature-sensitive cargo.“
Reefers to modernize fleet
He also commented that they recently invested in the purchase of 4,500 new reefer containers, owing to the rapid growth in this trade as well as demand for quality services.
“The reefers are to modernize our fleet, technological upgrades to our MOR services, and resources to train our reefer professionals to ensure OOCL delivers on that mark of quality”, he said.
Real time location tracking
Meeting customers’ MOR shipment needs has never been more effective and easier when useful information such as the container’s real-time location, both on land and at sea, as well as visibility over temperature, humidity and other atmospheric data are right at their fingertips, anytime, anywhere.
Much of the technological advancement supporting MOR’s container tracking capability at sea has in large part been a result of a close collaboration with software solutions provider CargoSmart, a sister company of OOCL.
Global Vessel Voyage Monitoring Center
CargoSmart’s Global Vessel Voyage Monitoring Center monitors and analyzes data of over 16,000 vessels, 800 ports, 1,400 terminals and tracks multiple ocean carriers covering more than 3,000 services and 10 million sailing schedules.
Its extensive database coupled with AI can process a mix of variables such as vessel sailing patterns, terminal productivity, and carrier schedule performance to provide predictive analytics on the vessels’ estimated arrival times through MOR.
Analysis of shipment variables
Customers will not only have the real-time location of the container at sea, but also predictive insights as to how changes to any of those variables may affect the shipment schedule and thus the customer’s ability to make well-informed decisions for their supply chains based on the new information.
Apart from cargo visibility at sea, the MOR service can also provide similar visibility levels when the shipment is moving on land by using the latest IoT technologies built into the containers.
By leveraging the power of AI, the calculation towards the ETA of the cargo based on the shipment route uses industry specific variables, such as historical data on trucking patterns and the location of industrial roads in the predictive analysis.
Application of AI in calculating ETA
In other words, the AI would analyze actual trucking routes used in the past and take other important variables such as road restrictions into consideration towards the ETA. This approach to calculating the ETA is more accurate and customized to the needs of the industry when compared to other generic mapping services which are catered to the general public for all types of vehicles.
“We are very proud to be an important driving force behind OOCL’s digital transformation by using all the best and latest technologies available and bringing all that we’ve learned from the shipping industry over the years to the table and help make a difference,” said Mr. Lionel Louie, Chief Commercial Officer of CargoSmart.
“We are very encouraged by the results of the collaborative process with OOCL’s reefer team to come up with the tools that can raise the bar in terms of service quality levels while meeting their commitment to offering more transparency to customers and efficiency in the supply chain.”
New technologies for better future
The introduction and adoption of these new innovative technologies are making a very positive contribution to the way we do business in the industry.
Moving forward, OOCL will continue to innovate and differentiate ourselves from the competition by working closely with our business partners to bring more visibility, control and convenience to our customers in their reefer shipments with us because ‘We take it personally’.
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Source: Orient Overseas Container Line
