The real-time transportation visibility market is young in comparison to the transportation industry, yet it’s evolved rapidly over the last half a decade. In a technology market that’s growing at a fast pace, it can be challenging to keep a pulse on the industry and the latest solutions.
Gartner’s latest Market Guide for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms explores the current state of the market, offers recommendations to shippers and 3PLs about what they should look for in a solution, and provides an overview of the available visibility providers. While reviewing the report, there were a few key takeaways that we think will help you navigate the shifting market.
The Demand for Transportation Visibility Hasn’t Slowed Down
It’s no surprise that the demand for visibility is still growing. According to Gartner, “Visibility continues to be one of the top technologies supply chain end users invest in. By 2023, 50% of global leading enterprises will have invested in real-time transportation visibility solutions.”
For a technology that’s only several years old, it’s being adopted at impressive rates. And similar to Gartner’s report, we’re seeing global supply chains increasingly invest in real-time visibility. While there are many benefits to visibility, it comes down to enabling shippers and 3PLs to gain more control of their supply chain operations. According to Gartner, “It allows leaders insights into what is happening in the organization as well as outside the four walls of their organization to control end-to-end processes.”
A Path to Visibility Success for Global Supply Chains
As supply chains search for a real-time transportation visibility solution, Gartner recommends considering six key factors. Following these six considerations as a guide, we’ve added some insight based on our experience helping customers achieve visibility – from global enterprise companies to leading 3PLs.
1. Modal Coverage
While over the road visibility is where we see most companies start their visibility journey, many have started expanding to additional modes. Selecting a provider that offers coverage across modes allows you to build on visibility coverage.
project44 offers coverage across modes – including truckload, LTL and vLTL, ocean, rail, multimodal parcel, and file mile – enabling customers to rely on a single solution for visibility.
2. Global Presence
Part of the value of transportation visibility is gaining a complete view of your global supply chain throughout a shipment’s lifecycle. While North America and Europe are the most mature markets, it’s important to consider your long-term global visibility plans, turning to providers that have a presence in key regions.
To provide coverage where our customers need it, project44 has focused on building a strong carrier network in various regions. p44 acquired Europe’s leading visibility provider, GateHouse Logistics, in 2018 and has since continued to deepen coverage across the globe. With coverage in about 50 countries and carrier onboarding available in 16 languages and applications in 14 languages, p44’s comprehensive support ensures customers see the ROI of visibility in the fastest way possible.
3. Carrier Network
A strong carrier network is at the foundation of successful visibility. Gaining coverage across carriers is complex, and without access to an expansive carrier network, shippers and 3PLs are left with incomplete data. To enable customers to gain a comprehensive view of their shipments across their network, project44 has prioritized building connections with carriers.
With access to the largest global carrier network, including connections to more than 760 ELD/telematics providers, customers are able to accelerate their time to value and see results quickly.
4. Data Quality
While many realize the value data can provide, quality data is not always a given. If the data isn’t accurate, complete, or timely, it’s not actionable. Analytics capabilities are only as valuable as the data behind the algorithm. When selecting a solution, understand how the data is collected and what is done to normalize and enrich the data. Your team will only gain valuable insights with high-fidelity data.
By prioritizing direct API and ELD/telematics connections, project44 provides accurate data in real-time. The Advanced Visibility Platform™ ingests and normalizes the data, delivering it to stakeholders in real-time, ensuring you have high-fidelity visibility data to make actionable decisions.
5. TMS Partnerships
Many shippers and 3PLs leverage a transportation management system (TMS) as their single source of truth for transportation operations. project44 takes a Data as a Service (DaaS), integrating with more than 57 TMS and ERP systems, seamlessly delivering visibility data to a customer’s central system. Through partnerships with leading tech providers, such as SAP, users can gain a more complete view across their logistics operations beyond visibility.
While technology partnerships open the doors for value into additional parts of the supply chain, project44 also offers a cloud-based application, the Visibility Operations Center™, where you can monitor shipment details and dive into analytics.
6. Compliance
You can’t have advanced visibility without carrier and data compliance. When evaluating visibility solutions, shippers and 3PLs should understand how their provider will achieve carrier compliance.
project44’s mission is to usher in a new era of trust and predictability to transportation and logistics, and this can only be done by focusing on carrier compliance, allowing customers to gain a comprehensive view of their shipments. project44 was built as the connective tissue of the transportation and logistics network.
More Market Conditions to Note When Evaluating Real-Time Visibility
Real-time visibility has the ability to deliver substantial value for global enterprise shippers and 3PLs alike. With the intricacies of supply chains and their networks, it can take time to reach complete end-to-end visibility. However, the good news is that visibility into any part of your supply chain can make a difference, and with a large carrier network, you can see value quickly. We have seen many shippers start in the area that will make the most impact right away, expanding modes and geographies from there.
To learn more about quantifying ROI and building a business case for real-time visibility, download a complimentary copy for Gartner’s latest report, How to Assess the Benefits and Return on Investment of a Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform.