The project44 platform now delivers visibility for all rail movements across Europe, and enhances end-to-end intermodal visibility for barge freight
CHICAGO (April 7, 2022) – project44, the leading supply chain visibility platform, today announced its acquisition of Potsdam-based Synfioo, provider of the most comprehensive visibility and ETA platform for rail freight data in Europe. Through this deal, project44 has also extended its barge visibility for inland waterway segments across the continent.
Synfioo’s visibility and ETA capabilities are a natural addition to project44’s multi-modal visibility platform used by leading shippers, LSPs and carriers. With Synfioo, project44 will provide customers with unrivalled end-to-end data to facilitate faster on-time deliveries and more accurate ETAs, as well as low-carbon rail and barge shipping in Europe.
Market-leading rail freight visibility
“Europe’s rail infrastructure was developed nearly 200 years ago and was not built for the cross-border trade that exists today,” said Marian Pufahl, former CEO & co-Founder of Synfioo. “Our platform brings together a proprietary infrastructure network and freight forwarder information to offer the most comprehensive rail freight data for Europe. Now as project44, we will continue to drive data harmonisation between the various rail networks and provide unrivalled visibility to our customers.”
Through the acquisition, project44’s European rail network now provides the following capabilities:
- Comprehensive visibility of all cargo rail movements across European countries
- IoT-enabled rail tracking combined with proprietary data, and direct integration to all of Europe’s rail infrastructure networks for granular visibility
- Visibility of over 99% of European rail volume, including wagon-level tracking for 90% of rail cars, to ensure visibility for every customer shipment
- Intermodal end-to-end rail data combined with machine learning algorithms offering the most precise rail journey ETAs and customer delivery times
Enhanced barge visibility
project44 has also enhanced its barge visibility capabilities as part of this acquisition, to provide granular, accurate visibility of vital inland waterway segments across Europe. Customers can now harness specialised data science techniques, combined with real-time satellite tracking, to ensure the most accurate visibility of inland waterways.
Key features include:
- Intelligent asset-matching technology which extends visibility coverage, using data science-based techniques to track individual barges in real-time, without requiring traditional identifying information
- Dynamic routing models that offer accurate ETAs, as well as intermodal end-to-end movements that include barge segments
- Sophisticated water depth modelling and inland waterway data sources which enable carriers to assess load capacity, maximise on-time deliveries and avoid delays for shippers and LSPs
“By acquiring Synfioo, we’ve not only expanded the breadth and depth of our visibility platform, but also added European tech talent and expertise to our rapidly growing international team, which is now well over 400 exceptional team members,” said Renaud-Houri, EVP International at project44. “Shippers, LSPs and carriers aren’t alone in navigating the complex European market, with project44’s platform making it easier than ever to improve ETAs, reduce costs, maximise on-time deliveries and mitigate bottlenecks. Most importantly, this level of visibility will help more companies to harness sustainable, low-carbon rail and barge shipping, which will play a vital role in helping Europe meet its net-zero ambitions.”
What Our Customers Say
“We started our journey with project44 in 2021 to help us deliver global visibility and improve the accuracy of our ETAs. This information is essential to our customer commitment of responsive logistics,” said Xavier Bour, Global Ground & Rail Leader at CEVA Logistics. “With rail transportation representing a critical part of our global network and our sustainability strategy, enhanced capabilities and rail coverage would further help CEVA and our customers achieve our goals.”
To learn more about project44’s recent growth and momentum, visit project44’s website.