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We seek information everywhere at every step of our daily life. From buying products to making investments, all our decisions are based on relevant and valuable information we can get. Within business, it is the same, as information is becoming an advantage in the market, a decision-making factor, or crucial for any operational processes. This is exactly what is now being seen in the Transport, Shipping and Logistics (TSL) sector, where relevant and delivered on-time information influences overall supply chain management. But what information is possible and required?
Internet of things
Today we are surrounded by digital solutions that can provide us with information, make a decision according to our behavior, or work in continuous connection with the Internet, sharing information and knowledge. It is the same today with the newest trucks, which are equipped with advanced digital solutions that help us to organize, manage, react or coordinate our cargo and fleet.
“Providing a possibility to track cargo to our customers is a valuable success factor as it can be used not only to reduce their costs but also to plan their operations more efficiently,” says Pavel Kveten, COO Girteka Europe West.
How can information make a difference?
Not so long ago most of the information about transport, its status, and position was obtained via mail, and phone. These days, such solutions are still relevant, but in terms of speeding up the world, it consumes more and more time to collect, check and provide that information from logistic services to customers on demand. What is to be remembered is that the exact information right on time allows customers to make a decision based on their risk calculation rather than on uncertainty, and helps them to develop their business.
Today’s road transportation and its services are fully equipped with digital solutions – from fully digitalized trucks to systems that provide all the information about the usage of the truck, their performance, drivers’ skills, etc. On the other hand, easy-to-implement external solutions, such as project44 or Transporeon Real-Time Visibility, provided within all Girteka’s transport packages, help supply chain managers to increase the efficiency of their work.
Nowadays most companies are delivering such information to their customers through different systems, connected to their internal digital solutions, or using externally available platforms.
“With our latest solution developed with project44, we can provide information about the exact truck location, ETA, and other details in real-time to customers that do not have any additional platform. So they can benefit from it without changing their way of work and any investment,” – explains Pavel Kveten.
Full remote access
With Girteka’s logistics service each customer can obtain full access to different information about cargo movement, the exact truck location, estimated time of arrival (ETA), and many more, remotely from every place on earth with a connection to the internet. The platform receives information about the new shipment from Girteka’s Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) and a few hours before loading it starts receiving telematics data.
Now, there are two options for how our customers can monitor their shipments:
- Direct visibility link – it’s a unique link that is shared by email and leads to a shipment tracking page for one particular load.
- Visibility dashboard – a self-service portal where a customer can find all past and current shipments.
Available 24/7, from any place around the world it supports remote ways of work on instant knowledge and information sharing, without interfering with drivers. And yet the upgrade and development of the platform are ongoing to adapt it to every customer’s needs and requirements.
Efficiency in daily work operations
“At present, about 90% of all transports in Europe West and Scandinavian business units are shown on the portal, and this figure is constantly growing,” comments Audrius Navickas, Senior Project Manager at Girteka.
In March, when the service was launched, the portal displayed about 2,000 transports per week. Now that figure has risen to 14,000 transports per week.
“Most customers use direct links, but more shipments are tracked using dashboards, as large customers prefer dashboards or their tracking solutions. Some clients first try visibility links, then decide to switch to a dashboard, as it contains the entire cargo delivery history with truck and trailer registration numbers, planned and actual arrival times, and delivery terms. We are also working on various small improvements to ensure timely reporting of information when a truck or trailer is changed or in the case of intermodal transports. By the end of the year, we are planning to get a more modern and user-friendly RTV interface,” explained Navickas.
RTV portal accumulates and provides Girteka customers with structured information on the carried-out transports. This information comes from our telematics servers, which receive data from dedicated GPS and telematics hardware located on the truck/trailer. Clients get access to this data 2 hours before loading. Customers can use a direct link sent automatically by email or order integration to access the RTV portal’s dashboard. The dashboard has more functionalities.
Girteka and its RTV solution were recently awarded best in a group of large transportation companies for the second year in a row. If you want to know more read here.
At Girteka, digitalization is not just a word – it comes from real projects and initiatives that help to develop business. With support from innovative solutions like real-time visibility or calculating emissions from cargo with 99% precision, we can make a huge step towards becoming the most sustainable and digitalized logistics company in Europe.
