What is digital freight forwarding and how does it contribute to a reliable supply chain?

Over the years, freight forwarding has undergone a drastic metamorphosis. In this digital era, where digitalization has made its appearance in almost every sector, freight forwarding is also not left behind. We have come a long way from the time when freight forwarders were typically defined as “firms that specialize in the arrangement and shipping of merchandise on behalf of shippers.” They are now recognized as facilitators, value-adders, and consultants. The definition has certainly not changed within the snap of a finger. It has taken rigorous adaptations to come this far. Gone are the days when rate quotes took no less than three days and customers were clueless as to their freight was in the middle of the sea or sitting somewhere at the port. Digital freight forwarding is all about taking care of the end-to-end logistics services leveraging the power of technology.

When it comes to technologies in the freight forwarding space, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, machine learning, and predictive analysis are some that we all have heard at some point in time or have seen the use-cases. There are many freight forwarders who have been a little slow in terms of deploying high-end technologies. However, they have ensured that the manual intervention is reduced to a great extent and the cycle of a pickup to delivery is considerably automated.

Whether a freight forwarder is completely a digital one or not, the power of digital adaptation is helping them meet the clients’ needs and making the supply chain space as efficient and transparent as possible.

What do we understand by a reliable supply chain?

A supply chain that creates credibility and trust among its end users is generally termed a reliable supply chain. When customers are able to gain complete visibility of their shipments, that means the supply chain is transparent and hence, more credible. This is only possible by capitalizing on technology. Tracking and tracing software used by digital freight forwarders offers end-to-end visibility of shipments to customers. Moreover, customers also receive timely updates due to which they are always up-to-date with the status of their freight. This not only saves time but also manual interventions leading to a more efficient supply chain. Therefore, digital freight forwarding has an indispensable contribution to a reliable supply chain and this contribution cannot be disregarded at any cost.

We at Jeena & Company have our Jeena Customer Portal in place that fulfills the commitment to offering the best end-to-end logistics services and contributes to the larger goal of establishing reliable supply chain services across India and the entire globe.