Page 20 - Logistics News July 2019

Cover Story

Freight forwarders

and technology

Courtesy Shipping and Freight Resource

Steve Walker, a consultant and adviser to many BCOs, freight forwarders and online
freight companies, talks about freight forwarders and technology.

TODAY’S BUSINESS environment is facing a lot of phenomenon, and the creation of bodies like the
instability, whether it is in the form of Brexit, trade General Agreement on Tariff s and Trade (GATT),
tariff s, highly volatile freight rates or new maritime have contributed massively to the modern surge
policies. Now more than ever the industry needs in globalisation, but there is no denying that the
people with experience and knowledge to help massive fall in transportation costs driven by
steer the new generation through the troubled containerisation has been the primary driver.
waters. 3. Economic reforms in China in the early 1980s
Steve Walker’s long and distinguished career paved the way for the start of many well-
in senior business management, particularly established non vessel owning common carrier
in the global logistics and supply chain sector, (NVOCC) operations and catapulted forwarding
has positioned him well for the future and volumes as the world’s factory opened for
demonstrates both his vision and acumen. He business, paving the way for the eventual WTO
answers some questions: accession in 2001.
4. At the same time as the world opened for
Forty-six years in freight is a laudable business, computerisation arrived and off ered
achievement in this industry. What are some of hard-pressed forwarders with a replacement for
the major changes you have seen in the 46 years the Banda machine and telex. Today’s systems
that you have been in freight forwarding? are a far cry from the old IBM AS/400s.
I’ve seen numerous changes during my four plus 5. And now we have the digitalisation of
decades in freight forwarding, but, paradoxically, forwarding.
while many elements of freight forwarding have
been totally transformed – most signifi cantly since Some of the digital freight forwarders are
the advent of computerisation – it is astonishing promising increased visibility and control over
how many processes remain relatively unchanged. customers’ shipments, transparent shipping
The most laudable change across the whole costs, and more predictable and reliable transit
sector is the way that the customer – the shipper times using technology. Can technology really
– has become the focus of the business, and how address these?
the solutions/services have adapted to serve them Freight forwarding as we know it is today is
better. In the old days, the shipper had to adapt to under threat from Silicon Valley. While we need to
the service off ered by the forwarder. accept the challenge to create a new model for
the remainder of the 21st century, we also need
If you have to list fi ve major innovations in to remember that no company or technology can
shipping and freight in all these years that greatly improve on certain variables in shipping
changed the face of trade, which would you like transit time, weather, blank sailings and freight
choose? rate volatility. But technology can assist freight
There are fi ve particularly standout innovations that forwarders to improve the services to importers
have transformed freight and international trade: and exporters and, in many cases, pre-alert them
1. The shipping container might seem an unlikely to possible disruptions to service based on data
candidate for the most infl uential invention of that is available.
the 20th century, but by slashing the cost of The constant evolution of IT has, and will
deep sea shipping, and massively speeding up continue to have, signifi cant impact on the
the whole process, it has arguably had a bigger world of logistics and managing the constant
impact than the aeroplane or the microchip. improvements in global supply chain management
2. The globalisation of trade is not a modern can be both invigorating and daunting. •

18 July 2019 | Logistics News