5 Best Practices for Preventing & Mitigating Port-related Supply Chain Disruptions
Strike actions are on the rise, and nowhere is this more evident that in port operations. Workers involved in work stoppages increased by 280% in 2023, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and this statistic is particularly disruptive at the world’s ports. While ports are a more affordable mode for moving global goods than to air freight, port reliability is increasingly unstable. Are the lower rates worth the high chance of disruption? It is, if you have the right management tools.
According to Reuters Events’ research, 40% of companies say their supply chains failed them at the height of the pandemic. Due to these failures, 80% of companies say they have accelerated their digital supply chain strategies.
Furthermore, almost 50% are looking to overhaul procurement and risk management strategies within the next two years, and 42% of enterprises are now using automation to manage risks.
In order to gain full transparency for your supply chain, including port conditions, you need to have situational awareness of the following inhibiting factors;
- variance in actual versus estimated arrival times
- latency in EDI data used by global trade networks
- inefficiencies in the systems used to store and move containers
- congested roads and choke points in and around port terminals.
With events such as Covid, Suez and Panama Canal blockages, and labor strikes, many supply chain leaders have been focused on the port behavior their goods flow through as opportunities to improve their performance. Port-related supply chain disruptions cannot be eliminated entirely, but with new capabilities enabled by the IoT, predictive analytics, and machine learning, those risks can be significantly reduced.
Innovators who take advantage of digital supply chain platforms can gain a competitive advantage, have real-time transparency of shipments and orders, and leverage predictive insights that enable them to avoid or mitigate port-related disruptions.
TransVoyant recommends 5 data management best practices to avoid or minimize port-related supply chain disruptions
1. IoT and other real-time data
Don’t rely on EDI data, with its latency problems. Instead, utilize IoT and other real-time data sources to get the most accurate picture of live and predicted port performance.
2. Predictive analytics
Utilize predictive analytics to foresee disruptions and events before they occur and, therefore, gain advance notice of events in time to take preventative or remedial action.
3. New sources of data
Leverage new sources of data to understand the live movement of containers within the port terminal itself.
4. Diagnostics insights
Use an analytics solution to gain strategic and diagnostic insights into the performance of ports, carriers, routes, and suppliers.
5. End-to-end multi-modal solution
Rather than using a collection of single-mode solutions, use and end-to-end multi-modal solution that provides real-time visibility and predictions related to both the inbound ocean shipment as well as the outbound truck or rail movement in a single system via a single dashboard.
Traditional supply chain and transportation management solutions have not been successful in addressing highly volatile port-related issues, but IoT and predictive analytics-based technologies are changing the game. To learn more about evaluating, selecting, and deploying data sources, download our white paper.
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