Third-party logistics providers should not be concerned about technology solution providers looking to upend traditional supply chain models, according to Thorsten Meincke, senior vice president of global sea freight at Kuehne + Nagel, a major logistics and transportation company based in Feusisberg, Switzerland.
While technology solutions can help simplify the supply chain and increase transparency, Mr. Meincke believes the digitization of supply chain planning and operations has its limits, since the business regularly requires adjustments or interventions, according to The Journal of Commerce.
"A smart supply chain visibility front end is not enough on its own to deliver value," he said. "No customer has a fixed daily volume output and between 30 percent and 50 percent of shipments do not happen as planned, whether they are canceled, delayed or moved forward."
Supply chains must be able to manage up to 16 different touch points and use key strategies from third-party logistics providers like line item visibility, milestone monitoring and dynamic estimated arrival time to achieve effective results, Mr. Meincke said.
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