Executive Insights

The movement of goods over great distances using ships has been carrying on for many centuries.. Many things have changed in the shipping and freight industry over the years, but some things have not..

Today’s business environment is facing a lot of instability whether it is in the form of Brexit, trade tariffs, highly volatile freight rates or new maritime policies..

Now, more than ever, the industry needs people with experience and knowledge to help steer the new generation through the troubled waters..

People who have been there and handled shipping the vintage way but know much more than a thing or two about the modern shipping industry..

As part of our Executive Insights series, we caught up with Steve Walker, a consultant and adviser to many BCOs, freight forwarders and online freight companies..

Executive Insights is a series by Shipping and Freight Resource that provides ongoing insights, enriching the knowledge of the readers with what is happening in the world of shipping, providing thoughtful analysis, and everything else you might want to know about the maritime, shipping, freight, logistics and supply chain industry..

Executive Insights is also a chance to pick the brains of industry veterans and leaders..

In this latest edition, Shipping and Freight Resource caught up with Nicholas Press CEO of CEC Systems for some insights into the challenges in the industry and the technologies..

We talked with FreightHub co-founder Michael Wax about What his company is doing to establish itself as an active partner to shippers, and what the ideal forwarder-shipper relationship should look like.

Logistics companies can deploy the best technology and still fail if their personnel lack training and experience. Anyone whose been around the industry a while remembers Deutsche Post-DHL’s €345 million New Forwarding Environment (NFE) IT program disaster. And while DPDHL seems to have pulled through, mistakes like that can sink smaller firms. On the other hand, we’re well into an era where it’s impossible not to adapt and adopt new technology, which makes expert advice all the more important.

Will blockchain revolutionize the shipping and logistics industry, allowing it to move past inefficient legacy technologies by handing companies the keys to high-tech solutions, at an affordable cost? That’s ShipChain CEO John Monarch’s vision, and over the past year, his company’s platform has emerged as one of the foremost contenders in this burgeoning market.

New technology has opened users up to cybercrime, thanks to security loopholes, lack of training, or sometimes both. We chatted with PhishTrain Co-Founder Jake Sylvestre about how managers should think about security, and what steps they can take to protect their clients, their reputations, and ultimately, their bottom line.

We are getting close to full visibility and accountability in the shipping and freight business, thanks to blockchain.

Here’s how. Blockchain-based solutions align accountability with responsibility and create a neutral layer that incentivizes greater sharing of data.

We talked with OriginTrail CEO Tomaž Levak about how that works. “By performing consensus checks in each step of the supply chain we are effectively creating a single version of truth and supply chains with integrity,” Tomaž explained.

“Such end-to-end visibility can, in turn, be used to overcome not only data fragmentation but can support various other use cases.”

Brian Laung Aoaeh and Lisa Morales-Hellebo, co-founders of The New York Supply Chain Meetup LLC, operate under the mantra “the past ran on supply chains. The present runs on supply chains. The future will run on supply chains. The world is a supply chain.”

In their efforts to realize this vision, Brian and Lisa have joined with other supply chain professionals to curate and organize events that seek, find, encourage, and include a wide range of views and ideas on the most significant problems related to global supply chain networks.

Welcome to The New York Supply Chain Meetup..

The answers to capacity shortages, increased competition, and rising costs lie in finding a good 3PL partner. That means providers need understands their client’s business model and vision, and offer additional solutions, savings, carriers and resources to help shippers reach their goals. In these uncertain times, the solutions and partners are there to help your business scale, be more efficient, have strong cost management and advance technologically.

Shippers are becoming increasingly active stakeholders in the logistics business, forcing carriers and forwarders to adapt. Portrix Logistic Software’s Global Head of Marketing, Christian Sørensenon, talks to Shipping and Freight Resource about the changing shipping landscape and provides tips for shippers and logistics companies to stay ahead of the curve.

After two decades of experience in export and freight forwarding sectors, CoLoadX CEO Fauad Shariff has seen it all. In his current position at the helm of a marketplace for freight forwarders and NVOCCs, he’s trying to help freight forwarders solve the complexities of international logistics, rather than waste time and effort shopping for rates, or tracking shipments.

“We’re in an era where complexities melt away in the face of digital capabilities,” says Eytan Buchman, VP of marketing for the online freight marketplace Freightos.

For decades, shippers were told that they had to settle for the status quo because freight was all about experience and interpersonal relationships. That's all changing now, thanks to advanced computing and new tech.

The days when pallets or containers disappeared into the supply chain and – hopefully – showed up on the other end weeks later are long over, says Sensefinity CEO Orlando Remédios.

In this instalment of our “Executive Insights” series, Remédios explains how, thanks to recent developments, all shippers need is a cell phone and an internet connection, and they can pretty much guarantee the integrity of their shipments.

Outdated technology and common mistakes shippers make can cost shippers thousands of dollars or more.. In this series of Executive Insights, we chat with the CEO of Haven - Matthew Tillman on what shippers can do to reduce error and cut costs..

South Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Africa (at 52%). Africa also has the youngest population in the world and according to the African Economic Outlook report, this number is growing.

The continent in general, and South Africa in particular, also has a huge youth unemployment issue, a story that is often told alongside that of the continent’s economic growth prospects.

Maritime Industry is a key driver of growth and is of paramount importance to South Africa and the African continent.

One organisation has its focus on growing and developing the next generation of industry leaders for the Maritime Industry, and investing in a future maritime generation through education.

Shipping and Freight Resource is excited to launch a new column called "Executive Insights" which will provide ongoing industry insight, providing thoughtful analysis, from experts in the maritime, shipping, freight, logistics and supply chain industry..