This is primarily because of the nature of the business. More customers/shippers want a better experience that includes tracking, communication, and total visibility of the entire operation. Digital freight forwarding is the only way to provide this for them. A failure to digitize will cause customers to flee in no time.
What is Digital Freight Forwarding? Digital freight forwarding is the adoption of technology solutions to couple, synchronize, and streamline freight forwarding processes and functions. These processes and functions include rate procurement, rate management, quotation, shipping, customer, and financial management across the freight forwarding process.
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Digital freight forwarding allows all these processes to run together simultaneously and seamlessly. Traditionally, each of these processes can be a hassle on its own. However, digital freight forwarding allows for real-time management and coordination of the processes. Ultimately translating to an overall customer experience.
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What is The Difference Between A Freight Forwarder And A Digital Freight Forwarder? Traditional and digital freight forwarders share the same objective -- to help shippers get their cargo from point A to B. That said, there is a stark difference between how the two execute this objective. The following table makes for a good comparison:
Feature
Digital Freight Forwarding
Traditional Freight Forwarding
Processes
Relies on tech solutions to carry out the tasks. This makes it much more simple.
Stuck on manual processes, paper documentation, and phone calls.
Efficiency
The platforms are designed to automate tasks, making them much faster and more streamlined.
Unfortunately, humans are not as fast, and manual processes are slow and filled with errors.
Cost
The streamlined and automated process typically means lower costs for digital freight forwarding.
Labor costs and mistakes can be quite costly
Visibility
Real-time tracking of shipments through online platforms and data integration.
Limited visibility with updates often reliant on phone calls or emails. And sometimes too late.
Customer Experience
Customers have real-time access to information, and they can communicate with the freight forwarder easily through portals
Less transparency and slower response can lead to customer frustration.
Scalability
The platforms are designed to be scalable, and at comparable costs
Less adaptable and will have to invest in more labor costs and infrastructure to scale properly
Data Analysis
Generates valuable data for optimizing logistics strategies and identifying new opportunities
Limited data analysis capabilities
Paperwork
Almost zero paperwork
Heavily reliant on paper-based documentation
How are Digital Forwarders Revolutionizing Freight Forwarding?
Freight forwarding is a complicated process with many moving parts. Keeping a handle on them can be challenging, no matter how efficient the freight forwarder is, which is complicated as the number of clients grows.Â
Chief among them are errors, wrong rates, lack of transparency in operations and poor customer experience, leading to frustration. Digital freight forwarding circumvents such problems, being quicker to respond, more detailed, more transparent in operations within and outside the organisation and providing customers with real-time updates throughout the transportation process.Â
Customers can log in to a portal and find most of their needs, avoiding the hassle of calling or sending emails except when absolutely necessary. It is important to note that digitization has not entirely replaced the entire freight forwarding process. For instance, while the platform can show and compare rates, it won't do the business of negotiating those rates. If there is a challenge, such as customs clearance or missing shipment, the technology could not handle it.Â
This builds the case for digital freight forwarders, as they leverage technology to automate manual operations such as quote generation, updating customers, and providing detailed insights and data analysis of the freight market, while people can focus on the strategic aspects of the freight forwarding operations.
The Benefits of Digital Freight Forwarding Compared to traditional freight forwarding, digitally native forwarders are more tailored to the strengths of an organization, enhancing efficiency and improving customer experience. Here are some of its benefits in today’s freight forwarding landscape.
Real-Time Rate Procurement Typically, when shippers wanted rates, a freight forwarder had to look up and review current rates to share with the shipper. Ideally, this could take anywhere from an hour to 48 hours, depending on the changes, which is no longer the case.
With digital freight forwarding platforms, rates are automatically curated and updated in real time , making them available to customers/shippers in seconds.
Making Negotiations Easier Negotiating with carriers can be difficult without having all the facts. The freight forwarder will most likely be at a loss in that situation. However, with detailed insights on the top trade lanes, the freight forwarder can effectively negotiate with carriers to get better rates and space allocation for their clients or shippers.
Building Resilience Against Sudden Change and Disruptions Data insights and analytics give the freight forwarding operation an idea of what the market will do in the future. This keeps it prepared compared to unsuspecting counterparts. A freight forwarder can make changes and take measures to mitigate the entire process.
Seamless Documentation A typical logistics operation will entail various documentation. In the past, these were paper-based, leading to inefficiencies, long processing times, and sometimes missing documentation. All of these could derail the process. With digital freight forwarding, there are fewer paper-based processes, and every documentation is stored on the cloud, enhancing access and reducing mistakes or errors.
Real-Time Visibility Digital freight forwarding allows seamless communication and real-time updates between the forwarder’s operations team and the customer. This, in turn, enhances real-time visibility, allowing the customer to monitor the shipment every step of the way. The platform updates itself with the freight forwarding process's location, stage, and situation.
Customer Portal Freight forwarders can have their own digital storefront that they can share with their customers. This primarily helps overseas clients where they tend to send out requests for rates or even want to track shipments outside of the working hours of the freight forwarders.
Will Digital Freight Forwarding Replace Traditional Freight Forwarders? Digital freight forwarding is about freight forwarders leveraging technology solutions such as Freightify to help them make the most of their operations.Â
There are certain skills, expertise, and experience in freight forwarding that the digital platform cannot replace, like building relationships with carriers and shippers, understanding local norms and market nuances, and navigating compliance requirements.
As mentioned earlier, freight forwarders can leverage technology to enhance other aspects of their operations, such as raising and comparing quotes, studying the market, communicating with customers, and documentation. All of these are processes that eat into the time and resources of the freight forwarder, leading to inefficiencies.
With digital platforms, freight forwarding becomes much more streamlined and efficient. Take, for example, the RMS feature on Freightify. It allows the freight forwarder to acquire rates for various carriers across different modes of transportation, compare these rates, consider fluctuations, and export the rates if need be.Â
A freight forwarder doing all of these the traditional way could spend hours. The fact that Freightify can do this within minutes makes the freight forwarder far more efficient and relevant to any customer.
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How Do Digital Freight Forwarders Manage Rate Operations? A lot has been said about digital freight forwarders. But what does a day in a freight forwarding operation look like? Let's take a look from Freightify’s perspective:
Rate Procurement Instantly search and quote from a platform supporting several live FCL and LCL carrier rates, including airlines for global shipments and inland charges. View all SPOT, FCL, LCL, and AIR rates from different carriers and NVOCCs in a single view. Freightify does this exceptionally well, providing all your rates in one place.
Rate Management The digital freight forwarder can add new rates using different options, search and filter Rates instantly using multiple parameters, and automatically add margins using rules.
Quotation Generate a quote in seconds. Seamlessly send quotes anytime and anywhere. If need be, see all quotes and manage quotes in a single view.
Customer Portal Direct customers to the portal, where they can search for rates and place bookings on your portal without any manual intervention. Utilizes digital freight matching to match orders with available carriers. Freight forwarders also can customize addition of margins specific to a trade lane or customers.
Track and Trace Get updated with every step of the cargo’s whereabouts. Ensure the latest milestone updates of vessels and then share that information with customers through the customer portal.
Freightify Can Digitize Your Freight Forwarding & Rate Management Process Global freight forwarding is a $300 billion industry, and it is quite competitive. Competition means other freight forwarders are innovating to get ahead, and digitization is the foremost option.Â
With Freightify , you can digitize your freight forwarding and rate management operations. With the platform, you can add new rates, search and view rates, set rules to automate adding margins while creating quotations, and manage multi-modal coverage seamlessly.
In an industry where customers seek the best possible solution, you can leverage the number one rate management software coupled with customized portals that enhance shipping visibility to give the desired experience.
