Supply Chain Archives | Page 59 of 91

<strong>Metro lead the way with ocean freight electronic bill of lading</strong>

Nov 30, 2022 | Sea, Supply Chain, Technology

Just weeks after the Electronic Trade Documents Bill was presented before Parliament, Metro has commenced its first trial shipment with an electronic bill of lading (eBL), on Hapag Lloyd, which was a first for the German carrier too.

Following large-scale frauds and disruption to global trade due to the impact of the COVID pandemic, the digitisation of physical shipping documents is becoming much more significant, with the Electronic Trade Documents Bill, which will allow for the legal recognition of electronic versions of bills of lading, currently working its way through parliament.

Ministers at last year’s G7 meeting agreed that paper-based transactions are “a source of cost, delay, inefficiency, fraud, error and environmental impact” in a bid to move towards global adoption of electronic bills of lading (e-Bills), which Mckinsey & Company estimate could save $6.5 billion in direct costs and enable $40 billion in global trade.

Unlike the paper bill of lading, which is time consuming, risky (can be forged/lost) and expensive, the eBL is secure and extremely cost effective, with a host of added benefits:

Reduced costs due to savings on postage and time to handle physical paperwork
No risk of losing eBL
Removal of costs associated with a complex procedure to release without the Original BL at destination, including weeks of D&D
Quick and secure transaction with one click of a button
Eco-friendly solution with no paper and physical movement
Same legal protection as an Original Bill of Lading
eBL can be tracked online, unlike paper OBL’s

The Law Commission was tasked by the Government to set out reforms to the legal status of trade documents and following a consultation period last year, the Commission published its recommendations in March, with the Electronic Trade Documents Bill now going through the House of Lords, before returning to the House of Commons to pass into law.

The Bill of lading serves three key functions:

As a receipt, confirming that the goods have been loaded on board the vessel
As evidence of the contract of carriage, between the ship-owner and the shipper and/or the lawful holder of the bills
As a document of title to the goods.

The electronic bill of lading (eBL) Metro are currently testing fulfils the functions of a receipt and evidence of a contract of carriage and, when the Electronic Trade Documents Bill completes its passage, the eBL will also fulfil the function of a document of title.

In the vanguard of testing this new technology, so that Metro customers will be the first to benefit, the sea freight team will undertake further measured trials, including with shipments that involve banks in the release process and also with the full variety of partner ocean carriers that offer this option.

The first ‘trial’ customer said that they were “very impressed with the process” and Hapag Lloyd commented that “handling physical paper leads to processes that are cumbersome, outdated, time-consuming and error-prone. Hapag Lloyd has partnered with Wave BL to enable secure and quick BL release, saving costs for our customers. We firmly believe the future of the supply chain is offering digital solutions that are time and money saving, backed up by secure communication protocols.”

This is the future, now. The platform just needs confidence building, evidence that it is 100% evolved and that the integrity is unquestionable. We will continue to update and reassure.

We have been utilising similar models and platforms in air freight, with our partner airlines, for many years and this is an exciting evolution in the ocean freight environment.

Metro is developing the technologies and platforms that will integrate with electronic bills of lading (eBL) and members of the bodies that drive the technology standards and frameworks for a standardised industry e-bill of lading (eBL).

Simon George, Metro’s Technical Solutions Director and a member of the illustrious UN/CEFACT forum. “Even partial eBL adoption will save £ Billions, but mass adoption of an industry-standard eBL, requires robust technology, acceptance by governments, banks and insurers as well as open collaboration."

Please contact us for further Information and we will share the latest progess and updates and how this platform can benefit your own continued global trade growth ambitions.

Metro witness the launch of environmental first – reducing vehicle carbon emissions before they have ever been driven

Nov 2, 2022 | Automotive, Sea, Supply Chain

Operating a fleet of 17 pure car and truck carriers, United European Car Carriers (UECC) is the leading RoRo provider of short sea services for cars and other rolling cargo. Leading customer, Metro, was invited to Zeeburgge, to witness the naming of the world’s 1st hybrid pure car and truck carrier.

UECC, the Norwegian RoRo transporter of rolling cargo held a naming ceremony for its first dual-fuel LNG battery hybrid pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), the vessel Auto Advance, at the Port of Zeebrugge’s, ICO Bastenaken Terminal on the 26th October.

Present at the naming ceremony were Metro directors Tom Fernihough and Matt Weight, who are responsible for key automotive, construction and commercial/industrial vehicle accounts, and consequently big volume users of PCTC RoRo services.

The Auto Advance measures 28 by 169 meters in length (that’s big – think of two football fields), with capacity for 3600 vehicles, over 10 cargo decks and is said to be the world’s first vessel of its type. It will provide significant gains in energy efficiency and emissions reduction as it enters service this year to boost UECC’s efforts to decarbonise its fleet.

It is part of a new build trio of multi-fuel LNG battery hybrid PCTCs that UECC hope will make a real difference for the environment and for their business, as new green regulations are set to shift the RoRo market playing field.

LNG battery hybrid technology, together with an optimised hull design for better fuel efficiency, will enable these new builds to exceed the IMO requirement to cut carbon intensity by 40% from 2008 levels within 2030. Emissions of carbon dioxide will be reduced by around 25%, SOx and particulate matter by 90% and NOx by 85% from the use of LNG, while the new builds will also meet the IMO’s Tier 3 NOx emissions limitations for the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Tom Fernihough. "Delighted to attend the naming ceremony of UECC's latest vessel the MV Auto Advance. A significant innovation in hybrid technology for a greener environment . Many thanks to UECC for their investment to a cleaner solution.”

Matt Weight. “Metro is committed to extending our zero-emission strategy as far down our customers’ supply chains as possible, which is why we welcome this positive move towards decarbonisation, by a key carrier partner.”

There is much more to come from Metro, on the environmental front, in the very near future which we will continue to announce as we roll out further initiatives with our partners and within the organisation. This is beyond a focus – it is our mission to ensure our customers have the slickest and most environmentally creative supply chains available at any time, regardless of the external influences.

To learn more about our commercial/industrial solutions contact Tom Fernihough, or Matt Weight for our automotive solutions and Simon George for our ECO/MVT, carbon measuring and offsetting solutions. We have the end to end movement of the most valuable cargo covered - with complete visibility and ability…

<strong>Schedule reliability and port congestion in decline</strong>

Nov 2, 2022 | China, Sea, Supply Chain, United States

The latest, market leading source, Sea-Intelligence schedule reliability figures show a slight decline of 0.7% in September to 45.5%, which is the first fall since reliability began to trend upwards in April and follows the year’s largest reliability increase of 5.8% in August.

The average delay for late vessel arrivals has been dropping consistently since the start of the year and In September improved once again, albeit slightly, dropping by -0.10 days, bringing the average delay to 5.81 days and is the second consecutive month that the delay has dropped below the 6-day mark since April 2021. Pre-Covid pandemic situation this would have been deemed completely unacceptable. But transits and measurements have changed over the last few years and many traders would like to slow down their products in transit in the current global environment so it is actually, by some businesses adjusting their supply chains in line with current consumer demand, considered a benefit we have observed.

With schedule reliability of 53.2%, 2M was the most reliable carrier in September 2022, followed by CMA CGM with 45.5%, with another four carriers recording schedule reliability of 40%-50% and the remainder at 30%-40%, or lower, it has been widely reported in the trade news.

Yang Ming recorded the lowest schedule reliability of 35.1%. In September 2022, once again, most of the carriers were very close to each other, with the difference between Yang Ming at the bottom and CMA CGM at second, a little over 10 percentage points.

Despite schedule reliability improvements global port congestion remains an issue with ~11% / 2.8m TEU of capacity tied up due to bottlenecks, labour shortages, industrial disputes and other post-pandemic disruptions.

The overall trend is on a downward trajectory, as congestion is starting to ease across the main hotspots in the US and Europe, though there was a small increase in vessels waiting at Chinese ports, due to weather related issues and isolated COVID lockdowns.

US East Coast port congestion is improving, with Savannah remaining the most congested port with 33 vessels recently waiting at anchor. US West Coast congestion is now almost cleared with only a handful of vessels waiting in the San Pedro Bay area.

The situation at the main European ports remained largely unchanged, although dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool began their second strike last Monday and are set to continue through this week, and with no agreement reached with the Unite union at Felixstowe, there is a risk of further industrial action at either port before Christmas.

We are working closely with our offices and network partners to monitor the situation throughout US and European ports, with contingency plans to ensure product is delivered to market, without delay, until congestion finally subsides.

To learn how we can help you avoid disruption and port congestion, or to request our regular ocean market report, please EMAIL our sea freight director, Andy Smith, who can advise on the best solutions for your ocean supply chain.

The freight market is changing every week, across all modes – we have the latest intel and will share our recommendations on the coming months and into the New Year of 2023 – a NEW challenge approaches. You are in safe hands to ensure you have the options available to achieve your future plans. Across the board we try to future proof all aspects of global trade to ensure that you achieve, as an agile leader and ambitious partner to your business.

Delivering total supply chain control with 4PL transparency…. and much more

Nov 2, 2022 | MVT, Supply Chain, Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic raised public awareness of the critical importance of supply chains, with the industry being recognised as ‘key workers’ throughout the crisis. And the need for efficient logistics has increased reliance on fourth-party logistics (4PL) providers to manage complex global supply chains, which will see the global 4PL market, valued at £43 billion in 2021, reach £78 billion by 2030. Or we suspect probably much more.

The Metro MVT (My Visibility Tool) platform was conceived and launched over 15 years ago to provide real-time shipment status updates and end to end control and milestone management throughout the life of a movement of product and its transit on a neutral platform. It is a cloud-based, hyper secure, 4PL solution that connects shippers to their entire supply chain, harnessing all participant entities, process and inventory data to provide complete real-time visibility, control and intelligence.

Accenture defines Metro’s 4PL solution as, “a supply chain integrator that assembles and manages the resources, capabilities, and technology of its own organisation, with those of complementary service providers, to deliver a comprehensive supply chain solution.”

“The 4PL client achieves improved service levels, reduced costs of up to 25%, minimised asset down time and reduced supply chain risks to the business. Performance visibility, better reporting and enhanced analytics assist faster and smarter decisions.”

Metro’s cloud-based 4PL platform is entirely modular and configured to each customer’s needs and situation. It consolidates multiple data sources to deliver 4PL insight and control, for strategic supply chain management and data-driven decision making.

Each 4PL platform embraces essential data sources from key supply chain participants, with advanced drill down features and a library of added value features that support participant management, financial oversight and performance benchmarking.

The 4PL platform is a single source for managing end-to-end logistics, with multiple participants, carriers and service providers. Shippers, manufacturers and retailers find it easier, and more profitable, to focus on their core competencies and trust the control of their transportation and distribution to an expert like Metro, with a mature and proven 4PL solution.

The COVID pandemic and the Ukraine war have revealed the vulnerabilities of complex, geographically dispersed global supply chains. Metro’s 4PL platform creates visibility and stability, to make extended supply chains resilient, even in uncertain supply and demand conditions.

And because Metro do not own assets, there are no vested interests, just objectivity to optimise operations, detect and address issues, to deliver the most efficient supply chain, at the best cost and best performance metrics.

EXAMPLE 1

For automotive manufacturers and supercar marques, the Metro 4PL control towers manages the movement of finished vehicles globally. These singular assets are often time critical and very valuable, which means the 4PL needs to be constantly scanning the market to source the right mode of transport, for time sensitive freight moves, with the optimum balance of cost, service and on time delivery, while monitoring the vehicles progress throughout its journey. Scorecards rate vendors, validate invoices and provide a monthly KPI pack.

EXAMPLE 2

For consumer product manufacturers Metro’s neutral 4PL solution manages multiple freight forwarders, consolidating data to provide a single view of the supply chain and giving the customer the ability to replace forwarders, without the hassle of integrating new systems.

Our commitment to innovation and developing bespoke digital solutions goes back decades, with the latest generation of 4PL tools incorporating robotics, predictive analytics and AI, to minimise risk along the supply chain. The latest modules monitor and measure CO2 emissions, at consignment level, for off-setting and ultimately carbon-neutral supply chains.

For more information on the 4PL platform, or to discuss how our technology could support your supply chain, please EMAIL Simon George our Technical Solutions Director or Matt Weight.