metro tech

IT platform developments: Enhancing customer experience

Aug 19, 2024 | , ,

We are committed to continuously improving the services we deliver to our customers, with significant IT developments, which will give them greater visibility, faster access to critical information, and a more seamless experience in managing their supply chains.

Our current roadmap focuses on enhancing our customer-facing platform, MVT, which serves as the backbone of customer visibility into their supply chains. By prioritising agility, integration, and data-driven insights, we aim to create a more seamless and efficient experience for our customers.

Agility and efficiency
To ensure our systems remain adaptable and ready for the future, we have moved from a single, all-in-one system to a more flexible, modular approach. This change allows us to update and improve specific parts of our platform quicker, making it easier to respond to customer needs and industry changes. It also sets the foundation for growth, ensuring our platform can continue to evolve as customer demands and technology progress.

Integration and collaboration
We are focused on ensuring seamless integration between our core operating system, third-party applications, customer systems, and our MVT platform. This integration provides a unified view of the supply chain, allowing customers to collaborate more effectively and make faster, better-informed decisions.

Data-driven insights
Data is at the heart of our strategy. We have invested heavily in improving our data infrastructure to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance across all data assets. These enhancements allow us to transform raw data into actionable insights, empowering customers with advanced reporting and analytics.

Looking ahead
Looking ahead, our future development pipeline includes the launch of several new applications designed to further enhance customer interaction and data accessibility, including the integration of in-App reporting and analytics.

In September, we will hold our annual Blue Sky Thinking Development Day, where we will define the roadmap for 2025 and beyond. The core focus will be on identifying key supply chain challenges and translating them into technical solutions that enhance the capabilities of our existing MVT application, delivering even greater customer value..

As we roll out these updates and continue to build upon our platform, we are confident that these advancements will significantly enhance the value we deliver to our customers.

Key application developments

Application | Upgrade | Status

MVT Portal | Enhanced user interface | Now Live
Track & Trace | Upgraded with new features | Now Live
POMs (Customer) | Fully migrated to new technology stack | Now Live
POMs Notifications | Brand new application | Now Live
ECO Part 1 | Refreshed design and functionality | Now Live
POMs (Supplier) | Transitioning to advanced technology | Launching October
DCM | Revamped with new internal tools | Launching September
EBSA | New technology with enhanced features | Launching December
Booking App | Introducing a new application | Launching January
Digital Customer Tariff App | New digital solution | Pending
ECO Part 2 | Powerful new data insights tool | Pending

For further information on how our technology platforms can help enhance and simplify your supply chain EMAIL Ian Powell, Customer and Technical Solutions Director.

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Global IT outage disrupts supply chains

Jul 23, 2024 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Friday, a faulty update to Microsoft software by cyber-security firm Crowdstrike, saw global supply chain operations significantly disrupted, with the fallout expected to take weeks to fully resolve.

Thousands of flights were grounded or delayed at major air freight hubs in Europe, Asia, and North America, creating severe impacts on the complex air supply chains.

Experts warn that planes and cargo are not where they should be, leading to extended recovery times and depending on the scale of the IT failure and current market conditions, these disruptions could take much longer to resolve than the duration of the outage itself.

This situation is further exacerbated by limited airfreight capacity, with global demand increasing by 13% in June compared to 2023, with the surge in demand largely driven by traffic from China to Europe and the US, putting additional strain on already limited available capacity.

While sea port operations were less affected, initial disruptions were reported in several European container terminals, including Poland’s Baltic Hub, Felixstowe and Rotterdam. These ports have since recovered, but the main issues could lie inland with truck and rail services, potentially increasing congestion if containers cannot be moved in or out of the ports efficiently.

Some air cargo operations are gradually returning to normal, with ground handler Swissport and Lufthansa Cargo reporting only minor impacts. However, Schiphol Airport and US airlines such as Delta, United, and American Airlines faced significant disruptions, with hundreds of flights cancelled or delayed, including 700 cancellations by Delta on Monday.

While most airlines have resumed operations, residual delays are anticipated due to the sheer number of disrupted flights.

Supply chain experts are concerned about the long-term effects of the Crowdstrike outage on global deliveries. The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade warned that the disruption could create further problems in planning and scheduling for importers, exporters, and consumers globally. Time-sensitive air freight is particularly affected, with one thousand flights cancelled worldwide, by mid-morning on Friday.

Although a fix has been deployed by Crowdstrike, the full resolution of the outage issue may take some time, as IT staff may need to access individual machines to remove the faulty update.

The fallout from the outage has once-again highlighted the vulnerability of global supply chains and as the industry works to recover, the importance of robust contingency plans and marine insurance cannot be overstated, ensuring protection against financial risks and maintaining supply chain resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges.

To learn how we can develop and support your supply chain resilience or for more information about our Marine Insurance products, please EMAIL our Chief Commercial Officer, Andy Smith.

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Taking track & trace to the highest level

Jun 12, 2024 | , ,

Metro’s multi-award winning supply chain management platform, MVT, has been optimising supply chains for over two decades and the latest release of its AI-powered track & trace module is a Masterclass in shipment visibility.

MVT is a global operations platform, which has been designed to simplify supply chains, with a wide range of modules including customs automation, DC delivery management, PO management, CO2 reporting/offsetting and track & trace.

Conceived, developed and supported by Metro’s technical solutions team, MVT embraces leading-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and automation technology to power its wide range of modules.

Metro customers have been automatically transitioned to the latest version of the track & trace module, which was released on the 20th May 2024, making it even more intuitive and easier to navigate, while improving the overall user experience.

There are over a dozen enhancements and new features, including a new landing page, which provides a visual dashboard for high level reporting, with easy drill down access to live shipments and a zoomable global map view, with AI tracking for the most accurate location fix.

Because Metro customers are busy, there are notification tools, which alert them to recent changes and critical shipments can be pinned to their dashboard for live updates, while document pop-ups gives them immediate access to anything important.

With a whole bunch of filters, download and data interrogation tools, Metro’s track and trace is much more than T&T, and it’s a free ‘added-value’ benefit to customers.

Click HERE to download the full list of the new MVT Track &Trace features, or EMAIL Ian Powell to arrange a demo.

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Importers concerned at cost of Brexit trade checks

May 16, 2024 | , , , , , , ,

Delayed five times by the UK government, post-Brexit physical border checks of animal products, plants and plant products through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel were finally implemented on the 30th April 2024. However, importers of affected products express concern about additional costs.

The common user charge (CUC) was also introduced on the 30th April for commercial movements of animal products, plants and plant products through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

It covers imports, goods in transit and goods eligible for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks at a government-run border control post.

The CUC applies to small imports of products such as plants, seeds, fish, salami, sausage, cheese and yoghurt. The flat-rate of £10 or £29 per commodity has been capped at £145, “specifically to help smaller businesses”, Defra said.

Health certificates were introduced in January on EU goods ranging from cut flowers, to fresh produce including meat, fruit and vegetables, but physical checks for the goods came into force two weeks ago.

Physical checks will be based on the “risk” category that goods fall into, so high-risk goods, such as live animals, will be subject to identity and physical checks at the border.

Products that present a medium risk to biosecurity will also be checked, while low-risk goods, such as canned meat will not require any checks.

But businesses, especially smaller companies, have raised concerns that the new checks from the EU could disrupt their supply chains and despite the £145 cap will increase their costs, with one importer interviewed by the BBC, suggesting “the checks would cost his business between £200,000 and £225,000 per year.”

Controls for SPS goods from the rest of the world are long-established and traders are aware of the responsibilities and inherent risk of goods moved from the rest of the world, but the extensions to goods moving from the EU is catching them out.

An additional CUC cost of £29 for a single commodity is minimal, but if you have four trailers carrying five or more commodities arriving every day then you easily add £200,000 plus to your supply chain.

There have been some easements with Customs, which allow fewer inspections and there are processes which can reduce costs, but preparation is key and the correct documentation is critical in ensuring a smoother frontier transition.

Metro are at the forefront of customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform.

We can automate your CHED import notification, on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) and simplify customs compliance, to safeguard your supply chain and cut costs.

To learn more about CUC or CuDoS, or how we can simplify and automate customs declarations for your business, please EMAIL Andy Fitchett, Brokerage Manager.

Category: Technology

4PL | Customs | Economics | International Trade | Supply Chain | Technology

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