ORLANDO, Fla. — The Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC) announced Monday that it has accomplished its first step in homogenizing scheduling integrations by releasing its application programming interface technical standard. The API guidelines are now available on the open source platform GitHub.
The SSC was devised after a three-way conversation about the redundant inefficiencies in scheduling practices among industry leaders at digital freight platform Convoy, supply chain solutions provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services and transportation management provider Uber Freight during FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain conference in Arkansas in May 2022.
The group officially formed in December 2022 and began inviting collaborators to visit its website and share observations and visions for future technical standards.
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“This moment is the culmination of everything the SSC has been working toward to date,” SSC’s integration product lead from Uber Freight, Chris Chmielewski, said at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ Edge conference. Our objective was to develop a technical standard that would allow scheduling systems across the freight industry to consistently and efficiently communicate with one another, and that’s exactly what we’ve achieved.”
Leaders adopt technical standards
Since its inception, the SSC has been collaborating with leading transportation management system providers to spot ways these standards can improve the data sharing they facilitate.
In May, the group announced new members including Coyote Logistics, Arrive Logistics and Echo Logistics, as well as TMS providers Blue Yonder, e2open and One Network Enterprises.
“Embracing these standards is not just an affirmation, it’s a commitment to bring additional API capabilities to the industry’s landscape,” said Chriag Modi, corporate vice president of industry strategy at Blue Yonder, on the technical standard release. “We will weave these standards into the fabric of our operations to improve data sharing, foster operational fluidity and unlock new dimensions of scheduling efficiency.”
“At One Network, we’re not just embracing the publication of the SSC Technical Standard; we’re committing to implementing and utilizing these standards to enable greater efficiency across the logistics landscape in 2024,” said Greg Brady, founder and executive chairman of One Network Enterprises.
During the CSCMP conference press announcement, SSC officials announced a new class of group partners including DHL Supply Chain, Lineage Logistics, Mastery Logistics System, Ryder System Inc., Worldwide Express, Nolan Transportation Group and its parent company, Transportation Insight.
With support from large industry participants, the SSC announced Monday at the event that it will also launch an award system among its partners. The Innovator Badge will go to those supporting the SSC while an Early Adopter Badge will be awarded to those who commit to integrating these standards by 2024.
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