There is a lack of in-depth, data-driven visibility tools in the logistics industry today, according to Mitch Violett, senior director of product management at Convoy.
“[Visibility] is widely known but not talked about enough,” Violett said. “There is an information imbalance across all the players — shippers, carriers, facilities and brokers. They typically all have varying levels of information as it is happening at any given time in any given shipment.”
Convoy is working to solve this problem of information imbalance through Hi-Fi Visibility – technology for drivers, operators and shippers that improves efficiency and provides “radical transparency” across the entire shipment process.
“It’s all about providing information at the fingertips of the person that is executing the delivery or shipment — helping them be efficient by partnering with them and giving them the tools that are necessary,” Violett said. “It makes their lives easier and the customers happier.”
Violett and the team at Convoy believe that data is key to everything. Core to Convoy’s new and updated visibility technologies is its carrier application, which collects over 1,000 data points for every shipment in real time. That data is then enriched with machine-learning models, which update every 5 minutes to provide predictive ETAs, granular shipment statuses, and visibility into exceptions through tools like Convoy’s online shipper platform— one of its more popular ways to track shipments from start to finish.
“Virtually every shipment delivered by Convoy is highly tracked via one-minute GPS pings from our application. We are able to leverage this high app use to build tools and partner with drivers and with carriers so that we understand what is happening on the ground and provide information that is necessary to really solve issues and, thus, provide radical transparency,” Violett said.
As Convoy continues to develop its technology, its customers continue to adopt and see success. One global consumer goods shipper was able to reduce pre-pickup emails into Convoy by 34% in just two weeks by using Convoy’s high-fidelity tracking.
“Our customers are often stunned by the depth of information that we can and are willing to provide,” Violett added. “We have taken this radical transparency step — we want the carrier, the shipper and our internal operations to be on the same page at the exact same time.”
He said it is vital for those developing the technology to know customers’ pain points.
“Get the engineer close to the customer. Engineers are extremely smart. They want to solve problems and they are very good at it,” Violett said. “The person that is solving the problem needs to understand the pain point. Getting them next to the customer allows them to build empathy and see what is happening and from there, they can really make some magic happen.”
To learn more about what Convoy has to offer, visit its website.