Flexport: Empowering Logistics by Maximizing Capability
Logistics is a fragmented world split into numerous interdependent operations, often influenced by slow, incongruent & inefficient processes. Since the adoption of cloud computing in the last decade, transportation companies have been putting more faith into allocating resources to digitize their work spaces with IoT devices, telematics & tools like TMS.
Just a few years ago, AI has been agressively introduced to the general public as a tool of the century, promising to optimize businesses - especially in functions involving troves of data.
Last year at the Freightwaves conference, CEO Craig Fuller interviewed Ryan Petersen, head of Flexport, and asked him what will the discussion around supply chain look like in five years. Petersen answered that how AI impacts businesses and optimizes data will be the main topic.
In this article, i will talk about Flexport's recent release of AI tools. Flexport is a San Francisco based company founded in 2013, that offers business & legal services for freight companies. Its also one of the few companies that is seriously committed in leveraging AI to empower supply chain management.
Fundamentally, their analytics software assists businesses by fusing large amounts of data including satellite intel, transit schedules (also gps tracking), port activity (e.g. congestion data) & offers many tools like quoting systems & communication interfaces, all build by highly skilled ML engineers.
In a fast moving environment like supply chain data, analyzing markets & timing that into intelligence reports for operations managers is what one of Flexport' tools is focused on - a platform that helps logistics teams make quick, data-based decisions.
Now you might think this is excessive - how could we know for instance, the shipment timing better than the Captains steering cargo ships...if we humans can barely predict a pizza delivery?
The fact of the matter is that as large language models keep improving, logistics companies like Flexport have an edge in supply chain data & are able to immerse machine learning algorithms into their platforms (often for specific customer needs). This facilitates leveraging logistics data to create cutting-edge analytics tools (like the dashboard creator) & provide quick action oriented insights of the global supply chain.
Natural Language Querying has been vital in creating a level playing field for everyone trying to leverage AI tools. By aggregating most of their features into one main central platform, Flexport allows users to prompt using plain english, where the AI then fires SQL queries, which then leads to the creation of visually rich reports.
Control Tower is a feature that provides transparency in many areas, such as facilitating 'PO Management' (helping optimize container loading), generating carrier performance analytics & scorecards evaluating supplier reliability.
Besides assisting with supply chain strategy based on market conditions, the platform helps identifying inconsistency in shipments, inventory & other potential disruptions, thus maximizing logistical resiliency.
Another user friendly application Flexport offers is their Seller Portal, which essentially combines e-commerce platforms (like NetSuite & Shopify) with AI, generating a complete portal (tailored to your business environment) to optimize anything from distribution, fulfillment, to tasks like calculating duties and taxes - all under one command terminal.
One of Ryan Petersen's famous sayings goes along the lines that hating bureaucracy, doesn't necessarily make bureaucray hide under a rock.
In today's vulnerabe supply chain world, subject to vectors like pandemics, geopolitics, documentation complexity & fraud, Flexport becomes a valuable partner to growing your business.
Flexport's commitment to build an advanced & data rich AI ecosystem, to empower both the technical and non-technical user - sets them apart as a supply chain management company.