BlueBox Systems and Vizion collaborate to improve shipping data quality

In another story from the transport logistic/air cargo Europe trade fair in Munich, air cargo tracking specialist BlueBox Systems and tracking software provider Vizion have described their progress towards offering more transparency throughout a shipping process.

BlueBox Systems’ BlueBoxAir tracking platform delivers real-time visibility of the location of air cargo shipments through the provision of what it believes is “the highest quality data”.

Meanwhile, the application programming interface (API)-based solution from Vizion offers a similar level of transparency to users, though primarily up to now ythat has been for within the ocean freight shipping sector.

The Vizion API enables communication and data exchange between different applications used by different logistics players.

Working together, the partners are able to provide freight shippers, forwarders, logistics service providers or any other stakeholders in the supply chain, whether operating in the air or ocean freight modes, with more transparency about their shipments.

Martin Schulze, chief executive of BlueBox Systems, remarked: “Good, usable data has the following four characteristics: timeliness, accuracy, organisation and standardisation.

“Quality data, for instance, is always up to date, because knowing where containers and products were 24 hours ago does not help a company gain insights and make decisions.

“BlueBox Systems’ data includes 10-minute aircraft positions, and Vizion’s API webhooks reduce latency to 6-8 hours or less.”

Kyle Henderson, chief executive of Vizion, added: “Traditionally, freight forwarding companies have used electronic data interchange (EDI) to get information from supply chain systems.

“Vizion uses an API-first approach, which means real-time validation, greater flexibility and much faster updates.”

Organisation
The organisation of data is also crucial, the two partners said.

Data must be organised in such a way that analysis and quick decision-making are possible. Huge amounts of raw data will only mean more work for a company.

Vizion records more than 7,000 individual events and classifies them into 60 milestones and ETAs (estimated times of arrival) that can be used for real-time decision-making.

Similarly, BlueBox Systems collects data from 130 different airlines and more than 1,600 airports and delivers it via an intuitive interface that allows users to understand and use it effectively.

Status updates include details of ETA changes, flight connection risks, delays, airport performance and transhipment times, among others, which in turn can be compared.

BlueBox Systems’ cargo platform also helps users calculate carbon dioxide emissions based on aircraft type and real-time flight data.

Finally, BlueBox Systems and Vizion standardise data so that users can collaborate effectively internally and with third-party providers.