Best Practices for Augmenting TMS Data & Other Workflows 

Challenge: Routing information in the TMS system is often inaccurate. Our data  analysis, which is based on 9,000 TEUs, shows that 17% of shipments* have a mismatch between the vessel name that appears in the TMS and the actual vessel that carried the shipment. 

This inaccuracy could arise from operators not adding transshipment legs, or from multiple operators across different regions inputting conflicting data, resulting in limited visibility over transshipments.

*Windward examined the data of a leading TMS brand for all six challenges and solutions presented in this guide. 

Solution: With Windward routing data to ensure every leg of the journey is automatically updated and transshipment exceptions are surfaced.

How it happens:

• Fetches fresh data from carriers multiple times a day and performs data enrichment on all new data, based on predefined and dynamic parameters
• Retrieves the IMO from the vessel name to track the correct vessel’s positional data
• Combines enriched data to raise the valuable exceptions for transshipments: insufficient time allocation, late vessel allocation, rollovers, missed transshipments, transshipment port changes, and transshipment port additions

Benefits:

• Significant improvement of milestone coverage: Once Windward Ocean Freight Visibility is integrated with a TMS, all milestones, including critical events and exceptions, are automatically visible and accurately updated in a timely manner, and at scale. The increased milestone coverage results in improved workflows, greater efficiency, and better strategic planning. 
• Scan Global Logistics, a major freight forwarding company handling 400,000 TEUs annually, reported an increase in milestone coverage to 91% within less than a year of partnering with Windward.
• Quicker response to container issues: exception insights – such as transshipment delays, transshipment port additions, and routing deficiencies – provide valuable information for involved stakeholders. Windward has found that seven out of every 10 shipments flagged with an exception experienced an actual delay of more than three days.

Learn more about how you can increase your operations’ milestone coverage.

Challenge: carrier-estimated time of arrival (ETA) data is often inaccurate and outdated, especially during times of crisis This affects all operational decisions that are based on ETAs.

Solution: Windward Maritime AI™ Predicted ETA has consistently proven to be more accurate than carrier ETAs at every step of the shipping cycle. Based on our data, 10 days before the shipment’s actual time of arrival, Windward’s Predicted ETA was 15% more accurate than the carriers’ ETAs, with 78% of Predicted ETA data accurate.

How it happens: Windward Maritime AI™ Predicted ETA is a tree-based regressor, trained on 14 years of historical data, 15 AI and machine learning products, and AIS data.

Benefits: now when and where your shipment is expected to arrive at the port of destination, via your desired platform(s). The current geopolitical tension in the Red Sea, with 90% of commercial vessels avoiding the area currently, makes knowing the exact shipment ETA key to navigating the current unpredictable environment. 

Challenge: The TMS fetches data from carriers only every 36-72 hours. This significant delay results in operators making operational plans based on outdated information, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors.

Solution: Windward Maritime AI™ provides fresher data with visibility over when the next update occurs, ensuring operators have access to the most current information.

How it happens:

Our platform:

• Fetches fresh data every 10 hours for all containers
• Offers three features that empower you to proactively verify and understand the freshness of the data within the platform, each with corresponding timestamps: 
  • Last Update of Shipment Events
• Last Update of Predicted ETA
• Shipment Tracking Start Date

Benefits: With access to the latest data, operators can make informed decisions and reduce the rework risk. This leads to improved efficiency and more accurate operational planning.

Challenge: 30% of all tracked containers do not have accompanying ATA and ATD information provided by the carriers, requiring operators to waste time searching port websites to find this information.

Solution: Windward’s geofencing technology supplements milestone data with ATD/ATA data for all legs of the journey. Developed for government clients, this technology provides a high level of accuracy and coverage.

How it happens:

Windward’s technology empowers users to:

• Track all vessels in real time and provide port calls for all ports in the vessel journey, including ATA and ATD
• Use data enrichment: port name to port polygon, vessel name to IMO, and WW fusion technology to track vessel positions
• Determine port call times when a vessel enters the port/terminal polygon, providing accurate port call times, including ATA and ATD for all ports in the journey – POL, TSP(s), POD – even when not provided by the carrier

Benefits:

• Many operational tasks are based on these milestones. Operators with Windward’s technology don’t have to spend time on port websites trying to find this information
• Each stage of the supply chain has different stakeholders involved in the process. If it is unclear when an ATA or ATD has occurred, it will be difficult to solve potential disputes, making a reliable source that always surfaces these milestones essential.

Challenge: incorrect inputs and typos – as well as data quality issues with booking references, BOLs, and container numbers – can cause disruptions and prevent electronic data interchange (EDI) links from functioning correctly. 

Some operators’ experience 11.5% of their shipments being identified as incorrect.

Solution: Windward flags containers facing data quality issues and categorizes the missing or incorrectly placed data: booking references, BOLs, container numbers, and/or SCAC codes.

How it happens:

With Windward OFV, you can:

• Perform format validations on all data input to ensure validity and provide immediate error notifications for incorrect inputs
• Issue warning messages for input with no data, continue tracking periodically, and issue an error message if no data is available after a set period
• Provide warnings/exceptions if data changes, such as when data cannot be retrieved for one container in a BoL/booking reference, indicating a potential split booking

Benefits:

• This improvement frees up operators  to focus on shipments that require attention and facilitate continual improvement of data quality, ensuring every shipment receives automatic data updates
• EDI links and other transactions work more smoothly, as input is correctly validated

Challenge: the TMS system lacks a mechanism for sharing important operational information directly with customers. As a result, every customer update must be performed manually by operators who are already overwhelmed with work. 

Also, operators need to access multiple data sources, since not all milestones and essential shipment journey information are available via the TMS system.

Solution: Windward Shareable Shipment pages provide a single source of truth by offering a comprehensive view of all operational data for a single container.

How it happens:

With Windward Ocean Freight Visibility, you can: 

• Build an interactive, dedicated page that includes shipment-specific data, such as vessel and purchase order (PO) details, plus full shipment milestones and a live map
• Provide AI-based insights, such as exceptions and Maritime AI™ predicted ETAs
• These pages can be easily shared with clients, allowing them to monitor the progress of their shipment, without needing a Windward login.
• Embed these shareable pages within the visibility portal, providing seamless access for customers.

Benefits: This creates a direct, positive effect on customer satisfaction. For every single user, nearly 100 non-users are viewing the Windward Shareable Page, indicating that stakeholders and customers widely embrace this capability.

TMS and SCM systems are essential, but data challenges can render them less effective than would be ideal…but it doesn’t have to be that way! 

The Windward Ocean Freight Visibility platform provides essential enhancements toTMS systems. By enriching the data and ensuring more accurate and timely information, common issues are easily and automatically resolved, and freight forwarders can achieve better performance and efficiency in their logistics operations.

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