Associated British Ports (ABP) will be working with a digital logistics enabler to create one of Europe’s first detailed pilot programmes to use blockchain technology to improve port connectivity.
The agreement with Marine Transport International (MTI) will see ABP participating a blockchain solution to improve shipments efficiency.
“This MOU with MTI is a demonstration of our commitment to technical innovation and finding new ways to improve the UK’s supply chains,” said Jens Skibsted Nielsen, Commercial Director at ABP.
Increasing efficiency
The port operator said that at the moment each party in a supply chain, from shipper to haulier and from port operator to carrier, uses different shipment systems, which do not all talk to each other efficiently.
MTI’s technology could offer a way to securely link these disparate ways of working and could bridge the silos to reduce time spent on manually re-entering data, ensuring a single version of the truth.
Blockchain-enabled technology certainly has the potential to provide a transparent, secure and accurate way of capturing and sharing data with key parties, but for MTI the critical part is interoperability – it has to be able to openly connect with existing systems.
“Blockchain is the buzzword of the logistics industry at the moment,” said Jody Cleworth, founder and CEO of MTI.
“The logistics industry is awash with proprietary technology that forces users to work in a certain way – with blockchain, we can connect all those systems to ensure data is accurately and quickly shared, helping speed-up and simplify the flow of trade in and out of the UK.”
Source: Port strategy