Even though nowadays we find great progress and improvements in terms of data-sharing and in the development of platforms that connect different systems and stakeholders, two fundamental questions, which are not being addressed, lay underneath: accuracy and timeliness. And therefore, reliability is not yet assured, and roadblocks prevent us from making the most out of data.

Data ownership is not registered, the reception of information on occasions arrives late, when disruptions cannot be attended, and in specific platforms, data updates overwrite information complicating the identification of risks and problems within data collaboration.

Making insights on the provider of the data, on the reception date in comparison with its occurrence, tracking data quality or sharing outcomes and findings when exploiting the information, could solve the current problems of the maritime industry regarding traceability and visibility.

“When complex systems are designed, aspects such as accuracy and timeliness of data exchanged are not always a top consideration”.

The main inputs and contributions are:

• According to a survey about supply chain visibility, conducted by MIT, unveiled that almost 50% of respondents were less than moderately satisfied with their current visibility solutions. And around 60% manifest not receiving updates within 12h across all ocean shipping milestones.
• The real value of data includes knowing the data availability. Nowadays, great differences can be found between the occurrence of the event its information sharing.
• Often, supply chain data platforms tend to overwrite information. Likewise, tend to put aside data regarding the provider and the submission time of milestones.
• Complex data communications systems entail problems when encountering lack of data quality, that needs to be fixed, since the ownership of the data is not shared.
• Collaboration and data exchange is being addressed. However, we are not still exempt of error. Tracking data quality and raising concern about discrepancies is equally important. Therefore, strong feedback is needed between stakeholders to address possible gaps and discrepancies within data provision.

“The dependency on information gathered manually or received in batches can result in either incomplete data, late date, or both resulting in a potentially suboptimal outcome for the shipper or their end client.”

Conclusions:

• The lack of data accuracy within the maritime industry could be improved by tracking data correctly, giving importance to ownership and timeliness.
• Only when we are able to receive in near-real time information, reducing the delay between milestone occurrence and reception of information, operational risks are mitigated, especially when managing exceptions. Additionally, strategical decision-making can be optimized.
• The understanding and insights of data quality, together with demanding responsibility for the information shared, can strengthen partnerships and build trust.
• Keeping track of errors and discrepancies supports companies to identify possible risks in their supply chain and gives the chance to be proactive regarding the inconsistencies received on all stages of the logistics operations.

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