Creating a Crystal Ball for Cargo Management

Events over data by Alex Labonne

Data is like oil; it needs to be extracted and refined to be consumed. And just like oil, we use it to power the machines that our businesses rely on. Data is also overtaking oil as a world commodity.

But data, unlike oil, increases in quantity, and as its quantity increases, its usefulness and value increases also.

Big tech companies have been taking advantage of the growing flow of data generated by their platforms for years now, and it is time for the cargo industry to do the same.

Every actor in the supply chain is sitting on highly valuable data, that when harnessed efficiently, can be used for cost prediction, revenue modelling, and creating new markets.

Machine learning algorithms (artificial intelligence systems) use the data for predictive and statistical analysis that allow you to fine tune your processes and systems,giving you a crystal ball to look into the future of your businesses.

But for the crystal ball to work, businesses need to be willing to accept data-sharing and transparency.

Companies are reluctant to share their data, concerned about the integrity of their databases, or losing the competitive advantage of proprietary information.

The other major factor that holds back data systems is the nature of the data.

A traditional data-record is created like a list, with different criteria filled in – and expected.

With a shipment this could be fields like weight, date, controller etc.

This system has its limitations. Many iterations of the same information are created with different values at different times, making the information imprecise.

As there are many different ways to store and record this data, different systems might be unable to access or share it.

It is now time to view data, not as something that is stored in a database, but as event based – as result of the context, situation and action that created it.

To see data as events, we also need to change the way we record data, and at Hermes we are committed to refining our systems to generate the best quality event-based data.

The idea of data-sharing is still a stumbling block for many companies, but event-based data provides tempered-glass transparency, partners can see the event, but do not have access to the database, keeping your data secure.

By seeing data as events, we can look into the crystal ball and come up with accurate and value-adding predictions.

Made with tempered glass for security and transparency, the insights the crystal ball gives us, can be of benefit to the entire industry.