Transporeon’s mission is to bring transportation in sync with the world. The company does the best to enable efficient, digital end-to-end processes and create efficiencies in transportation execution to positively impact the economy, individual businesses, and the environment. Transporeon believes that bringing transportation in sync with the world relies on three primary components – automation, collaboration, and real-time insights – all of which are core components of their platform.
Over the last 22 years, Transporeon has grown from a startup in Ulm, a town in the South of Germany, into a leading Transportation Management Platform with 18 offices and more than 1,300 employees across 27 countries. Today, the company powers the largest global freight network of 1,300 industrial shippers, 100 large retailers and more than 145,000 carriers and logistics service providers. The platform is fully equipped to meet all supply chain needs and handle any challenge faced by logistics professionals.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
TRANSPOREON: Transporeon is a cloud-based Transportation Management Platform that equally serves shippers, goods recipients, carriers, and forwarders. We provide an ecosystem that enables these businesses to move, manage and monitor freight, where all participants of the supply chain are interconnected.
Our cloud-based platform ensures interoperability, provides data-driven decision-making support and recommendations, and delivers real-time insights into any part of a freight transaction. Our best-in-class solutions solve specific freight problems (from market intelligence to procurement, transport planning and execution, visibility, and settlement and audit) and can be used in a modular way.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
TRANSPOREON: In July, we rolled out our pioneering Carbon Visibility tool to all customers worldwide. Customers can now transparently and efficiently measure, reduce, report and benchmark CO2 emissions from their transports. Carbon Visibility is the first solution of its kind to include scalable real-time and primary data and is fully compliant with the GLEC (Global Logistics Emissions Council) framework – the highest and latest standard for the calculation of GHG within the transportation industry.
We have also enhanced our carbon visibility offering through the acquisition of the Berlin-based start-up Tracks, which offers an AI-driven tool for monitoring and managing carbon emissions across all transport modes. Our customers can now benefit from the combined capability that allows them to set realistic CO2 reduction goals (not only for themselves, but also for customers and suppliers). We now offer the most accurate emissions insights in the market, thereby giving customers access to ever more detailed and actionable business intelligence.
In June, we released our Freight Matching for Forwarders, a true game-changer in the freight forwarding industry. The tool digitizes key manual processes and empowers freight forwarders and their trusted carrier networks to operate in a fully digital, safe and efficient environment. With the help of AI and behavioral science, freight forwarders can reach their entire sub-carrier network faster, organize it according to their business requirements, and match capacities with transports in one platform. The result – maximum business efficiency and transparency while guaranteeing best-in-class service to shipper customers.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
TRANSPOREON: We deliver value to all participants of our trusted, global, and secure logistics network by providing solutions for a wide range of transportation needs, including:
- Market intelligence and benchmarking;
- Freight procurement and rate management;
- Transport execution;
- Dock scheduling and yard management;
- Tracking and visibility;
- Freight settlement;
- Payment and audit.
Our tools and applications can be used in a modular way, and are fully deployable across the globe for continent-spanning multi-modal coverage that can handle any load.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
TRANSPOREON: Logistics is still characterized by a lot of inefficiencies. For example, up to 58% of companies rely on gut feel rather than on data and information for at least half of their regular business decisions. However, being able to tap into data is crucial to business success – from predicting sales trends, to optimizing operations and improving customer service. Data is what gives companies the insights they need to outperform the competition and enhance their own operations.
But supply chain businesses often can’t access or analyze this data themselves. That’s why next-generation transportation management platforms like Transporeon are starting to play vital roles in making data a central component of logistics operations – connecting all the parties (shippers, carriers, LSPs and other stakeholders) and enabling them to make smarter decisions based on a larger pool of data.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
TRANSPOREON: We have calculated that approximately 30% of waste in the industry is caused by underutilization and inefficient processes. Logistics teams are witnessing the effects of this inefficiency, such as idle capacity, empty runs, and a lack of visibility. However, more and more companies are now rethinking how they manage transportation. Cloud-based systems and integrations, real-time data and analytics, and artificial intelligence and machine learning are becoming increasingly prominent – all helping businesses optimize their processes and increase operational efficiency. This trend will certainly continue over the coming months and years.
Companies are also embracing a new mindset of thinking beyond their own siloes. They recognize the power of the network effect when shippers, forwarders, carriers and recipients are all connected in one ecosystem where freight is moved and managed.
At the same time, sustainability is gaining in importance. With the ongoing climate crisis, increasing sustainability and decarbonization have become key priorities in the industry. Companies increasingly recognize that “going green” will have a significant impact on their business (brand image, employee retention, access to funds etc.).
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
TRANSPOREON: Transporeon doesn’t provide software. We offer a platform that equally serves all participants of the market and helps solve their specific transportation needs. Besides Freight Matching and Carbon Visibility mentioned earlier, our Transporeon Insights is definitely worth to be mentioned. It is our AI-driven Market Intelligence tool that provides in-depth, real-time insights into markets, lanes, and their development over time. It facilitates better decision-making for everyone involved in the European FTL market. Thanks to Transporeon Insights, logistics managers can adapt their strategy according to market developments and use market data to benefit their business. Another great example of Transporeon’s innovative applications is Autonomous Procurement. It is an AI-driven spot assignment tool for high-volume shippers that automates procurement using data and behavioral science to achieve requested capacity at lower freight rates for road transports.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
TRANSPOREON: The logistics industry is traditionally fraught with many challenges, among which are unpredictability, inefficient processes, and scarce resources. First the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine have worsened the situation. In these turbulent times, more and more companies are recognizing the need to rethink the way they run their businesses in order to build resilience and agility.
This is where digitalization and collaboration via transportation management platforms come to the forefront. More and more companies realize that this is the only way they can tackle the challenges. This will continue to be a major development for the rest of 2022 and beyond.