Industrial Shipping Best Practices Continue to Put In-Transit Visibility as Top Priority

Few objectives are more critical than in-transit visibility. Unlike many industrial shipping best practices, the benefits of in-transit visibility are not confined to a single aspect of supply chain optimization. As a result, organizations can prevent lost and damaged cargo, manage operations more efficiently, predict and avoid disruptions, and more.

To explain why in-transit visibility is such an important industrial shipping priority, let's look at what in-transit visibility means to different organizations and the advantages modern technology provides in achieving it.

What is In-Transit Visibility?

In-transit visibility means various things to different organizations. In many cases, in-transit visibility simply means the ability to track the hyper-accurate location and status of freight from origin to delivery. For companies shipping products where shipment conditions aren’t a concern, this is often the only type of in-transit visibility required to empower more efficient supply chain operations.

Along with the ability to track their cargo's location and status, companies shipping fragile or perishable products also require visibility into their cargo's conditions. Tracking the real-time conditions of in-transit freight and communicating through real-time alerts enables these companies to prevent products from becoming damaged. This visibility also helps stakeholders with exception management by identifying products that are already damaged so they don't end up on the shelves.

Therefore, shipment location/status and its condition are the two tenants of in-transit visibility. Both might be highly important to your organization, depending on the nature of your supply chain and the products you are shipping.

Learn More:
Shipment Visibility Advantages Infographic

Why In-Transit Visibility is One of the Most Important Goals in Industrial Shipping

Achieving reliable in-transit visibility provides organizations with a wealth of advantages. Knowing the location of your cargo and when it will arrive facilitates smoother, more efficient operations across your supply chain. From knowing when it's time to reorder more inventory to when to schedule ground transport for cargo that arrives at a port, tracking the real-time location and status of any shipment provides the visibility required for an agile, resilient supply chain.

Shipment condition visibility is equally important for companies that ship perishable or fragile products. Real-time visibility solutions such as Tive's hyper-accurate trackers enable companies to track a shipment's temperature and humidity, as well as shock absorption and light exposure events. Configurable automated alerts inform stakeholders anytime one of these measurements drifts beyond acceptable tolerances.

In many cases, freight professionals can use these alerts to prevent product damage before it occurs. For example, a company can contact a carrier when a shipment's temperature rises. When it's too late to prevent damage, shipment condition visibility enables companies to begin mitigation efforts. Steps can include sending a replacement shipment and identifying in-transit products likely to have incurred damage so they can be separated for further inspection.

In either case, the benefits of supply chain visibility into shipment conditions are immense. Helping to prevent financial losses caused by damaged, spoiled, or lost loads also safeguards your brand’s reputation by ensuring those products do not land in customers’ hands. Now you begin to see how real-time shipment condition visibility plays an essential role in loss prevention and quality control.

Considering the benefits of shipment location and conditions visibility, it's no surprise that industrial shipping best practices continue to place in-transit visibility as a top priority. What's most exciting, though, is that achieving in-transit visibility is now easier than ever, thanks to solutions such as Tive's hyper-accurate trackers,

Case Study:
How In-Transit Visibility Benefits Industrial Equipment Manufacturers 

Achieve Complete In-Transit Visibility With Tive

Leveraging the internet of things (IoT) to provide organizations with complete visibility into everything moving through their supply chains, Tive's hyper-accurate trackers make it easy to monitor both the location and status of freight and its conditions in real-time.

By tracking a shipment's temperature, humidity, light exposure, and shock absorption, Tive trackers provide unparalleled visibility into the condition of the products, components, and materials in your supply chain. This visibility and insight can be used to prevent damage before it occurs, highlight shipments likely to have incurred damage, and pinpoint areas within your supply chain that can be optimized for improved loss prevention.

If you want to learn more about how Tive can help your organization achieve complete in-transit visibility and save shipments, be sure to contact us today!