Nowadays, countless systems churn out custom-built shipment tracking statuses like “shipped” or “delivered”—just to mention a few. Incredibly, some of these systems are designed to transmit thousands of these unique free-form text statuses. Moreover, there are many types of these systems that provide shipment tracking to include from transportation carriers, transportation management systems (TMS) and 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) providers, among others. At first glance, these shipment statuses might seem both informative and easy to grasp; however, reality tells a different story.

This article examines how custom-built shipment statuses from countless systems create ambiguity in our supply chains’ data flows. As a result, decision-makers lack visibility and actionable insights. Moreover, new tech such as AI won’t fix this since the root issue is a data clarity problem between organizations. Ultimately, this is a business problem. Surprisingly as we add more functions and automation while expanding globally, supply visibility does not get better, it get’s worse. To better explain this issue, I’ll share with you examples showing the need for strong business leadership to bring operational clarity to our information exchanges. Lastly, I’ll suggest solutions for better data interoperability in our supply chains.

1. Example of Misunderstanding a Proprietary, Custom-Built Shipment Status.

Without a doubt, both humans and our systems have difficulties interpreting even the most simple tracking text strings. The reason – these status messages such as “shipped”, “in transit”, or “delivered” are not clearly defined, nor mutually understood. For example, let’s take the tracking status of “shipped”. Surprisingly, this seemingly simple shipment status is in fact a very ambiguous term within most supply chains. This is because, like most custom-built shipment status messages, there is no mutually agreed upon definition for the term “shipped“. Worse, there are countless systems across the supply chain that transmit these ambiguous status messages with a wide variety of definitions.

To illustrate, see below for all the possible statuses that the term “shipped” could actually represent within a typical supply chain.

Examples of Different Interpretations of the Shipment Event Status – “Shipped”

• Carrier In Possession of Shipment. In this case, the carrier took possession of the shipment and it is in transit. This is the most common interpretation, but not necessarily what actually happened.
• Barcode Label Printed. Here, the shipper printed a shipping label and placed it on the package. Many systems will generate a “shipped” status based on this label printed event.
• Ready For Pickup. In this instance, the shipment is on the shipping dock ready for the carrier to pick up. Again, at least from a customer perspective, this is not “shipped”.
• Shipment Loaded on a Trailer. In this case, the shipment is on the trailer in the dockyard ready for the carrier to pick up. Here again, this event is routinely identified as “shipped”.
• Absolutely Nothing. More troubling, I’ve seen cases where a user accidentally enters an erroneous tracking number like “123” into the data entry field of a tracking web page. Then surprisingly, the web page provides an updated status of “shipped”. 

Bottom line – shipment statuses don’t always mean what you think they means. This may have been OK in simpler times when expected delivery times were two to six weeks. However, not now where supply chains are increasingly automated, interfacing with many systems, and customer expectations are measured in hours, not weeks.

“Bottom line – shipment statuses don’t always mean what you think they means.”

2. Increasingly Global, Multifaceted Supply Chains Need a Breakthrough in Data Interoperability.

Let’s Breakthrough The Data Interoperability Nightmare: It Is The Best Way To Unlock Supply Chain Innovation

So to achieve 100% shipment visibility, supply chains today need to integrate countless data interfaces, each exchanging its own custom-built brand of shipment status messages. As a result of this sloppy industry practice, supply chains have a major data interoperability challenge – what is sent is not understood. Moreover, this situation is getting worse. This is because supply chain operations are getting more complex and collaborative. Hence, the need for seamless interoperability is even more critical. 

For instance, international and intermodal shipping require precise shipment status updates due to the need for visibility across numerous events, including operational, administrative, and financial activities. However, these complex operations often suffer from incomplete, inaccurate, and delayed tracking updates. As a result, this negatively impacts stakeholders and hobbles supply chains from achieving their basic function: getting the right product to the right place at the right time. Hence, this lack of data interoperability is a significant challenge, making it impossible for supply chains to work well without accurate, complete, and timely data.

To find out more about data interoperability, its benefits, and ways to improve it, see my article, Let’s Breakthrough The Data Interoperability Nightmare: It Is The Best Way To Unlock Supply Chain Innovation.

“… supply chains have a major data interoperability challenge – what is sent is not understood.“

3. Seamless Supply Chain Data Interoperability: Overcoming the Challenges of Customized Shipment Statuses.

So, despite the increased automation in supply chains and the expectation of real-time, precise shipment updates, we still struggle with exchanging actionable information between our systems. This is because most supply chain data interfaces consist of disjointed, free-form text strings, which lead to ambiguous and unclear information exchanges. As a result, our digital supply chains lack the clarity needed for seamless operations. Below are the two major reasons we do not have seamless information flows in our supply chains.

a. Supply Chains Need Common Business Glossaries With Clear Operational Definitions.

Poor Operational Definitions Impede Supply Chain Tech Adoption: Now Is the Time For A Big Change

As discussed previously, supply chains lack common business definitions for shipment status. For instance, major parcel carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS have hundreds of unique definitions, many of which are undefined or lack clear, measurable meaning (see links for specifics). Moreover, this issue is compounded by thousands of logistics organizations developing their own custom shipment status data dictionaries and business glossaries. Hence, the lack of mutually agreed upon business definitions is a major reason we do not have seamless information flows in our supply chains. For a more detailed discussion on this topic, see my article, Poor Operational Definitions Impede Supply Chain Tech Adoption: Now Is the Time For A Big Change.

b. The Need for Data Interoperability: The Way to Breakaway from the Tangle of Custom-Built Shipment Statuses.

Semantic Digital Interoperability: This Is The Ultimate Way To Make Supply Chains Seamless

Besides supply chain organizations agreeing on a common set of business terms, it is time for our industry to move past custom-built data integrations. What is needed is true data interoperability where “what is sent, is understood”. Below are four steps organizations can take to make their supply chain seamless with 100% shipment visibility.

1. Adopt a Data-Centric Mindset. This is the first step to improve the quality of data. Here, supply chain organizations must shift their mindset from application-centric to data-centric. The key is to stop treating data as a by-product, and start using it as a strategic asset.
2. Leverage Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). Indeed, supply chains need to do better at leverage emerging and established data standards. This will assure advancement toward meaningful data exchanges. We successfully leverage SDOs for implementing bar code solutions; why not data interoperability?
3. Move Away From Proprietary “Dumb” Data Interfaces. Without a doubt, we need to move away from costly proprietary data interfaces that are both fragile and lock our precious supply chain data in rigid application silos and digital exchanges.
4. Leverage Emerging Digital Technologies and Methodologies. Unquestionably, supply chains need to leverage emerging tech such as AI, knowledge graphs, and digital identity tech to further enable semantic interoperability within their organizations.

For a much more detailed explanations of these four steps to achieve supply chain interoperability, see my article, Semantic Digital Interoperability: This Is The Ultimate Way To Make Supply Chains Seamless.

Summary.

So, there is a pressing need for intelligent tracking capabilities to ensure total shipment visibility. We need to stop the practice of shipment status ambiguity and provide operational clarity. Indeed, custom-built tracking status schemes are increasingly creating significant data interoperability issues within supply chains. Certainly, it is time to seriously consider what is required to deliver accurate, complete, and current information to our supply chain partners and end-customers. For more references on data interoperability challenges and possible solutions, see below:

More References.

• Measuring On-Time Delivery. It is hard to measure and improve on-time delivery if you do not have accurate shipment status. For more discussion on this topic, see my article, Measuring Ecommerce On-Time Delivery: Instructive Advice To Best Avoid Pointless Mistakes.
• Supply Chain Visibility Challenges and Solutions. For more on this topic, see my article, Supply Chain Visibility Of Cargo: Know Your Need And The Surprising Challenge To Secure It.
• Intelligent Tracking Status to Make Data Analytics Actionable. For more on data interoperability and analytics, see my article, The Way To Better Supply Chain Analytics: Overcome Data Interoperability With Intelligent Tracking Status.
• Achieving Logistics Interoperability. For how to achieve logistics interoperability, see my article, Achieving Logistics Interoperability: The Best Way to Breakthrough The Tangle Of Dumb Data Integrations

Achieving Logistics Interoperability: The Best Way to Breakthrough The Tangle Of Dumb Data Integrations

Need help with an innovative solution to make your supply chain systems work together? I’m Randy McClure, and I’ve spent many years solving data interoperability and visibility problems. As a supply chain tech advisor, I’ve implemented hundreds of successful projects across all transportation modes, working with the data of thousands of shippers, carriers, and 3rd party logistics (3PL) providers. I specialize in proof-of-concept and operational pilot projects for emerging technologies. If you’re ready to modernize your data infrastructure or if you are a solution provider, let’s talk. To reach me, click here to access my contact form or you can find me on LinkedIn.

For more from SC Tech Insights, see the latest articles on Interoperability, Shipping, and Supply Chain.