Freight Forwarders Shouldn’t Feel Threatened by Automation, Says Supply Chain DIVE
Supply chain newshub Supply Chain DIVE released a thorough multi-part series on automation and digitization entering the logistics industry. But while digitization seems to be focused on streamlining the complexities surrounding a freight forwarders job, the website argues it doesn’t mean freight forwarding is going obsolete.
In her contribution to the series, “Why freight forwarders are not threatened by automation”, author Deborah Abrams Kaplan notes the complexities surrounding completing a booking is the value proposition of a freight forwarder. Even as automation is expanding, the behind the scenes heavy lifting done by forwarders is still a key cog in the shipping process.
Because of the “commoditized” and often fluid nature of shipping, many predict the freight forwarder will last through the increasing digitization of the logistics industry.
We’ve noted before how commoditization has often been the main hindrance to positive digital change. The solution isn’t yet a more variable driven software, but rather, the freight forwarder.
The human touch, as Ms. Kaplan calls it, is the forwarder’s value proposition. Interestingly, the cost effectiveness provided by the freight forwarder runs parallel to the cost effectiveness provided by automation. They can co-exist and work in tandem to increase neutrality and efficiency.
RELATED ARTICLE: How Neutrality Will Save the Day For Freight Forwarders.
By: CoLoadX on March 30, 2017, 6:04 p.m.