MSC Exec: Liners Need Standardization

Chief Information Officer with Mediterranean Shipping Company Andre Simha has argued that standardization is a prerequisite to sector-wide solutions for the global shipping industry.

Simha said at the Global Liner Shipping Conference: “Customers won’t connect to multiple different systems; they will not go with a system of bits and pieces.

“You need something that is common, open and done in a consortium style. We’ve reached the point in the carrier world where we shouldn’t always be competing on technology, because it’s not necessarily in our customers’ interests to do so.

“Some startups have had some very good ideas on segments that need improving – on smart containers, for example, we’re working in the same direction as other carriers and we’re making progress.”

Simha’s comments come at a time when voices across the supply chain are calling for collaboration and standards to streamline the movement of trade around the world.

Despite this, many big players continue to develop their own strategies, meaning disparate strands are developing along the supply chain.

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With looming new technology on the horizon, liners are increasingly under greater pressure to ensure they are ahead of the game when it comes to technology.

Despite Simha’s call for change, standardization has been very difficult to implement given the reticence of companies to share their private data.

The promise of standardization is that it can provide an industry blueprint on how to do business, thereby allowing systems to be modelled around the universally accepted modus operandi.

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