Maritime logistics is a crucial component in the supply chain of numerous companies. To be able to efficiently and safely transport goods of various types from one place to another is fundamental to the success of a business. For this reason, today in the blog of La Lonja de la Innovación we delve deeper into this process, one of our main areas of interest.
Understanding maritime logistics
Logistics is a process within a supply chain which addresses all the operational processes of a company, from the purchasing planning with suppliers to final customer sales. This implies that a supply chain usually includes the raw material management, suppliers, transportation, distribution centers, sales channels and end client. Logistics, as a part of this chain, must be optimized to be able to improve service quality.
On the other hand, maritime logistics is the process that implies the transportation of goods across oceans using ships and cargo vessels. This method offers advantages, such as the ability to transport large volumes of goods for less price and with high security, reducing the risk of product damage. Some key aspects that must be in this process so it correctly works are:
- Efficient management. It is fundamental for the optimization of the supply chain, this means that all the parties involved in the process must be well-coordinated. In addition, all the details must be planned, such as knowing the most efficient route, coordinating loading and unloading times, etc.
- Communication. We have already mentioned that all parties must be well-coordinated and collaborate between them, which also implies that clear and constant communication is also crucial in order to prevent problems and to resolve them in an agile and efficient way.
- Technology. After several posts in our blog, it has become clear that the use of technology is essential and that its arrival to the ports and logistics sector provides numerous advantages. Among these is the optimization of this process, which will allow us to track and monitor the goods in real time. Within this point, we can highlight two technologies with significant benefits for the ports:
- Blockchain in the logistics port. Ports manage great quantities of data and this information is beginning to be digitized to optimize port logistics. Many ports do this through blockchain, since it facilitates the secure and transparent management of this data.
- Big Data. Analyzing large volumes of data through Big Data can improve maritime logistics operations by enabling more informed and strategic decisions. Additionally, this technology allows better route planning, resource allocation and supply chain management, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
Logistics maritime solutions at La Lonja
Many projects focused in this area and in improving port logistics have passed through La Lonja de la Innovación, such as:
- Connectainer. This startup of our showroom developed a modular container adaptable to the characteristics of the goods, thanks to its flexibility and ability to be joined or separated from other containers, allowing costs and time savings, in addition to also considerably reducing emissions provoked by the current transportation of empty containers.
- Traxport. This startup develops cutting-edge technologies, using AI, machine learning and Big Data analysis, for the automation of tracking and tracing goods throughout the entire supply chain.
- Navlandis. This company is dedicated to developing foldable container solutions, such as their Zbox proposal.
- SEAPort Solutions. This alumni startup from our acceleration program offers a technological solution from the PortCDM (Collaborative Decision Making) family of systems for optimizing port operations based on the automatic exchange of real-time information between stakeholders.
In short, optimizing maritime logistics is crucial for improving supply chain efficiency, and implementing innovation is fundamental for this. If, like these alumni from our program and startups from our showroom, you also have an innovative project focused on this area, don’t hesitate to join La Lonja de la Innovación through the latest call we launched at the beginning of this year, which is still open.