Data transformation streamlines the information supply chain to cut costs and reduce risk

As the world continues to add increasingly stringent compliance regulations to global supply chain processes, the timely and accurate exchange of information among trading partners is more important than ever. There is little or no tolerance for errors or bottlenecks – and anything that is not immediately corrected can result in costly delays, fines or potential closures for transportation companies and their trading partners.

Today, many supply chain players – from shippers and customs agencies to transportation service providers and distributors – are struggling to manage the integration of growing volumes of data streams. It is no longer enough to record that a ship is arriving in a port and the number of containers on board; specific details on container contents, points of origin and more have become part of the day-to-day information delivery requirements.

A large amount of data in the global supply chain is in the form of EDI (electronic data interchange). However, organisations often have established their own EDI standards, making it difficult to translate vital information – such as product and container identification numbers – into standard terms. The challenge for the industry as a whole is finding an efficient and effective way to bridge the gap between what trading partners are telling each other and what terminal operators are expecting, while ensuring that all versions of the truth are consistent and correct.

Traditionally, these “mapping” efforts required dedicated inhouse systems and programmers, who would go through various scripts and hard code changes to data. This is not only time consuming and costly, it is also extremely complex, because it often means running one system to capture data and another to transform it.

Forward-thinking supply chain partners are embracing the idea of “transformation” technology that is specifically designed to receive EDI data and output it in the required language and format. In simple terms, this server-based technology provides a centralised repository for capturing data a trading partner sends in and transforming it for delivery to the appropriate back-end system. Conversely, the same technology can pull data from internal systems and transform it for delivery to various trading partners.

There are technology solutions available that simplify the challenge of designing integrated business information architecture and process flows for both structured and unstructured data by streamlining data delivery and making information available where, when and how it is needed. These solutions enable centralised control over the data and document transformation as well as capabilities to intelligently route, extract, normalise, map and transform the content based on a set of defined business rules.

As reporting demands increase for customs authorities, the ability to quickly transform data “on the fly” is becoming critically important. U.S. Customs, for example, now requires that trading partners report container status every 15 minutes, among other detailed communications requirements.

With a centralised system, trading partners can meet or exceed these requirements through a simple and easy-touse graphical user interface (GUI). Rather than programmers having to change scripts, an EDI analyst can use the GUI to make any necessary changes to the business process. By implementing these solutions, data-intensive organisations, such as port authorities, are finding large cost-savings as well as gains in efficiency.

In today’s economy, logistics organisations are challenged by a number of factors: increased pressure from trading partners; growing fuel costs; and competition. Add to that the fact that transportation is the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions. Centralising data transformation is just one way to reduce these risks and costs, without major infrastructure investments or added complexity.

For more information see: www.xenos.com/europe.