The modern supply chain is a data game, and the more data a company has, the better it can avoid and respond to local and global disruptions.
The issue for many businesses, however, is access to that data.
FourKites, a supply chain visibility platform, launched a product on Thursday to make it easier to share its catalog of insights. Customers can now access the firm’s data directly through their own business intelligence systems, rather than having to add the FourKites platform to their tech stack, thanks to the new Data Connector offering.
The new service’s low implementation time, which requires minimal developer resources from the customer, is critical. FourKites claims that users can start creating custom dashboards using the company’s hundreds of data points in minutes.
Data Connector also eliminates the need for customers to manually upload data, as new information is automatically integrated into their business intelligence systems as it arrives.
FourKites customers from all industries can now take advantage of the new offering.
“Business leaders are realizing that trusted, high-quality supply chain data is relevant to all corners of the enterprise,” said Priya Rajagopalan, FourKites’ chief product officer. “The more readily available that data is throughout their organization, the better they can optimize their operations.”
Several customers are already using Data Connector, according to FourKites. According to a news release announcing the service’s launch, 3M is using it to improve its massive supply chain with more relevant business insights.
“With Data Connector, our company has been able to integrate additional data points into internal reporting for better traceability,” said Kaitlyn DeSpiegler, 3M’s logistics manager for strategic projects. “This, in turn, has helped us gain insight into our export process in terms of delays and handoffs. The data feeds into a larger end-to-end view used by our export and import teams to track goods as they move through 3PL warehouses and into the exporting country. The ability to integrate all tracking data into one report has resulted in significant efficiencies for the team.”
FourKites’ Data Connector launch comes on the heels of a major platform update in August that synchronized visibility data across shipments in transit and orders waiting in the yard or warehouse.
Shortly after, the company received a $10 million investment from Tokyo-based global trading and investment firm Mitsui in order to expand its presence in Asia and the Pacific.
According to founder and CEO Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites’ next step is to add visibility at the SKU level, which could help businesses better predict delays and merchandising opportunities for individual products.
“In 2023, we look forward to helping our customers take the next leap forward in their logistics operations, expanding their insight further into their network and at the SKU level. “We will build a more resilient and agile supply chain together,” Elenjickal said last month.
