Ocean Booking Platforms: Leaving Legacy Hassles Behind and Unlocking Efficiency with coneksion®

Case Study
An overview of the accomplishments attained by the company in question.

  • Streamlined connectivity with carriers
  • Unmatched ecosystem expansion
  • Boosted efficiency of operations
  • Enhanced customer service

Introduction

In a world driven by technological advancement, businesses must adapt and evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of their customers. Legacy booking platforms, once the industry standard, have recently become synonymous with integration challenges and inefficiencies, hindering shippers, freight forwarders, and logistics service providers (LSP) from achieving their full potential. 

This case study examines how coneksion®, a leading logistics and supply chain data connectivity service provider, transferred the operations of a top-ranked global forwarding business by replacing a legacy ocean booking platform, which they had previously relied on, with a modern solution that streamlines data connectivity and process integration.

The Challenge: Legacy Integration Woes

Our customer, a company at the forefront of the air and ocean freight forwarding industry, was experiencing significant challenges with their legacy booking platform. This platform, which was once a reliable choice, could no longer keep up with the business's integration requirements.

As a standard software program designed to suit the masses, the booking platform could not address the forwarder's specific needs regarding ecosystem expansion. Specifically, the need to rapidly bring new carriers into the ecosystem, as well as the constant hassles of working with EDI, were the main roadblocks for the company while expanding its partner network.

It is critical to note that, among the carriers to be connected, there were not only parties who had never been on the platform, but carriers our customer had been working with for ages who recently decided to leave the booking platform due to an unexpected increase in the platform’s service fee.

For our case company, the increase of this service fee was also seen as a negative factor that could affect the company’s customers and further growth. Thus, it became another factor pushing the company away from the platform.

Last but not least, the legacy shipping platform only covered the ocean segment of container shipments, which was not enough because the case company, like most forwarders operating globally, is active in different transport modalities and requires multimodal solutions.

As our case company aimed to excel in customer service and enhance the overall efficiency of its operations, the outdated technology posed a significant obstacle to its success. Thus, continuing to use this platform was no longer an option.

The Solution: Embracing coneksion® Fully Managed Connectivity Service

Recognizing the need for change, the company decided to part ways with their legacy booking platform.

Initially, they considered and tried in-house data connectivity development involving mapping their data into various formats and maintaining multiple connections. However, they did not find this DIY (do it yourself) model efficient nor sustainable. As integrations are not the core business of a global forwarder, they also realized that it makes more sense to partner with a company that specializes in this area. After all, building connectivity solutions is not just about establishing the required integrations, but also about the lifecycle maintenance that comes with it.

As the in-house development approach was not an option, the company embraced coneksion's cutting-edge solution: the coneksion® RAPIDS Ocean Carrier Data Connectivity service.

Coneksion's modern technology and vast ecosystem of preconnected partners, combined with the ability to easily connect systems and partners of any kind, promised to resolve the integration issues that had been plaguing their operations.

Results: A Brighter Future with More Efficient Ocean Booking Solution 

The transition to coneksion® brought about a remarkable transformation for the customer. The hassles of the legacy platform that had once impeded their progress were replaced with newfound efficiency and agility that ensured rapid network expansion. Also, the company was able to overcome EDI connectivity challenges, reduce costs of integrations, and improve customer service.

Thanks to coneksion®, the company in question was able to say goodbye to the legacy ocean booking platform without experiencing the integration headaches that often go hand in hand with the endless migration projects that are typical for the industry.

The coneksion® RAPIDS Ocean Carrier Data connectivity service as well as all of coneksion® fully managed data connectivity solutions fill a gap between standard LogTech software and DIY integrations. This unique approach was exactly what the forwarder was looking for.

Conclusion: A Brighter, More Efficient Future

This case illustrates the tangible benefits of saying goodbye to legacy hassles and embracing the modern, agile solutions offered by coneksion®. In an era in which business success hinges on adaptability and efficient integration, Coneksion's transformative technology enables companies to leave behind the problems of the past and step into a brighter, more efficient future.

Make the switch today and discover how coneksion® can empower your business to overcome the challenges of legacy systems, ensuring prosperity and growth. 

Learn more about coneksion® and unlock the future of your business.

 

Benefits Enjoyed by the Company in Question:

 

  • Seamless integration with a list of selected carriers.
    Coneksion®solution is seamlessly integrated with the customer’s transportation management system (TMS), allowing for an exchange of booking data with the selected carriers to ensure a smooth flow of data and information, bypassing the legacy layer.
  • Unparalleled flexibility in bringing new stakeholders to the ecosystem and scaling existing connectivity. 
    Compared to the legacy platform that the case company previously used for its ocean bookings, coneksion® is a technology-agnostic solution that combines the advantages of Logtech platforms and DIY integrations while skipping the drawbacks, such as high costs and rigid product roadmaps. 
  • No limitation in data connectivity.
    Even though the company was primarily looking for a new solution to replace its legacy ocean shipping platform, they also wanted the flexibility to have other transport modalities (e.g., air freight) and any use case (e.g., booking, tracking, and more) added to the centralized data connectivity solution.
  • Boosted efficiency of operations. 
    As the solution is designed to work with both EDI and API, the outdated technologies of the past that some business partners still rely on are no longer holding the company back. 
  • Enhanced customer service.
    With improved data connectivity, the case company was able to provide superior service, which allowed them to meet and exceed their customers' expectations.

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