Improve shipping efficiency and the customer experience with real-time tracking and actionable data insights

The roar of the crowd, the squeak of sneakers on the polished court, the ticking clock… for high-volume shippers, it’s the big game and every possession counts. Just like a championship basketball team relies on instant feedback to adjust their strategy in real-time, companies today need comprehensive tracking data to stay ahead in the high-stakes game of the supply chain.

Imagine your team is down by one point with seconds left on the clock and your star player is about to shoot the game-winning basket, but the pass is fumbled, and the ball goes out of bounds. This is similar to the frustration and missed opportunities that can come up from limited tracking data. Without real-time updates, accurate information, and consistent data feeds, your supply chain ‘fumbles the pass,’ leading to missed opportunities, costly errors, and a significant loss in competitive advantage.

Businesses are increasingly reliant on real-time visibility to optimize operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive strategic decision-making. Yet, many companies are still grappling with the limitations of basic tracking solutions, which often provide incomplete or inaccurate data. This ‘fumbled pass’ results in a lack of clarity, impeding their ability to make informed decisions and react quickly to potential disruptions. Let’s look closer at how championship-level shipment visibility, powered by robust data quality, can transform your shipping operations and give you the edge you need to win.

The Fumbled Pass: When Tracking Data Drops the Ball

Let’s revisit the scenario from earlier: game point, seconds on the clock, and a fumbled pass. The buzzer sounds, and your team loses. This is the sting of a missed opportunity; victory lost due to a critical error. This is precisely what happens when your tracking data drops the ball.

In the world of high-volume shipping, this fumbled pass can manifest in tangible ways. It’s the customer service rep, scrambling to answer a customer’s inquiry about a delayed shipment, only to find the tracking information is outdated or incomplete. It’s the shipping manager, struggling to reroute a truck due to unforeseen traffic congestion, lacking the real-time visibility for informed decisions. It’s the e-commerce team, swamped with WISMO (where’s my order?) emails, unable to provide accurate delivery estimates due to data gaps. And it’s the IT department, constantly battling to maintain and integrate with disparate tracking systems, struggling to provide a unified view of shipment data.

The impact of this fumbled pass extends beyond individual departments, creating a ripple effect throughout the entire supply chain. According to The ProShip Report, nearly 22% of parcel shippers cite ensuring clear visibility throughout the shipping journey as a significant challenge. This highlights the widespread need for improved data management and robust tracking functionalities. Furthermore, when asked about crucial factors contributing to control and visibility over the supply chain, a combined 40% of respondents identified visibility/tracking and data accuracy as top priorities. This underscores the critical role of reliable tracking data in maintaining a competitive edge.

This bad pass leads to:

• Increased Customer Dissatisfaction: Delayed or inaccurate delivery information erodes customer trust and loyalty.
• Higher Operational Costs: Inefficient routing, missed delivery windows, and increased customer service inquiries drive up expenses.
• Reduced Productivity: Manual tracking processes and data reconciliation consumes valuable time and resources.
• Missed Strategic Opportunities: Lack of comprehensive data hinders the ability to identify trends, optimize processes, and make data-driven decisions.

In the same way that a botched pass derails a basketball team’s chances, limited tracking data cripples business operations. Without real-time updates, accurate information, and consistent data feeds, businesses are left playing a reactive game. They end up constantly scrambling to address issues, rather than proactively optimizing their supply chain. This critical error can cost you the game—and your competitive advantage.

The Defensive Block: Obstacles to Effective Tracking

In basketball, a strong defense can shut down even the most talented offense. Similarly, limitations in tracking data act as defensive blocks, preventing businesses from achieving effective and efficient shipping operations. These obstacles come in various forms, each hindering visibility and creating challenges:

Lack of Real-Time Updates

Just like a delay can disrupt a game’s momentum, old tracking information keeps businesses unaware of shipment statuses. This leads to missed delivery windows, increased customer service inquiries, and the inability to react to unforeseen supply chain disruptions.

Incomplete or Inaccurate Information

Imagine trying to prepare for a basketball game where the final scores of prior games are constantly disputed or the players’ stats are unreliable. This is the equivalent of incomplete or inaccurate tracking data. When businesses rely on flawed information, they risk making poor decisions, leading to errors, inefficiencies, and increased costs. This can manifest in incorrect delivery estimates and billing discrepancies.

Data Silos and Disparate Systems

Success is unlikely for a basketball team whose players refuse to pass the ball. Similarly, when tracking data is trapped in silos or scattered across disconnected systems, businesses lack a unified view of their supply chain. This makes it difficult to identify bottlenecks, track trends, and optimize overall performance. Integrating these systems becomes a major headache for IT departments, consuming valuable resources and delaying critical initiatives.

Limited Visibility Across Carriers

A basketball team that can only play either offense or defense is at a severe disadvantage. Likewise, businesses that lack visibility across all carriers and services are unable to optimize their shipping strategy. This limitation prevents businesses from selecting the most efficient and cost-effective options, hindering their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and meet customer demands.

The Game-Winning Play: Scoring with Comprehensive Visibility

Similar to how a perfectly executed play can turn the tide of a basketball game, comprehensive visibility can transform your supply chain from a struggling team to a championship contender. This game-winning play relies on data-rich, consistent tracking information feeds that dismantle the defensive blocks and empower businesses to score big.

Real-Time, Granular Updates

Instant visibility into shipment status across all carriers and modes allows you to anticipate and address potential delays. It also enables you to reroute shipments, adjust delivery schedules, and keep customers informed. This leads to proactive exception management and improved customer communication.

Complete and Accurate Information

Reliable data feeds provide a holistic view of your supply chain, eliminating errors and inconsistencies. This empowers you to provide accurate delivery estimates and resolve billing discrepancies. As a result, billing errors are significantly reduced.

Unified Data and Seamless Integration

Unified data and seamless integration of tracking systems provide a cohesive view of your supply chain, eliminating data silos. This empowers you to identify bottlenecks, track trends, and optimize overall performance, which improves bottleneck identification and trend tracking. [Explore why an integrated software stack is key to streamlined shipping.]

Visibility Across All Carriers and Modes

This collaboration revolutionizes shipment tracking, providing brands with a direct connection to actionable shipping data, eliminating the inefficiencies of manual reports and spreadsheets. This partnership exemplifies the power of a ‘best-of-breed’ approach. Rather than relying on a single, mediocre solution that attempts to cover both parcel execution and data analytics, ProShip and ShipMatrix excel by focusing on their respective strengths.

ProShip concentrates on perfecting the core of multi-carrier execution, ensuring seamless and efficient shipping operations. ShipMatrix, as a dedicated parcel data analytics leader, provides the in-depth insights and advanced analytics necessary to optimize performance and drive strategic decisions.

This clear division of expertise allows both companies to operate at the highest level, delivering unparalleled value to their customers. A dedicated execution platform paired with a dedicated data analytics platform is the winning combination. This partnership empowers you to achieve a ‘championship-level’ supply chain, where data drives every decision and every delivery.

Achieve championship-level supply chain visibility with ProShip. Discover how our platform empowers you with real-time, data-driven insights to optimize your shipping strategy and schedule a discovery call today.