FourKites expands freight visibility platform, adds new features

FourKites, a specialist in enabling visibility of international supply chains its freight platform, has introduced several new capabilities to its offering.

New features include dashboards and what it regards as “unique views” into carrier events, split shipments and booking details.

• The Carrier Events View on the FourKites platform allows shippers to compare data from airlines’ websites against FourKites’ milestones, ongoing events and what the firm says are its “highly accurate” Dynamic ETA for Air shipments that leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. This allows supply chain partners to increase workforce efficiencies and maximise collaboration based on high-quality, end-to-end visibility data, FourKites says
• The Easy Load Creation facility enables shippers to generate air shipments with only limited information
• New dashboards include a Transit Time Dashboard, On-time Performance Dashboard, Milestone Dashboard, Customer Health Dashboard and Lane Dashboard, all of which allow for more strategic decision-making through insights on carrier and lane performance, tracking health and other variables
• The Split Shipments capability lets customers track shipments that have been separated onto different flights or routes, and to monitor quantity and weight at the flight level. This provides enhanced visibility into inventory levels, enabling shippers to improve resource planning and pickup scheduling
• Booking details, including flight number, status, origin/destination, arrival/departure time, quantity, weight and volume, provide clear visibility into scheduled flight details, which can be compared to tracking updates generated in real time

These capabilities are said to complement FourKites’ pre-existing end-to-end international visibility solutions, helping shippers to proactively build routes based on in-transit inputs, and all within a single user interface.

Indeed, “FourKites’ unmatched data intelligence and enhanced air solutions help shippers optimise their supply chain faster and with greater accuracy than ever before — all seamlessly on the FourKites platform,” a statement from the company asserted.

These new capabilities build upon FourKites’ recent growth in the airfreight business.

It now tracks more than 100 airlines through 17,000 airports, while also integrating with more than 20 major parcel providers to support express shipments.

Meanwhile, its Dynamic ETA for Air product tracks nearly 100% of air freight with highly accurate and automated ETAs within 9 hours of arrival.

“By offering true door-to-door air visibility, FourKites is focused on providing the full picture to help customers transport high-value freight efficiently,” informed PriyaRajagopalan, its chief product officer.

“Shippers and freight forwarders often rely on air to transport valuable goods and to speed up shipments in case of delays.

“FourKites’ new capabilities, created in close collaboration with our customers, represent a meaningful step forward in integrating air transport more efficiently in global supply chains.”

The firm’s range of offerings in airfreight form part of its international solution suite that also includes ocean and rail solutions, connecting global end-to-end supply chains through real-time visibility technology that helps shippers, carriers and third-party logistics services providers work better together.

Across all modes, FourKites tracks more than 3 million shipments a day across road, rail, ocean, air, parcel and last mile, reaching out across approximately 200 countries and territories.