Enabling proactive customer service with harmonized incoming delivery data
Capability to answer customer requests within minutes instead of days
Capability to find loads, reducing stock costs at ports
Capability to use transport data for internal reporting and analytics
SSAB wanted to foster visibility to product transportations due to increasing customer demand and slow work heavy tracking query responses. Before, there was no efficient way to find out where the goods were after the factory pickup. The target was to be more precise with ETA and be able to give customers accurate and current information about deliveries at any given time.
The Track & Trace project was given priority one in SSAB's customer interaction – top management support was strong and customer demand got increasingly high during the project.
Midagon's consultant was selected to lead the Track & Trace project aside SSAB's program owner. The role involved leading product development and architecture as well as acting as technical lead. First, Midagon helped SSAB in the projectization of the Track & Trace initiative. Midagon then helped with IT system development and integration architecture design to enable data flows from mills to the Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform (RTTVP).
The visibility platform was selected during the project by running a comprehensive competitive bidding. The work also included formulating the development model for the service, working with carrier onboarding and changing the way of working with logistics professionals by using the visibility platform.
By the end of the project, the Track & Trace platform was technically ready for a wider roll-out. SSAB's side of data pipelines, microservices and integrations were done. Also, the RTTVP platform was up and running – thousands of loads were being tracked and delivered. The onboarding of carriers was done for more than ten carriers that covered more than 50 % of the total volume. The roll-out to public use remained to be seen within a few months after Midagon left the project due to other projects (eCom) which needed to be finalized.
The main goal, gaining visibility and transparency, was achieved. For future development, the team identified possibilities to move on from XML messaging to direct APIs with carriers and partners. This project paved the way to further harmonize the message flows and utilize data through APIs internally and externally.
