What is global tracking and why does it matter for your business

Global tracking has become increasingly important in international shipping.

With global trade becoming more complex, the need for businesses to track their shipments beyond just their geographical location is a must. In the age of digitalisation, the global logistics community have come to expect more than ‘is my shipment on-time’.

5 common questions

1. What’s the carbon footprint of my shipment?

2. When is my container due to arrive?

3. Is my container at risk of demurrage and detention charges?

4. What are the climatic conditions on my shipments routing?

5. How many of my containers are awaiting shipment?

Gone are the days when all we really wanted to know was if our goods were going to be delivered on time and in good condition. As the capabilities of global tracking grows, so does our demand for more data.

What is global tracking?

Global tracking nowadays, is a tool to manage multiple facets of the supply chain and provide data to a broad spectrum of people who manage various parts of it.  The key thing, is how to take the data you are given, interpret it and feed it back into the business to make a real change.  

Getting the data is the easy part. Knowing what to do with it and how to interpret it, is where the complexity lies.  If you can figure this out, you’ll be able to:

• Manage your shipments better

• Foresee delays easier

• Assess risks quicker

• Avoiding extra costs

Why is global tracking important and what are the benefits? 

Global tracking can have a significant impact on the transportation of your goods worldwide, and help you make better informed decisions regarding their shipments. For example, if you global track the historical temperature on your shipment's routing, would you change the mode of transport you ship it on, or the container type you ship it in, if the conditions were unfavourable? 

Beyond the benefit to your business, global tracking will also enable you to keep your customers up-to-date with information and the status of their orders. This helps build trust and loyalty between the customer and the business.

How does it work?

Global tracking systems use a variety of data sources to track shipments around the world. These include:

• GPS data

• Satellite tracking

• Container tracking

• Manifest data

This data is then used to create a global map of the shipment, which can be used to track the position of goods.

One of the most important aspects of global tracking is the ability to monitor shipments and share data in real-time with any party in the supply chain. Real-time tracking is especially important for time-sensitive shipments, such as those sent to retailers ahead of the holiday season.

The single most important thing about using a global tracking system is that in order to get reliable data out of it, you must first feed accurate data into it.