Logistics industry group launches tech platform for seamless tracking of goods

TRIP, or Transport Integrated Platform, was launched on Thursday to help the many players along the logistics supply chain achieve seamless end-to-end tracking of goods and cut down on unnecessary trips and delays.

Announcing its launch, Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade & Industry and Ministry of National Development, said the technology-based transport solution addresses a genuine need on the ground.

Said Dr Koh: "Numerous players across the supply chain, such as shipping lines, container depots, cargo owners, port authorities and freight forwarders, have to constantly exchange information to coordinate the deployment of assets and movement of cargo. However, communication is often hampered by existing manual processes and the use of disparate systems that are not interoperable.

"TRIP overcomes this challenge by linking up all the nodes via a common platform, allowing seamless end-to-end tracking and minimising unproductive trips and delays."

The common technology platform is the work of the Logistics Alliance, an industry group formed by the Container Depot and Logistics Association (Singapore) or CDAS, the Singapore Aircargo Agents Association, the Singapore Logistics Association, and the Singapore Transport Association, together with government agency Spring and the Centre of Innovation for Supply Chain Management at Republic Polytechnic.

Dr Koh was speaking at the Container, Logistics and Transport Business Forum organised by CDAS.

He noted that the logistics sector is an important pillar of Singapore's economy and the country has been consistently ranked the top-performing logistics hub in Asia. In 2016, the industry employed over 200,000 workers and accounted for more than 7 per cent of Singapore's GDP (gross domestic product).

"A strong logistics backbone is critical to the functioning of many other sectors, particularly manufacturing, trade and retail," he said. "It is thus critical that we ensure that our logistics companies continue to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape to maintain our competitiveness."