The freight industry is one of ancient tradition, with thousands of years of global travel, trade and exploration creating a complex and multi-faceted industry. International travel and communication across time zones has made the industry a backbone of global economy. Though change has been a constant aspect of the freight world, the last 12 months have seen some of the biggest, most sweeping and significant changes in living memory. With many businesses forced to adapt overnight to a new way of working in order to protect employees and customers from the pandemic.
Technological developments have consistently improved the freight industry for generations, but recent months have seen vast adaptions to new methods and new tools being embraced at an unprecedented rate. Automation technologies in warehouses and processing have improved efficiency, reduced human error and cut costs, and these improvements have improved customer service and satisfaction exponentially.
As the world reframes the view we have of business, communication and the use of digital, virtual, and automated processes - the IT industry has led these changes - modelling the best practice for embracing technology in business. Automation can reduce costs, streamline processes, reduce error, improve timescales and improve customer service and those who are resistant to change get left behind as customers choose better prices, better service and better communication.
We all see the benefits of global networks, honest and efficient communication and happier customers, which leads to a better market reach and reputation, which in turn leads to business growth – and know that the freight industry benefits from embracing these technologies and the 24/7 global communication that automation brings. Another popular tool is secure online payment processes, which protect customers and businesses alike from risk, and the use of one-time passwords (OTPs) have further improved the security of these transactions, verifying each payment to ensure that there are fewer opportunities for fraud or misuse. These OTPs offer security and peace of mind, whether it’s for paying your window cleaner or for a multi-million-pound oil company transaction from a supplier on the far side of the world.
One such platform which is widely used in the freight industry is Paycargo; this cloud-based payment platform not only offers tools for payments to be sent and vendors to securely receive and track those payments, it can also be integrated into your existing IT and financing services, meaning that the shipment doesn’t need to be paid for up front, as per your usual trade agreements and payment schedules. Opting to use a cloud-based platform for these payments means that trade doesn’t rely on the working hours of a different time-zone, no hands-on processes which need a member of staff to authorise payments or shipments which would slow things down, checks and measures are more accurate when automated, and business runs smoothly 24/7 securely, meaning peace of mind for both vendor and customer.
Freight forwarding is just one industry which has been impacted by the changes in how we do business, and those changes have re-shaped the way that businesses and customers want to communicate and trade; embracing these changes and technologies is the only way to protect your organisation and be part of the further changes that tomorrow may bring – and you can only utilise this tech successfully with the right knowledge and expertise in your team.
Recruiting for the future means building these skills into every aspect of your business – and recruiting for IT and Cloud specialism in your growth. We can help to identify and recruit these experts and future-proof your freight organisation; call today on +1 (646) 977 7946 to discuss your needs.
