Shipping Container lines plan to establish an Association in order to pave the way for digitalization, standardization, and interoperability in the container transport industry
The lines and IT executives that met the largest and most important lines were:
A.P. Moller – Maersk: Adam Banks, Chief Technology & Information Officer
CMA CGM: Madhana Kumar, Vice President, Transformation, Data & Digital
Hapag-Lloyd: Martin Gnass, Managing Director Information Technology
MSC Group: André Simha, Chief Information Officer
Ocean Network Express: Noriaki Yamaga, Managing Director, Corporate & Innovation
Additionally, at the meeting, they discussed the creation of common standards in information technologies, which will be open to the public and will not cost all the stakeholders of the maritime transport industry even new members to join. The plan to establish an Association will be to deliver benefits for the industry and its stakeholders.
The association does not intend to develop or operate any digital platform but aims to ensure interoperability through standardization. In the same way, the association will not discuss any commercial or operational matter.
The most important points to address:
- Establish a neutral and non-profit association.
- The purpose is to pave the way for digitalization and standardization in the industry.
- All maritime carriers are invited to join the association once established
- A.P. Moller – Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and ONE intend to become members
- Operation as of the beginning of 2019 (subject to applicable regulatory requirements)
- The association will comply with all legal and regulatory requirements.
Declarations of container transport companies
“Digital is key to AP Moller – Maersk in fulfilling our strategy to become an integrated container logistics company that offers simple end-to-end services with a seamless experience for the customer.” A set of technical standards will ensure interoperability and will allow all parties to focus on value-added differentiation as we move forward in the container transport industry towards greater digitization, which will ultimately benefit all parties in our customers’ supply chains “, says Adam Banks, Director of Technology and Information, AP Moller – Maersk.
“CMA CGM is always looking for the best practices and standards to support the innovation and digital strategy of the company. Being a founding member will allow us to work together to set standards for the digitization of the entire industry, “says Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Executive Vice President of Transformations and IT, CMA CGM.
“Hapag-Lloyd appreciates the creation of this partnership as we firmly believe that the challenges of the future can only be addressed with a common approach,” says Martin Gnass, Executive Director of Information Technology, Hapag-Llyod.
“MSC believes that we have reached the point in the world of transporters where we need something that is common, open and done within the framework of a neutral and non-profit association.” By collaborating on standardized solutions, we believe it is the best way to respond to the demands of technology and innovation of the carriers, shaping the future of the shipping industry, “says Andre Simha, Information Director of MSC.
“Ocean Network Express sees a wave of innovative technology development in the transportation and logistics industry in recent years that can provide good opportunities for the entire industry for digital transformation. But, at the same time, we are a bit cautious when adopting a new technology from an individual company, since there is no common standard in the market that could be ending with a reintegration work among all the stakeholders in the chain of supply. With this in mind, we believe it would be necessary to do some discussion and collaboration in the area of new technologies and innovation to establish a common IT standard and governance for the industry to streamline and digitalize the shipping process in a way modern In the end, we believe that this style of collaboration can bring value and opportunity for our customers as well as logistics companies and maritime transport to the digital ecosystem of the value chain “says Noriaki Yamaga, General Director of Corporation and Innovation of Ocean Network Express.
