Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Canada Border Services Agency to pilot blockchain shipping solution

CBSA will use TradeLens from IBM/Maersk to improve and secure trade, companies say.

The Canada Border Services Agency is taking steps to streamline and secure the flow of shipments into the country by piloting TradeLens, a new blockchain-enabled shipping solution developed by IBM Corp. and A.P. Moller-Maersk, the companies said this week.

TradeLens is a digital supply chain platform that uses blockchain technology to promote a more efficient, predictable and secure exchange of information, according to Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM and Copenhagen-based Maersk. The CBSA said it is testing the technology to see how it could help improve the agency's operations, which include moving nearly 500,000 commercial transactions safely across Canadian borders daily.


"This development is an example of the Government of Canada using innovative technology to easily and securely facilitate trade and engage in global trading ecosystems in a modern, productive manner," John Ossowski, CBSA president, said in a statement announcing the pilot program. "TradeLens could create a singular, trusted digital supply chain for all shipments entering Canada. The TradeLens pilot gives us an opportunity to not only find process efficiencies and gain analytical insights, but improve data providence, accuracy and targeting capabilities. The end result may be a faster and more reliable national supply chain, which could positively impact Canada's economic output."

Hosted on IBM Cloud and built on open industry standards, TradeLens allows participants to track critical import and export data in real-time with a secure, non-repudiable audit trail. IBM and Maersk say TradeLens can reduce transit time and costs by promoting better visibility and more efficient communication. The companies say TradeLens has been proven to reduce the transit time of a shipment of packaging materials to a production line in the United States by as much as 40 percent, for example.

"TradeLens provides a common approach to building a strong, secure and connected digital trade network that benefits all participants equally," Ayman Antoun, president of IBM Canada said in the statement. "Our work with Maersk and other enterprises in the shipping ecosystem has shown that blockchain can be used to transform a vital part of how global trade is conducted as members like the CBSA and Port of Montreal begin to interact more efficiently, securely sharing important transactions through real-time access to shipping data and shipping documents."

TradeLens is available through a limited offering today, but is expected to be fully commercially available by the end of this year, the companies said.

The Latest

More Stories

nimble smart robots for fedex

FedEx picks Nimble for fulfillment automation

Parcel giant FedEx Corp. is automating its fulfillment flows by investing in the AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology firm Nimble, and announcing plans to use the San Francisco-based startup’s tech in its own returns network.

The size of FedEx’s investment wasn’t disclosed, but the company was the lead investor of Nimble’s $106 million “series C” funding round, announced last week. The round was co-led by existing shareholder Cedar Pine LLC.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Logistics gives back: October 2024

For the past seven years, third-party service provider ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.


Keep ReadingShow less
siemens logistics airport buggage

Vanderlande to acquire Siemens Logistics for $325 million

The logistics process automation provider Vanderlande has agreed to acquire Siemens Logistics for $325 million, saying its specialty in providing value-added baggage and cargo handling and digital solutions for airport operations will complement Netherlands-based Vanderlande’s business in the warehousing, airports, and parcel sectors.

The acquisition has received approval from the Supervisory and Management Boards of both Vanderlande and its parent company Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) as well as the Management Board of parent company Siemens AG.

Keep ReadingShow less

Resilience is a daily fight

I recently came across a report showing that 86% of CEOs around the world see resiliency problems in their supply chains, and that business leaders are spending more time than ever tackling supply chain-related challenges. Initially I was surprised, thinking that the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic surely prepared industry leaders for just about anything, helping to bake risk and resiliency planning into corporate strategies for companies of all sizes.

But then I thought about the growing number of issues that can affect supply chains today—more frequent severe weather events, accelerating cybersecurity threats, and the tangle of emerging demands and regulations around decarbonization, to name just a few. The level of potential problems seems to be increasing at lightning speed, making it difficult, if not impossible, to plan for every imaginable scenario.

Keep ReadingShow less
AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is a top priority for supply chain leaders as they develop their organization’s technology roadmap, according to data from research and consulting firm Gartner.

AI—including machine learning—and Generative AI (GenAI) ranked as the top two priorities for digital supply chain investments globally among more than 400 supply chain leaders surveyed earlier this year. But key differences apply regionally and by job responsibility, according to the research.

Keep ReadingShow less