Resiliency. Visibility. Sustainability. Every year, supply chain trends emerge as a reflection of the industry’s priorities and the direction it’s headed. Technology is quickly evolving, giving us applications that were unheard of just a few years ago that can take shippers from early adopters to high demand as they realize the value of innovation.

Supply chain visibility technology is a vital, growing part of the investment in supply chains. Read on to learn about the top visibility trends we can expect in 2023.

The State of Supply Chain Visibility Trends

Except for years when major unforeseen events occur (like the start of the pandemic disrupting 2020), one year’s trends influence the following years. According to IHS Markit’s “Supply Chain Survey Report 2022,” the top data hurdles that companies face include:

1. Data integration across users and technology.
2. Timely and easy access to data.
3. Manual data processes and errors.

In short, organizations in 2023 will need complete access to better data, and these demands will play out in the visibility solutions they seek.

Review of the Different Types of Visibility Solutions

Supply chain visibility solutions offer answers to companies’ most pressing challenges in several different applications. Here are eight types of visibility solutions.

1. Traditional Supply Chain Visibility – Addressing the main components of supply chain management, this type of solution follows inventory levels, manufacturing, suppliers’ deliveries, order status, and shipping information.
2. Container Tracking Visibility – Diving into the details of container location and status, this solution gives shippers and BCOs milestone events along the shipping container’s journey.
3. Transportation Visibility – As another solution providing location information, this solution focuses on loads moved by truck or another mode of transport and also gives visibility on transportation spend and other data.
4. Cargo Condition Visibility – Temperature, humidity, light exposure, shocks, and tilts are some cargo conditions monitored and reported in real-time with this type of visibility solution.
5. Rate Visibility – This allows shippers to understand their transportation spend across different modes, contracts, and various added fees.
6. Booking and Container Allocation Visibility – This solution helps make booking and container allocation management processes more efficient and informs decisions on the volumes to ship with different carriers. 
7. Auditing Visibility – By finding errors after a shipment is complete, this solution gives shippers visibility to save money on future transactions and reduce errors. 
8. Carbon Emission Visibility – This solution gives insight into transportation-related carbon emissions, so shippers can work to reduce their carbon footprint.

Trends in Supply Chain Visibility to Look For in 2023

 As priorities for 2023 are homing in on improvements to the quality and accessibility of data, here are the five top trends we can expect for supply chain visibility.

More Data and Less Focus on the “Blue Dot”

 It’s not enough to have the “blue dot” on the map, or in other words, simply knowing where the freight is. The demand is now for more data, available in real-time, allowing shippers to pivot from being “aware” to using data to make better, more proactive decisions and keep ahead of any changes or exceptions.

Data Put into Context

There’s an explosion of data available surrounding visibility, but this data must be put into context. Shippers cannot effectively interpret their data and manage by exception without a milestone point-of-reference. They need real-time alerts for every container, with milestone context. Shipment conditions must be available in the users’ workflows where it is needed (like Tive trackers for temperature, humidity, and shock). Even carbon emission visibility needs context and should be put alongside the TMS or execution platform/management platform.

Multimodal Visibility

Visibility can now reach various modes of transport, but the demand is for multimodal visibility for shipments that rely on more than one. The end-to-end data stream must be continuous, covering ocean, air, intermodal, drayage, truckload, LTL, middle mile, and last mile. The shipment doesn’t stop at the end of one mode, and the visibility shouldn’t either.

Dashboards Driven by API Connections

A control tower approach brings the ultimate level of visibility and control. Combine that with an easy-to-use dashboard or data hub, and shippers have complete capabilities at their fingertips, designed for an optimal user experience. Track and trace, port congestion, and ETAs are just a few pieces of information that a dashboard or hub combines from different systems — using APIs — to form one reliable source of truth that provides a clear picture without an overload of too much information.

No-Code Implementation

Visibility should be accessible to any company, regardless of the size of their in-house team. Thanks to no-code services, it’s possible to build an impressive-looking website, for example, without ever knowing HTML or CSS. In the same way, no-code implementation is becoming available to shippers seeking visibility solutions. With a solution like VIZION, all that is required is a VIZION API key and a Google account. The future is complete, end-to-end data without worrying about the software development behind the scenes.

Between container tracking, transport visibility, carbon emissions, and everything in between, shippers need a solution to bring all data sources into a single management system. The application of APIs will continue to grow, providing control tower views for shippers to build more resilient supply chains.

Get a Solution for Easy Access to Visibility Data

 VIZION is a leading provider of container tracking visibility data that has the power to transform supply chains. Going from supply chain blind spots to complete visibility on the location and status of containers, shippers and BCOs can better inform their decisions, prepare for disruptions, and manage by exception. Through our API, VIZION brings real-time updates and alerts in an easy-to-implement, no-code solution. Talk to us today and schedule a demo to discover what container visibility can offer your business.