Rapidly changing global trade agreements are forcing organizations to rethink their investments in transportation applications. To address that issue, Oracle has updated Oracle Transportation Management Cloud and Oracle Global Trade Management Cloud applications to provide real-time insights into shipment routes and automated event handling alongside tools to more accurately screen shipments and manage customs declarations.
Derek Gittoes, vice president of supply chain management (SCM) product strategy for Oracle, says organizations collectively spend $1.5 to $1.6 trillion a year on the global transportation of goods. Those processes, however, have been subject to a considerable amount of disruption as countries around the world renegotiate trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“Things can now change very quickly,” says Gittoes.
The Oracle Transportation Management Cloud and Oracle Global Trade Management Cloud applications make it possible to more easily adjust to those changes. Enhancements to the Oracle transportation applications include the ability to route shipments based on factors such as historic traffic patterns, hazardous materials, and even tolls. Other new capabilities provide tools for monitoring shipment locations and being able to launch queries to help optimize routes in real time.
In general, Gittoes says over time Oracle will be infusing more artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its transportation management software. Most new transportation application deployments are cloud-based because they typically need access on a global basis, which provides Oracle with an opportunity to centralize the large amounts of data that are required to effectively apply AI, notes Gittoes. As more AI gets injected into SCM processes that are increasingly becoming digitized, Gittoes says, Oracle expects more customers to rely on vendors such as Oracle to do the heavy AI lifting required.
It may be a while before AI completely transforms the transportation industry. But it is already clear that one of the first places AI will have the most impact is in optimizing the routes employed to deliver shipments around the world in real time.
