The ever-changing transportation industry always seems to be locked in heated discussions about the future of the less-than-truckload supply chain. Proponents of a swift change to how the industry has historically done business latch on to even the most miniscule incremental shifts in the marketplace. These people forget that for the industry to remain a stable, reliable arena for shippers, 3PLs, and carriers, change must be deliberate.
There’s been a continued debate over transportation messaging and shipment visibility that will likely dominate supply chain conferences and board rooms in 2017. By discussing the benefits of application programming interface technology against the framework of messaging technology that preceded its introduction, the industry is in danger of getting caught up in a trend when they should really be examining what these new APIs mean for the future of the transportation arena.
The industry is changing the way it communicates and shares information, and SMC³ is facilitating that collaboration. We do this today via API standards, but as technology continues to progress, it is important to keep innovation at the forefront. While we’re talking about APIs today, in 15 years, there might be a faster, more optimized way to conduct business communication.
Currently, API capabilities represent only one means of increasing communication throughout the industry. To take a holistic approach, technology providers must also not reject communication standards that are still pervasive in the industry. Companies that offer customers a solution for both EDI and API communication, standardizing the messaging while providing value-added features that help their customers make better transportation decisions, will rise to the top.