Cargo freight consortium taps Deloitte as transformation partner

Deloitte has been selected by economy of things firm Pairpoint and asset-intelligence company Nexxiot to create a digital services consortium. The collective aims to speed up the flow of goods worldwide, as supply chain challenges persist into 2024.

Jorge Bento, Chief Executive Officer of Pairpoint said, “Through this collaboration, we aim to offer significant advantages to stakeholders in the logistics sector by promoting surety and provenance of data in the shipping industry. Our goal is to enhance the efficiency of maritime logistics and streamline goods clearing customs and ports without introducing additional risk.”

Formed as the economy of things business of Vodafone and the Sumitomo Corporation, Pairpoint is based in the UK, and boasts offices in London as well as a locale in Lisbon, Portugal. It is supported by an investment of €60 million from Vodafone Group and the Sumitomo Corporation Group, and employs 50 people with specialist skills and experience in IoT and financial technology.

Nexxiot, meanwhile, is a digitalised freight asset management firm, which uses technology to oversee the world’s most extensive network of connected shipping containers and railcars. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Nexxiot’s influence extends globally, with its team, comprised of industry experts, operating in Europe and North America, and maintaining a presence in over 450 depots, ports, and rail yards.

With the assistance of Deloitte, the consortium of the three entities will automatically verify the provenance of data on the movement and content of cargo, allowing companies to improve freight handling whilst complying with trade laws. This will lead to faster customs and port authority clearance, and expedite the digital transformation of the logistics sector.

Stefan Kalmund, CEO of Nexxiot, noted, “Our strategic collaboration with Deloitte, Vodafone, and Sumitomo Corporation aligns with our vision to enable smart assets out of existing shipping containers and railcars. We aim to identify operational inefficiencies or safety concerns while providing data provenance to various stakeholders, including shippers, carriers, port authorities, and trade financing partners. This is a significant step in supporting the digital economy of connected cargo and global goods movement.”

The partnership combines Pairpoint Digital Asset Broker (DAB) platform, which among other things can improve the provenance of data relating to the routes and contents of shipping containers, with KYX, a new service comprising Deloitte’s Know Your Client and Know Your Cargo services, and Nexxiot’s freight solutions, including smart connected sensors. The KYX solution is the result of a recent partnership by Deloitte, and Nexxiot, which specialises in enabling the autonomous collection of asset data to optimise the costs in moving freight, including shipping containers and railcars.

The new service provided by Pairpoint, Deloitte and Nexxiot is especially timely, because port authorities around the world are increasingly processing shipping containers only if a full audit trail is presented. By protecting a shipping container from being opened and improving the reporting about the container’s contents to the port authorities, cargo can be moved much faster through customs. At the same time, the service allows shipping companies and other brokers and logistics organisations to comply with multiple country specific regulations no matter how complex the supply chain, even if it involves cross-border shipments and offshore entities.

Helena Lisachuk, global internet of things lead at Deloitte, added, “We are dedicated to establishing ‘Green Lanes’ to minimise disruptions for cargo in global transit. Achieving this requires close collaboration with port authorities and engagement with global and regional justice organisations. Applying Nexxiot’s and PairPoint’s technology and knowledge to enable real-time monitoring and door-related event tracking, along with Deloitte’s expertise– offers new mechanisms to monitor data integrity during cargo movements.”