Gearing up for the unknown with future-ready digital trade solutions

A Total Trade approach equips the global trade community with the tools needed to overcome disruptions, reduce inefficiencies and facilitate cross-border trade in the new normal.

Global trade facilitation ecosystems have faced unprecedented challenges over the past few years and have responded with a digital overhaul. Chong Kok Keong (KK), CrimsonLogic’s Assistant CEO, shares how he thinks members of the supply chain ecosystem can work together to further maximise their integration, interoperability, and efficiency. This, he says, will better prepare them for the challenges of the new normal and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to global trade. What are some lessons we can learn?

Supply chain managers love predictability. But the recent manifestations of the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world through the COVID-19 crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war have revealed critical weaknesses in traditional supply chain practices. These have given rise to one key lesson: the need to be resilient.

With the rise of e-commerce globally, companies are starting to learn that to be able to tap into booming opportunities, they need to first have a robust trade facilitation system that can manage sudden spikes in volume.  

The high volume of e-commerce trade could also spell more Customs delays due to inaccurate data declarations, making it even more challenging to conduct risk analyses to avert such situations. The difference in agenda, maturity levels of IT systems, and data and process standards across different organisations further adds to the complications, which continues to challenge government agencies and the business sector.

All these call for better visibility and predictability throughout the global trade facilitation system, solidifying the need for a new digital imperative – the digitalisation of trade, companies, and governments – as the bedrock to building resilience in the supply chain.

As the world comes under constant forces of unpredictable disruption, how can we be more prepared for it? 

Besides having advanced visibility and end-to-end tracking throughout the supply chain, supply chain orchestration technology can go further by offering real-time data sharing with supply chain players, along with the provision of advanced analytics for better decision-making and risk management. 

On the administrative front, synergising processes and platforms across customs, government agencies and businesses will allow everyone to better orchestrate the global movement of goods. This will make international trade more agile and resilient. We call this “Total Trade” – which refers to the end-to-end value chain of cross-border trade, from import to export, for both government and business stakeholders.  

Businesses will need to prepare themselves now by adopting such future-ready trade solutions and trade facilitation platforms, which provide this crucial linkage between business and government services – from logistics to compliance.

How do future-ready digital trade solutions like the Total Trade Platform help companies overcome disruptions?

In a nutshell, the Total Trade Platform optimises and synergises processes in the supply chain to save costs and provide valuable insights among customs, government agencies and the trade community. This is done by offering interoperability as well as efficiency from an integrated platform.

Supply chain shortages, delays and disruptions can be very costly affairs. A Total Trade Platform helps to improve visibility and minimise choke-ups before they occur. 

There are many disparate systems operating globally today. A Total Trade Platform bridges these digital silos by bridging the gap between the digital and physical through real-time visibility and tracking of goods movement and compliance process through the different stages of international shipping. 

The result? Greater control and productivity for both businesses and governments – from a higher degree of control with better end-to-end movement visibility, to faster customs clearance. All in all, this allows businesses and governments to gain a competitive edge on the global stage.

What are some other trends that will shape the future of trade?

The future of trade is digital. The increased interconnectivity, powered by technology, will drive the cities and people of tomorrow with highly efficient trade.

Trading will be a breeze, with globally harmonised standards breaking down the silos of fragmented platforms and solutions. With a unified set of frameworks, trade processes will be truly interoperable for cross-border paperless trade.

At this inflection point, cybersecurity and data governance will naturally be more important than ever in this highly digitalised world. Digital services have to be built around the best security practices, as any exposure to cyber risks can be detrimental to the functioning of digital supply chains.

Big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the drivers of decision-making in this new era. Powered by predictive analytics, risk management and profiling will be more accurate than ever.

Finally, tell us more about CrimsonLogic. What solutions do you offer?

CrimsonLogic is part of the PSA Group. We have more than 30 years of domain experience in trade facilitation and digital solutions. Combining our expertise and experience, we support the digital transformation needs of more than 40 countries with our trade facilitation, digital port and digital government solutions.

Our offices span four continents and we have linkages to 61 customs nodes globally, providing integrated trade solutions for governments and businesses across the world.