Maersk says that it is making efforts to provide more accurate transit time predictions following the strain on supply chains in the last few months.
“In the past when our customers made a booking or searched for a product from A to B on Maersk.com, the arrival was based on a ‘proforma schedule’ lifted from a relatively static internal planning system,” explained Ahmed Bashir, Global Head of the Maersk Execution Centre. “While this has long been sufficient, seeing the unprecedented strain on supply chains in 2021, we must strive to bring more clarity, accuracy and control to our customers."
"Given the infrastructure bottlenecks we face today, vessels are delayed beyond their initial proforma schedule, leading to actual transit times being longer than what we initially indicated to customers at the time of searching/booking.”
The new system was trialled successfully last summer. It updates schedules dynamically taking into account relevant factors such as waiting time at ports, terminal productivity levels, weather data and any changes happening at sea. This provides a better view of what to expect given the current circumstances.
However, where Maersk partners with other carriers the company says that the companies might show different schedules on their respective websites. “We are mindful that this might cause some initial confusion, but we will never stop trying to alleviate our customers pain points and try to offer the best tools and data for our customers to more effectively manage their supply chains – and we firmly believe that this improved accuracy can help do just that,” said Ahmed.
He added that the new system will not eliminate delays in the supply chain. “But it means that customers can put more and more trust in our service reliability. Today, we see that some customers are spending resources building their own methods to add days to our advertised schedules, to create predictions of their own. As your trusted supply chain partner this should not be necessary, which is why we’re stepping up our game.”