Why Manufacturers Need Order-Level Container Tracking

As container tracking solutions evolve to meet the growing expectations of logistics teams, providing order-level or SKU-level visibility is a critical need for manufacturers. 

Without order-level visibility, manufacturers face several operational challenges:

1. Uncertain arrival times: Without granular visibility, manufacturers struggle to predict when specific orders will arrive, leading to production delays.
2. Inefficient inventory management: Inaccurate tracking results in either overstocking or stockouts, disrupting production schedules.
3. Increased costs: Emergency shipments, rush fees, and penalties for late deliveries add to overall supply chain expenses.
4. Poor customer satisfaction: Late or incomplete deliveries can result in lost revenue and damaged business relationships.

By seamlessly integrating a company's order level data with container milestones and arrival information, manufacturers can make more informed decisions about truck planning and inventory holding.

The result? Faster decision-making, improved efficiency, and deeper operational visibility across the supply chain.

Introducing Portcast's Order-Level Visibility

Portcast has enhanced its container tracking software with Order-Level Visibility, enabling seamless integration of purchase orders, consignees, suppliers, and SKU or item data with real-time container tracking milestones. This advancement shifts traditional tracking to a more granular, actionable, and intelligence-driven solution.

With Order-Level Visibility, supply chain teams can answer critical questions such as:

• Which orders are arriving on time vs. delayed?
• For which consignees or suppliers are experiencing frequent delays?
• Who in the logistics team needs to be alerted about order delays?
• What is the total quantity of goods currently in transit?
• Which product categories are delayed, and when will specific items reach a certain port?

How to Get Started on Order-Level Visibility?

Portcast makes it extremely easy to get started on order-level visibility. Here's how users can self-configure the system:

• Create and configure custom fields: Users can define and manage specific data fields relevant to their operations, such as purchase order (PO) numbers, HS codes, logistics representative, incoterms, supplier name, consignee name or SKU details.
• Send order-level data via API or spreadsheets: Users can send order-level data based on the custom fields created with either API or directly upload Excel sheets on the Portcast container tracking software to automatically connect the orders with the containers.
• Flexible data handling: The feature supports sub-fields and multiple groupings, allowing for better organization and retrieval of shipment details.
• Dashboards & reporting: Flexible dashboards and reporting can be set up to visualize order-level data exactly as you care. Download the tabular data into an Excel document to replicate your current workflows. 

How Manufacturers Benefit from Order-Level Container Tracking

For manufacturers, having a granular view of their supply chain at an order or even SKU level is crucial for operational efficiency. Here's how this helps:

• Streamlining inventory management: By integrating SKU numbers, batch IDs, or product quantities into their tracking system, manufacturers can monitor in-transit inventory more accurately.
• Improving supply chain coordination: Teams can easily cross-reference container tracking data with internal logistics records, reducing discrepancies and miscommunications.
  
• Enhancing predictive decision-making: With enriched data, manufacturers can anticipate disruptions more effectively, adjusting production schedules or sourcing strategies as needed.
  
• Reducing manual data entry: Order-level visibility gives insights at a granular order, consignee, or supplier level, which minimizes human errors, saves time, and ensures data consistency across systems.
  

Conclusion

Order-level container visibility is no longer a luxury—it is necessary for manufacturers looking to gain a competitive edge in today's volatile supply chain environment. Portcast's Order-Level Visibility feature enables seamless integration, flexible data handling, and bulk uploads, making it easier than ever to enrich shipment visibility. With a simple setup process and intelligent error handling, manufacturers can optimize their logistics operations without complexity.

For manufacturers looking to enhance their container tracking with enriched data insights, Portcast offers a seamless solution. Get in touch to explore how this feature can improve your supply chain efficiency.