Global transport and logistics powerhouse Maersk announced on Wednesday that it has joined forces with Microsoft Corp. on digitalization in a move targeting to “revolutionize supply-chain management and global trade.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft has been selected to support Maersk’s carrier performance, equipment utilization and supplier performance.
In addition, Microsoft Azure has been selected as the digital platform of record to power Maersk’s app store and help fuel business model innovations.
In total, Maersk estimates that the power of data will help save tens of millions of dollars to the bottom line annually.
“Microsoft Azure is the cornerstone in our digital strategy, providing one common platform shared by all our transport and logistics businesses. On Azure, we are also creating a marketplace of apps and digital products that improve operations and drive better business decisions,” said Ibrahim Gokcen, Chief Digital Officer, Maersk.
Maersk Line Connected Vessel: 30 TB of data is transmitted by the Maersk Line fleet over satellite link every month.
Damco, Maersk’s business unit for supply-chain solutions, recently launched several digital supply-chain solutions built on Microsoft Azure. The next app to be launched is a digital app for Customs House Brokerage.
As informed, the app combines big data from both internal and external sources, which increases the capability for analytics including exception management and predictive analytics.
“Eventually Maersk’s vessels and containers and other assets will be generating terabytes of data on operations and activities in real time, and machines and people will be talking to each other, learning things about our operations and our customers that we can’t even imagine now — and they’ll be available as products, for download,” Gokcen said.
