Top 5 Fourkites Alternatives and Competitors

What is Fourkites?

FourKites is a visibility platform for shippers from all industries. It allows shippers to get real-time information on where their containers are irrespective of whether they are waiting in the yard to be loaded onto a ship or already in transit via ocean, air, rail or road transportation. FourKites uses APIs, RPA and EDI technology to digitize supply chains and predict ETAs. In case of disruptions, it provides real-time email alerts so that shippers can manage the situation proactively and communicate the delay to their customers. FourKites caters to small and large organizations, and can be easily integrated with other existing legacy systems.

Fourkites Features

Fourkites’ features include A Global Multimodal Network; Customizable, Automated Notifications; Proprietary Machine Learning Algorithms; Appointment Scheduling; Insights and Analytics; and more including:

Fourkites Visibility

FourKites provides end-to-end multimodal visibility on their platform. Each leg of your consignment’s journey is linked together. The FourKites proprietary machine learning algorithms use this information as well as data from mobile devices, GPS, ELD telematics networks, etc. to predict ETAs and identify disruptions.

Fourkites Yard Management

Along with visibility over container movement, FourKites also allows shippers to track and trace in-yard freight. Based on real arrival times, it allows shippers to easily change yard appointment schedules. Shippers can get insights such as on-time performance records, missed appointments, dwell, etc. so that they can streamline future operations. It also provides a range of real-time insights such as SKU-level visibility, trailer inventory and temperature tracking.

Fourkites Ocean Management

With FourKites, shippers have a single platform to track moving containers, manage documents, and collaborate with other stakeholders from dock to delivery. It acts as a hub for shipping documents to define workflows and automates set up and trigger tasks according to your needs. The visibility and document organization also helps shippers prioritize containers to manage and reduce demurrage and detention.

Top 5 Alternatives to Fourkites

FourKites is a popular visibility platform but it is not the only one. There are many alternatives on the market. Every shipper has unique requirements and if you find that FourKites does not give you all the features you need, here are the top 5 alternatives you could consider:

Alternative #1

BuyCo

BuyCo is a Container Shipping Platform that addresses the needs of large volume importers and exporters. It is designed on the pillars of Collaboration, Automation, and Visibility to give shippers complete control over the maritime supply chain. BuyCo brings together all the supply chain stakeholders including partners, forwarders and 95% of carriers to centralize communication, minimize the error margin and increase productivity.

From shipment planning to vessel scheduling and booking, BuyCo automates several shipping operations to optimize resources and increase execution accuracy.

BuyCo offers full visibility over every aspect of your operations. It accesses and analyses real-time carrier position information for multiple sources to provide the most reliable tracking information and predict accurate ETAs/ ETDs. These timelines help avoid exceptions and manage customer expectations.

Finally, BuyCo’s KPIs and reporting give you instant visibility into your operations to make processes more efficient, reduce costs, and give you the upper hand in negotiations.

Alternative #2

Infor Nexus

Infor Nexus is a cloud technology-based supply chain visibility platform. In addition to giving shippers information about container movement, it also connects the financial supply chain parties to the manufacturers, suppliers, 3PLs, brokers, etc.
InforNexus gathers historic and real-time information to predict demand and supply signals and notify shippers of opportunities as well as potential disruptions. In the case of the latter, it also offers prescriptive recommendations. The synchronized systems ease multi-leg multimode planning and centralize contract and rate management while improving freight accrual accuracy.

Alternative #3

Transporeon

Transporeon connects shippers and suppliers to carriers, retailers and goods recipients. Shippers can centralize communication to transfer documents through the interface and ensure that all stakeholders have access to the most updated versions. Transporeon also automates the procurement process and gives shippers easy access to the spot market. In addition to costs, it also provides emission reports. Once the container is on the move, shippers can track it as well as get the actual delivery status. It also analyses data from all its collection hubs to provide insights on varied metrics.

Alternative #4

Project 44

Project 44 takes an API-first approach to give shippers visibility and real-time connections to carriers and 3PLs. This Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) can be connected to other existing Transportation Management Systems. Project 44 gives shippers the ability to automate tasks involved in scheduling, booking, tracking and document retrieval as well as centralizes communication and document sharing. Shippers can use Project 44 to track and trace inventory moving via truckload, rail, air parcel and ocean routes. With a focus on high-fidelity data, it also provides actionable insights and reliable analytics.

Alternative #5

Shippeo

Shippeo is a multimodal visibility platform that provides real-time insights using artificial intelligence and automation. Shippers can use the platform to track container movement across 75 countries and link the information to their chosen ERP, TMS or WMS platform.

Shippeo uses machine learning ETA algorithm to assess historic and real-time information and predict potential disruptions and realistic ETDs/ ETAs. It gives shippers access to a color-coded Control Tower Map to further highlight at-risk deliveries and their real-time location. It also allows them to share this information with customers via the customer visibility portal or a link.

Things to Consider when selecting your Ocean TMS

Here are 4 points to keep in mind when selecting your Ocean TMS:

Visibility Alone Is Not Enough, You Need Control

Visibility is one of the most talked-about features in maritime transportation. But, merely knowing where your shipment has reached is not enough. Let’s say a carrier is held up at one of the ports and your delivery is likely to be delayed by a week. The Ocean TMS you select should give you the ability to take action based on this information. In short, you need visibility and you need control over the operations. You should be able to choose whether you want to stick with the original plan and notify customers of the delay or make a change like switching to an alternative route to minimize the delay.

In addition, the TMS should be able to give you a realistic and reliable carrier ETA. Some carriers and routes see delays more often than others. The Ocean TMS should be able to look at historic data and predict an ETA at the time of carrier selection. For example, BuyCo tells shippers the average number of days that a carrier on a particular line reaches its destination late. This information is critical when communicating delivery dates to customers. It allows you to err on the side of caution and thus maintain good customer relationships.  

Automation

Tasks like searching for shipment schedules, making booking requests, planning shipment documentation, etc. takes a considerable amount of time and effort. A lot of this is repetitive and the time spent on it could be better used in many ways. Thus, automating these tasks will go a long way in boosting efficiency and streamlining resource utilization. Buyco is an Ocean TMS has some of the strongest automation capabilities. It automates a number of shipping operations such as vessel selection, bulk document creation, booking requests, shipping instruction generation, etc.  

Collaboration

From invoices and packing lists to custom declarations, bills of lading and other certificates, there are many documents that must be exchanged every time a container moves across the ocean. These are typically shared by email. Given that shippers may have hundreds of emails in their inbox, there’s always the risk of a document getting missed. Siloed documentation and communication prevents productivity, increases the error margin and does not give you a complete 360-degree view for analysis and decision making. So, when you select an Ocean TMS, look for one that integrates easily with all other existing systems and centralizes communication and document exchanges so that all the stakeholders are on the same page. 

Decarbonization

As consciousness about global warming increases, it isn’t just time and costs that influence vessel and route choice but also CO2 emissions. After all, the effects of global warming are already visible and people everywhere want to make an effort to reduce it. There are tax implications too that may arise with EU regulations and making decarbonization efforts is good for the brand image. Thus, look for an Ocean TMS like BuyCo that helps you measure and compare CO2 emissions during vessel selection so that you can make more sustainable choices.