Kuehne+Nagel continues to digitise its cooperation with road carriers, powered by AI
Globally, Kuehne+Nagel partners with tens of thousands of road carriers. From sizeable companies managing thousands of trucks, to small family-owned businesses boasting a single vehicle – and everything in between. Regardless of size, Kuehne+Nagel started granting these indispensable partners access to a web platform that digitises cooperation. Today, about a year after the rollout started, the Road Carrier Solution is globally used.
Benoit Therond, who leads the platform development and deployment, said: “Our goal was to create a digital solution that would enhance collaboration between Kuehne+Nagel and our road carrier partners, truly adding value to them in their day-to-day operations while increasing operational efficiency for everyone. In the design phase, we spoke with many carriers and drivers to understand their needs. By working backwards from that, we created a tool that they really appreciate. We continually seek for feedback to enhance the Road Carrier Solution and leverage our carrier network to make us stronger together.”
AI-enabled features to automate manual workflows
The Road Carrier Solution digitises the data and communication that is exchanged between Kuehne+Nagel, our carriers and truck drivers to transport a road shipment from point A to point B. Information about the pickup, delivery and cargo are sent from Kuehne+Nagel’s Transport Management System to the platform. From there, the carrier can assign it to a driver, who receives the info by email or SMS. By phone, drivers can update the delivery status and upload a picture of the Proof of Delivery (or the recipient can sign-on-glass, like you would do for a home delivery on a tablet of the mail man). With real-time visibility and geofencing, automated milestone updates of the trip can be shared without having to disturb the driver during their journey.
“The platform is web-based, which means that users don’t have to install yet another app. This is particularly convenient for truck drivers, who can simply send and receive data through a secure URL,” Benoit explains.
Those are just the basics, though. Benoit’s team is further automating manual workflows with Artificial Intelligence (AI). For example, AI-enabled document recognition rejects a picture of the Proof of Delivery if it is not readable or valid – prompting a new upload. Using Natural Language Processing, also a type of AI, the platform analyses the sentiment of driver feedback and notifies Kuehne+Nagel’s operational teams in case the comment may warrant intervention.
“Because the app is cloud-native, our team can experiment at low cost, release new feature fast and scale the solution easily,” says Benoit. As we speak, the team is already working on more features, such as mapping out safe rest stops for truck drivers when they open their itinerary in the platform.
Innovating on behalf of carriers
Continuously improving how we work with carriers is key to retaining those indispensable partners. The Road Carrier Solution is just one way to do that. However, logistics will always remain a people business, and personal interactions are the stickiest of glues to keep partnerships strong. That’s why conversations with carriers were the starting point of the web platform’s development and why no technology should try to eliminate personal touch points.
“The team has done a wonderful job of working backward from user needs, and we will continue to innovate on their behalf as we onboard more carriers. Digitising the cooperation with our partners by leveraging the latest technologies like AI is a key part of our Digital Ecosystem cornerstone. On our journey to become the most trusted supply chain partner supporting a sustainable future, we are particularly proud when a solution we built in-house generates such positive feedback and improves the Kuehne+Nagel Experience,” said Alireza Nemati, Global Head of Innovation for Road Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel.
Currently, the Road Carrier Solution is in place in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Other regions will follow in 2024. Learn more about the solution here.
With over 81,000 employees at almost 1,300 sites in close to 100 countries, the Kuehne+Nagel Group is one of the world's leading logistics providers. Headquartered in Switzerland, Kuehne+Nagel is listed in the Swiss blue-chip stock market index, the SMI. The Group is the global number one in air and sea logistics and has strong market positions in road and contract logistics.
Kuehne+Nagel is the logistics partner of choice for 400,000 customers worldwide. Using its global network, logistics expertise and data-based insights, the Group provides end-to-end supply chain solutions for global companies and industries. As a member of the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), Kuehne+Nagel is committed to sustainable logistics by reducing its own environmental footprint and by supporting its customers with low-carbon logistics solutions.