Supply chain technology provider GE Transportation said Tuesday it had linked its Railroad and Shipper visibility suites with data connectivity tools from software vendor project44.
By integrating its platforms with application programming interfaces (APIs) from project44, Chicago-based GE Transportation said it could combine transportation data from railroad networks, yards, intermodal terminals, and maritime ports into a single transportation management workflow.
Project44 says its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform provides visibility into shipping data including pricing, routes, pickups, tracking, documents, and payments. The Chicago-based firm automates the flow of data among trading partners by using APIs that directly link computer databases instead of relying on third-party interfaces.
GE Transportation will use those connections to offer real-time data to supply chain partners including transportation providers, logistics providers, and cargo owners, the company said.
"True port-to-door visibility goes beyond just tracking," Jennifer Schopfer, GE Transportation's vice president and general manager of transport logistics, said in a statement. "The smartest and most efficient supply chains have full transparency across modes and nodes into pricing, routes, pickups, tracking, documents and payments."
Project44 has also integrated its APIs into software platforms used by transportation management system (TMS) vendors, parcel carriers, and logistics service providers (LSPs). Teaming with GE Transportation allows it to extend that model to a wider array of users, the company said.
"[GE Transportation's] focus on connecting shippers, receivers, ports, terminals, trucks, ships, and railcars demonstrates the importance of digitizing and standardizing shipment data to make it accessible and usable to all stakeholders," project44 President C. Thomas Barnes said in a statement.
