Case study

Driving digital transformation in maritime logistics

Partnering with the world's biggest ports on an open innovation program to implement digital solutions, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in maritime logistics.

The Port of Rotterdam (POR), the largest in Europe, leverages advanced logistics and a vast network to build a digital and climate-neutral future. They aim to build the port of the future, with autonomous ship operations by 2030.

Tanger Med Port Authority (TMPA), located in Morocco, is one of Africa’s largest ports and has quickly become a vital hub for international trade. Opened in 2007, it features state-of-the-art infrastructure and serves as a strategic link between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. 

Challenge

Managing the complex digitization of a trade lane

POR and TMPA observed significant challenges for the ecosystem players to digitalize their trade due to the complexity and fragmentation of the maritime industry. Although biggest digitization leaps will come from regulatory change, there is still a significant adoption gap from ecosystem players (ie. exporters, forwarders, carriers, customs).

They needed external expertise to design and manage an open innovation program, leveraging our proven ability to navigate complex ecosystems and test solutions in-market.

Strategy

We identified 2 most promising market solutions that would be the best match for this corporate open innovation challenge

BOI facilitated an open innovation program with the two ports to drive digitalization on the maritime trade corridor.
Our focus was on addressing critical challenges that could unlock significant value, starting with errors in trade documentation. We carefully selected key partners and aligned them with the overarching goal of improving operational efficiency by reducing these errors. By testing two existing solutions in a pilot setting, we aimed to create scalable models that could be replicated across the industry, ensuring long-term impact.

Outcome

A proven framework driving tangible in market results

Through POR and TMPA, we have developed a proven open innovation approach to drive digitalization in complex maritime ecosystems. By collaborating with over five key players, we demonstrated the tangible value of digital solutions—saving €300K in merchandise value and achieving 95% automated error detection.
Roadmap - digital transformation logistics

The validated open innovation framework now serves as a strategic blueprint that can be scaled across the maritime sector, enabling ports and related industries to accelerate digital transformation, foster collaboration, and drive sustained competitive advantage.

Challenge

Managing the complex digitization of a trade lane

The primary challenge addressed in the program was errors in trade documentation, as resolving this issue significantly boosts trade efficiency and has the potential of enhancing trade value

Leveraging an open innovation framework, we led this initiative to solve some of the biggest challenges in the industry, helping them to test existing solutions, and pave the way for wider adoption across the sector. 

In this Open Innovation program, we aimed to tackle the challenge of errors in documentation. The traditional manual process of handling these documents often results in significant errors, inefficiencies, and delays. Additionally, each shipment typically requires coordination among up to 15 different parties, making coordination and standardization of documents particularly challenging. 

Diving into the digital trade challenges with 45 stakeholders to uncover the challenges that were:

 

  1. Most impactful to solve for
  2. Most scalable across all trade lanes
  3. Most feasible to solve for (ie. no regulatory barriers)
Erros in documentation - digital transformation logistics
The solution

We identified 2 most promising market solutions that would be the best match for this corporate open innovation challenge

Our collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam and Tanger Med Port Authorities focused on driving complex programs involving multiple stakeholders. We began with a thorough analysis of the maritime ecosystem, identifying and framing the most pressing challenges. This strategic approach allowed us to concentrate our efforts on areas with the highest potential for industry-wide impact.

We provided clear direction by targeting the most critical challenges, particularly the persistent issue of documentation errors. With a deep understanding of the problem, we designed two pilot projects as strategic initiatives, each supported by a solid business case aimed at delivering scalable solutions.

Through rigorous market testing, we validated these solutions, proving their potential to be scaled across other trade routes. Our role went beyond process management—we ensured that the outcomes of these pilots laid the groundwork for broader adoption, driving significant operational improvements and setting new standards within the maritime industry.

From a long list of over 100 scaleups we prioritised the most promising solutions by

  1. Solution fit to the problem
  2. Solution maturity
  3. Solution complexity

Scaleup 1 - edoxonline

edoxOnline is a digital platform for managing supply chain documents (commercial and shipping). 

It provides a single source of truth, enabling seamless collaboration among stakeholders and streamlining document processes and thus reducing errors due to a centralised data set.

Pilot results: The solution demonstrated significant improvements in efficiency and error reduction. The solution has high potential to streamline the supply chain, reduce errors, enhance collaboration, and deliver significant time and cost savings for all stakeholders; its potential integration would only amplify these benefits. 

Scaleup 2 - Rossum.ai

Rossum enables an exporter to automatically identify errors across all trade documentation with AI technology. This works through an integration with the mailboxes. 

Pilot results: While the solution enhances efficiency by automating the currently manual document verification and processing steps, its value is significantly higher for exporters handling a large volume of shipments.

Outcome

A validated open innovation approach, leading to tangible results in 2 months pilots

This first open innovation program initiated by the Port of Rotterdam and Port of Tanger Med has proven to be a critical enabler for driving digital transformation in the maritime industry. By fostering collaboration across various stakeholders, the program has effectively reduced risk perception and facilitated the testing and implementation of innovative solutions. This approach has not only accelerated the digitization of trade lanes but also positioned the ports as leaders in facilitating change, thereby enhancing their competitiveness and operational efficiency in an increasingly digital world.

Validated framework for Open Innovation

Building on our experience in open innovation, we refined and tested a framework specifically tailored for the maritime industry. This process provided valuable insights, allowing us to fine-tune our approach. We strategically assessed whether to begin with broad problem exploration or focus on specific partner challenges to maximize success. The enhanced framework now serves as a powerful tool for guiding future collaborations and innovation efforts in the maritime sector, ensuring more impactful and effective outcomes

Successful results

The program successfully launched two in-market pilots, each designed to test and validate innovative digital solutions in real-world conditions; and this within the shortest timeframe of a 2 months pilot.

Thanks to diligent pilot preparation we we are able to successfully launch pilots across 5 different involved parties, with tangible comparable results and engaged stakeholders.

I think we can really use part of what has been done here, and I already see things that we can continue working on from September onwards.

I'm really pushing to get a solution like this for the trade and logistics component. We should include this solution in our scope without waiting 3 years

David Martinez, Head of Logistics / Customs EMEA at Driscoll's

Strategic next steps for the ports

The strategic next steps for the ports involve scaling the successful outcomes from the Open Innovation program to broader applications within the maritime ecosystem. This includes sharing the learnings and best practices across other trade lanes and with key stakeholders to drive wider adoption of digital solutions. The ports also plan to establish new Open Innovation programs to accelerate change and address additional challenges. By continuing to foster partnerships and exploring scalable solutions, the ports aim to further enhance their competitive edge, streamline operations, and lead the industry in digital transformation efforts.

The successful execution of two in-market pilots provided critical insights and real-world validation, setting the stage for large-scale deployment. These pilots not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the solutions but also established a replicable model that can be applied across multiple trade lanes, ensuring long-term operational efficiency and cost savings.

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