News / K+N's 'new level of data analytics' will measure supply chain disruption

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Kuehne+Nagel has developed a new metric to measure supply chain problems.

The Sea Freight Disruption Indicator will calculate the cumulative waiting time of vessels against their capacity.

The system measures cumulative teu waiting days at various major ports including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Shanghai/Ningbo, Hong Kong, New York, Savannah, Prince Rupert, Vancouver/Seattle, Oakland and Rotterdam/Antwerp.

Under the formula, a vessel with 10,000 teu capacity waiting 12 days to enter a port equates to a cumulative 120,000 teu ‘waiting days’.

Unsurprisingly the disruption indicator currently shows an extremely high score, with some 612 containerships at anchor or otherwise waiting outside ports, amounting to a cumulative total of 11.6 million teu days.

“In these nine specific port areas, normal would be less than one million teu waiting days,” a Kuehne+Nagel spokesperson told The Loadstar. “The port areas featured in the indicator cover the hot spots that have a real impact on global trade.

“This selection is based on our decade-long experience and should another hot-spot become visible, we will add it, if needed.”

The data will be made available as part of Kuehne+Nagel’s Seaexplorer analytics service.

K+N International management board member Otto Schacht, responsible for Sea Logistics, said: “The trendline information provided by the indicator enhances the ability of our customers to predict and plan for likely future impacts on their supply chain and identify the best course of action. With the indicator, we have implemented a new level of data analytics for sea logistics.”