One of the top providers of real-time supply chain visibility, FourKites®, today announced that it is the first real-time visibility platform to become a Collaborator in the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC). FourKites has joined the ranks of companies that are part of the SSC, which endeavors to promote increased efficiency in the supply chain technology landscape. These companies include Arrive Logistics, BlueYonder, Coyote Logistics, DHL, e2open, Echo, J.B. Hunt Transport, Lineage, Mastery, One Network Enterprises, Oracle, Ryder, TI NTG, Uber Freight, Werner, and Worldwide Express.

The supply chain has been plagued by a persistent issue with freight scheduling, which has been made worse by the incredible expansion and variety of scheduling solutions over the last ten years. The multitude of ways that carriers and shippers must coordinate the scheduling of freight these days—each with its own interface and API—causes inefficiencies and friction in the supply chain.

In 2022, J.B. Hunt and Uber Freight collaborated to established the SSC and develop the first global appointment scheduling standard in the form of an API in answer to this difficulty. The SSC's objective is to streamline the system integration across the fragmented ecosystem involving shippers, carriers, and middlemen in order to produce a more effective appointment scheduling process. Many prominent firms are now collaborating in driving the Standard forward. A global API standard that will be launched on October 2, 2023, has the support of the SSC. It will do away with the necessity for numerous interfaces and enable carriers to communicate using only one.

"Utilizing a common scheduling API allows for smooth collaboration throughout supply chains," says Viral Parekh, The Kraft Heinz Company's Head of Logistics Operations. As more businesses adopt this coordinated strategy, we open the door to unmatched system efficiency, simplifying processes and fostering revolutionary expansion across the sector.

FourKites is working with the SSC due to its track record of enhancing carrier success, ecosystem performance, and creating an easier-to-use operational environment. Furthermore, FourKites is able to contribute to the development of the API and hasten its adoption throughout its customer and partner network because of its strong client base and established industry leadership. One of FourKites' fastest-growing products is Appointment Manager, which schedules over 100,000 appointments on the platform each month and greatly reduces the hassle of manually scheduling time slots.

"We're excited to be a part of this group of powerful industry players," FourKites CEO and founder Mathew Elenjickal stated. "A single API between our shippers' carrier networks and our Appointment Manager solution will make FourKites customers Shippers of Choice, with lower cost to serve and a reliable, reputable integration," the company says. "This will create a frictionless operating environment for everyone involved."

The primary goals of the SSC are to establish the API standard for scheduling information exchange, automate interactions whenever possible to avoid manual processes, build standardized interfaces and integrations across essential platforms, and promote the standard throughout the industry.