The Cipher Project was finalized in August 2024, marking an important milestone for Tanger Med Port in its collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam. This partnership has made it possible to carry out two innovative pilot projects aimed at digitizing document flows within the supply chain. Thanks to innovative digital solutions and the active participation of key market players, the project significantly reduced delays in container transport and avoided food waste. The solutions implemented in these projects have demonstrated their ability to adapt to other trade routes, thus proving their scalability potential.
The first pilot used a collaborative information-sharing platform, enabling different players in the supply chain (shipper Driscolls, freight forwarder Puerto Transit, and customs clearance agents Partida Logistics and CSI Fresh) to benefit from greater visibility on the status and accuracy of documents, enabling them to detect and correct errors earlier. This approach, based on a “onestop source for accurate information”, has enabled us to reduce documentary errors to zero, avoiding the need to send out more than 2,500 correction emails and preventing food freight losses estimated at €500,000. Ronald Hoekstra, Managing Director of CSI Fresh, explains: “Efficient data processing has been an inexhaustible source of process optimization for us.”
The second pilot focused on using Artificial Intelligence to detect errors in documents. The Dutch company Magna Tyres, a tire exporter, tested the Rossum tool, which automatically collects and verifies the consistency of documents. This solution reduced the verification time per shipment by 40 minutes, improving the overall efficiency of the process. Kars van de Sande, Logistics Coordinator at Magna Tyres, says he is impressed by the precision of the tool: “It allows you to check all document fields, even when it comes to bills of lading of various types.”
The results of these two pilot projects demonstrated their potential to be applied to other trade routes, thus proving the scalability of these solutions. Tanger Med Port and the Port of Rotterdam are now determined to work towards widespread use of this innovative solution, which will soon be available to the entire port community. This initiative promises to sustainably transform the management of document flows and to strengthen the efficiency of the supply chain.
It’s important to emphasize that both of these pilot projects were funded by key market players, who voluntarily wished to support and drive them forward independently because of the significant benefits they bring.
