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Yield Guarantee Program Supports Farmers While Mitigating Financial Risk

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Yield Guarantee Program Supports Farmers While Mitigating Financial Risk

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Farmers and enhancement opportunities are the primary focus of the latest partnership announced this week between Growers Edge Financial, Inc. and GROWMARK, Inc.

While some might associate the agriculture sector with outdated operations, the two companies will offer farmers an opportunity for enhancing efficiencies while maximizing profits through the Yield Guarantee Program from Grower’s Edge.

“In today’s stressed farm economy, farmers are incredibly wary of taking on more financial risk – even when taking that leap could boost profitability. They need guarantees,” said Joe Young, president and chief operating officer, Growers Edge. “Working with strategic partners like GROWMARK, we are providing the financial incentives farmers need to confidently adopt the new technologies that can ultimately drive their long-term sustainability and business success.”

Through carefully and strategically combining AI from Growers Edge’s Growers Analytic Prediction System (GAPS) and information gathered from GROWMARK’s Product Yield Trials, farmers can now rely on the predictive performance and exactly how to benefit from the technology, minus the increased risk for wasted resources and costs.

“GROWMARK is committed to helping our customers grow their bottom line with new ag technologies, which makes Growers Edge an ideal partner for us,” added Lance Ruppert, director of agronomy marketing technology, GROWMARK. “The Growers Edge team is removing some of the risk and creating a new value stream for both the farmer and our technology providers. We think the yield guarantee program will help customers deploy the technologies needed to improve profitability, and we are eager to see it in action.”

To read more about how this is changing farming strategies, please visit: Growers Edge Financial or GROWMARK.

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Tech Mahindra Ltd. Opens O’Fallon, MO Location

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M Property Services officially announced the addition of Tech Mahindra Ltd. to its WingHaven Development earlier this week. The technology-focused global company – which is specialized in areas pertaining to digital transformation, consulting, business reengineering and software solutions, now boasts an address on Technology Drive in the O’Fallon, Missouri region.

“Due to the many amenities throughout O’Fallon and the WingHaven development, we were able to invite a world-class tech company to open a facility within the city’s boundaries which would allow it to continue supporting world-class companies in O’Fallon, MO and numerous other large companies outside of the O’Fallon area,” said MPS Chairman Paul McKee, Jr. “So many of Tech Mahindra’s employees currently live in O’Fallon and WingHaven, so the location for the new technology center was ideal.”

As innovative solutions for micro services, automation, artificial intelligence, security, machine learning, cloud computing, big data, data and analytics, and blockchain serve as primary drivers behind the expansion, Tech Mahindra’s new 14,000-square-foot Technology Center also supports efforts in addressing the needs of customers.

“As part of our TechMNxt charter, we are committed to inspire our partner ecosystem, academia and employees to focus on innovation in next gen technologies and customer experience,” said CP Gurnani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Tech Mahindra.

“We believe it is our responsibility to invest in the local communities we operate in, and this is a step towards supporting increase in employability of future technologists, and delivering enhanced experience to our customers globally. We look forward to seeing the innovations that come out of this center as we develop real-world solutions for a digital future,” Gurnami concluded.

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TeleSense Addresses Global Grain Ecosystem Challenges

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Grain spoilage may soon be a thing of the past for global grain operators and transporters. IoT tech innovator TeleSense recently announced its acquisition of Danish wireless sensor technology company, Webstech. Through this acquisition, TeleSense announced it will amp up IoT efforts as it now has access to the largest global remote-sensed dataset and plans on integrating Webstech’s industrial automation capabilities, solar/battery power functionality and sensor spears to its current solution.

“Spoilage and energy optimization in drying grain continue to be multi-billion dollar issues; TeleSense provides the data insights needed for players throughout the global grain ecosystem to improve safety and profitability,” TeleSense CEO Naeem Zafar said. “The acquisition of Webstech greatly accelerates our entry into the European market and provides millions of additional historical data points to further refine our machine learning technology and predictive algorithms.” 

The TeleSense GrainSafe™ AI platform serves the grain supply chain as a scalable solution through monitoring temperature and humidity levels and providing real-time view of the stored grain to ensure quality conditions are maintained. With this innovative, portable, and wireless solution, the company is ready to expand its presence beyond the U.S. and Australia and make its entry in the European regions.

“How grain is stored, handled and traded in the years to come will change as new IoT-enabled technologies take hold throughout the supply chain,” added Peter Votkjaer Jorgensen of Maersk Growth Ventures. “We think that this acquisition by TeleSense will accelerate the mission of higher sustainability and efficiency in the grain supply chain.”

The company also confirmed it will expand with a new Denmark office and onboard two new additions to the team. Maersk Growth Ventures’ Peter Votkjaer Jorgensen will serve on the Board of Directors of the newly created TeleSense Europe ApS subsidiary and Webstech’s CEO Thomas Kylling will serve as managing director for TeleSense’s European team.

“After operating in the European remote sensing space for almost a decade, I was absolutely blown away by TeleSense’s integration of data science with an IoT solution for grain,” noted Kylling. “I think that TeleSense will help drive the automation of the grain supply chain, and I’m excited to help lead the effort in Europe.” 

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Resilinc: AI to Support Weather Risk Assessment & Mitigation for Suppliers

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Leading provider of supply chain visibility, Resilinc, identified a major oversight in terms of weather-related risk assessment and preparation within the supply chain. The company released surprising statistics revealing how unprepared supply chain suppliers are during potentially disruptive events such as hurricanes and weather-related catastrophes, sparking the deployment of an AI and data sciences-based hurricane-preparedness solution to better prepare supply chain resilience.

Among the statistics revealed in the Resilinc supply chain database, 35 percent have poor logistics recovery, 27 percent of supplier sites lack business continuity procedures, and 37 percent have no backup power.

“Unfortunately, it comes as a surprise to many supply chain managers that a large proportion of their suppliers are woefully unprepared to withstand major disruptive events like hurricanes,” said Sumit Vakil, Resilinc CTO. “This lack of transparency is especially true in the sub-tiers of a supply chain.”

More than seven years of supply chain and hurricane data in conjunction with the company’s expertise was combined to create a customized, automated solution for avoiding and assessing the risk at hand in the face of hurricane-related disasters and weather-related disruptions.

The company outlined the following core capabilities of the solution to include: multi-tier supply chain mapping down to the product and part-level, supplier surveys and site readiness assessment, dashboard incorporating AI and recommendations, and ongoing monitoring throughout hurricane season featuring real time supplier impact confirmation during live events.

Taking it a step further, Resilinc’s solution will evaluate customer key metrics, supplier site vulnerabilities, regional hurricane risks, revenue risks, and more.

“Based on data, heuristics, history and other factors, Resilinc will come back with very specific recommendations, such as ‘move inventory from that site,’ or ‘evaluate your safety stock for that part,’ to provide clients specific targeted recommendations to mitigation action and protect revenue,” said Resilinc Senior Director Jon Bovit.

Source: Resilinc

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Streamlining Global Trade: How AI-Enabled Business Networks Can Make Your Business Smarter

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We hardly need reminding of the global challenges facing companies today, from increased competition from low cost foreign competitors, to tariffs and changing regulations. As if that weren’t challenging enough, there is the need to keep abreast of technology innovations such as digital business networks, artificial intelligence and blockchain, that are giving startups the opportunity to leapfrog more traditional and mature companies. Within this landscape, companies need to transact with more and more companies, using different systems and often in different time and regulatory zones, which increases the complexity of doing business exponentially.
So, how do you address these issues while modernizing and continuing your business?

Digital Transformation or Consumer-Driven Transformation?

Fundamentally, conducting business is about supplying to the demand of the end consumer. Businesses that win are the ones that create demand with innovative products; or, better serve existing demand. Regardless of the approach, successful companies also understand that they need to be sensitive and responsive to customers’ needs and the market.

Technology serves a vital role as the means by which businesses register demand, plan, forecast, make, move and sell products and services. Technology can make or break a company’s ability to react to changing consumer demand, market shifts, and supply constraints. It can also limit a company’s ability to fully exploit the innovative technologies that are constantly emerging.

For example, most companies are split into functional silos. This is partly corporate culture and partly technological, thanks to the typically inward-focused nature of enterprise systems. Whatever the causes, silos inhibit visibility, speed and agility. Steven Bowen, in his book Total Value Optimization, calls silos “one of the most pervasive and profound barriers to real competitive advantage in every company.” This problem is multiplied across the global business footprint and across the worldwide supply chain, with regions, countries and trading partners having their own systems and silos.

For optimal functioning, all departments need to align around the corporate strategy, and all trading partners around the same objectives, with the primary concern of serving the end customer as effectively as possible. After-all, it takes just one weak link to drag down the performance of the whole supply chain.

Networks Break Out of the Box

We can learn a lot from disruptive leaders in today’s world, as companies like Uber and AirBnB have each disrupted their respective industries because of their ability to sense and respond to consumer demand and match it to supply in real time.

For instance, Uber leverages a multiparty network where all drivers and riders connect to a single platform and drivers are routed to riders, automatically. What’s more, you use the same platform to summon your ride (or your stay in the case of AirBnB), make the contract and transact payment, and rate the other party. Both are “end-to-end” platforms that handle all aspects of the search, booking, payment and review processes. They make the whole process seamless and provide value for both buyer and seller.

The multiparty networks at the heart of these types of businesses, are creating huge efficiencies by eliminating delays and costs and connecting all parties in real-time with a single, authoritative version of the truth. No silos, no delays, no confusion; just a frictionless network for transacting with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Intelligent Business Networks

The opportunities for business-to-business companies are even greater, because the buyer-seller-mover relationships are complex and multi-layered. There are many more silos, blindspots and delays in a global supply chain compared to a simple one-to-one relationship of rider to driver as in Uber, or guest to homeowner as in AirBnB.Thus, a multiparty network that connects all seamlessly in real-time, has a much bigger impact. Instead of a business partner waiting days or weeks for information to flow upstream, they get it instantly and can react immediately. If a customer’s promotion is selling more than expected, a supplier with visibility to sales can proactively plan for increased orders and ramp up its own supplies and production.

And it gets better. Advanced multiparty networks not only share data, provide real-time visibility, and enable business partners to collaborate as events happen, they also leverage technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize and automate processes. “Intelligent agents” monitor conditions across the supply chain, things like sales data, inventory levels, orders, shipments and how they relate to critical milestones. They can predict sales and identify trends and anomalies.

Because all business partners are on the same network, intelligent agents are able to not only flag potential issues, but actually intervene to solve them. They are able to continuously reconcile sales data with projected inventory levels, shipments from ocean and domestic carriers, along with actual lead times, to predict supply and demand issues in advance and then execute proactive solutions to avoid them.

With the vast amounts of data flowing across the network, these systems are ideally suited to machine and deep learning, enabling them to identify patterns and correlations. This data can then be used to predict sales and cascade the order forecast back through the supply chain through distribution centers, manufacturers and suppliers. They continuously monitor the sales and inventory in near real time, and can foresee issues like pending stock out swell in advance. Intelligent agents can then resolve them by autonomously reallocating supply from DCs to stores, adjusting forecasts, creating new orders and helping manage logistics processes.

Better yet, the system monitors the outcomes of these autonomous actions and recommendations, and continuously “learns” and adapts to recommend and execute the most effective resolutions to similar problems in the future.

Data-Driven Agile Ecosystems

This is merely a glimpse into the nature of these emerging intelligent business networks, as they are evolving rapidly. Unlike traditional systems, they are able to harvest new and unstructured types of data, such as weather, traffic, social media chatter and more.
The volume of data in today’s supply chains is set to explode with the increasing use of sensors and live streaming data from containers, vehicles, handheld devices and industrial machinery.

While the sheer volume of data is overwhelming for human managers and for traditional systems, it is ideal for multiparty networks with machine learning algorithms and intelligent agents. They can learn from it and extract new insights that can drive better operations, higher service levels to customers and lower costs for all automatically, and often without the need for human intervention.
Multiparty networks are smarter, enable easy onboarding of trading partners (with a single connection) and provide pre-built solutions with PaaS tools that enable rapid tailoring and extension of functionality to suit changing business needs. Further, the multiparty network model makes it easy to consume both legacy data and leading-edge data from technologies like IoT, product authentication, 3D printing, and blockchain.

It is often said that intelligence is really the ability to adapt to change. Multiparty networks are built to be adaptable through and through. For instance, connections between trading partners are virtual and thus easily reconfigured should trading relationships change. The permissions controlling each trading partner’s rights over visibility and execution on each specific data object is configurable and can easily be turned on and off through a simple user interface. Old and new technologies can co-exist, with multiparty workflows coordinated across different systems and parties. Software developer kits make it easy to adapt existing network solutions or build entirely new ones on the platform.
The result is an extremely adaptable network platform, supporting an agile ecosystem of all trading partners centered on serving the customer at the highest service level at the lowest cost.

About the Author
Nigel Duckworth is a marketing strategist at One Network Enterprises, provider of a blockchain and AI-enabled network platform that enables all trading partners to transact in real time. To learn more, visit https://go.onenetwork.com/article-one or follow them at https://twitter.com/onenetwork

 

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THE RISKS, CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF PROCUREMENT POWERED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, is popping up everywhere as the panacea for everything. There appears to be no limit to where it can be used to make businesses work smarter to improve profitability. The International Data Corp. (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide forecasts that cognitive and AI spending will grow to $52.2 billion in 2021.

In addition to autonomous vehicles, predictive maintenance and chatbots responding to customer inquiries, AI can have an immediate positive impact on the bottom line by helping companies select suppliers that provide goods and services at the lowest price, with the least amount of risk.

Here are some opportunities and challenges of using AI to increase procurement effectiveness.

Spend Analytics

Spend analytics can be armed with AI software to collect, cleanse, classify and analyze expenditure data to help procurement teams identify excessive costs. For example, AI systems can identify when duplicate suppliers were used to purchase the same goods, urgent purchases were made without using better terms in existing contracts, and when there were suboptimal payment terms.

But to find savings opportunities, AI software has to be good at classifying data. Statistical and pattern-based AI techniques can have weaknesses dealing with one-off purchases and infrequently used suppliers. They can also be stumped by new languages and geographies, which happens more and more often as supply chains become global. The best way to achieve ROI is to pilot a system where there is a large volume of transactions involving standard repeated purchases, so that there are more opportunities for increased efficiencies.

Strategic Supplier Sourcing

By using AI, procurement officers can be armed with knowledge about market conditions, upcoming mergers and acquisitions and real-time product and support comparisons. This ensures that there is a data-driven strategy for awarding suppliers, and that procurement is getting the best possible terms.

Using AI also reduces the time required to analyze all of the supporting data. Evaluating responses to a bid process can be reduced by as much as 80 percent. It can also be used, on a continuous basis, to provide recommendations of suppliers on demand. Responding to market opportunities in seconds versus weeks can speed up time-to-market by receiving the needed parts and materials quicker.

Guided buying is also an AI innovation that enables employees to quickly and easily buy goods and services from preferred suppliers with minimal support from procurement teams. Employees can use voice-activated commands to find the best price or a supplier that can deliver on time where there is an urgent request. Many of these systems enable direct communication with suppliers with embedded rules to ensure that the buying process is compliant with procurement policies.

Many automatic personal assistants also have the advantage of being able to learn from experience. But if the AI system is self-taught, there is the risk that it can be corrupted by outside influences, so communications and procedures need to be protected from hackers or rogue employees. For example, the famous chatbot, Microsoft’s Tay, was taught by trolls to use inappropriate language until it was taken off the market for further testing.

Contract Analytics

The majority of organizations do not have a database containing all of the data in their contracts–and they definitely do not have an easy way to extract all that information–so there’s no quick and efficient way to, for example, view and compare agreements. Using AI, companies can review contracts more rapidly, organize and find large amounts of contract data to significantly lower the possibility of contract disputes and increase the number of contracts that they can negotiate and execute.

For example, using AI, company contracts can be accessed based on renewal dates to inspect conditions and negotiate accordingly. Finance and procurement teams can inspect if pricing discounts are not being consistently applied across the organization in line with contract terms or keep track of the wording of specific clauses in different divisions. The beauty of AI contracting software is that it helps organizations maintain consistency in the terms and usage in all of their contracts, which makes it easier to identify instances of non-compliance, and make sure that less-than-ideal provisions are dealt with quickly.

The Challenge: Data and Application Integration

None of the benefits of AI can be realized without a strong data foundation. Firms need to invest in data management—as well as data and analytics—to have a 360-degree view of their business operations. Only if their CRM, ERP and financial systems are fully integrated can they have access to all the data that is required.

Point-to-point integrations can initially appear to be more cost effective when there are only a few systems connected together. But, in time, with more and more data shared with different departments, suppliers and partners, a third party integration platform can result in lower development and maintenance costs while providing the scalability and consistent data handling that’s needed.

Once companies have a strong data foundation with all of the necessary integrations and data sharing, new machine learning-based platforms can be used to enforce the best procurement practices. Although today AI procurement systems are not always accurate, machine learning uses algorithms to learn from data, allowing platforms to continuously improve themselves.

As we start to see spend analysis platforms classifying data at levels of 98 percent accuracy—the same level as human analysts—it is more and more likely that AI will become a trusted tool for the procurement process.

Tsipora Cohen is the global head of Marketing at Magic Software Enterprises, a global enterprise software company headquartered in Or Yehuda, Israel. Visit www.magicsoftware.com.

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Takeoff Technologies Puts Robotics in Grocery Orders

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Retail grocers including Albertsons, Stop and Shop, and Sedano’s are a few of the brands that have partnered with Takeoff Technologies, tapping into its innovative technology and robotics-focused strategies to more efficiently fulfill online customer orders.

Through the partnership, Takeoff’s Automated Micro Fulfillment Centers put AI-enabled robots to work to quickly gather and assemble large customer grocery orders, ultimately reducing time and cost compared to manual assembly. It’s reported that these robots can prepare as much as 60 items in a matter of minutes.

“The time is ripe for eGroceries,” said Jose Vicente Aguerrevere, co-founder and CEO of Takeoff. “Grocers have been dipping their toes in eGroceries for years. Now it’s time to jump in with both feet. Our automated, hyperlocal fulfillment centers enable grocers to do so with minimal operational costs.”

The company is encouraging grocers in urban and suburban regions to consider their Micro Fulfillment Centers once launched. These Micro Fulfillment Centers can be made out of existing space and extend market reach through a hub-and-spoke model.

“Takeoff is a win-win for grocers and consumers across the board,” said Max Pedro, co-founder and president of Takeoff. “Our eGrocery automation is a turn-key solution that uses robotics to unlock ultimate convenience for shoppers without need of charging fees or a price premium.”

About Takeoff:

Takeoff is an eGrocery solution that empowers retailers to attain profitable online growth by leveraging automation at a hyper-local scale. Orders are placed online through established retailers (whether using their existing eCommerce platform or Takeoff’s customized UI solution) and Takeoff’s automated technology fulfills the order using robots in Micro Fulfilment Centers.

The company’s robotics technology is proven and ready to deploy thanks to Takeoff’s exclusivity agreement with Knapp, a leading global provider of automated warehouse solutions. By leveraging automated Micro Fulfillment Centers, Takeoff’s innovative model operates at a much lower cost-to-serve than other eCommerce platforms, solving for both the cost of assembling the order and cost of the last mile. This results in savings for both shoppers and retail partners. For more information visit www.takeoff.com.

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Dubai Customs Reports Export & Non-Oil Foreign Trade Growth for Q1

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Non-oil trade volumes, exports, and re-exports were all reported with robust growth percentages during Q1 for Dubai, according to information released this week from Dubai Customs. Exports led the growth patterns by increasing 30 percent and accumulating AED 42 billion. Additionally, Dubai’s non-oil trade volumes were reported at 28 million tons, up from 21 million tons for Q1 in 2018. Overall, the report highlighted 7 percent year-on-year growth for non-oil foreign trade.

“This robust performance and marked growth of Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade is an indication that we are on the right path of revenue diversification in alignment with the values and standards outlined in the 50-Year Charter.,” said His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. “The Dubai Silk Road Strategy supports decades of successful investment in developing the emirate’s infrastructure. In line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, we are committed to developing our government services so that we can become a world-class model for future governments based on knowledge, innovation and advanced AI applications.”

Credit: Dubai Customs

Breaking down the numbers even further, gold, diamonds, and jewelry traded through Dubai saw values increased by nine percent and totaling AED 90 billion. Leading the way in growth contributions, phones were reported at AED 42 billion while petroleum oils increased by more than twice as much from last year.

Credit: Dubai Customs

Among several AI-based initiatives, Dubai Customs boasts the first of its kind ‘Virtual Stock Guarantee’ initiative providing support for re-exports from free zones to external markets. Other disruptive strategies implemented consist of the Smart Vessel Berthing System and the ‘Productivity Engine.’ All three serve a unique purpose from enhanced productivity to cost reduction, all while helping Dubai remain a leader in the market.

“We are pleased to report that trade in Dubai has rebounded in the first quarter of 2019 with non-oil trade growing 7.3% year-on-year to reach AED 339 billion,” added Sultan Bin Sulayem, DP World Group Chairman & CEO and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation. “This strong growth has been delivered despite the challenging macro and geopolitical environment, which further highlights the strength and resilience of the Dubai economy. Importantly, we have seen significant growth in both exports (+30%) and re-exports (+7%) which reinforces Dubai’s profile as the key hub for the region. Overall, despite geopolitical headwinds, we remain excited about the outlook for Dubai, particularly with the lead up to EXPO 2020.”

Source: Dubai Customs

Archives, Global Trade Daily

How Technology Can Help Recruit and Retain Workers of all Ages

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The big question in the minds of business managers–in warehousing, manufacturing, transportation and beyond–is not only how to retain a solid workforce, but how to attract a variety of skillsets and ages within the worker population. It’s not a surprise to imagine that old-school approaches are becoming a thing of the past. As Gen Z workers continue to increase representation in the workforce, employers are faced with the reality of adopting more innovation, technology and mindsets to successfully cater to both older and newer generations of workers. If the current strategy is limiting recruiting capabilities, companies are setting themselves up for failure and limiting their full potential in operations and employee expertise.

What some companies might not realize is the amount of visibility provided with modern technology and the capabilities enabled through automation. As the workforce changes, so does the method of recruiting and the level of technology necessary for successful staffing. Completed.com is a great example of how automation and technology take recruiting one step further through real-time, reliable feedback on employees seeking work in any industry.

“We saw a need to create a platform where one can review anyone in business,” explains Completed.com CEO Michael Zammuto. “One of the reasons employers haven’t had a successful platform like this before is because it’s inherently at risk of being used improperly. The technologies we’re starting to talk about are one potential and significant source of solution for that.

“Completed.com at its core includes machine learning-driven technology which looks at and develops an internal credibility score for every reviewer and every review,” Zammuto continues. “This is one of the more important things that companies like Yelp have been working on, but it’s a difficult challenge. It starts with things like technology where the talent is validated, making it more credible. In addition to that, there’s a lot of pattern matching and sediment analysis that’s done to develop an internal credibility score. This is important because of constructive, professionally-focused reviews.”

So, how much is technology really changing the pace for employee recruitment? Quite a bit, according to Zammuto, who adds that the human element is still very much needed, just for a different role. It’s not about eliminating the human element in recruiting, but reallocating it.

“Everybody in every industry has the same issue: finding and attracting the right talent,” Zammuto says. “We got to see it from the other side–the client’s issue about how they were represented online. We realized that hiring people has become complicated because of technology, but the important part of this topic is that one can automate 99 percent of something that’s content-driven and has a subjective element to it, but you do need people to review things that algorithms determine problems with.”

This insight confirms that technology is becoming more involved within the logistics world, creating even more of a dynamic between connectivity, visibility and efficiency. The secret here is employer and company information are just as valuable to recruiting the right kind of talent as is the available employee information. Just as companies want to learn about the candidates sent their way, employees are looking for an environment that offers more than just a paycheck. If a strong candidate is subjected to a miserable climate, outdated practices and lack of recognition, they’re more likely to visit with competitors that meet their expectations.

In the modern workforce, competing companies are willing to offer tempting salaries with promising career incentives to win over another great employee. Recognition is just as much of a factor as the dollar amount on the paycheck. “Part of this process is ensuring great employees receive recognition they seek while others are held accountable,” Zammuto notes. “This gives you a chance to hold people accountable and celebrate the employees and managers that do great work, and you can take it at face value.”

Taking it even further, regular internal reviews are highly encouraged to successfully maintain talent retention. Not only do these regular checks reiterate accountability for management and the employees, skills development is evaluated and encouraged, ultimately eliminating the mundane aspect of a job. Workers are encouraged with feedback and become motivated to polish their skillset while voicing concerns and addressing redundancies. This is a critical element that goes beyond recruiting and retention as it impacts all aspects of company operations. At the end of the day, your employees are the backbone of the company.

“Most of the traditional methods have either disappeared or been weakened in some way,” Zammuto says. “The remaining method that’s useful is direct referrals to jobs. This is the only remaining valid strategy for getting good candidates to your company, but it’s very slow and doesn’t always scale very well. Companies are having trouble finding people because of the mechanisms for doing so have weakened a lot. With people being more mobile than before, but the information about that mobility shielding the good from the bad performers, how is anyone supposed to hire the right candidates?”

Technology is the common denominator in solving this problem. As companies learn about automation integration for maximizing workflows, this same method should absolutely be considered for selecting the best and preferred types of employees. This approach challenges the old-fashioned methods and takes a granular look at the talent pool, saving time, money, resources and energy invested.

The bigger picture shows that recruiting methods are changing and directly impacting retention. Any company can fill a position, but retaining that position is where the challenge is. What benefit is it to hire a candidate if they don’t contribute and end up leaving? There is no benefit. A company that fills three roles but only retains one isn’t fulfilling its bottom line. Something is missing and technology is the answer to solving this issue. Preserve company resources and time by investing in technology that can identify the best candidates that are looking for long-term careers. The investment upfront will pay off in the long haul.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software

Global Customs Platform “RIISE” Showcased in Uzbekistan & Romania

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Disruptive global customs platform RIISE was announced and released this week by PCFC subsidiary, Customs World. The in-house customs project was presented to Uzbekistani officials and received positive feedback for its automation capabilities and elimination of traditional, time consuming trade bottlenecks.

“This disruptive technical and functional CMS (Customs Management System) and the trade enabling platform takes the lessons and builds on the learnings and 100 years of distinctive experience and practices of Dubai Customs” Nadya Abdullah Al Kamali, CEO of Customs World said. “The system recognizes the threats and challenges of today and provides the levels of border integrity that governments and their communities expect in such a way that sets world benchmarks for cross border trade.”

The plug-and-play solution is equipped to meet specific needs of customers and utilizes technology such as AI and machine learning to simplify and streamline decision-making and operations. Additionally, the open-source system eliminates the need for third party license and is predicted to improve rankings on the global indexes, increase revenues, facilitate trade, secure borders and the supply chain for countries that utilize the platform.

“RIISE is built with a vision to be the number 1 partner of choice for
governments to protect their borders and facilitate trade following the standards and requirements of the World Trade Organization, SAFE and Kyoto. It is a disruptive option to a stale market currently monopolized by companies with a 1990’s mentality dumping old technology and re-branding old processes.”