Probably not related to COVID-19 but right on time, Ocean Network Express (ONE), the world’s sixth largest container line became the latest shipping line to offer fully electronic bills of lading to their customers.
As we have seen, we are in a unique moment in history as COVID-19 sweeps through the world affecting all countries around the world and in many cases disrupting the flow of physical documentation flow, especially with regards to Original Bills of Lading.
ONE announced recently that they handled their first ever electronic negotiable Bill of Lading (eB/L) using essDOCS’s paperless document solution, CargoDocs.As per the press release, ONE’s electronic bill of lading ambitions went live using a CargoDocs electronic bill of lading for a shipment of containerized synthetic rubber from Russia to China.
Commenting on the occasion, Richard Hiller, Global Head of Sales, Customer Service and Documentation for ONE said “Accelerating ONE’s digitization effort is the key to actively addressing our customers’ pain points such as waiting times for Bill of Lading issuance.
essDOCS has a long history and proven track record of digitizing paper processes and connecting supply chain participants, while also navigating the realities of a fragmented, complex trade industry. Our collaboration will enable ONE to provide our customers with improved levels of service through digitization.”.
The release also announced that in the next phase of the project, ONE will allow customers to use electronic bills of lading on a regional and subsequently global basis from the 2nd Quarter of 2020, as part of their initiative called ‘ONE eCommerce’ which has been created with the aim to deliver an improved, digital customer experience.
Alexander Goulandris, co-CEO essDOCS, added: “We are delighted to work with ONE on digitizing their transport document processes. Since commencing operations in 2018, ONE has focused on delivering superior customer service, and today that requires a digital first approach. essDOCS is proud to enable a key part of the ONE eCommerce digital solution set.”.
Electronic bills of lading have taken center stage in the recent past with many shipping lines like ZIM, CMA-CGM, PIL all test driving and finalizing their electronic bill of lading offering to the customers.
Electronic bills of lading provide the users to prepare, edit, review, approve and release the bills of lading with comparative ease compared to manual bills of lading which needs to be transmitted back and forth between various parties. The electronic version is widely expected to eliminate manual recapturing of data, reduce errors and cut down the issuance time for the documents wherever the user is based.
