Used as part of a freight forwarder's day-to-day operations, real-time supply chain visibility provides you with the ability to avoid delays with shipments, identify risks, meet compliance requirements, and serve your customers better by obtaining a clear, comprehensive view of overall metrics.
project44 API
What is project44 and what is supply chain visibility data?
project44 has established itself one of the leading innovators in the supply chain visibility industry, along with FourKites, Overhaul, Terminal49, and Vizion API, which all address the complexities and challenges involved in getting a product from the sourcing and manufacturing stage to distribution.
The project44 business model is based on providing clients with standardized, secure web service project44 API integrations that allow freight forwarders, 3PLs (third-party logistics companies), 4PLs (fourth-party logistics providers), and other shippers to connect to carriers in real time. The use of the project44 advanced visibility platform eliminates
the use of the standard EDI (electronic data interchange that involves computer-to-computer exchange). As a result, customers have reported a better experience with their operations.
What is RTTVP?
Through innovative solutions, the top SaaS companies are providing their clients with end-to-end visibility of every phase of the supply chain, including the different stages of transportation and distribution. These solutions come from RTTVPs, short for real-time transportation visibility platforms. RTTVPs are supply chain visibility software platforms and give businesses and consumers real-time insights into the location of their orders and shipments after they have left a destination, such as a supplier's warehouse.
Recent project44 funding pushed the company to record levels for a logistic tech enterprise SaaS company. In early 2022, project44 received a $420 million investment from a syndicate led by Thoma Bravo and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, also commonly referred to as Goldman Sachs, which set a funding record for Logistic Tech enterprise SaaS companies.
project44 was founded by Jett McCandless, who also serves as the company’s CEO. McCandless has witnessed first-hand the challenges in the logistics and delivery space for more than 20 years. He founded the company in 2011. There are now more than 1,000 project44 employees at 17 global offices, according to project44 company statistics.
With project44 revenue surpassing $100 million annually from a base of more than 1,000 project44 customers, interest is gaining for the company to go public. Online searches related to project44 stock, project44 valuation, and project44 IPO have been escalating in recent years.
According to project44 Crunchbase company reports, the technology company has acquired five organizations — Synfioo GmbH, Convey, Ocean Insights, Gatehouse Logistics, and Clear Metal. It also has attracted a total of 22 high-profile private equity investors.
On the employee side, project44 Glassdoor reviews reveal that the Chicago-headquartered company has received a 4 out of 5 rating.
How Does project44 Work?
How does project44 work? The company provides a supply chain visibility solution that delivers end-to-end visibility data insights over the road, air, rail, ocean, and intermodal transportation modes, various workflows, and order and inventory.
The project44 multi-modal network uses cloud-based freight APIs to connect 3PLs and shippers to transportation capacity data in real-time. Via project 44 freight API and project44 EDI solutions, users of the platform can collect rate quotes within seconds, track shipments, automate dispatch requests, and review delivery confirmations — immediately. This API first visibility approach from many visibility providers enables shippers with better visibility data than they have ever had access to.
The API-first visibility approach connects carriers to various networks so that businesses can be more agile, setting prices based on current market conditions to increase sales and meet customer demand.
In recent years, based on project44 API documentation, project44 solutions have transformed the supply chain industry, leading the way in supply chain modernization. With the acquisition of Synfioo, project44 has extended its reach to all aspects of transportation, including ocean freight.
What is project44 Visibility Data?
What is visibility data? What is project44 visibility data, for that matter? And what does visibility data do? Through project44 tracking and similar solutions by other logistics service providers, numerous businesses are learning how to get visibility data to work for them — resolving significant challenges throughout the supply chain.
At the most basic level, supply chain visibility or freight visibility, freight forwarders and shipping companies the ability for companies to track the location of raw materials, parts, components, and products as they are being transported from various points in the supply chain — from the providers of raw materials to manufacturers and then to the end customer.
Supply chain visibility allows companies to enhance their operations, strengthen their supply chain, and gain the real-time insights needed to inform all stakeholders, including the customer.
Chain.io is among the leading tech providers that ensure that clients can integrate supply chain data from modern systems into their legacy systems so that they can better leverage visibility data. They are natively connected to leading visibility providers like FourKites, Overhaul, project44, Terminal49, and Vizion API.
Value of project44 Visibility Data
Based on the latest project44 report findings, the company continues to be one of the highly rated supply chain automation solutions — especially in the wake of numerous supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
As the demand for supply chain modernization has accelerated, businesses with increasingly complex supply chains have been able to become resilient with supply chain optimization tools that help them address challenges like product shortages, excess warehouse inventory, and clogged ports.
The value of project44 visibility data is demonstrated throughout numerous phases of supply chains, including enhanced efficiency and agility. With the ability to gain real-time data insights, companies can invest more time in strategizing long-term solutions and addressing challenges that could delay shipments.
An overview of the benefits of project44 visibility data includes:
Increasing efficiency. Businesses are better able to meet customer expectations while minimizing costs, maximizing throughput, minimizing production downtime, and reducing inventory levels.
Improving inventory management. Through real-time tracking insights based on purchase orders, line items, and SKUs, a company’s decision-makers will be able to make more informed calculations about inventory management, planning, and exception handling.
Eliminating time-consuming and manual processes. By accessing real-time data that leads to predictive ETAs and other insights, companies can avoid late fees and penalties related to missed appointments.
project44 Competitors
The top supply chain visibility companies are listed in Gartner's Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms Reviews and Ratings report.
- FourKites: When using FourKites visibility software, customers in various industries, including food and beverage, retail, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and chemicals, utilize its offerings of a real-time visibility platform, ocean visibility and document management, network visibility, and other offerings. The company is headquartered in Chicago.
- Overhaul: Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Overhaul provides supply chain control and risk management solutions through a SaaS solution that provides a unified view of the supply in real time.
- project44: Customers using the project44 visibility platform will have features that provide analytics, ETAS, and supply chain insights that include, ocean, over-the-road, air, intermodal, rail, supplier, and order and inventory, as well as various workflows. The company is headquartered in Chicago.
- Terminal49: An all-in-one shipment and container tracking platform is helping shippers and forwarders streamline and automate their container tracking tasks to save hours of labor. Founded in 2015, the company has grown quickly offering complete container tracking through one API.
- Vizion: By providing instant access to the most complete, standardized, and detailed container tracking information available, VIZION API empowers forward-thinking companies to create more powerful and nimble solutions, delivering greater supply chain visibility and control for their stakeholders without and within.
project44 Integration
To integrate your data with supply chain visibility providers like FourKites, Overhaul, project44, Terminal49, and Vizion API, supply chain integrations experts at Chain.io provide solutions that ensure key information is automatically available within all your systems. As part of the project44 implementation process, customers can expect to have better data available in their TMS and other systems instantly, helping them save time and serve customers faster.
Project44 integrations, as well as integrations with other RTTVPs, allow for direct connections between the visibility provider and a carrier or freight forwarder. The visibility provider can collect accurate, real-time data by building direct connections with large fleets.
Having a piecemeal view of supply chain operations is no longer an option for freight forwarders and shippers. Now, customers expect visibility data to be integrated directly into their systems, allowing for quick and accurate communications around the status of shipments, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, and enabling logistics teams to work more efficiently and maintain a competitive edge.
McKinsey estimates that 73% of supply chain functions still rely on spreadsheets. These kinds of workarounds for data integrations are inefficient and expensive. The good news is that integration projects don’t have to be as time-consuming and expensive as they once were.
Chain.io Can Help With Visibility Integrations
Visibility data arrives to you through endless channels and formats. Chain.io translates this data and routes it to any file type in any location for freight execution, customer visibility, reporting, and analysis. Using our pre-built adaptors, we can integrate your TMS to any visibility service provider within weeks so your team can focus on what matters - serving your customers.
Through our Canonical Data Model, input and output translators communicate through supply chain-specific language to ensure the right data is delivered, even if the applications we’re integrating use different terminology.
Even with your existing connections to other software and customers, Chain.io can be integrated anywhere in your organization. There’s no need to redo your entire ecosystem, no need to replace old systems or processes.
At Chain.io, we are automating best practices and changing the way forwarders leverage visibility data with customers.