Tracking & Tracing
Tracking & Tracing is also referred to as shipment tracking. Usually accurate digital documentation and tracking of a shipment from start at the shipper to delivery to the recipient. End consumers are familiar with this from the tracking of postal shipments. In the shipping operations of freight forwarding and logistics, tracking & tracing is also used. Shipments can be located at any time and entire shipping processes can be tracked. Tracking describes the determination of the current status and tracing means the traceability of the exact course of the shipment.
Digital information
For successful tracking & tracing, modern IT systems are used that process and utilize corresponding information accompanying the shipment. These data include identification information, sender information, destination information, control information. For the recipient, usually only the ident information, which designates a load unit, a package or an article, and the sender information are relevant. Destination information contains recipient data. Control information concerns data on warehouse, delivery route or intermediate stops and is relevant for shippers.
Tracking & Tracing as customer service
The location tracking and status monitoring of a shipment, tracing, transmits shipment information in real time via the digital solution. The location and status of a shipment can be viewed by the recipient at any time. This enables planning reliability and any delays to shipments can also be anticipated in this way. Good tracking supports customer satisfaction and customer loyalty enormously.
Tracking & Tracing for optimization
Documentation, or tracing, can be used to track the shipping process (or manufacturing process) and then likewise to optimize shipping operations. Complete documentation reveals bottlenecks. In the case of faulty or missing shipments, tracing makes it easier to investigate and eliminate the cause.