An OCR scanner can help reduce cargo theft
With more containers transiting and overstressed supply chains, the current situation is ideal for thieves that see cargo as easy targets.
“The backlog across all logistics infrastructure is causing containers and shipments to sit idle, not just in the ports but outside the ports, increasing opportunities for them to be targeted by criminals,” declared Ron Greene, vice president of business development at Overhaul.
For the companies shipping or forwarding containers, one way to limitate the time containers stay in ports or shipping hubs, often with little to no surveillance, is to improve how they manage and track each container. Luckily, that’s what an OCR scanner can help them achieve.
Why are containers idling that long?
Weaknesses in the existing system have been exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on the workforce, as well as increased demands for goods, leaving the supply chain in chaos. Only the ingenuity on the part of freight forwarders has helped to keep global shipping moving. There are currently two main reasons that explain why containers will stay longer at one place, becoming a prey of choice for thieves:
- Staff shortages – the pandemic has created a huge job shortage around the world. And that shortage goes all the way across the supply chain, from dock workers to truck drivers and warehouse workers. Less workers means that less shipment can be moved and supply chains become congested.
- Increase in volume – with less people being able to go to stores or preferring to stay safe at home, the last couple of years have seen a tremendous increase in online shopping. Even though people start to go back into brick-and-mortar stores, their habits have shifted and the growing part of online shopping in our lives is here to stay.
The combination of these two factors means that more containers are traveling the world while needing more time to be correctly operated, resulting in a longer idle time.
Why not just increase cargo security?
We could be inclined to say that the problem is cargo security. Just put more people or surveillance around containers and catch the thieves red-handed. However, this solution seems hard if not impossible to put in place for more than one reason:
- Some shipment hubs, like ports, are HUGE. The Port of Los Angeles spreads over 7500 acres and can store up to 9.3 million 20-feet containers.
- There are shipments hubs all over the place, as merchandise needs to travel to even the most remote customers.
- Containers aren’t always in restricted-access areas. When traveling by train, containers might sit there during the night, and it’s very unlikely that we could limit and control access to each and every mile of rails.
- It’s actually fairly easy to break into a container and emptying its content only takes a few minutes.
The workforce and the equipment needed to actually secure cargo would be enormous, which is difficult during staff shortage times and it would also negatively impact the overall shipment costs.
Streamlining processes to reduce idle time
A solution to prevent cargo theft could be to improve the current shipping processes. Essentially, if the job can be done quicker and more efficiently, containers wouldn’t need to sit in ports or train stations as long as they do today.
Problems often arise in shipping due to the sheer volume of transported goods and the need to enter data manually. Technologies designed to improve container logistics capacity can boost speed, efficiency, and accuracy.
Freight companies need a better way to identify containers to allow all involved parties to track them. Spending less time identifying each shipment gives freight handlers more time to move them to the right place, and allows workers to move more containers in the same amount of time.
How an OCR scanner comes into play
When container identification numbers are read and recorded manually, mistakes are common. Even the most focused worker will occasionally make a transcription or transposition error, resulting in costly delays. Errors can add days or even weeks to the shipping process and can even result in containers being sent to the wrong destination.
Optical character recognition (OCR) has enormous potential to improve the global shipping process. All parties, from manufacturers to intermediaries to recipients of the shipments, can use OCR technology to accurately scan container numbers using mobile devices. By automating the process of scanning long numbers, shippers can eliminate mistakes and the resulting disruptions.
An OCR scanner can also be used to scan container seal numbers to make sure it matches the bill of lading. If seals are important, they are not entry proof. You should not assume that they will provide full protection against theft. Nevertheless, tracking seal numbers still gives logistics companies valuable information, and helps them identify containers that might have been targeted by thieves.
This can then easily be combined with container number scanning, which enables staff to quickly identify the exact container in question by simply scanning the horizontal or vertical number printed on the side of the container.
Small changes for big results
One of the advantages of an OCR scanner is that it doesn’t require deep modifications of existing processes, nor does it require large investments. Integrating Anyline’s mobile scanning solution into existing operations is a simple process.
The technology works with any mobile device that has a camera and can even be used without Internet connectivity. Anyline’s software development kit (SDK) can be integrated into existing freight forwarding processes, removing the need for employees to manage multiple devices. The solution is compatible with iOS, Android, Windows 10 and more, and supports cross-platform integration frameworks like Xamarin, React-Native and Cordova.
Anyline’s serial number scanning solution offers robust functionality and flawless data capture, even in harsh conditions such poor lighting, odd angles, or corruption of the shipment label. The solution can be used to scan container identification and seal numbers, vehicle license plates, barcodes, and other serial numbers so logistics workforces can bring greater visibility to freight at all steps of the cargo’s journey.