Talking Supply Chain: Open eBL tackles trade inefficiencies

Digital bills of lading are not new, but to date, they have not caught on to the extent that backers hoped for. The most prominent attempt to create a global standard for electronic bills of lading (eBLs) was TradeLens, backed by Maersk, IBM and others. It, too, failed.

The reason may be related to the complexity of global trade, the various electronic systems used by the many participants in the network, and a lack of standardization.

But, a new organization is out to try again, and the backers of it believe the time is right to finally convert the industry to electronic bill of ladings.

“Research shows the paper bill of lading can account for 10% to 30% of total trade document costs within shipping,” explained Vanessa Mbanefo, director of Open eBL, which is developing an open-source standards-based electronic bill of lading. “This is not surprising because the bill of lading is a foundational shipping document which serves as legal record of receipt of goods, evidence of contract and document of title. And in its paper version it's very prone to damage, fraud, loss, and many other concerns. The likes of McKinsey have estimated that an electronic bill of lading which replaces its paper-based version could save over $6.5 billion in direct costs and enable $40 billion in global trade.”

Mbanefo joined the Talking Supply Chain podcast to discuss Open eBL’s initiative. Among the topics she tackled was how Open eBL will tackle documents that are not identical, and why Open eBL can succeed where others have failed.

“We also want to equally unlock value for supply chain stakeholders who have already adopted an eBL solution in the past, or, in fact, several by being a connecting platform that enables cross-platform interoperability,” she said. “This could relieve back-office personnel of the need to track BLs across multiple different platforms, allowing them to do their jobs more efficiently and quicker.”

Listen to hear the full conversation.

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