Why Leading Exporters Are Switching to UnitySCM

Leading exporters in the US continue to make the switch to UnitySCM, choosing us over the competition. 

It isn’t because we’re the biggest. And it isn’t because we promise them a flawless supply chain. It is because, in their world, uncertainty is expensive - and they need a way to see problems before they happen.

Their businesses move tens of thousands of containers a year. 

Each one with high-value inventory, countless moving parts, and a non-negotiable deadline. But despite their size and experience, they keep running into the same challenges: delays they couldn’t predict, costs they couldn’t control, and logistics that felt like a series of fire drills rather than a system running as designed.

The problem isn’t that they lack data. They have data everywhere - scattered across carrier platforms, in emails from forwarders, buried in spreadsheets. What they lack is a single, reliable way to track everything that mattered, when it mattered. They need a solution that can ingest data from any system, identify and resolve data quality issues, and provide actionable insights in real-time. They also need it to fit their needs, without making them go through hoops to make it work for them. 

They need a partner who could work with them. 

These exporters aren't alone, either. It’s been well reported how we’ve previously helped ADAMA reduce costs by $20 million, organize their data, and help them find a variety of different ways to extract value from it through data-driven operations. We have also enabled them to gain full visibility into their 30,000+ containers per year - 80% of which are for exports. 

The Fragility of a Supply Chain

Supply chains don’t always break all at once. They don’t always collapse in a dramatic failure that makes the front page. Instead, they unravel quietly, in small increments - one missed update, one misaligned schedule, one unnoticed change at a time.

For these exporters, those small failures looked like this:

• Shipments lost in the gap between stuffing locations and ports: Containers would be loaded at their warehouses, but after that? No clear visibility. No reliable way to track their movement, anticipate bottlenecks, or confirm their arrival at the terminal on time. The result? Last-minute scrambles and unnecessary rollovers.

• Shifting ERDs that turned routine planning into guesswork: Ports adjust Earliest Return Dates (ERDs) to manage congestion, but without a real-time system tracking these changes, they were pulling containers too early - racking up detention fees - or too late, missing vessel cut-offs altogether.

• A scheduling nightmare for drayage and yard operations: ERDs, VGM deadlines, vessel cut-offs - all these dates mattered. But without a centralized system tracking and aligning them, their yards became congested with containers that weren’t ready to move, and drayage schedules fell apart.

None of these issues alone bring their supply chains to a halt. But together, they created a system that felt reactive, inefficient, and increasingly expensive.

What Changed?

The decision to leave their current providers and implement UnitySCM wasn’t about adding another layer of software. It was about removing layers of uncertainty.

• Flexible Data Ingestion & Quality Monitoring: With UnitySCM, these exporters can now collect data regardless of system maturity. Our platform enables custom logic to extract, load, and transform data, ensuring seamless integration across all sources. Plus, our robust monitoring capabilities flag and report ingestion errors in real-time, allowing teams to address issues before they cause disruptions.

• ERD Changes? No longer a surprise: Their systems now automatically track and update cut-off shifts, preventing unnecessary fees and rollovers.

• Reliable Data Reporting & Continuous Improvement: Our platform doesn’t just aggregate data; it also provides deep visibility into data sources and quality. By efficiently identifying the source of data issues, UnitySCM enables exporters to improve data accuracy, build trust among users, and drive better decision-making over time.

• Drayage and Yard Planning? No longer a logistical guessing game: With real-time updates on container readiness, they can schedule pickups with precision, clear space efficiently, and avoid last-minute congestion.

• Customizable Workflows & Alerts: Instead of shipments disappearing between the warehouse and the port, their teams now have real-time alerts for key milestones. Our custom workflows allow them to create tailored notifications and scheduled reports, ensuring they stay on top of exceptions that matter while seamlessly integrating into existing processes. This flexibility to fit their specific needs is a key differentiator. 

What This Means for Every Exporter

As we’re seeing, this isn’t just one company’s problem. 

The modern supply chain is a network of blind spots. ERDs change without warning. Vessel cut-offs shift. Logistics teams spend hours chasing answers instead of making decisions, costing time and money. And every delay, inefficiency, and unplanned costs adds up - sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars.

The companies switching to embrace real-time, connected data are the ones that stay ahead. The ones that don’t? They’ll keep fighting the same fires, over and over again.

Supply chains aren’t getting any simpler. But for our customers, who can see what’s coming, they’re getting a whole lot easier to manage.

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