With more than 13,000 delegates through the doors, 2024’s Multimodal has been labeled an all-round success.
But what did Team Azarc think? Our first time exhibiting at this established supply chain conference and logistics expo, Sam, Rich, Jon, Richard, Rachael, Simon, and Jo tag-teamed their way through the three-day event in Birmingham, UK, to showcase how completing customs declarations with Azarc’s automated solution, can be as easy as sending an email.
Sam Clohesy, Director of Operations at Azarc, said: “I really enjoyed Multimodal this year, it was a great event. It was really beneficial to spend some time together, as a team, in person too. There are so many benefits to being a part of a globally established business, such as the one we have here at Azarc, but sometimes nothing beats coming together, and this was certainly the case for the three days we were in Birmingham.
“We had some really positive conversations with new connections, all actively looking for customs clearance solutions in the global supply chain and logistics space. While the demand was clear from our first morning, what was also apparent was the growing competitiveness within this niche section of the market. The opportunity for Azarc is huge and we look forward to following up the leads and contacts from the event.”
Jon Bass, Head of Business Development & Partnerships, added: “From the minute Multimodal 2024 opened, it was clear there was a demand for the service we’re focusing on at Azarc. Given the global disparity across system usage and data models, we know this isn’t a winner-takes-all market.
“It was encouraging to see our messaging and USP – making customs clearance as easy as sending an email – resonating with countless delegates across the three-day event too. In addition to that, the connections we engaged with really seemed to identify with our drive to support people and not replace them with automation.”
When it comes to humans vs AI, Azarc and its solutions aren’t working to push people out of their jobs but rather to give businesses the time and space to allow their people to focus on tasks and roles that require more skill. An interesting reaction we felt, given the recent piece in The Wall Street Journal, with its headline declaring ‘The AI Revolution is Already Losing Steam’, which highlights in a negative light that AI isn’t nearly the productivity booster it’s being touted to be, and that systems are helping people do their jobs rather than replace them entirely.
For us, that’s the best possible outcome. AI is a tool to be harnessed, to help us succeed in our plight to be more efficient, and give you the time to upskill team members not replace them.
How does Azarc’s customs clearance solution, fit in?
Richard Young, Senior Product Owner at Azarc, explains: “Logistics and supply chain is progressively adopting new technologies, including automation and AI. Our solution was developed to preempt and address this need. The very architecture of the product was built with integration and customization in mind to allow for secure and transparent business-to-business and system-to-system data exchange and sharing.
“Our commitment to integrating advanced technologies into our platform ensures customers can enhance their operations and extend the life and capabilities of any legacy systems – meaning no expensive system upgrades are needed, irrespective of the systems used by different internal departments, suppliers, and partners in the supply chain. Globally.
“Despite the advancements we’re seeing, the industry is still very much reliant on paperwork. Something which we all know needs to change, and fast. Utilizing the latest OCR, machine learning, and AI technologies to minimize manual effort, Azarc’s customs clearance solution works to provide real-time transaction updates, that are as easy to initiate as sending an email.
“While paper trails haven’t vanished quite yet, the industry is undergoing significant transformation through technology adoption,” Richard continued. “The fact remains that managing and retaining the extensive paperwork required for each transaction, which must be kept for 4 to 6 years, is a major challenge for businesses. And we know from the development stages that it is an issue that can easily be solved. Secure and efficient storage, retrieval, and compliance with regulatory requirements for document retention, all exist within this one system, making it simpler, faster, and more cost-effective for customers to store audit records and maintain compliance. Why have various different systems when you can use one which features all these features in one system?”
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