Cargo Firm's Social Network Speeds Up Problem Resolution

CIO - THE COMPANY :: Orient Overseas Container Line

THE PROJECT :: Implement an enterprise social network to resolve shipping exceptions at Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), a Hong Kong-based container shipping and logistics service provider.

THE BUSINESS CASE :: Unforeseen shipping exceptions -- any situation that causes a delivery to be rescheduled -- are a fact of life in logistics, and for one of the world's largest container transportation companies, such issues can be complex, involving trains, trucks and cargo ships. "This is not the FedEx world," says OOCL CIO Steve Siu. "There are multiple companies involved." Poorly managed exceptions lead to unhappy customers and lost business. OOCL used a hodgepodge of communication tools -- phone calls, faxes, email -- to manage shipping exceptions. With employees at more than 280 offices in 55 countries, information was scattered and problem resolution inefficient. Siu reasoned that a social network could bring all essential parties -- and their information -- into a single, speedy system.