Industry and logistics: Master data platform Loady helps optimize supply chain and saves costs

Mannheim, 06.09.2023 – The Mannheim-based startup Loady has built and launched a master data platform as a cross-industry solution to enable the binding exchange of loading requirements along the entire supply chain. Companies using Loady keep their site- and product-related logistics requirements up-to-date in Loady and share their data securely with their business and logistics partners.

Modern logistics processes should be as cost-efficient and fast as possible, which is why loading and unloading trucks at manufacturers and their customers are closely timed. Crucial to a smooth process is the exchange of information on loading requirements. Until now, companies have maintained the relevant requirements for loading at their sites and unloading at customers’ sites differently. As a result, each company must keep all information from business partners up to date in its own systems. This information is then passed on to logistics partners – usually in a free text format. It is then up to the partners to identify and implement the relevant information themselves. Because the texts are unstructured and not standardized, they are not suitable for digital collaboration along the supply chain. Stefanie Kraus, co-founder and CEO of Loady describes: “Especially at industrial sites in the chemical industry, there are so many different things to consider when it comes to loading and unloading trucks. With Loady, we help simplify and standardize the entire logistics process, from freight purchasing and freight ordering, to transport planning and scheduling, to the transport itself.”

The Petrochemicals division of BASF SE in Ludwigshafen is already using Loady’s service. There, larger freight tenders require some effort in preparation, including manual verification steps of the freight data and requirements to be transmitted. Nevertheless, it happens time and again that loading requirements are not fulfilled.  In addition to avoidable costs, this causes extra kilometers and unnecessary CO2 emissions. “By managing our master data on loading requirements in Loady from now on, we want to make our logistics more plannable and reliable,” says Jochen Roll, Supply Chain Manager of the Petrochemicals division at BASF SE. “By using Loady, we are also enabling our logistics partners to meet our expectations and those of our customers – while saving costs and gaining planning reliability themselves.”

In addition, processes are being simplified at other points. “From the point of view of digitalization and automation in logistics, the previous way of doing things is also outdated,” says Stefan Ritschel, Vice President Supply Chain Management and Digitalization in the Petrochemicals division at BASF SE. Customer service, product management and experts at the loading points are currently working flat out on data collection. As early as this fall, freight tenders for the first 500 products of the Petrochemicals division are to be mapped with data from Loady. By 2025, the Europe-wide transports of more than 4,000 products are to be organized and thus optimized via Loady together with other BASF divisions. “This is the first time we have a reliable source of loading requirements that we can access from a wide variety of systems, whether it’s in the freight order, checklists, online views or through direct integration with our enterprise systems,” Ritschel says.

For goods receivers who want to maintain their locations in Loady and share them with their suppliers, Loady is accessible as a free service.