Biden-Harris Tap Information-Exchange to Bridge Supply Chain Gaps

The White House Administration is taking steps in the tech space in the hopes of healing the supply chain through information exchange, after many also recently took on visibility technology to do the same.

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The Biden-Harris Administration announces the launch of Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW), which will tap supply chain visibility and information sharing to keep goods moving throughout the supply chain. Stakeholders involved in the endeavor are tasked with developing a proof-of-concept information exchange to ease supply chain congestion movement of goods, and ultimately cut costs for American consumers, with DOT leading the program. The new move from the White House follows numerous attempts at innovation in the supply chain visibility space in the hopes to keep goods moving throughout the crisis. Now that the Russian/Ukraine complicates the supply chain even more, companies look for ways to keep afloat. 

Per the White House

  • FLOW includes eighteen initial participants that represent diverse perspectives across the supply chain, including private businesses, warehousing, and logistics companies, ports, and more.
  • DOT will lead this effort, playing the role of an honest broker and convener to bring supply chain stakeholders together to problem solve and overcome coordination challenges. This initial phase aims to produce a proof-of-concept freight information exchange by the end of the summer.
  • The goods movement chain is almost entirely privately operated and spans shipping lines, ports, terminal operators, truckers, railroads, warehouses, and cargo owners such as retailers. These different actors have made great strides in digitizing their own internal operations, but they do not always exchange information with each other. This lack of information exchange can cause delays as cargo moves from one part of the supply chain to another, driving up costs and increasing goods movement fragility.
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