One of the common themes we heard last week at the JOC Logistics Technology conference was that supply chains are evolving and becoming more complex. While technologies like blockchain and AI have the potential to fundamentally transform the way that people manage their supply chains, we believe what matters more than the technology is the people who remain at the heart of every logistics operation.

No matter what technologies are being used to manage a supply chain, at the end of the day it's people who are making the decisions. That's why our focus has been on eliminating the manual and time-consuming work involved in figuring out what's going on with your shipments, so you can focus on the more complex and strategic decisions that matter more for your business.

Part of the complexity of supply chain management also stems from the number of people involved in moving goods from the factory to the store. Collaboration is key - not just among your internal team at your company, but with your broader team of supply chain partners. By enabling multiple ways to share information at the appropriate levels with your internal team and external partners through dashboards and APIs, we ensure that everyone's working with the same set of data and can streamline communication and coordination.

The idea of collaboration also extends to the partnerships we've developed to expand our coverage. As Eric Klein discussed on a panel about software partnerships, true end-to-end supply chain visibility will only be achieved through partnerships because there are simply too many integrations and companies you need to work with to do it on your own.

For more on this topic, here's our take on the top technology trends in logistics. To read more about the conference and how technology will transform logistics, see this article from Peter Tirschwell in the Journal of Commerce.

Photo: Eric Johnson (Journal of Commerce), Karim Jumma (INTTRA), Eric Klein (Crux Systems), Caro Krissman (INLT), and Allen Thomas (Advent Intermodal Solutions) at the JOC Technology Conference in Las Vegas.