Supply Chain Digitalisation Starts With Standardised Handoffs

Supply chain digitalisation gets its footing before a company buys a tracker or installs a sensor. The more practical starting point is to agree what needs to be known, how participants will describe it, and how they will confirm responsibility as goods and assets change hands.

That was a central point in a conversation on the Does Logistics Matter? podcast with Davy Baars of Connected Load Carrier. Baars described a digital supply chain as a digital layer that reflects activity across the physical chain. The aim is to make movements, handoffs and responsibilities visible between participants, rather than simply collecting data from isolated equipment.

Start with the information problem

Buying hardware first can leave companies with devices and data that don’t answer a defined operational question. A tracker may report an asset’s location, for example, but that information has limited value if the people handling the asset use inconsistent identifiers or can’t connect the location record to a particular handoff.

The first question, then, is what the operation needs to know. Is the priority to confirm that an item changed hands, record when that happened, or document the conditions associated with the transfer? The answer helps determine which information must be captured and which tools could capture it. As Baars’s discussion suggests, technology choices should follow the business need.

That approach also leaves room for different tools in different settings. The conversation names RFID, GPS and BLE as technologies that can each work or fall short depending on the context. There is no single method that suits every asset or movement. Teams need to weigh the information they require against the conditions in which it must be collected.

Standardisation makes data usable across companies

Before digital records can travel reliably between organisations, participants need ways to recognise the same things. Baars pointed to differences in labels, asset types, numbering systems and formats as persistent barriers. If one company’s identifier cannot be matched to another company’s record, data exchange can become difficult even when both sides have digital systems.

Standardisation can therefore deliver operational gains in its own right. Agreed labels and identifiers can make records easier to compare and reduce the ambiguity that comes from translating information between formats. Those foundations may improve coordination before a company adds a sensor, tracker or other tracking device.

They also affect whether a digital approach can extend beyond one organisation. A company might have good internal visibility, but its picture becomes less complete when an asset crosses a boundary and the next participant records it differently. Shared ways of identifying assets and describing events give each organisation a better chance of connecting its records to the next handoff.

Handoffs are where visibility has to travel

Digitalisation may first help a company manage its own operations. Its wider value becomes clearer at the points where work passes between companies. Handoffs are moments when paperwork can accumulate, information can be entered again, and it may be unclear who is responsible for the next step.

A digital confirmation can record what happened, when it happened and under which conditions, according to the needs of the operation. That changes a transfer from something participants assume took place into an event they can validate. If each organisation retains ownership of its own data, confirmation can still provide continuity across the chain without requiring participants to give up control of their records.

For logistics teams, the practical test is whether that shared view helps them follow a movement through successive transfers. A record that ends at a company’s boundary leaves the next stage unclear. A record that links the handoff to the next participant can make the sequence easier to understand and support more transparent coordination.

Build capability over time

The discussion frames supply chain digitalisation as an ongoing process that calls for learning and cooperation across the ecosystem. Companies may need to refine their questions, data practices and handoff procedures as they learn what information is useful in day-to-day operations. That work takes time, but it gives technology a clearer role and makes it easier to assess whether a tool fits the task.

The conversation also points to increasing pressure for asset visibility and traceability, including from upcoming EU requirements. For companies considering where to begin, the operational groundwork remains concrete: establish consistent identifiers, decide what events matter, and clarify how participants will confirm transfers. Those choices can make later technology decisions more purposeful.

Baars’s broader message is that the risk lies in leaving the problem untouched. A digital supply chain depends on more than equipment: it needs a shared understanding of the information being recorded and a reliable way to carry that information across handoffs. Start there, and the choice of tracking technology can follow the work the supply chain actually needs to do.

The full conversation is available in an episode of Does Logistics Matter?, with examples and practical discussion of building a digital supply chain.

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