Splash247: WiseTech joins DCSA+ to push container shipping digital standards

Published by Splash247

Australian logistics software giant WiseTech Global has joined the Digital Container Shipping Association’s DCSA+ partnership programme as the container shipping industry steps up efforts to standardise data exchange and reduce reliance on manual processes.

The Amsterdam-based DCSA said the move would help accelerate adoption of open digital standards across liner shipping by bringing one of the industry’s biggest software providers deeper into the standards development process.

WiseTech, whose platforms include CargoWise and e2open, is widely used across global freight forwarding and logistics. The company said its systems are used by 46 of the world’s top 50 third-party logistics providers and 23 of the 25 largest freight forwarders.

The company has already been working with DCSA standards since 2019 and has become one of the largest users of DCSA-specification carrier APIs across the sector.

DCSA was formed by major container lines to create common digital standards for core shipping processes such as bookings, bills of lading, shipment instructions, track-and-trace systems, customs documentation and freight invoicing.

The association said fragmented systems and bespoke integrations continue to create inefficiencies across container supply chains, with cargo information often passing through multiple disconnected systems between shippers, ports, terminals, carriers, customs authorities and forwarders.

By standardising data models and APIs, DCSA aims to allow information to move across the supply chain without repeated manual input or data reformatting.

WiseTech said joining DCSA+ would give it a more direct role in shaping standards development while helping ensure the standards can be implemented at scale in live operating environments.

Ashley Skaanild, principal advisor for carrier integration and transformation at WiseTech Global, said standardised integrations were becoming increasingly important as logistics flows grow more complex.

“Managing and monitoring logistics flows across the globe relies on clean and complete data,” Skaanild said.

“As one of the earliest adopters of the DCSA standards in 2019, WiseTech extensively uses carrier APIs based on the DCSA standards.”

Mariana Bock-Losada, chief growth officer at DCSA, said the partnership would help improve adoption across the wider market.

“A company of this scale and this committed to our standards sitting closer to how they are shaped sharpens our insight into what works in the ecosystem and extends the reach of every standard we publish,” she said.

The move comes as liner operators, terminals and logistics providers continue to push digitalisation programmes aimed at improving cargo visibility, reducing paperwork and streamlining operations amid ongoing pressure on supply chain efficiency.

DCSA+ was launched to bring carriers, terminals, forwarders, cargo owners and technology companies into the standards development process as the industry works toward broader interoperability across container shipping systems.