Descartes Systems Group has linked its MacroPoint Advanced Ocean Visibility solution to two SAP Business Network platforms. Shipowners and carriers should expect every delay and gate movement to show up in customers’ dashboards within hours.
Shippers who run their logistics on SAP will soon see ocean container events in the same screens they use to track trucks. Descartes Systems Group has connected its Descartes MacroPoint Advanced Ocean Visibility solution to SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration and SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace, using a standard link to the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN).
The feed brings near real-time, container-level tracking into existing SAP workflows. It covers departures, arrivals, loading events, gate movements and other key shipment events, and shows ocean and road legs side by side. Descartes says testing confirmed production-ready performance, reliable event exchange and accurate tracking across the full shipment lifecycle. The new connection builds on an earlier GLN link with SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration that supports carrier booking. The product is available on the SAP Store.
Dan Cicerchi, EVP, Corporate & Operations Development at Descartes, said: “By bringing our ocean visibility data directly into SAP’s leading transportation platforms from the Descartes GLN, shippers can gain a more complete view of global shipments, improve operational responsiveness and strengthen supply chain resilience.”
The announcement is aimed at cargo owners, but carriers and ship managers have reason to read it closely. Every late departure, missed loading window or slow gate movement now lands directly in the customer’s own planning system, next to road freight data. A delay that once came to light in an email a day later will sit in an SAP dashboard within hours.
That changes the commercial conversation. Shippers with consistent event data across carriers can compare schedule reliability service by service, and they can bring those numbers to contract talks. Lines whose own event reporting is patchy may find a third-party platform telling their customers a story they did not write.
Descartes also says the harmonised data gives a base for analytics, automation and AI. In practice, shippers may start automating rebooking or inventory decisions from ocean events. Operators that feed clean, timely data into these networks will make those systems work in their favour. Those that do not will be judged on someone else’s version of events.
