Way More Than Visibility with Adam Compain

Adam Compain and Joe Lynch discuss way more than visibility. Adam Compain is the Founder & CEO of ClearMetal, a software company that specializes in international freight visibility, dynamic planning, and customer experience.


About Adam Compain

Adam Compain is the Founder & CEO of ClearMetal. Adam founded the company after spending time at OOCL, under the tutelage of their CEO and CIO in Hong Kong. Prior to ClearMetal, Adam spent 5 years at Google, launching the company’s latest GeoCommerce and Mobile technology. And for 21 years, Adam has been the Executive Director of the nonprofit he founded to export charitable goods from North America. Adam has appeared on Bloomberg TV and on the cover of American Shipper as “the changing face of ocean freight.” He holds five technology patents, a dual-degree from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from Stanford University.

About ClearMetal

ClearMetal is the market leader in international freight visibility, dynamic planning and customer experience. The ClearMetal ‘Continuous Delivery Experience’ (CDX) Platform uses proprietary machine learning to break free from static-visibility paradigms and turn supply chains from a cost center to a competitive advantage. ClearMetal was founded by top software engineers, data scientists and operations researchers from Stanford University, Google and Silicon Valley, and is funded by Eclipse Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, NEA, SAP.io, Prologis Ventures, PSA Unboxed, DCLI and the founders of GT Nexus, Navis and Uber Freight. ClearMetal is based in San Francisco, CA.

Key Takeaways: Way More Than Visibility 

  • ClearMetal’s three central premises:
    • It’s not about the metal; it’s about the data.
    • Need for better information to fulfill modern customer expectations.
    • Value to finding the clean and accurate source of truth.
  • Data and accuracy
    • Even though data about location exists, in many cases, it lacks accuracy.
    • When managing international business freight, with many touch points and parties involved, data that is accurate and makes sense is pivotal.
  • What does visibility entail?
    • Visibility is about access and aggregation of a network of data.
    • It’s also about applying the proper techniques and approach to make sense of the data with machine learning and data science-based techniques.
    • International and global shipping is complex since it considers vast distances, time zones, parties, language, systems, and different vehicles.
    • Chips provide contextual information for additional and more accurate data. But, it’s not necessary. With data, customers access the same information.
  • End-to-end global shipment
    • Machine learning and data science techniques to ensure better quality and better predictability to make better decisions.
    • Historical data to understand the likelihood of freight movement.
    • Predictability leads to reliability and transparency, which customers appreciate.
    • The correct data provides accurate guidance for reasonable decision-making.
  • How to use visibility to solve business problems?
    • With a fully-stocked network of actionable data, businesses can make better decisions.
    • Dynamic transport planning. Before anything is moving, visibility allows a company to foresee through different scenarios what the outcome could be.
    • Predicational lead time and customer portal provide information that clients value, which is used for sales and customer service.
  • For a modern customer, there is nothing more important than customer services within the supply chain.

Learn More about Way More than Visibility

ClearMetal

Adam Compain

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What is CDX?

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