BlueX
Extending the Digital Waves through Ocean Carriers

Up until the dawn of 2020, digital technologies were considered to provide constant business augmentation, helping companies enhance operations and stay competitive. However, the advent of Covid-19 changed this perception. Work-from-home edicts and countrywide lockdowns impelled companies across the board to pivot and embrace digital ecosystems—hoping to stay afloat. However, it is a task easier said than done, especially for the ocean freight forwarding industry, which was historically inept in terms of digital technologies. “Most ocean carriers—except a few—are trailing behind the digitalization curve due to the lack of resources and expertise to incorporate these technologies on their own,” says Sean O’Malley, the CEO of BlueX. The high dependency on conventional models created a barrier for carriers to enhance supply chain transparency and provide shippers with accurate information and services.

Enter BlueX.

“At BlueX, we pioneer in assisting carriers to mitigate these challenges. Since our inception, we have been focusing on empowering ocean carriers to offer freight transportation services to shippers in a more holistic way,” says Vivian Chiang, the COO of BlueX. With decades-worth industry expertise, this leading freight tech company develops innovative digital solutions that help carriers improve supply chain transparency, data accuracy, operational efficiency, and security while providing AI-driven insights needed to drive profitable decision-making.

A Story that Drives Transformation

What spurred the inception of BlueX is Sean O’Malley’s and Lance Lin’s (co-founder and Head of BD/Sales) passion towards creating a paradigm shift in the way the ocean freight industry operated. The idea of digitizing freight management

was born when O’Malley serendipitously met Lin during his time in Taiwan. Being an industry leader with over two decades-worth experience in freight forwarding, Lin was also well-aware of the hardships associated with conventional models and shared O’Malley’s vision to introduce change.
As such, this duo decided to combine their expertise to facilitate the digitalization of ocean freight at the source – the ocean carrier. Together, they paved the way for carriers to embrace digital technologies and overrun the competition by establishing BlueX in 2019—giving birth to the world’s first ocean carrier freight commerce platform.

An Intuitive AI-Driven Digital Platform

BlueX’s robust white-labeled, SaaS-based Freight Commerce Platform offers a world-class digital experience to carriers by empowering them with real-time spot pricing and tracking. It enables carriers to seamlessly and quickly connect with their shippers through a spot market. Carriers can use this first-of-its-kind solution to streamline and improve their operations by matching container supply with shipper demands more efficiently. Being able to analyze constant changes in the supply-demand curve, its AI-driven dynamic pricing enables carriers to price their freight in a way that captures the true market value—leading to higher spot market revenue.

Furthermore, BlueX's solution also has advanced real-time container tracking abilities that help clients optimize their container allocation. This adds value to carriers' efforts to match their assets with fast-changing customer demands. “In a time with dramatic changes in supply and demand, our platform enables carriers through AI-driven insights to optimize prices and allocate inventory dynamically, leading to an enhanced carrier’s bottom line,” says O'Malley. BlueX also has made data security a key priority by architecting its solution with enterprise-class information security. Such a robust offering has made BlueX the most sought-after partner in the industry, serving several prominent carriers, including Evergreen Marine and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, and is now enabling over 8,000 shippers globally.

A Unique API-First Approach

What gives BlueX an edge in this market is its capability to offer APIs that provide shippers with real-time access to carriers’ spot rates, schedules, booking, and tracking. The company’s next-gen Freight Commerce Platform is fully API-enabled. “Our unique API-first approach allows us to aggregate data from multiple carriers and distributes it through a single API, empowering shippers with real-time access to their carrier data,” mentions Vivian. In a nutshell, BlueX’s single API can make freight easier by allowing shippers to search rates and book shipments through their 3rd party RMS & TMS digital workflows.

With the ability to connect directly to carrier data, BlueX’s solution provides transparency in freight rates and surcharges. By integrating with carriers’ data digitally, the company ensures the accuracy of information provided to shippers and eliminates possible human errors. Another aspect that makes BlueX’s API unique is its built-in potential for facilitating seamless integration with several third-party freight booking applications—that take a major share (50%) of today’s freight bookings. Shippers that book their shipments via such products integrated with BlueX’s API can also have seamless access to accurate carrier data in real-time. “Today, we work with several software Rate Management Solutions, like Catapult by Magaya, who have a large base of freight forwarders and shippers accessing their carrier’s data via our API,” says O'Malley.

Building a Comprehensive Roadmap

BlueX’s prominent position in the ocean freight industry is a result of its state-of-the-art platform, unique customer-first approach, and dedicated team of experts. Adhering to its vision toward revolutionizing the industry, the company is creating a progressive roadmap with a core focus on innovation. Moving ahead, BlueX envisions leveraging the power of AI to further enhance the capabilities of its robust dynamic pricing tools to further carriers’ abilities to optimize revenue.

Another endeavor that BlueX continues to work on is improving its API integration to add more shippers and third-party platforms into its solution. With this, the company aims to provide better outcomes to carriers across the globe. “We are on a mission to add value to the ocean freight industry by helping carriers with innovative solutions and tools to streamline and optimize their business and bottom-line,” concludes O’Malley.