SAP: Container Tracking – How Real-Time IoT Data Optimizes the Supply Chain

Logistics professionals have faced—and continue to face—major challenges: First, the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences disrupted global supply chains to an unprecedented extent; today, global conflicts are hampering shipping—including in the Strait of Hormuz.

To be able to plan production and deliveries despite the associated delays and unpredictability, many companies had recently replenished their inventories—which led to high costs.

Container tracking and real-time data are now bringing unprecedented transparency to supply chains, thereby allowing companies to reduce their inventory levels again.

To this end, Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, provides live location data for its containers. SAP uses this data in its ERP systems or in the cloud solution SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace and links it to the shipment and material information stored there. Hapag-Lloyd is thus not only an SAP customer but also a supplier and partner.

We spoke with Karsten Schmidt, Director and Product Owner for Live Position/Track & Trace at Hapag-Lloyd, and Sven York Pohl, Chief Expert for Digital Adoption at SAP SE, about how the collaboration began, how users of the systems benefit from it, and what opportunities it holds for the future.

Hapag-Lloyd Container Tracking

• The logistics company has equipped two million standard containers worldwide with IoT trackers that report their current location in real time.
• This allows customers to continuously track the current location of their shipment via a web-based platform.
• SAP integrates this data into its SAP Global Track and Trace cloud solution and embeds it into its cloud ERP backend systems.
• In the long term, these systems are intended to proactively suggest alternatives and specific recommendations for action in the event of transport delays.
• The generative AI solution Joule, which is integrated into SAP’s cloud portfolio, will also be used for this purpose.

Shipment tracking has changed dramatically in recent years. What events triggered these innovations?

Sven York Pohl: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced massive delays in deliveries. And we learned that logistics processes are far too opaque. 

Karsten Schmidt: Until now, only milestones in ocean freight—such as the container’s arrival at the port or its loading onto the ship—have been tracked. We knew when a shipment was loaded onto the ship and when the container left the port in Hamburg. But if it didn’t arrive in Munich afterward, no one could say what had happened.

And how does tracking work today?

Schmidt: After the pandemic, we decided to equip all non-refrigerated containers with IoT trackers—that is, transmitters that continuously report their location. By mid-2024, we had equipped 90 percent of our containers accordingly. Since then, we’ve been tracking over two million containers worldwide and providing live event data every 15 minutes for land transport—and every six hours for ocean transport. This allows our customers to track the exact journey of “their” containers on a website.

How did the partnership between Hapag-Lloyd and SAP come about?

Pohl: At the time, I was overseeing an SAP transformation project at Hapag-Lloyd, so I was meeting with Karsten Schmidt quite frequently anyway. It was clear to both of us from the start that the location data was a goldmine not only for the logistics company—one that needed to be tapped—but also for its customers. Anyone who knows exactly when an intermediate product will arrive—or by how many days it will be delayed—can plan their further processing with pinpoint accuracy. Of course, this works best not just by making the location data visible on a standalone website, but by making it an integral part of the applications I use to manage my production and other business processes. So Karsten Schmidt and I discussed how the location data could be integrated into SAP ERP systems.

Which SAP applications use the data?

Pohl: The cloud solution SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace offers companies end-to-end, transparent, real-time shipment tracking across the entire supply chain. And it enables native integration of the data into backend systems such as SAP S/4HANA. Here, for example, alerts can be integrated that continuously show where a container is currently located. The data can also be accessed via the SAP Business Network for Logistics. The cloud-based collaboration platform for supply chains seamlessly connects shippers with logistics service providers and freight forwarders. Real-time data, such as that provided by Hapag-Lloyd, not only ensures transparency but also maximizes security and sustainability in the supply chain through seamless traceability of materials.

Which target groups benefit most from Hapag-Lloyd’s tracking data?

Schmidt: First and foremost, logistics managers who need to know as precisely as possible where their containers are at any given moment—and when they will arrive. In addition, the data also allows for insights into the sustainability of the transport chain. Also, warehouse planners who want to keep their inventory levels as low as possible—but not too low. And, of course, transportation companies that want to plan their routes as reliably as possible. Furthermore, the tracking data can also influence payment processes.

The current conflict in the Middle East has likely also highlighted just how helpful and necessary tracking is for route planning, hasn’t it?

Schmidt: Indeed. Most recently, countless containers were transported from the Persian Gulf across Saudi Arabia to the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea to be shipped from there. Our container tracking solution continuously shows me the selected land route and where a container is currently located.

And if a container gets stuck somewhere—if the journey can’t continue—what kind of assistance does the system provide in that case?

Schmidt: We’re currently working on that. Normally, most customers call our customer service when they want to know where their container is. But with 15,000 stranded containers in the Persian Gulf, we could no longer handle the volume of calls. That’s why we granted all customers—including those who hadn’t booked this service—access to Live Positioning. In this extreme situation, it became clear just how much this step simplifies our operations.

Pohl: In the long term, SAP users will be able to ask the software they use for possible courses of action, such as alternative transport routes or modes of transport.

Schmidt: For example, if a ship is delayed and misses its connection for transfer to rail, the system will tell the customer whether onward transport by truck is possible and how much longer the container’s journey will take—in other words, Predictive Service. 

Pohl: We will also use the generative AI solution Joule, which is integrated into our cloud portfolio, for this service. The goal is for the AI to suggest specific courses of action to me.

Schmidt: Of course, we know that when it comes to long-distance transport—especially by sea—delays can never be completely ruled out. But what we can eliminate is the feeling of powerlessness—the feeling of being helplessly at the mercy of events over which I have absolutely no control. 

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