BDP International introduces ‘Smart Tracking’ through Amazon’s Alexa

In response to customers’ increased use of – some might say “unhealthy obsession with” – virtual assistant technologies, global logistics firm BDP International today began offering shipment tracking services using Amazon’s voice-automated “Alexa” technology.

Philadelphia-based BDP International said it is the first freight forwarder to offer Alexa-accessible international tracking services. The new international tracking service leverages Amazon Web Services’ speech-recognition technology to offer real-time, voice-activated tracking to “BDP Smart Suite” customers.

Using Alexa-enabled devices, customers can now access BDP Smart and say, for instance, “Alexa, track my BDP shipment,” and see the full lifecycle of their items throughout the supply chain through a collection of digital visibility applications.

These BDP Smart applications include: interactive maps to measure top trade lanes, track-and-trace functionality, document storage and distribution, data analysis, metric management, and compliance reporting and assessment.

BDP’s innovation team, formed in 2018, created the service to enhance BDP’s services using emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things and blockchain.

Andrew McLoone, director of operations and innovation team leader for BDP, said that the new technology “positions BDP to focus on the more complex logistical problems that require solving in our customer’s sophisticated supply chains.”