# Logistics and supply chain > Real-time visibility across ports, corridors, customs, fleets and warehouses, with one shipment record that carriers, forwarders, shippers and agencies can trust. Vertical ontology, workflows and compliance notes for logistics and supply chain in Africa. Canonical URL: https://www.boltcliq.com/industries/logistics-supply-chain Part of: https://www.boltcliq.com/llms.txt Real-time visibility across ports, corridors, customs, fleets and warehouses, with one shipment record that carriers, forwarders, shippers and agencies can trust. - Sector pack: Starting ontology for shipments, containers, vehicles and border points - TMS + customs: Typical sources: port, customs, fleet telematics, warehouse and ERP - Trade + DPA: Regulators in scope: customs, transport and data protection - WhatsApp + driver app: Channels: WhatsApp, SMS, driver apps and control tower ### The challenge - A single shipment across an African corridor touches many parties. A shipper books a forwarder. A shipping line brings a container to a port. Terminal operators, port authorities, customs and clearing agents each hold a piece of the record. Trucks leave with drivers who report by phone or WhatsApp. Border posts, weighbridges and inspection agencies add steps. Inland, warehouses and last mile couriers use their own tools. Many of these systems are closed, some are paper, and few share identifiers. - The result is delay and uncertainty. A container is cleared, but the trucker does not know. A truck waits at a border because a document was not matched. Fleets run half empty on the return leg. Warehouses cannot see inbound shipments until they arrive. Customers get status from phone calls. Costs from dwell time, demurrage and informal payments are hard to measure and harder to cut. When something goes wrong, nobody can reconstruct what happened. ### The ontology **Objects** - 13 core things - The nouns of the sector. Each object has an identity, properties and a history, and maps to records in the source systems. - Shipment - Container - Consignment - Vehicle - Driver - Route - Port call - Border crossing - Customs declaration - Warehouse - Order - Carrier - Exception **Links** - 8 core relationships - How the objects connect. Links turn separate tables into a graph that people and agents can walk. - Shipment contains Consignments and Containers - Container arrives on a Port call - Vehicle carries Container on a Route - Driver operates Vehicle - Route passes through Border crossings - Customs declaration clears Consignment - Warehouse receives and dispatches Orders - Exception delays Shipment and links to cause **Actions** - 6 governed actions - What people and approved agents may do. Each action has rules, an approver where needed and a log entry. - Notify a consignee of an updated arrival time - Reroute a vehicle around a delay - Assign a load to a carrier - Escalate a customs hold - Book a warehouse slot - Open a claim for damage or loss ### Use cases - Port dwell - Containers sit in a port for days after arrival. Importers, clearing agents and carriers each wait for another, and nobody sees the whole chain. - Port, customs, carrier and haulier events attach to the container. The system shows what is blocking release and who owns the next step, and nudges the owner by WhatsApp or email. - Clearing agents and importers decide how to resolve holds. Authorities keep control of release decisions. - Border crossing - A truck crossing a regional border queues for hours because paperwork was incomplete. Drivers learn of the problem at the gate. - The system checks documents for a shipment ahead of arrival, flags mismatches and tells the forwarder what is missing. It estimates crossing time from recent history. - Forwarders correct documents. Border agencies decide on inspection and release. - Fleet and load matching - A trucking company sends vehicles one way full and returns empty. Brokers match loads by phone, and trucks wait days for a return load. - Vehicles, drivers, routes and open loads sit in one model. The system suggests matches that fit capacity, timing and driver hours, and drafts offers. - Dispatchers accept or change matches. Drivers can decline for safety or rest reasons. - Warehouse flow - A distribution center is surprised by inbound trucks and runs out of dock space. Stock counts differ between the system and the shelf. - Inbound shipments and estimated arrivals feed dock scheduling. Cycle counts and receiving scans update stock. Discrepancies create tasks for a supervisor. - Warehouse managers set priorities and resolve disputes with suppliers. ### Data you already have - We read from your existing systems first and write back only through approved actions. Every source has a named owner. Where connectivity is weak or records are on paper, we plan for queued sync and OCR with human review. - Transport management and freight forwarding systems - Port community and terminal operating systems - Customs and single window platforms - Vehicle telematics and driver apps - Warehouse management and ERP systems - Weighbridge, border post and inspection records - Bills of lading, invoices and packing lists, scanned or PDF - WhatsApp and phone based driver and agent updates ### Compliance and residency - Nigeria - NDPA 2023 - Driver, consignee and customer data are personal data, and tracking requires a defined purpose and safeguards. - Kenya - Data Protection Act 2019 - Location and identity data for drivers and consignees need a lawful basis and security measures. - South Africa - POPIA - Vehicle and driver tracking involves personal information, with duties on notice and security. - Rwanda - Law on Personal Data Protection 2021 - Transfers of shipment data containing personal data outside the country may have conditions. - Trade rules - Customs and regional trade regimes - Rules for transit, declarations and data exchange differ by country and corridor. - Customs, transport licensing and regional trade agreements vary widely. These are examples only. Confirm with counsel and customs advisers for your corridors. Examples only, not legal advice. Confirm with counsel. ### Boltcliq products **Zeus** - Model plane - Models shipments, containers, vehicles, ports and borders as one network and drives the control tower, ETA and exception views. **Odin** - Trust plane - Controls what shippers, carriers, agents and agencies can see on a shipment, so each party gets its own scoped view of the same record. **Monolith** - Control plane - Keeps dispatch and customer agents inside approved actions, such as notifying a consignee, and requires approval for rerouting or releases. **Argus** - Runtime plane - Runs the platform near ports and hubs and syncs from drivers and depots with weak coverage. **Cyclopes** - Observation plane - Keeps a tamper-evident log of handoffs, document checks and automated suggestions, which supports claims and disputes. ### Frequently asked questions - Do we need to replace our TMS or WMS? - No. We connect to existing systems and add a shared shipment model above them. - Can drivers use WhatsApp instead of a new app? - Yes, as one channel. - How do you work with customs systems? - Through available interfaces and document exchange. Access to customs data depends on the agency and local law. - Can you predict arrival times? - The platform can estimate ETA from route, historical crossing times and live events. Estimates are probabilistic and shown with the evidence. - Who sees what? - Access is role and relationship based. A shipper does not see a carrier's other customers.