Maersk: A webshop that gives used containers a new life
Client
Maersk
Industry
Logistics
Services
Development
Ruby on Rails
Everything at Maersk is big
More than 600 ships sail under the light blue colour, and the largest can carry more than 20,000 twenty-foot containers. That's a lot of zeros when you add up Maersk's containers.
When a container can no longer be used for freight, its life isn't over. It's sold and used for other purposes, for example as housing. Maersk is retiring a growing number of containers, and at the same time interest in reusing them is growing.
One spreadsheet and a world full of containers
That put pressure on the employees who sold the containers. Retired containers are stored all over the globe, and customer enquiries come from all over the world too. It took time to match each enquiry with the container closest to the customer.
Freight is expensive, even for a shipping company. You don't send a container from Sydney to a customer on South Funen if there's an identical one in Fredericia.
Inventory was managed in a large Excel spreadsheet, and all order handling, logistics and finance was done by hand. It was time-consuming, and it didn't live up to the digital experience customers expect. It's hard to know what you can buy when you can't see what's for sale.
Big, even after freight
- 600+ships under the light blue colour
- 20,000+twenty-foot containers on the largest of them
- 50+countries with customers on the webshop
- DKK 100m+in turnover a year
A webshop with an engine underneath
Container shopping like any other shopping
On the surface, the solution is very simple: a webshop. Customers can go container shopping themselves and buy the used containers they need, just like when they buy vacuum cleaner bags or sportswear online.
Powerful under the bonnet
Under the bonnet, there's more to it. The solution keeps track of stock levels and locations, and order handling and logistics are automated.
More than DKK 100 million a year
When this case was written, the solution served customers in more than 50 countries and turned over more than DKK 100 million a year.
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Mads Hofman
CEO & Advisor
Abtion \
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