Real-time transportation visibility (RTTV) platform providers are diversifying and increasing competing with transport management system (TMS) providers, according to a new report from Swedish analyst firm Berg Insight.

The report, Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms, finds that the TMS market is currently led by Project44, FourKites and Shippeo. All three companies have focused on visibility platforms specifically.

Extensive partner ecosystems have played a key role in their success. These ecosystems can range from ELD and telematics companies to TMS, WMS and ERP system vendors as well as consulting firms and system integrators. US firm Project44 alone has more than 1,400 telematics integrations and 80 TMS/ERP integrations. FourKites, also US-basd, works with various partner companies having hundreds of enterprise technology offerings including ERP, TMS, WMS, dispatch and other supply chain technologies. French firm Shippeo’s network integrates with over 1,100 TMS, telematics and ELD systems. In addition to Project44, FourKites and Shippeo which have had an explicit focus on visibility platforms specifically, other major players in this space include Transporeon and Descartes which are also key TMS providers, according to Berg.

The respective visibility products of Transporeon and Descartes also feature large numbers of integrations through extensive partner ecosystems. Trimble-owned Transporeon extended its transportation logistics offering with the addition of Sixfold’s real-time visibility technology, while Descartes acquired MacroPoint which is one of the largest supply chain visibility networks. The transport management and visibility markets are expected to continue to amalgamate in the coming years through continued M&A activities and in-house development efforts aimed at achieving true end-to-end supply chain visibility. According to Berg, visibility cannot be defined as a product category of its own as it is largely a result of multiple integrations. Specific RTTV platforms are adding features increasingly positioning them as TMS players – thus resulting in also an element of competition between TMS and RTTV providers.

“Multiple players which have historically positioned themselves as leading providers of real-time transportation visibility platforms specifically are today using other home-grown monikers to describe their respective businesses and supposedly unique offerings”, said Rickard Andersson, Principal Analyst, Berg Insight.