Real-time shipment tracking platform for a 3PL provider

A third-party logistics (3PL) provider operating in four Southeast Asian countries manages 32 warehouses and a fleet of 2,800 vehicles, serving shippers in consumer goods and electronics. Its customers increasingly want to know exactly where their goods are at any moment, not just receive an end-of-day report. Zentrova is rolling out a real-time tracking platform in stages, and the first 18 warehouses are already live.

The challenge

Each country ran a different warehouse management system, and transport data sat with individual subcontractors. Order status typically lagged reality by six to twelve hours. Monthly manual stock counts disrupted warehouse operations, yet inventory discrepancies still stood at 2.5%, regularly leading to disputes with shippers. Customer service teams spent most of their day answering calls that simply asked where a shipment was. Replacing every system at once was out of the question, given the cost and the risk to daily operations.

Our solution

• Central Kafka event stream capturing every scan, receipt, dispatch and GPS ping, processing more than 40 million events a day.
• Handheld scanner app for warehouse staff covering receiving, put-away, picking and cycle counting, with full offline support.
• Driver app with optimised routes and proof of delivery by photo and e-signature.
• Shipper tracking portal plus open APIs so each customer can plug the data into its own systems.
• Standardised integration layer connecting existing warehouse systems rather than forcing a big-bang replacement.
• Cluster-by-cluster rollout, with on-site support during the first week and training delivered shift by shift.

Results

Across the 18 warehouses running on the new platform, the client measured the following after six months:

• Inventory accuracy of 99.7%.
• Order status latency cut from six to twelve hours to under one minute.
• Picking productivity up 23%.
• On-time delivery up from 91% to 97.5%.
• Where-is-my-order calls down 60%.

The remaining 14 warehouses and the full vehicle fleet are scheduled to join the platform during 2026. Because data now flows through a single event stream, the client is also preparing new services on top of it, including dynamic delivery slots and carbon reporting per shipment for its larger customers. Zentrova's team in Ho Chi Minh City supports the platform around the clock throughout the rollout.

Shippers no longer call to ask where their goods are, because they can see it on screen themselves. — Regional Operations Director, client company