Shippers & Manufacturers
Anticipate port volatility and align inbound S&OP. Use comparable congestion & momentum signals to set lead-time buffers, qualify alternative gateways, and keep customer promises.
Pain
- Inbound plans whipsaw with hidden weekend bunching and feeder rollovers.
- “Wait time” means different things by port/vendor — hard to compare.
- Freshness is opaque, snapshots are stale during cut-off weeks.
How we help
- Comparable avg_wait_hours, dwell, and normalized congestion_score.
- Freshness SLO (p95 ≤ 2h) with
as_of/last_updatedin every response. - Lane-level rules → auto buffer, gateway alternative, supplier comms.
Result KPIs
- Higher OTIF and fewer expedite costs.
- Lead-time variance down on critical SKUs.
- Cleaner S&OP handoffs with auditable freshness.
Inbound story — align S&OP to real port momentum
A consumer electronics OEM faced late-quarter bunching at Asian hubs and rising D&D at destination gateways. Screenshots and vendor charts weren’t comparable across ports. With PortPulse, the S&OP team wired avg_wait_hours and congestion_score into their planning calendar. Buffer rules triggered a controlled +1d on selected lanes, and alternative gateways were evaluated on p95 dwell. OTIF improved while expediting dropped double digits.
curl -H "X-API-Key: DEMO_KEY" \ "https://api.useportpulse.com/v1/ports/USNYC/trend?days=30&fields=date,avg_wait_hours,congestion_score"
The same fields for every port → one rulebook for buffers and exceptions across regions.
Inbound playbook — sense → plan → communicate
Sense
- Track origin POL and downstream hubs for avg_wait_hours/p95 dwell.
- Detect weekend bunching on feeders and transshipment terminals.
- Monitor congestion_score cross-port for simple thresholds.
Plan
- Apply +1d buffer when score ≥ 0.65 for 5 consecutive days.
- Qualify an alternate gateway with lower 14d p95 dwell.
- Route time-sensitive SKUs via the safer hub for the week.
Communicate
- Auto-generate supplier/customer updates with
as_offreshness. - Escalate only on consecutive breaches to avoid alert fatigue.
- Capture exceptions with request IDs for audit.
Rule — buffer day on consecutive breach
{
"lane": "CN -> USNE",
"ports": ["CNSZX","CNSHA","USNYC"],
"signal": "congestion_score",
"threshold": 0.65,
"consecutive_days": 5,
"action": { "type": "raise_buffer_days", "value": 1 }
}Rule — select alternate gateway
{
"candidate_ports": ["NLRTM","BEANR","DEHAM"],
"metric": "dwell_p95_hours",
"lookback": "14d",
"select": "min",
"action": { "type": "recommend_gateway" }
}Quick demo — S&OP buffer helper
Blend absolute hours and normalized score for a weekly buffer suggestion.
curl -s -H "X-API-Key: DEMO_KEY" \ "https://api.useportpulse.com/v1/ports/USNYC/trend?days=30&fields=date,avg_wait_hours,congestion_score" | jq '.' // buffer_days = (p95(avg_wait_hours) > 20 ? 1 : 0) + (max(congestion_score) >= 0.7 ? 1 : 0)
API endpoints (v1)
- GET /v1/health
- GET /v1/meta/sources
- GET /v1/ports/{code}/overview
- GET /v1/ports/{code}/trend
- GET /v1/ports/{code}/snapshot
- GET /v1/ports/{code}/dwell
- GET /v1/ports/{code}/alerts
- GET /v1/hs/{code}/imports (beta)
Contract-first design: v1 is frozen; breaking changes go to v1beta with a ≥90-day deprecation window.
Comparable by design
Inspectable definitions for avg_wait_hours, dwell, and congestion_score.
Transparent SLO
Freshness p95 ≤ 2h; edge p95 < 300ms; ≥60% cache-hit target.
S&OP-ready
Rules map to buffers, gateway choices, and supplier/customer updates.
Ready to stabilize inbound?
Start a 14-day evaluation (up to 5 ports) or talk to us about bundles aligned to your inbound network.
FAQ
How do we align signals to S&OP cycles?
Use daily trend plus 14/30-day windows to drive weekly buffer calls. Our timestamps map cleanly to your calendar.
Can we build supplier-facing scorecards?
Yes. Snapshot + trend provide stable inputs; CSV parity simplifies batch jobs with strong ETags.
Do you cover our gateways?
100+ ports live; on-request additions usually onboard within 2–4 weeks under the same schema & SLO.