Hariesh Manaadiar is the author of Shipping and Freight Resource. With his passion for education, his IT skills and his industry knowledge he educates the shipping industry on his blog since 2008 and reaches more than 200,000 people per month. Hariesh Manaadiar explains shipping and freight in a simple, easy and less scary way to people who are new to the industry.
We’re more than proud to have him at the Digital Container Summit where he will be speaking about “Avoiding the pitfalls of Digitalisation”.
How did you come up with the idea to start Shipping and Freight Resource?
Hariesh Manaadiar: As part of my day job in management, I was interviewing candidates for several positions in Sales, Operations, Documentation, Claim etc.. I soon realized that there was a huge gap in the knowledge and skills in the industry..
I thought about the best way to empower those who needed the skills in an easy and free way and came upon the idea to start a blog where I could share my knowledge and experiences in the industry..
In very simple terms sharing my passion about educating the general public about shipping and freight was the genesis of my blog..
How do you combine your job as General Manager at Diamond Shipping and your work for your blog?
Hariesh Manaadiar: It does take a lot of time to juggle both.. A full-time job involves working after hours regularly and being constantly in touch with what is happening in the market, port, customers and the ships.. However, I try and balance the two as smoothly as possible, but I guess a big plus for me is that I am passionate about both my lives, as a GM and as an educator..
When did you first realize that Shipping and Freight Resource gains traction and what is your success story behind it?
Hariesh Manaadiar: The blog was started initially with a South African audience in mind, but I soon realized that there was a huge potential for the blog outside South Africa as well..
As I continued to share my knowledge and experiences, the site kept gaining popularity worldwide and is now widely read all over the globe..
I realized that there was a thirst and hunger for this kind of information around the world and I was quite happy to feed it and have been doing so since 2008..
What has changed in the industry and on Shipping and Freight Resource since you started in 2008?
Hariesh Manaadiar: Oh, definitely quite a lot has changed.. When I started my blog in 2008, it was actually one of the very few resources on the internet, if not the only one at that time, which provided such type of educational content relating to shipping and freight, for free..
They say, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and a few years after I started my blog I was quite flattered to see a few sites starting to write similar and sometimes same topics as I have written..
Right now, there are many sites who have started writing about shipping, freight and logistics in quite a detailed way and it is quite heartening to see this..
But at the same time, readers need to be careful about the data and information they consume as not all these articles are written by industry experts and there are several articles that are misleading..
As for Shipping and Freight Resource itself, I have started writing some reviews and news items relating to the more current and pertinent topics in the industry such as Smart Bills of Lading, IMO2020 etc..
Everyone talks about digitalization and standardization, what do you think will be most important for the future of the shipping industry?
Hariesh Manaadiar: The world is moving ahead at an alarmingly fast pace.. Everyone wants everything not today but yesterday and we in the shipping and freight industry are the backbone in making this happen..
Digitalisation is no longer optional and has become a necessity for survival and progress.. Whether we like it or not, digitalisation is here to stay and possibly improve our lives..
But digitalisation without standardisation is dangerous as none of this is regulated and that poses several issues both legal and commercial.. Standardisation will help everyone to be on an equal footing..
You will be speaking at the Digital Container Summit, what can people expect from your session and why are you looking forward to being there?
Hariesh Manaadiar: As much as digitalisation is necessary, people must not forget the actual processes involved and how things work and are supposed to work.. After all, digitalisation is the usage of computer systems to simplify our work, but if the proper process is not known, understood or followed, digitalisation will be just another jargon and will not be of much help to the industry..
I look forward to presenting at the DCS as this is the future and summits like the DCS helps bring together people from all walks of the industry and will be a great opportunity to share ideas, knowledge and information on how we can make this industry safe and easy for everyone to work together..
