export management and transportation, airplane

Export management and transportation are not disparate processes. In this QAD Precision Report, we discuss the benefits of integrating shipping and export management on a single platform.

As companies grow and expand into new markets, facilitating export management and ensuring all shipments meet international trade regulations becomes critical. 

To create an efficient and cost effective global shipping strategy companies should consider integrating export management with multi carrier transportation execution. This allows organizations to streamline processes and reduce time-consuming manual labor, while ensuring compliance with global trade regulations.

If your company is preparing to grow into new territories and emerging markets, how ready are you? Here are four important questions you should ask:

  • How many different applications and systems do you need to use in order to send a single cross-border shipment?
  • How much time does it take to toggle between these different applications and systems?
  • Are there gaps in either system that require manual input?
  • Are you sure that critical workflows, processes and documentation are 100 percent accurate, 100 percent of the time?

To reiterate: shipping and export management are not separate processes. They are a part of the same export sales process. Multiple, disparate systems and manual processes leave a company vulnerable to higher costs, missed delivery deadlines and compliance missteps.

End-to-End Solution Export Management and Multi Carrier Shipping

Most companies that ship globally use some form of export management. Many export departments use manual processes; others have software that helps to simplify documentation and compliance requirements. For the most part, these solutions are separate to their transportation management software. 

In addition, many enterprises use shipping software provided by carriers. In such a case, all — or the vast majority of — shipments are sent with a single, preferred carrier. 

While there are certainly benefits to using a preferred carrier, such as volume discounts, it also leaves a company vulnerable. With a single carrier, companies are unable to compare rates, routes and service levels. As a result, they do not know if a less expensive option is available for the same delivery deadline.

Furthermore, companies can also be vulnerable to carrier service disruptions, caused by capacity outages, weather and other natural disasters, or a pandemic.

In some organizations, the warehouse may have multiple shipping stations provided by two or more carriers. This does have the benefit of offering more service options. However, staff will have to manually compare rates on different systems for every shipment. While this may save money, it is labor-intensive.

Handling shipping and export management as separate tasks costs time and increases the risk of human error or omissions. 

For companies that wish to scale, streamlining these processes becomes increasingly important. Consider this: the customer shipping name and address information is, or should be, exactly the same information used when checking against denied party lists. Re-keying this information into separate systems is less efficient than capturing the correct data once. It also increases the risk of typos and other errors. 

Four Benefits of a Single Solution

Exporting goods efficiently is a significant challenge. When you do so using multiple systems, you increase the complexity of the process. 

Here are four reasons why integrating shipping and export compliance software is superior to using multiple applications.

TIME REALLY IS MONEY 

Your shipping operations should be fast and efficient in order to be profitable and provide excellent customer service. Multiple systems slow down shipping, costing you time and money.

MORE COMPLEXITY = MORE COST AND RISK

An export management and shipping process that uses multiple systems and manual processes is more complex. This complexity means that critical steps can be overlooked. This can lead to lost packages, delays, customs stoppages or even fines.

POOR QUALITY DATA

Integrating multiple systems can be expensive. This is why many enterprises either don’t integrate certain systems at all. Others may integrate systems, but only at a few touchpoints to minimizing costs. 

Without integration, granular data is not available. Therefore, companies miss out on insights into how export management and transportation operations impact one another.

Furthermore, integrating multiple systems can be challenging. Each solution might use a different field name for the same data, or measure the same data differently. In such a case, data inconsistency can result.

LOGISTICS HAS CHANGED

Not that long ago, logistics was seen as a function that fulfilled a critical support role. Naturally, getting products where they need to go has always been important. However, logistics and shipping were not necessarily seen as having strategic importance. 

That has changed with globalization. As export sales become a larger portion of total revenue, logistics managers provide strategic insight. This can encompass issues such as total landed cost, export management, documentation requirements, routing, delivery performance, and more.

If you ship goods to multiple international locations, integrating export management, documentation and transportation execution simplifies the export process. This promotes on-time delivery while mitigating the risk of trade compliance violations. 

How QAD Precision Can Help

If your enterprise ships goods to international locations, QAD Precision can help simplify your export processes. Transportation, documentation and compliance are done using the same software solution. 

The solution vets every transaction, and alerts you to critical export shipping and/or regulatory controls. This includes export screening and license determination.

The QAD Precision solution easily integrates with ERP, WMS and other legacy systems. As a result, the majority of data needed for each shipment is automatically provided. This increases productivity, while reducing human error.

All the documentation required to complete a shipment is automatically prepared. Documentation is generated in the correct format and language. This includes all export and transportation documentation as well as carrier compliant labelling.

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