Most Shippers Need to Automate and Integrate Processes

Most shippers (53 percent) still use a manual process to determine licensing requirements for exports and destination country import regulations, according to a new survey from Kewill.

That's somewhat surprising, considering that Kewill's research also found that:

almost all shippers (95 percent) use two or more carriers, and


the largest shippers are more likely to use five or more carriers (28 percent vs. 9 percent for small shippers).

Isn't it time to improve automation and integration of this fundamental business practice? Management of global trade in today's competitive and complex business environment demands no less. After all, by updating these processes, shippers can cut costs, improve workflows, decreases errors and mitigate the risks associated with compliance, invoice discrepancies and damaged customer relationships.

Think about it for a minute: How confident are you about the documentation your shippers prepare? Could your supply chain be interrupted by these types of processing errors?

Kewill's fourth annual benchmarking survey, titled 2010 Best Practices Survey for Parcel Shipping and Global Trade Management, also found that:

96 percent of those surveyed have made changes to their business in response to the recent economic slowdown. These changes include headcount reductions, use of lower cost shipping options, and changes to the carrier mix.


Employees are now spending considerable time and effort processing import and export documents and have reported a measurable level of errors that cause delays and rework.


The majority of companies (59 percent) report that it takes more than 10 minutes, on average, to produce and distribute export documentation.


60 percent of those surveyed said that they are using lower cost shipping options. One-third changed the carrier mix to include regional carriers and/or consolidation.

The findings of the survey are detailed in a white paper available at www.kewill.com/Benchmark2010.