July 25th 2024
Written By: Gabe McGann, VP of International Operations
As we move forward into a world where technological advances seemingly offer something new each day, I constantly run into the issue with clients where too many tools can create more problems than solutions. Every company’s supply chain is different. Some work with many suppliers and end customers, whereas others have just one or a few. No matter which bucket a particular client falls into, they generally all face similar challenges and require “total visibility”.
Take, for example, that you work for a company that imports from just a few suppliers. You may be fortunate to purchase on similar terms that allow you to dictate how your supply chain arrives at your required destination(s). That would allow you to choose a logistics provider (freight forwarder and/or customs broker) that can offer visibility to each unique movement in one centralized location. Easy enough. Others, however, are not as fortunate, and terms of sale often differ, creating multiple paths where your imports arrive or exports depart. This makes it much more difficult to gain visibility over all movements when different parties are selecting different logistics providers.
The easiest solution is to gain control over the selection process of at least one common service. The most likely option is (import) customs clearance or (export) freight forwarding. Both services do not require you to have the same provider moving the freight inbound or outbound (though there are reasons why you may want to have the same provider) but will allow critical KPIs to be tracked in a single system.
At Rogers & Brown, we invest in technology for our team and our customers. We are currently working on the rollout of our new online tracking system. This will allow our clients visibility at every end of their supply chain, analytics to support, and a new way to communicate directly with their dedicated service representatives. If we are touching at least one leg of your supply chain, there will be visibility to those movements anytime our clients need it. The more involvement we have in those movements, the more information will be available in a central location. In our opinion, this should be a requirement of any logistics provider when someone is comparing options.
A lot of time is lost when trying to piece together reports and data from different sources. As mentioned above, some of that is out of the hands of those who manage a company’s supply chain. Consistently choosing the same provider for at least one service will allow all data to be in one location. Making sure that the provider has the technology to support your needs should help reduce a lot of time wasted pulling different data together from different sources.