GoComet

Logistics plays a fundamental role in the efficiency of every company. While a strategic logistics plan takes care of the selling and buying of goods, a key component that could throw a potential spanner in the works is an unhealthy relationship with the various stakeholders of your supply chain network.  Relationships matter. With variables at every stage of the supply chain, carrier, consignor-consignee and freight forwarder relationships form the foundation of a strong and long-term commitment. Good relations are critical to building a resilient supply chain, which, in turn, is crucial to a company’s success and profitability. A bi-directional relationship will lead to reduced shipping costs, improved transit times and lesser misunderstandings. There are a few pointers to keep in mind that will help you build a brilliant relationship with all the stakeholders involved. How to cement relations with your freight forwarders? Envisage and plan for the unexpected Ups and downs in any business are to be expected and more so in the logistics industry. Planning in collaboration with your freight forwarding company for such an event that could damage your shipments or impact your business, is necessary. While they may not be responsible, you do require their help in mitigating the damage. Maintain a consistent shipping schedule Consistency in your shipments allows the freight forwarders to offer better quotes as well as handle your shipments better. Maintaining transparency and providing easy access to all your shipping information makes the job of the freight forwarder easier and more efficient. Avoid accepting shipments at the eleventh hour Last minute bookings are a sure-fire way to trouble. Freight forwarders have a hard-enough time arranging transport in advance, let alone at the very end. Delays in transit and higher shipment costs will be incurred unnecessarily. How can you better your relations with carriers?...

Unexpected disruptions in supply chains around the world have led the industry to be more cautious, especially in the post lockdown phase that we are currently entering. Newer technologies and better approaches to existing solutions are required to gain a competitive edge in the market. One of the major ingredients of competent decision-making is a bulletproof strategy, which is why it is expected of every business to look ahead and take note of the current digital and other advancements in the supply chain. Not only will this approach make your supply chain more resilient, but also keeps you well-equipped to tackle any unanticipated disruptions head-on. Here are some of the emerging trends in the supply chain industry: Supply chain digitization The amount of disruption in the global business space makes it necessary for the logistics industry to respond intelligently, provide greater visibility of operations and send out live notifications of processes. This calls for the digitization of the supply chain at the earliest and it is no longer optional. From paperless systems to automated billing and minimal human intervention, an advanced digital environment is the only way forward for modelling the modern supply chain networks. Transform your supply chains digitally to demolish silos, enhance responsiveness, create transparency and increase your market share as a supplier. Modernize supply chains through digitization and provide an answer to all your challenges in one go. Big data, IoT and AI integrated supply chain Gartner predicts that by 2023, at least 50% of the global companies will be using AI, advanced analytics and IoT in supply chain operations. Adopting IoT frameworks in your supply chain leads to better monitoring, real-time tracking of shipments/deliveries, automated inventory and most importantly, supply chain transparency. Owing to the rapid growth in IoT, digitization of the supply chain and easy...

With the market being as volatile as it is, unforeseen disruptions at every stage in the supply chain have become a common occurrence,  emphasising the need to build resilient and agile networks that facilitate quick response and minimise risks.  Due to the ongoing pandemic,  heavy restrictions on transport and labour have thrown a huge spanner in the works, with missing production parts, missed handoffs and delays in meeting deadlines. Such events only drive home the fact that supply chain resilience is crucial to the continuity and profitability of every business now more than ever. While there is room for improvement across multiple tiers of the supply chain, one major aspect to take care of is the visibility of shipments in real-time. Shipment tracking is interlinked with several tiers of the supply chain.  If you achieve end-to-end visibility of all your shipments, you will be able to gain control over a crucial aspect of your supply chain management.  Here’s how an inefficient shipment tracking system invites more trouble during a crisis situation: • Transportation delays One of the most common disruptions is the delay in the Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs) of the shipments. This could be due to a number of factors such as overbooking and rolling, customs, unusual traffic and the like. Answering the question of “Where is my cargo?” becomes almost impossible with no way to anticipate these circumstances.  The next best thing would be the dynamic visibility of the containers. If timely updates can be sent to the client of the exact location and ETA, the client will be able to make due arrangements for the arrival with no major issues. • Keeping the customer in the dark The problem lies in the shippers blindly relying on their carriers to provide freight visibility. The schedules prepared by...

As global trade and supply chains continue to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations across industries are looking for ways to build resilience and agility into their systems. A good starting point for improving efficiency and optimising supply chain operations is by the adoption of digital automation technology. Today, the power of advanced technology such as artificial intelligence or machine learning has indelibly altered the supply chain landscape and their adoption is only set to increase. Here are some of the key ways automative technology can help you improve your supply chain management:  Best deals at the best price In a typical scenario, your team manually negotiates freight rates with a limited pool of vendors via calls and emails. However, today there is a smarter and cost-efficient way to do this. Through automation, you can benefit from compounded negotiation, a system where your vendors compete with each other on a digital platform to offer you the best deals. A Logistics Resource Management (LRM) platform allows you to create and share RFQs with your vendors and on submitting their quotations shows them their rank in the bidding process. The system nudges your vendors to keep squeezing their rates in order to secure the first rank and win your business, which in turn allows you to benefit from their best deals each and every time.  Improved visibility with live shipment tracking    An integral part of efficient supply chain management is knowing exactly where your shipment is despite uncertainties. The traditional approach of manually visiting countless websites of shipping companies to track shipments is not only time consuming but exhausting. However, adopting an automated solution for tracking transforms this process completely. By giving live, automatic updates on the movement of your shipments on a unified dashboard, technology helps you massively reduce the...

Shipping goods internationally, especially on a large scale, can be quite a task. While dealing with international shipments, logistics teams are faced with three fundamental questions:  Which freight forwarder is the best fit for their business? Who among all the interested freight forwarders, is the most reliable?  And most importantly, how can they get the best deal at the best price?  While the first two questions can be handled with ample research, dealing with the third question is complicated. Negotiating well is the key to paying less for your freight procurement. Without the right tools in place, manually creating, comparing and negotiating rates with individual freight forwarders to secure the best deal, becomes a daunting experience. Gathering copious amounts of information to put together a suitable RFQ is a time consuming, but crucial process. A whirlwind of activities follows with your logistics team reaching out to all the vendors with the RFQ and negotiating quotes in a short time span. Moreover, the traditional process has been plagued with inefficiencies.  A troubling question in light of this information is how transparent is your current freight negotiation process? Manual freight negotiations affect your bottom line  Negotiating rates manually is quite a hassle. Keeping a track of all the bids received, selecting the vendor with the lowest quote and engaging with the vendors via emails or calls, makes it difficult to document the important details. One crucial thing to note is the matching of the final invoice with the initially posed contract. Often, due to human error certain costs and taxes get excluded while generating invoices and these discrepancies get revealed much later, damaging your bottom line. These instances showcase the clear lack of transparency in freight negotiations. Such misconceptions are to be expected in any business, which leads to the next question: ...

When it comes to organisations that ship goods internationally, dealing with freight forwarders is not a one-time transaction but a part of the business itself.  As a shipper, it’s crucial that you choose the right forwarder as they bridge the gap between you and your customer,   making the import and export process seamless.  But in a market saturated with freight forwarding agencies, how do you identify forwarders best suited for your business?  Here’s a checklist to guide your decision when choosing freight forwarders:  1) Do you need a freight forwarder? A freight forwarder is not exactly required for the actual process of import and export of goods. However, importing and exporting of goods involves a lot of paperwork that varies from country to country and coordination between several stakeholders. Companies prefer working with freight forwarders as their worldwide network, thorough knowledge of documentation, customs laws of various countries etc. makes the process easier.  Undoubtedly, it is beneficial for almost any company dealing in international transportation of goods to have a freight forwarder involved, especially when in-house resources are not well-aware of the international shipping procedures. 2) Experience counts  There are several freight forwarders in the market but it is important to award business to an experienced forwarder. Problems like port shutdowns, dockworkers’ strikes, cargo reroutes, customs issues and warehousing issues, etc. are a common occurrence when it comes to international shipments. Only a seasoned forwarder can handle them with ease and ensure that the cargo reaches the destination without any hindrance.  3) A global network is a must  A good freight forwarder has an established global network. As the vendor is likely to handle your shipments at both ends – the port of origin to the destination port, make sure that he has a network in the destination country...