International Logistics: A Maze of Decisions to Navigate
Logistics expenses represent a significant proportion of overall operating costs for product or service providers—and if your business utilises international logistics services, that proportion is even larger.
Getting goods from manufacturer to market is tricky, doing so at maximum efficiency at the lowest possible cost is like hitting a hole in one!
And what happens when you need to change from one source country to another? A strategy that was optimal for your previous offshore source might be totally impractical for the new one.
There are many decisions to navigate, especially when you’re:
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Experiencing air freight or ocean freight capacity issues
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Searching for suitable pricing among carriers and freight forwarders
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Battling against continual escalation of costs
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Trying to choose between air and ocean freight, and balancing use of the two options
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Determining where best to manage inventory (at origin versus destination)
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Assessing the value of offshore consolidation
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Evaluating strategies such as indent versus resupply
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After these decisions are made, they must be implemented, and that takes time, money and resources. No wonder it’s easy to find yourself second-guessing and delaying while suboptimal international logistics processes and carrier arrangements continue to drive unnecessary costs.
​Getting your Products from Source Countries to your Sales Markets Brings Many Challenges.
Does your enterprise sources products from overseas for sale in domestic, or even international markets?
Do you import merchandise from Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, or Africa?
Do you manufacture and warehouse in China for low-cost supplies to home consumer markets?
If so then you’re well aware that moving freight economically and efficiently is paramount to profitability and has become increasingly difficult since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cost escalation continues to break records due to reduced air freight capacity and massive issues with container availability for ocean shipping.
Freight forwarding, sourcing air and ocean carriers, managing complex documentation requirements including bills of lading, customs forms, and cargo insurance, and interpreting the many fees and charges applied to freight quotes are all activities that suck time and resources from your business.
To find out how we can help you resolve these issues efficiently, chat with one of our International Logistics Consultants located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Bangkok and Vietnam today. Just click the “talk to a consultant” button above.
Our International Logistics consulting assignments have ranged across the world and include countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, United Kingdom, United States & Vietnam.
How to Lift Your International Logistics Performance
In the face of the challenges of cross-border air and ocean shipping, proactive measures are possible, and achievable,
To strengthen your international supply chain, improve resilience, and gain the advantage over your competitors in the face of the challenges of cross-border air and ocean shipping start by asking yourself the following questions.
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The answers will help you direct the efforts of your logistics team to where they can make the most notable difference:
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Do you have direct relationships with carriers, and if not, should you develop them?
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Do you procure cargo space through a freight forwarder, and is that the optimal approach?
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Do you have the visibility of your freight operations to deliver the outcomes you want?
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Are you able to procure capacity well in advance of when you need it?
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Are you releasing products to market in time to secure space on a vessel (for ocean freight)?
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Should you increase, or reduce, your use of air freight?
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Are you using appropriate port pairs to minimise domestic logistics at source and destination?
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What are the comparative costs of local versus offshore operations?
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Do your incoterms balance benefits appropriately for consignor and consignee?
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Answering these questions is a helpful step toward improvement, however mobilising the resources necessary to bring about change is a challenge that can be both daunting and disruptive to your business routines.
That’s why so many organisations prefer to get our team involved in identifying, analysing, and resolving international logistics issues.
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We can assist you in any aspect of international logistics improvement, but many of our clients’ projects involve the following initiatives:
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International logistics network design/redesign.
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Establishing optimal strategies for use of air freight and ocean freight.
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Pre-storage of inventory at country of origin.
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Cost reduction by shifting value-added activities (such as kitting/bundling) upstream in the supply chain.
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RFT processes to help you acquire services more aligned with your supply chain goals.
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Strategic in-house versus outsourcing decisions.
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Developing awareness of market options, to improve visibility and decision-making.
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Transitioning from arrangements with freight forwarders to direct contracts with carriers—using forwarders purely to manage the contracts.
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Port-pair optimisation, use of offshore consolidation, and similar measures to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
180 Day, 100% Money back Guarantee
Since 1997 we have completed over 1,700 projects, for hundreds of companies in more than 25 countries around the world.
Our projects and assignments have netted some $7 billion in cost savings for our clients in projects that tackled the complexities of global supply chain operations.
Our team of experts has operational experience across a broad spectrum of industries and commercial sectors.
That is why we confidently offer a unique 180 day, 100%, money-back guarantee on all our client assignments.
Payback on solutions we recommend or implement is typically realised within six months.
Many of our clients are among the 500 largest enterprises, and regularly ask us to work with them on international supply chain projects.
You’re welcome to learn more about our services on a totally FREE, no obligation consultation call.