International Trade/Offshore Manufacturing/Sourcing/Export/Import/Consulting Pay Attention to Logistics By Dawn Griggs Manufacturers spend hundreds of millions of dollars to improve their products and production methods, but often don't put a high priority on their shipping and receiving operations. Yet, a transportation firm is an extension of their business. Relations with customers can be ruined if shipments are late, damaged or missing. Internationally, poor transportation can even add to the U.S. trade deficit woes because of interrupted business abroad. Companies lose millions of dollars each year because they often pay too little attention to how their products are shipped. At many corporations, it frequently takes a vice president to approve a $50 check, while millions of dollars of company products move off its freight dock with little thought or interest by the front office. There are a number of ways, however, companies can improve their traffic operations in today's rapidly changing world of logistics. To progressive, competitive freight forwarders, who handle 65 percent of all U.S. domestic air transportation and more than 90 percent of international traffic, the days of simply picking up a package and delivering it to the consignee has long gone. Today, forwarders work closely with a company's traffic department to solve the many transportation and distribution problems that arise in today's fast-moving economy. They make suggestions to improve existing systems and recommend new ones to better a company's distribution flow and routings. Following some common sense advice on what criteria should be used in choosing your freight provider can mean the difference between selecting a competent, businesslike mover of your goods or a company that can not only literally damage your freight but, more importantly, damage your quality reputation with customers. Here are some suggestions: The right mix of services is perhaps the most important attribute of your forwarder. Does it have the capabilities to move your cargo according to the differing distribution needs of your company? Does your forwarder have clout? Does it do sufficient business with trucking firms, airlines and steamship companies so that it can negotiate favorable rates for customers? Will it be assured by vendors that your freight will move despite heavy seasonal demand when there is a shortage of ocean and air lift? Is it a hands-on forwarder? Does it control shipments through its own facilities or that of its overseas partners if the shipments are exported right to the consignee's door? Is the shipment monitored closely so that the forwarder knows the status of the shipment at every step of the journey? Do your own hands-on investigation. Visit the local office of your forwarder. Are the offices well maintained? Desks neat and tidy? Electronic equipment clean and in proper working order? Personnel perhaps casually but neatly dressed? Is there a general air of competence and good organization in the forwarderÕs office? What about management? Will the manager of the forwarder's local office where you consign your cargo remain interested in your business? Or will she or he be "in meetings" when you call with an urgent problem? Will senior officials of the forwarding company also take an interest in your freight, even though you may not be a large shipper with them? Finally, will your forwarder become a true partner in transportation, or to use the current catch phrase, in logistics? Will it listen carefully to any particular problem you might have? Will it show a genuine desire, through enthusiasm and interest, in wanting to be your transportation ally not only for a few months but in a long-term relationship? These common sense steps in choosing your freight vendor could make an enormous difference in your entire distribution process. Your company's traffic department and senior management should both go down to the loading dock to ensure the right forwarder's truck is picking up your freight. When this article was first published, Dawn Griggs was director of the Atlanta office of Consolidators International, an international air freight wholesaler with operations throughout the world. Advertise on this site Put your company on this site!