Supply Chain Known and Unknown Impact on Company Cost and Revenue

Jeff Caruso of CSC brought into focus the ability of visibilities’ impact on company supply chain contribution to cost reduction and profit enhancement. Awareness is a valuable attribute.

Caruso indicated that visibility and analytics contribute the most to making a company’s supply chain management a success — and that success translates directly to the company’s growth. Those that have both strong visibility and analytics capabilities are about twice as likely to be in the top 20% of businesses in their category for growth as firms that don’t, according to CSC’s ninth annual Global Survey of Supply Chain Progress, conducted along with Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business and Supply Chain Management Review.

“Supply chain has shifted its role from defense and survival last year to contributing to profitable growth,” says Ron Johnson, partner, national supply chain practice at CSC. “Over nine years there has been a steady elevation of supply chain as a strategic entity within the enterprise, versus a back-office transaction component.”

Overall, the survey showed that companies with both high visibility into their supply chain and a high degree of flexibility had higher business growth and higher profits than companies that had only one or the other, or neither. The ideal scenario: have visibility and analytics skills — plus the flexibility to take advantage of both.

Keeping on the top-20% theme, here’s a strategic area to address: 88% of those surveyed indicated their supply chains increased their revenue by less than 20%, with 96% stating their supply chain reduced their operating costs by at least 20%. More telling (or in this case not…), 14% indicated that they couldn’t indicate – they simply didn’t know their supply chain’s impact on cost or revenue. They lacked the necessary visibility to their data to determine underlying opportunities, therefore lost the ability for subsequent actions profit from their findings.

Partnering with an independent freight bill processor with the ability to provide visibility to information, and the cloud-based business intelligence (BI) analytics tools needed to utilize the information to reduce costs/increase profit, is a strategy any company can pursue. And probably should; for most companies these functions are non-core and costly to implement in-house. Instead, utilizing a BI-enabled freight bill processor working in-tandem with supply chain staff will achieve benchmarked information-driven results desired. Additionally, the processor processes, providing thorough shipping billing pre- and post-payment auditing and payment services to eliminate errors in carrier billing and provide centralized payment convenience.

– Tim Nissen, Data2Logistics http://www.data2logistics.com/ + http://twitter.com/Data2Logistics

US Ecommerce Sales Growing 9 Percent Annually Through 2017 – Are Etailer Supply Chains Prepared for Profit

InternetRetailing reviewed the Forrester’s European Online Retail Forecast 2012-2017, and the findings are fiscally fascinating; prospects for manufacturer, distributer and etailer profit profound. On the US pond-side, ecommerce sales will reach $370bn in 2017 from $231bn in 2012, accounting for a compound annual growth rate of 9%. European online sales will reach €191bn by 2017 from €112bn achieved in 2012, an annual growth rate of 11%.

The web’s reach ensures this as a global trend. Increasing mobile shopping access, with more business and consumer product choices available for purchase and delivery are drivers.

If your company’s positioning to be a beneficiary of this sales growth trend, consider the corresponding shipping volume increase. With your supply chain central to your business plan (THE business plan?), keeping costs in-check propels profitability. Data2Logistics can assist with that, providing you useable business intelligence-assembled transportation data viewing and reporting to optimize your product shipping time and cost. Speaking of cost, Data2Logistics completes the savings cycle with freight bill auditing and payment services, so billing accuracy also assists to maximize savings.

Big Data – Problem or Solution

Eyefortransport has published an excellent report on big data and supply chain impact. It gets one pondering the problem-solution continuum – how problematic will collection and meaningful usage of this info be? Will we realize ROI on these efforts, regarding how the new knowledge is utilized?

Whatever the outcome for each company impacted, big data adaptation is evolving in front of our eyes and overloading brains. Much of it will prove useful. Data2Logistics is part of it (hopefully the solution part…) by providing a centralized view of a company’s supply chain transportation activity and costs, allowing for optimized allocations and notable time and cost savings (ROI achieved!).

Supply Chain Singularity or Plurality and Why It Matters

A humorously thought provoking piece by Art van Bodegraven and Kenneth B. Ackerman in DC Velocity on the curiosity of singular reference to supply chain, when none involve simply a single step. Probably vernacular simplicity to shield ourselves from the complicated realities (Carl Jung, anyone) that prompted the process’s mention in singularity. Which makes Art & Kenneth’s piece that much more poignant and pleasurable.

North Dakota Oil Production Reaches All-Time High, Weathering a Supply Chain Challenge

A report (and an eye-widening 2003-2013 yield growth chart) from the US Energy Information Administration chronicles just how far the petroleum industry has progressed with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and its resulting yield reaching  a record 770,000 barrels per day in December 2012. That’s a full 10% of today’s US crude oil production, with much more remaining to be reached.

While the production technology is effective, logistics is challenging. With 75% of yield being transported from fields by truck to rail, the region’s harsh weather has tested the supply chain. To maintain moving to refineries, will rail infrastructure build-out to shorten distance between fields, trucks and railcars-to-refinery become a heightened priority?  If the production trend continues upwards, it probably will justify investment. Speaking of fiscals, will a hastened supply chain (in North Dakota, and other inland domestic drilling regions) positively affect fuel pricing to those buying it for their supply chains?

News Release – Data2Logistics Launches Shipper-Industry Benchmarking Program

For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Tim Nissen

Data2Logistics, LLC

12631 Westlinks Drive

Fort Myers, FL 33913

 

Data2Logistics Launches Shipper-Industry Benchmarking Program

Fort Myers, Florida and Rotterdam, Netherlands March 18, 2013 – Global supply chain information and technology company Data2Logistics announces the launch of the organization’ Shipper-Industry Benchmarking Program, providing a consultative review of a company’s freight shipping costs, comparing findings with industry benchmarks identified by Data2Logistics, to determine areas for cost reduction in conjunction with the savings scale probable to achieve through carrier and service level optimization. The initial consultation is currently a complementary service for companies managing shipping payment in-house, through a 3PL and/or utilizing a freight bill payment service.

Data2Logistics offerings reduce supply chain costs associated with product transportation through discovery; at the core a business intelligence portal providing for data mining of a shipper’s current information addressing their logistical needs in relation to marketplace options, enabling them to make optimized time and cost-effective decisions, domestically and globally. Implementation of discovery’s results includes support functions relating to pooled purchasing, RFP management, carrier negotiations, transportation management system software utilization, inbound routing and network analysis, along with informed freight bill auditing and payment services.

Data2Logistics’ services enhance organization’s logistics, supply chain, operations, finance and accounting processes, providing information needed to control costs for all modes of transportation both domestically and internationally via LTL, TL, parcel, overnight express, ocean, air and rail carriers. Having full service operations in Fort Myers, Florida, Salt Lake City, Utah and Rotterdam, Netherlands enables Data2Logistics to support companies shipping domestically and internationally, with staff attuned to local cultures and unique business environments.

Data2Logistics assists Global 1000, Fortune 1000 and SMB companies to reduce their shipping costs by providing an outsourced opportunity to efficiently process, audit, account code and pay their freight at a significantly lower cost than internal processes. Clients also benefit from the identification of more carrier overcharges than their internal systems can identify. The company provides actionable information to better manage and control transportation cost. As a single source of information for all modes of transportation on a global basis, Data2Logistics identifies and reports opportunities for savings and the reasons for variances in trends. Savings opportunities can be derived from modal shifts, consolidation of shipments, improved carrier utilization, and adjustment to shipment size, as well as monitoring accessorial costs. Reviewing approaching US$20 billion in freight billing from thousands of carriers annually, the company provides a single-source solution resulting in savings averaging 5%-15% of product shipping expenditures per year.

To arrange a confidential benchmark consultation, contact Data2Logistics’ Professional Services Group, +1 239 425 8050 or profservices@Data2Logistics.com.

About Data2Logistics, LLC

Fort Myers, Florida-based Data2Logistics is a leader in supply chain logistics knowledge management, cost control and freight payment. The company’s Ship Smarter and Save actionable information assists hundreds of clients in the Global 1000, Fortune 1000 and SMB categories, processing hundreds of millions of freight bills annually, valued nearing US$20 billion, saving clients an average of 5%-15% of their product shipping expenditures per year.

As an eight-time recipient of Inbound Logistics’ Top 100 Logistics IT Service Providers, their data mining capabilities creates actionable information for control of current and ongoing shipping cost savings. The company is the only service provider to work with clients and carriers to eliminate billing errors from recurring and to continuously improve and optimize their logistics networks and expenditures, domestically and globally. http://www.data2logistics.com/ + http://twitter.com/Data2Logistics

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5 – Make That 6 – Tips for Managing an SMB’s Global Supply Chain

Small Business Trends relayed 5 timely tips from the US Small Business Administration on managing a global supply chain. It’s an excellent checklist for SMB’s, with rationale for the benefits of each strategy.

Here’s Tip 6: For cost reduction on your supply chain’s global (and domestic) transportation, Data2Logistics can help. They’ll leverage your data against industry benchmarks to assess optimal shipping options and pricing, along with auditing of freight billing for accuracy and providing payment services for convenience.

News from Home – Florida Governor Recommends $288M for Ports; More States Onboard?

In his annual State of the State address, Florida’s Governor Rick Scott emphasized the need for strategic infrastructure investments and announced his budget recommendation of $288 million in seaport improvements this year. Jobs, and resulting circulating revenue manifesting from increased cargo movement is the motivation.

Supply chain infrastructure investment is trending internationally, most notably in Europe and emerging market nations. As the US emerges from slow-drip recession, will additional states aggressively join this growth generation? Finding the funds is challenging, but the country’s exporting prosperity depends on it.

– Data2Logistics http://www.data2logistics.com/ + http://twitter.com/Data2Logistics

Attention SMBs – Global Logistics Matters That Matter to You

Elizabeth Palermo contributed this action-call to small and medium size businesses (SMB’s; employing up to 500) to BusinessNewsDaily regarding logistics trends affect international sourcing and sales expansion. Her list of 20 is a handy roadmap to this trend largely facilitated by Internet-enabled commerce providing reach to contacts in markets facilitating global growth of companies of any size.

Freight Bill Payment Outsourcing – Trend with Large Companies, Opportunity for SMB’s

An enlightening survey report addressing the state of freight bill shipping processing, the money and motivation behind technological advances utilized, and widespread usage of outsourcing some or all of the processes involved was recently conducted and released by American Shipper, in partnership with the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Transportation Payment Benchmark Study: A Step Forward, written by James Blaeser, Publisher of American Shipper, reveals engagement levels of large companies, along with small and medium businesses (SMBs) in their quest for visibility to billing/payment data, improved operational efficiency and awareness of cost with achievement of savings.

The publication highlighted:

“Payments to logistics service providers (LSPs) are moving to electronic means, such as automated clearing house (ACH), at a noticeable rate. Considerably more transac­tions are settled electronically this year as compared to last. Progress in terms of the dollars transacted is a bit slower but evident nonetheless suggesting that some companies are still hesitant to electronically transfer large sums of money.

“It is difficult to argue that the transportation industry is still behind the curve when it comes to conducting basic online transactions. However, to ensure progress, LSPs and their customers must move payments to an electronic environment. The benefits of e-banking are clear and will become impossible to ignore as the business community at large moves in this direction.”

To the numbers – 2011 payments via ACH: 45% of total transactions, 41% of total dollars transacted, up from 31% and 36% respectively in 2010. In 2011, 60% of large companies outsourced some or all of their payment processes, with 66% of SMB utilizing this practice, providing an extension to shipper’s internal abilities.

Decision drivers for payment systems technology utilization, as deployed by independent outsourced entities, included visibility to data (85% of large companies, 77% of SMBs), improve operational efficiency (74%/77%), visibility to costs (70%/62%) and cost savings (56%/85%). Of all large company and SMB’s responding combined, 60% indicated that they plan to increase their levels of outsourcing of some or all of their payment processes in the near future.

A central technology enabling outsourcing is ACH ability. ACH payments are electronic transfers from one account to another; shipper deposits funds with freight bill processor’s banking network, processor pays carrier once billing had been audited for accuracy. ACH payments can help reduce errors and save resources (people’s time and paper waste).

The payment accuracy component, auditing of freight billing, is a multi-step practice consisting of both pre- and post-payment processing. Preformed properly, substantial cost savings result; as unwarranted costs and fees are discovered and eliminated. An additional benefit is improved carrier relations, as payment processing is improved between shipper and carrier.

This study highlights fiscal needs trending towards tangible results. For organizations who seek to maximize shipping billing payment accuracy and efficiency, an effective way to optimize the entire process is to form an alliance with an independent freight bill processor that has the necessary technology to provide thorough pre- and post-payment auditing and payment services, to maximize accuracy and resulting cost savings. Manufacturers, distributors, retailers and etailers who utilize freight bill auditing-payment outsourcing benefit by enhancing shippers’ internal functionality, with removal of a non-core function of their business to an independent entity specializing in this field.

– Tim Nissen, Data2Logistics http://www.data2logistics.com/ + http://twitter.com/Data2Logistics