Import Management: Complete visibility from purchase order to delivery

The pandemic has induced chaos in the global supply chain ecosystem. Whether it’s holding back existing orders or finding new suppliers due to the lockdown and resultant economic slowdown importers have had to grapple with new challenges every day. According to a survey by Interos, nearly 90% of companies expect the pandemic-triggered supply chain disruption to have a long-term effect on their businesses. Supply chain is a business-critical function beset with high risks, complexities, and costs. For example, diverse terms of engagement (such as C, D, E, and F) need to be factored in by organizations as they impact the risk levels and the associated costs. This new reality adds on to the complexities already confronting businesses.

Companies today are caught up between having to control costs and providing customers with on-demand service. What this means is that businesses are looking at all possible means to reduce inventory levels and this includes constantly seeking alternative procurement partners. The fact that e-commerce has made customers expect goods and services on an immediate has translated into a demand for an order-to-delivery expectation of a few days.

Companies are coming to terms with these facets of service levels and have understood that the only way to effectively deal with it is to develop and maintain a streamlined supply chain. One that gives complete visibility from purchase order to delivery. Well-crafted supply chain visibility solutions can help you plan better, remove blind spots, and get innovative, a critical requirement in the current scenario. It can help you enable optimum product availability while at the same time free up capital tied up in inventory. However, realising the goal of a full integration and visibility is a major challenge due to the siloed nature of many organizations’ supply chains. This is where Maersk Destination Supply Chain Management (DSCM) comes into the picture.

One Maersk to the rescue

Given its depth of experience and extensive scale of operations, Maersk understood the challenges that its customers face today. From these insights came Destination Supply Chain Management Solutions, Maersk’s end-to-end offering targeted at importers. In these uncertain times, Maersk DSCM can be your ally to reduce or nullify the negative impact of disrupted supply chains. It provides complete visibility throughout the entire supply chain for your imports that enables you to plan your inventory better. It offers real-time insights about your import shipments right from your supplier to the last leg of your supply chain. As your logistics partner, Maersk also takes care of the last leg of your supply chain including complete handing of documentation and customs clearance. It provides you with a clear view into the exceptions of your shipment data.

Visibility that is as real as you can get

One of the biggest challenges facing importers right now is the lack of visibility into their orders. Has the order left the port of origin? Has the quantity that has been shipped the same as that ordered? Has it reached the warehouse? In instances where there are multiple suppliers spread worldwide these questions take on added complexities. Transhipments may be delayed because of congestion at one of the ports en route to the destination. With Maersk DSCM you can track the status of your shipment at any point in time. Due to automation of certain basic processes human error is eliminated. This greatly aids visibility because the importer can access data from the DSCM dashboard starting from the initial purchase order at point of origin. This also allows you to plan your operations far better and build efficiency into your supply chain.

Better exception management by reducing variables

One of the most prominent benefits of Destination Supply Chain Management is that it avoids the irregularities often faced while dealing with supply chain partners. In the current situation this is even more the case. Often, forwarders are hard pressed to abide by their promised turn-around times due to several reasons– both internal and external. DSCM ensures your shipment reaches you on time, every time.

Maersk Destination Supply Chain Management offers unmatched visibility into your supply chain through proactive communication with suppliers at the origin much before the loading. Apart from this, it also plans the delivery for smoother execution.

Manage your landing cost better

It essentially follows up with the suppliers asking them to share across all the documents involved in the entire process. This allows customs formalities to be started in a much smoother way without the usual hassles of crosschecking documents, and realizing that some critical document is incomplete or missing. What you get is the enviable benefit of having everything ready in time when the shipment arrives. This aspect also has a direct positive impact on your detention and demurrage (D&D) charges. When your documentation is flawless you can take possession of your order without having to incur expensive D&D costs.

DSCM ensures that the compliance process is single-handedly taken care of. Meanwhile, the Customs team would work with the client who would ensure that whatever customs filling have been done is accurate and in order. Everything is in a workflow system which is in the form of structured data and leaves ample scope for analysis. This will help for big savings in actual landing cost of your as it brings down the larger chunk of your transportation cost.

DSCM comes across as a great alternative to traditional freight forwarding services as it gets past the usual challenges to organize, consolidate, and ship your cargo naturally. The shape of the shipping industry is changing constantly as the future of the global economy is shifting. Which is why it makes more sense than ever to adapt to a service that is well ahead of its time. Want to know more about how Maersk’s DSCM solution can help you? Click here to know more.