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The dynamics of global trade changed dramatically in the aftermath of 9/11. Since this tragic event, the United States federal government has passed regulations designed to protect its borders and ensure the safety of its citizens. Among the electronic customs compliance requirements that have been enacted are the Trade Act of 2002 and the 2006 Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act. These initiatives, along with other global customs initiatives, have spurred an ongoing wave of customs compliance mandates for every mode of transportation and participant in the global supply chain around the world.

New fleet management best practices are encouraging fleet owners to re-evaluate their ways of working and the technologies they use to manage their fleets. While traditional fleet management practices remain effective, new practices are emerging in response to a dramatically-changing environment.

Three factors are primary in catalyzing the change: Unstable fuel costs; increased governmental regulation; and rapid technological progress with corresponding reductions in technology costs.

Fuel and labor are the fleet manager’s top two operating expenses. Fuel prices are uncontrollable, and as fuel costs rise, profits diminish correspondingly. In order to offset rising fuel costs, fleet managers must find efficiencies in other areas of the operation – either by driving fewer miles or by operating fewer vehicles. Where possible, fleet strategies should consider back haul opportunities to minimize empty miles and reduce 3rd party delivery costs.

Companies that supply bulk or cylinder propane gas must balance the pressure to reduce costs with accurate and efficient service delivery to ensure residential and commercial customers always have an available gas supply. An added challenge is that bulk delivery schedules are dynamic, while cylinder deliveries follow a fixed schedule.

For both types of operations however, the inability to accurately forecast customer inventory is a significant factor in increasing the cost of delivery. Making more frequent deliveries to increase buffers does ensure customers are never without gas. However, this approach quickly drives up transportation, inventory and labor costs.

This white paper provides an overview of the key elements of a gas routing model. It provides an overview that can be used to help improve service while at the same time improving operational efficiencies – both of which are key for this highly competitive sector.

What retailers want from their inbound supply chain is simple. They want the greatest product availability with the lowest inventory. Or put another way, they want the right goods at the right and shortest time possible with the correct labeling and supporting electronic documentation to allow those goods to seamlessly flow through their distribution network to their stores or customers. However a number of factors conspire against a retailer’s vision of a high velocity, high precision supply chain: suppliers, third-party logistics services providers (3PLs) and transportation providers with varying levels of capability and performance, disconnected processes and technologies across the supply chain and poor synchronization of all of the commercial, logistics and customs documents from purchase order to warehouse receipt. Traditional solutions have been enterprise focused, addressed only pieces of the retail inbound problem and in some cases produced competing and supply chain slowing results.

To meet retailer’s inbound supply chain needs, Descartes created Logistics Flow Control, a comprehensive multi-party solution that spans the entire purchase order to warehouse receipt process that collaboratively brings together all of the parties – retailer, suppliers, 3PLs, transportation services providers, and brokers to simultaneously manage commercial, logistics and customs inbound processes. As part of Descartes’ cloud-based Logistics Technology Platform, Logistics Flow Control can be implemented in a modular fashion and leverages Descartes Global Logistics Network to get results faster. With Logistics Flow Control, retailers gain greater command of their supply chain, improving product availability, while reducing inventory, logistics and compliance costs.

Logistics is different. If logistics is your business or a critical element to its success, you know this. You have to manage inventory, resources and documents that are all concurrently in motion with business processes that extend to the edge of your enterprise and well into your trading partners’ operations. Working with trading partners can be a challenge because they are numerous and your relationships with them are constantly changing. Traditional enterprise and niche applications have not adequately enabled your logistics business.

However, Descartes’ Logistics Technology Platform was designed for your logistics operations. Delivered through the fusion of the Global Logistics Network – the world’s most extensive global multimodal network and the industry’s broadest array of modular interoperable web and wireless logistics management solutions - it is the technology platform that Descartes’ customers and their trading partners use to extend command of their logistics operations. Combined with the world’s largest community of carriers in multiple modes, logistics intermediaries, government regulatory agencies, manufacturers, retailers and distributors, the Logistics Technology Platform enables customers to quickly and cost effectively connect and conduct logistics business.

Mobility is driving significant change in all facets of life. The adoption of mobile technologies is having an impact across both the consumer and commercial user spaces. The proliferation of high capability devices and innovative software, coupled with the drive for efficiency in business processes and mobile technology’s role in achieving that, is ushering in a new era of mobile resource management (MRM).

Early adoption and continued growth in MRM has come from delivery and field service intensive industries where planning and tracking assets has been a key element to improving safety, productivity, and customer service. Historically expensive propriety hardware and communications costs associated with early MRM solutions could be justified for expensive delivery resources and high value service assets. In today’s world however, commercial and often consumer based hardware technologies and ubiquitous low cost high speed data networks are enabling the spread of MRM technologies across all mobile worker oriented industries.

“Waiting it Out” is Not an Option
Companies are continually battling to control costs and improve customer service. The pressure increaes as the price of fuel rises – and it is not going to subside any time soon.

We all know that crude oil is a finite natural resource, and as with any commodity, fuel prices increase and decrease according to demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (www.eia.gov), both the gradual improvement in the U.S. and world economies in 2010 and ongoing political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, since early 2011 (the source of about one third of the world’s oil production), are contributing to the ongoing increases in crude oil and gasoline prices. Additionally, the latest findings from the International Energy Association (www.iea.org) show conventional oil supplies will plateau by 2020, resulting in a sharp and steady rise in prices as demand from both developed and developing countries grows.

No one expects fuel costs to come down in the near term, so “waiting it out” is not an option.

What You Can Do Today
Fuel costs alone can reach 10 to 15% of total operating costs, and this percentage is growing. So what can fleet operations do today to reduce their total operating costs?

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) model has been widely embraced thanks to the numerous advantages that ondemand solutions deliver to multiple industries. Logistics-intensive organizations, however, were among the first to turn to SaaS to reduce costs, increase operational performance and improve customer satisfaction. As the need for connectivity, collaboration and compliance grows, many members of the global supply chain now realize that SaaS in the logistics market can offer more than “rented” software applications when connected to a global logistics network comprised of several communities (such as airlines, government agencies, logistics providers, etc.), each with a common interest.

Consider the next evolution of SaaS as social networking for the supply chain – SaaS 2.0, if you will. Leveraging a global logistics network, SaaS 2.0 extends the value that traditional on-demand solutions offer by not only providing pay-per-use access to applications that businesses need to manage their supply chains, but by also bringing together and enabling collaboration between logistics service providers, supply chain partners and customers from around the globe.

The Descartes Global Logistics Network™ (Descartes GLN) for example, is a global network that offers value-added SaaS applications that enable organizations to manage critical business processes and logistics needs across the various modes of transportation (e.g., air, ocean, truck, etc.). In this scenario, SaaS logistics applications and a global logistics network combine to support multiple processes and connections within a single environment on a global scale. This multi-dimensional approach helps participants build communities, readily connect with trading partners, and transition beyond the simple interchange of information.

The European Union (EU) has made significant strides in streamlining customs processes. In its drive to increase efficiencies, it has established a number of mandates relating to security and customs declarations that are changing the future of inbound and outbound shipment activities, from information sharing and filing processes, to warehousing and distribution.

The EU’s multi-annual strategic plan, for example, which is a unifying document that impacts all of the 27 EU member states and other para-states (e.g. Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Iceland, Norway), now serves as a guide of the new measures these states are required to put in place over time. The intent of the strategic plan is to create a single window to view all security and customs functions under one interface. This is very similar in concept to the ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) initiative in the US, in which security and customs are combined into one interface.

Tremendous benefits can be realized by integrating and optimizing across a company’s own fleet and purchased transportation.

Companies choose to use a private or dedicated fleet for many different reasons, such as ensuring capacity and service, branding, scheduling flexibility, and fulfilling requirements for specialized equipment, configurations, and capabilities. The perennial challenge for private or dedicated fleet is to continuously find new ways to take cost out of the operation, while enhancing customer service. Decisions about when and how to use ‘for hire’ services vs. the private fleet are often made using static rules (such as distance from the DC) during the planning phase. Conversely, unplanned last-minute events can also result in suboptimal decisions, expediting, and higher costs. A more promising approach is emerging: taking the dynamic and holistic approach of looking at fleet and for hire together.

Market leaders across industries are disrupting the status quo, redefining their business models with new ways to connect with customers and fulfill their needs. They are managing and serving their customers needs - same day, twenty four hours a day. This is an always on business model. The new customer is always on - mobile and social.

So the imperative now is to understand these disruptive forces. Why now? The new reality is that there is a profound change impacting logistics economics, consuming capacity and know-how to support - and lead - these new business models. And more to the point, these leaders may be driving the business to them - not you.

This white paper discusses the philosophies and methods being used to create these new capabilities, and will cover the competitive response and how to provide customer service while maintaining or reducing costs. That is, becoming alway on.

Fleet management is becoming more important as companies look for ways to better compete and keep their costs down. What shapes the thinking, strategies, and tactics of the top performers? How are they leveraging rapidly evolving fleet technologies to increase the value the fleet provides to the company?

Descartes has completed a detailed survey and results point to a definite linkage between management’s perceived value of the fleet and overall financial performance. We will share our findings in this web seminar, which will provide you with a valuable opportunity to gain insights into the behavior of top performers and to compare the results with your own organization’s perspective and performance.

The Transportation Management benchmark survey results point to a definite linkage between management’s perceived value of the transportation management tactics and overall financial performance. Once registered, we'll share our findings in a web seminar that will provide you with a valuable opportunity to gain insights. 

Join Chris Jones, EVP Marketing and Services for Descartes to take a deep dive into the thinking behind the decisions of top performers, and what separates them from the rest of the pack.