Q: Why is it difficult for organizations to integrate true end-to-end global trade management?

A: True end-to-end global trade management (GTM) means managing and optimizing all the functions required to move goods across international borders. Organizations may argue that they are already doing GTM, when in fact they are only undertaking disparate pieces, such as international trade compliance or global transportation management.

ROI from Visibility Solutions is Clearly There – Here are a Number of Places You can Find It

Today, the vast majority of enterprise-class companies are global. Why? The benefits of sourcing from low cost countries and selling into new foreign markets are too strong to dismiss.

Unfortunately, many still make due with sub-standard global processes and technologies borrowed from domestic operations. Global transportation and supply chain visibility are two such areas.
 Here are some questions to ask yourself to highlight ways you may be losing money without the right processes in place for global shipments.

Over-Reliance On Expedited Shipping

While some shippers must always use expedited shipping because their products are time-sensitive, many organizations use it to compensate when something has failed in the supply chain. Examining opportunities to reduce expedited airfreight and move to ocean freight is always a good cost-reduction strategy for global shippers.
When evaluating this opportunity, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I have enough visibility into my inbound shipments against orders to make trade-offs that will still meet customer demand without having to expedite shipments?
• Do I need to pay for expedited inbound shipping from my suppliers? Where can I find more lead time in the planning process?
• Is my inventory system giving me enough information about ordering timeframes so I can avoid the cost of rush orders?

Through better planning and supply chain visibility, most global shippers can reduce expedited freight by 15 – 20% annually. This translates to significant costs savings for global companies with even moderate shipping volumes.

The Importance of These Duties to Supply Chain Managers

The terms “countervailing” and “anti-dumping duties” are often used together without necessarily distinguishing the two — in fact they are often abbreviated as ADD/CVD. What are these duties, and why are they important to supply chain managers?

Countervailing duties address the consequences of subsidies granted by governments for the production of certain goods. Subsidies effectively make goods less expensive, and when subsidized goods enter other countries, they may undercut or injure local producers. If there is a determination that Country A’s producers have been injured by Country B’s subsidies, then Country A may impose countervailing duties on the goods to close the price gap. Countervailing duties neutralize the negative effects of subsidies.