American Shipper will be hosting a webinar that will address the findings from the recent Import Operations & Compliance Benchmark Study: Risky Business, published by American Shipper and BPE.

Risky Business: Best Practices in Balancing Operational Demands with Compliance Requirements will broadcast live on Wednesday, June 22 at 2pm EDT.  Panelists Nathan Pieri (SVP of Marketing and Product Development at Management Dynamics) and Jennifer Wade (Senior Consultant, BPE) will apply these findings to actionable business practices.

Topics will include:

• Operations and compliance organization structures
• Compliance policy responsibilities
• Productivity benchmarks
• Filing and reconciliation
• Duty avoidance programs

This is a must-attend event for importers!

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These [global trade management software] tools provide an immediate and visible return on investment, enabling companies to reduce costs, improve operations, shrink manual data entry errors, facilitate cross-border movements, and improve customer service. In addition, reducing cycle times, eliminating bottlenecks, improving distribution networks, lowering out-of-stocks, and determining the best way to ship freight can also lower emissions, an ecological goal for many companies.

He also offers some sound advise for companies who may be looking to take the next step toward globalization:

Companies no longer have to take on all facets of international trading at once. And with the advent of cloud computing, otherwise known as Software as a Service (SaaS), companies can collaborate with trading partners around the globe with minimal start-up costs and headaches using a pay-as-you-go model.

Please follow this link to read the full feature article, Global Trade Management Software: International Trading Made Easier.

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This report provides an in-depth and comprehensive look into process, procedure, methodologies, and technologies with best practice identification and actionable recommendations. A few notable statistics from the survey are that:

• 58% of respondents indicate that internal stakeholders outside of the compliance department do not understand the risks of non-compliance
• 42% indicate that manual processes are becoming too cumbersome
• 28% claim they are mostly manual and spreadsheet driven, while 64% claim manual or spreadsheet on some components
• 34% cite total landed costs among the top three ranked improvement areas for compliance in 2010

Download your complimentary copy of the report today.

There is no silver bullet for a successful GTM/GTC program – it is a combination of excellence in the areas of access, enablement internally and externally, process/technology, and proactive planning and execution. When these things are aligned, in proper combination, they yield superior results.

- AberdeenGroup

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For this research report, Aberdeen surveyed 136 global exporters and importers in August and September of this year. Their findings revealed that trade compliance teams are actively revamping and augmenting their Global Trade Management (GTM), specifically their Global Trade Compliance programs, to stay current with supply and demand fluctuations, growing global operations, increasing operational complexity and risk, and trade lane changes.

Here are a few key findings in the report:

• Best-in-Class companies had 8.2% in average trade compliance cost to value ratio
• Best-in-Class companies achieved 95.0% perfect order rate received on imports received from international suppliers
• Best-in-Class companies experienced 96.0% for perfect order rate delivered on exports to international suppliers/customers
• Best-in-Class companies improved their average trade compliance cost to value ratio by 1.4% improvement, year over year
• Best-in-Class companies increased their total land cost per unit handled versus prior year by 0.6%, a 5.5 percentage point advantage over all others

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Global trade transactions account for trillions upon trillions of dollars each year, and this number is expanding as we forge into the future. Additionally, it is becoming more complex to manage US and international regulations.

Yet, despite these factors, compliance departments remain woefully underfunded and understaffed. According to our export compliance research, 14.6% of compliance professionals believe that their company’s executive management is not aware of trade compliance.

How do you get executive level cooperation and sponsorship of your initiatives?

Join American Shipper and Management Dynamics for an upcoming educational webinar, “Bringing Compliance into the Boardroom.” This webinar, featuring a panel of global trade experts, will discuss how to get your voice heard when speaking to your c-level executives about enhancing your trade compliance operations.

In this trade compliance webinar, expert panelists will discuss:

• Pain points of each member in the boardroom
• How these points relate to compliance issues
• Key messaging to use when speaking to each board member
• Tools to use in your presentation, such as quantifying compliance and its effect on the bottom line
• How automation can contribute to your efforts by adding value and saving money

Panelists:

Virginia Thompson
Director, Import/Export Operations & Global Trade Compliance
Crate & Barrel

Nathan Pieri
SVP Marketing & Product Management
Management Dynamics, Inc.

Beth Peterson
President
BPE

Register Today for Bringing Compliance into the Boardroom!

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The Wall Street Journal has a great article about the green sustainable global supply chain - specifically within the apparel industry – describing a new tool for consumers to determine how green their products are.

“How Green Is My Sneaker” describes a new software tool, developed by 100 retailers and apparel manufacturers, can determine the “Eco-Index” of their products. The tool calculates the score from a series of questions answered by the company and its suppliers:

The Eco Index, which is basically a software tool any apparel maker can use, poses a series of questions to companies on their environmental and labor practices—some of which require answers from the companies’ suppliers. It then assigns a score representing a percentage of a perfect score. 

The questions cover every step in the life of a product, from raw-material production to manufacturing, shipping, and even disposal. For instance, Levi’s gets points for having a recycling program that lets consumers drop off their old jeans at Goodwill, and Timberland earns points for using leather tanneries that have wastewater-purifying systems. Points are lost for using bulky packing material or transporting goods long distances. The Eco Index also includes estimates of how consumers will wash and eventually dispose of their clothes.   

Image Courtesy Wall Street Journal, Levi's. Click to view interactive version.

The tool and scoring have been in development for over three years, but roll out to the public is not expected in the immediate future – even though retailers are announcing the Eco-Index at next month’s Outdoor Retailer trade show.

Personally, I found the interactive graphic to be a great addition to the article. It shows how 1 pair of Levi’s jeans travels throughout the US and Caribbean – and even after purchase, how that one product continues to affect the environment.For example, the majority of CO2 emissions over the life-cycle of a pair of jeans come from the consumer’s washing machine & dryer.  Switching to cold water and line-drying cuts the CO2 emissions to a fraction compared to washing with hot water washing and machine-drying.

Levi’s also looks to be making a lot of progress in sustainability based on their research into the greenness of their products: 

As part of its participation in the Eco Index, Levi’s did a separate internal study of its own practices. As a result, Levi’s changed its transportation routes last year to make them more efficient and reduced carbon emissions by 700 metric tons. In addition to the Goodwill agreement, Levi’s also cut back on packaging, allowing only three pieces of labeling with the jeans—a back-pocket tag, a size sticker, and a price tag.  

In my opinion, sustainability and trade compliance are linked policies. Companies must have a plan in place for both- or else pay fines, waste money, lose time, and give up competitiveness in the marketplace.

Read the complete article at WSJ: “How Green Is My Sneaker?”

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