Parcel - March/April 2009 - (Page 28) Leveraging Shipping Software Rate negotiations are not the only way to reduce shipping costs — B y Tr o y G r a h a m — EvEn under the best business conditions, it is a good idea to seek ways to control costs and improve customer satisfaction. In challenging economic environments, achieving these objectives is essential for survival. One operational area where many companies can reduce costs while also enhancing customer service levels is fulfillment. The traditional approach to lowering fulfillment costs is negotiating transportation discounts with shippers. Continually evaluating carrier rates is certainly important, but carriers can only lower rates so far — and the approach doesn’t really do anything to help customers. On the other hand, leveraging shipping software provided by carriers puts you in the driver’s seat, adding the unprecedented ability to manage fulfillment operations internally in a way that controls costs and improves customer satisfaction. Until recently, integrating parcel shipping software with accounting, ERP or Warehouse Management systems required implementation of a multi-carrier shipping system that complied with UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS requirements. These systems certainly work very well, but their overall cost is high. Still, when no other options were available, the hefty price tag was justified in order to improve warehouse efficiency and shipping accuracy. As carriers have started to increase the frequency of their mandatory compliance updates, software maintenance costs have risen significantly, and justification has become more problematic. In the past, compliance updates mandated by the carriers typically happened once a year. In turn, multi-carrier shipping systems typically updated four times per year. Today, carriers update their services, rates, accessorial charges and routing guidelines so frequently that it forces multi-carrier shipping system providers to perform continuous software updates in order to stay compliant. This inevitably drives ongoing maintenance costs dramatically higher and increases the chances for costly errors. Fully Functional Carrier Software Now available in the shipping solution marketplace is free, user-friendly, fully functional carrier software (UPS WorldShip, FedEx Ship Manager, DHL EasyShip and USPS). Making this software even more attractive is the fact that software updates and support — for both the software and shipping — are free as well. This means that if you need to ship an order to Guam and are not certain how to do so, you can simply call carrier support — and they will tell you exactly what you need to do. The free software offers shippers access to most, if not all, of the services that a carrier has to offer. In addition, there is built-in address verification, automatic fuel surcharge updates and email/fax notification of shipment information to your customers as well as many other features. So not only does the software cut costs, but it enhances customer service as well because you can now notify a customer that an order has shipped and also apprise them of delays in package processing. By now you should be thinking that this sounds too good to be true. After all, more functionality, extensive support services — all for free! Where’s the catch? The missing link has always been the ability to integrate these free systems with your accounting, ERP or WMS system. Fortunately, even that capability is now available with carrier-provided tools that deliver basic integration and import/export functionality. Although certainly helpful, many companies find they need a more robust integration and turn to a system integrator who can deliver the needed enhancements with a cost-effective, 28 MARCH 2009 | www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.