CEOs know that among all transportation modes air freight is the most expensive. While it is more expensive, air freight has benefits for businesses in Australia that include the fastest transit time, global reach, high security, and reliability. To make the higher freight costs more efficient, there are a few industry secrets that you can use. These secrets include efficient packaging, pre-planning, CAT documentation and outsourcing to single service provider. These secrets can make your airfreight more economical without impacting service levels. While many large businesses or multinational companies (MNCs) may know these secrets, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) may not be aware.

Read on to learn 4 secret tips that can make the use of air freight forwarding more economical.

Globalisation means that customers have numerous options available to them when sourcing products. If one product is not available, usually they have options to choose a product that is available. To remain competitive, a CEO or Operations Manager should ensure they have an ample amount of product available to fulfil demand, whether planned or unplanned. These products may be raw materials, semi-finished products or finished products. To ensure sufficient stock requires a controlled and continuous product flow in the supply chain. In supply chain, product availability is impacted by various factors. However, among all the numerous factors, freight forwarding has the highest impact if you are buying and selling globally. Leading CEOs and Operation Managers understand that freight forwarding incorporates all transportation modes, including sea freight and air freight along with custom clearance at origin and destination. Mismanagement of freight can disrupt the product flow and impact availability. A proficiently managed freight forwarding operation assists CEOs and Operations Managers to have continuous product flow throughout the supply chain and have perfect availability.

Read on to learn the impact of freight forwarding on product availability and how managing it proficiently will assist your business.

The supply chain of any business acts as a system, which facilitates the timely delivery of goods to customers. To deliver products within the committed timeframe, this system should be efficient and error-free. The supply chain system consists of many functions including international freight forwarding, custom clearance, warehousing, transportation, manpower and information management. To ensure all these functions perform perfectly, one needs to have in-depth knowledge and expertise. Knowledge and expertise come by spending time and energy focused on learning and having expert resources within the organisation.

At the initial stages of building a business, these functions may have been developed in-house. As a business grows and begins to scale up, to maintain the desired level of expertise, it will need to invest a significant amount of time and energy in building supply chain functions along with its core competence. This is where it starts getting difficult and becomes more challenging. The supply chain may start faltering and the desired results become difficult to achieve. If you are facing this challenge as a CEO or Operations Manager, it can be worthwhile to look for an alternative and collaborate with a 3PL in Brisbane or another city in Australia to transform your supply chain and quickly move ahead of your competition.

Read on to learn how alignment with a provider of 3PL Brisbane can eliminate supply chain challenges and assist you in transforming your supply chain system.

CEOs and Operations Mangers in Australia understand that sea freight is the most economical transportation mode for their international freight imports and exports. To get the most out of your sea freight and overcome the compromises made due to the longer transit time, it is essential for CEOs and Operations Managers to get the most out of their sea freight operations to and from Australia.
Outsourcing your sea freight operation to an experienced and established freight forwarder is one of the best strategies that will assist with better decision making and allow you to get most out of their sea freight operation. Other tips include choosing the best option between FCLs and LCLs, signing an annual contract with your freight forwarding provider and planning in advance.

Read on to quickly learn more detail on these tips so that you can get the most out of your sea freight operations to and from Australia.

Air freight is the fastest, most reliable and better serviced compared to other modes of transportation. Despite higher costs, air freight is preferred for critical and high value shipments even though there are challenges. These challenges include cargo restrictions, limited action time, frequent rate changes and the possibility of heavy detention and demurrage costs even for smallest of mistakes. Leading Supply Chain and Operations managers in Australia know that knowledgeable air freight forwarders such as BCR understand these challenges and have the expertise in-house to manage them, proactively. Collaborating with experienced air freight forwarders can assist in developing solutions to the frequently faced challenges and assist their customer in fulfilling the order perfectly.

Read on to learn 3 frequent challenges faced with international air freight and how these challenges can be resolved promptly with the assistance of an efficient air freight forwarder.

A freight forwarding operation is a combination of international transportation (sea freight, air freight and domestic freight) custom clearance, and short term 3PL warehousing services. Throughout the supply chain, a product is in transit for close to 90% of the total cycle. This means that efficient management of your freight operation positively contributes to achieving higher order fulfilment. Mismanagement, on the other hand, can lead to erratic supply chain flow, resulting in missed timelines and unhappy customers.

Efficient management of all freight forwarding tasks, including transportation, customs clearance, air freight and sea freight documentation, government rules and regulations, strengthen the supply chain by delivering the product in a timely manner. This will avoid unnecessary costs and anxiety to Operations and Logistics managers. This efficiency also assists in optimizing inventory levels, reducing demurrage and detention, an increased order fulfilment rate and assists with cost reduction.

Read on to learn how you can strengthen your supply chain through efficient freight forwarding and the role of an efficient freight forwarder in achieving this.

How has the Hanjin crisis impacted on the market for sea freight forwarding between North East Asia and Australia? Why and how is this year's peak season so different to previous years? What future dates should you ne aware of to not be hit by excessive freight forwarding bills? Numerous influences are currently exerting leverage on the North East Asia to Australia trade lane, especially on sea freight from China, South Korea and Japan to Australia. The marathon towards Christmas has long begun but this marathon very likely won't end with the Christmas holidays.

Read on to learn more details on rate rises, carrier capacity, delays and important dates for early 2017. Find out how you can prepare your business for these rate peaks and the Christmas Holidays.

Third party logistics providers manage logistics including 3PL warehousing and freight forwarding for their customers and add value with their experience and knowledge. However, many business managers are less informed when it comes to the full suite of service offerings from 3PL providers. This means that they are either hesitate in collaborating with third-party logistics providers or do not gain the maximum value from the 3PL relationship. There are many little known facts about what full service 3PL providers offer. Some of these include having a ready to go experienced work force, having an organised culture forced on delivering for business customers, having a global presence and providing customers with the latest technologies, advanced infrastructure, value added services and being a one-stop shop. Knowing these facts can assist you in your outsourcing decision and provide better alignment with your third-party logistics providers.

Read on to learn 4 little known facts about 3PL providers that can benefit your business.

In today’s fast paced market environment, businesses are constantly implementing new things. Whether it is a supply chain strategy, technology or business process, to achieve the best results the implementation should be in perfect alignment with the overall business strategies. This requires three things: efficient management, control, and resources. Abandoning any one of these factors is likely to lead to unsatisfactory results. Not surprisingly, many times business managers find a variance in outcomes compared to original plans.
With warehousing, an efficient layout, a skilled work force, technology and inventory norms are all important items that need to be implemented impeccably. All these factors are very specific to each individual business and so is the implementation process for each individual business.

While many businesses in Australia continue to manage their warehousing in-house, at BCR, we are seeing an increasing number of businesses shifting to an outsourced model. 3PL providers in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth and all over Australia have proficient skills, experience and resources to implement strategies according to customers’ individual requirements and within timelines that meet customer requirements.

Read on to learn 4 valuable things a 3PL in Melbourne will deliver within the implementation process.

Supply chain is a complex function and businesses frequently encounter challenges at operational, tactical and strategic levels. Demand-supply gap, demand fluctuation, change in either government or market policies, incomplete processes and deficient management are the key factors driving this complexity. The consequences of a complex supply chain can vary from time-consuming processes, unnecessary costs, lower productivity and low delivery rates. Consequences that are more significant include unfulfilled orders, dissatisfied customers and lost market share.

Complexity in a supply chain is unavoidable and this complexity should me managed in a professional manner. At operational and tactical levels, business in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth or any other location in Australia need skilled labour, up to date technology and efficient management. At the strategic level, appropriate infrastructure, effective strategies and experience are mandatory. Tailor-made solutions provided by efficient third party logistics (3PL) providers in Australia assist in managing the complexities of supply chain at all levels.

Read on to learn how third party logistics (3PL) providers assist you to eliminate supply chain complexities that can improve customer satisfaction levels and assist with business growth.