As busy person responsible for managing international freight, time is always short. Staying informed on the state of the sea freight market can be a challenge on top of everything else you face during your work day. Being informed on the market is important as it means you can make decisions on when to ship that can reduce costs. To assist Freight Forwarding and Logistics Managers stay informed quickly on import market conditions to Australia, each month, we publish a state of the sea freight market update to make staying informed easy.

Read on to learn more on the import sea freight market conditions to Australia for major lanes including North East Asia, South East Asia, the United States and Europe, plus learn more on Landed Costs.

3PL warehousing, as with overall business, has evolved significantly in the past 10 years. In the past, warehouses served as stocking points where goods were stored and dispatched when needed. As supply chains started to take shape, the role of the warehouse advanced to include coordinating the flow of material, providing information, and tracking and tracing of the goods. Supply chain advancement has resulted in warehouses facing increased product proliferation, globalisation, and consolidation and hence ever increasing complexity. With each passing year, providers of 3PL Melbourne services have modified their service offerings from providing basic warehouse space and labour to customised warehouse services. 3PL companies now use technology to automate processes that were previously manual, work in a real time environment by providing instant inventory visibility, optimise warehousing processes to operate efficiently and provide solutions in warehouse layout and design. All of these advancements work to fulfil customer demand within the budget and time constraint.

Read on to learn more about how providers of 3PL in Melbourne and all over Australia have evolved over the past 10 years.

Executing the supply chain network for your business on your own can be a huge task. Simultaneously securing your warehousing, transportation, distribution and freight forwarding functions are just some of the tasks to be completed. Smart businesses understand the challenges that come with executing this project on their own and hence opt to work with an established 3PL in Brisbane that comes with expertise, networks, experience and resources. Established 3PL providers in Brisbane have substantial experience working with customers and can bring this knowledge to your business. By virtue of their experience, a 3PL Brisbane would have historical information and a forward looking view on logistics to inform your business on potential disruptions in supply chain network, lean principals to utilise, robust processes and IT solutions to improve supply chain performance. With all these advantages, engaging a 3PL in Brisbane to execute your supply chain is worth considering.

Read on to learn how a 3PL in Brisbane can shift your supply chain to high gear.

Supply chain bottlenecks are disruptions that slow down your supply chain flow. Common causes for these bottlenecks related to products, information or financials. As each supply chain operation is unique in its own way, it is likely to have its own bottlenecks where one standard solution cannot be defined for all businesses. Supply chain bottlenecks are commonly experienced due to poor storage methods, poorly developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and undefined inventory norms, limited resource networks, inefficient manpower, lack of supply chain transparency and gaps between demand and supply.

The identification and management of bottlenecks require industry expertise as well as investing a considerable amount of time to avoid them. This can be challenging when managing your core function. Engaging a third party logistics (3PL) provider can assist businesses to manage specific bottlenecks to ensure their customer’s supply chain remains efficient and improves customer satisfaction levels while saving time, energy and costs caused by bottlenecks.

Read onto to learn 5 steps to manage supply chain bottlenecks and make your supply chain operation more effective and efficient.

Switching between freight forwarder can be a stressful task, especially if you have been engaging their 3PL services for years. To engage reliable freight forwarders and develop a trustworthy relationship takes time and effort from both parties. As the relationship develops over time, it can be easy to forget to reassess if the service is ideal for your business.

However, if customer service levels drop, the relationship between your business and the freight forwarding company may need to end. Similarly, if your freight forwarder repeatedly fails or is not willing to adapt business changes, successful businesses know that it’s time to review the service provider and consider switching.

Read on to learn 4 signs it is time to review your current freight forwarder. 

Best practice businesses know that choosing the best transport mode for your supply chain requirements is often a question of time and money. Depending on how quick your goods need to be moved is highly likely to determine whether you choose air freight or sea freight. While sea freight is deemed a cheaper transport service, it is impossible for a sea freight carrier to compete with air freight delivery timelines which can be turned around in as little as a day.

Each week, customers from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth seeking fast, effective freight forwarding service contact BCR for expert advice on which transport mode to use. These customers all want the quickest service that can be accessed as soon as they are ready to ship, that does not incur delays and extra costs. As a leading international air freight forwarder, BCR has many years of experience assisting businesses across Australia to decide the best mode of transport for their goods. Being able to guarantee the fastest delivery time possible, on-time delivery and daily and hourly service availability are benefits you are likely to receive by choosing air freight over sea freight services.

Read on to learn 3 benefits of using air freight over sea freight services.

As a busy Freight Forwarding or Logistics Manager, staying up to date on the sea freight market conditions for imports to Australia can be challenging. With the current oversupply of sea freight space, the historic low freight rates and the pending mergers and consolidations within the shipping industry, it is important to be informed so you can be prepared.

At BCR we believe in being an information resource where we share updated sea freight information each month, in a quick, easily digestible format so that you can be informed on changes in rates or services available for your imports into Australia.

Read on to learn more on the import sea freight market conditions to Australia for major lanes including North East Asia, South East Asia, the United States and Europe.

Logistics and supply chains have gained tremendous momentum over the past few years. Globalisation has required supply chain operations to become fast and accessible, and as a result, the operational complexity has increased. Third Party Logistics Providers (3PLs) have been pushing boundaries to manage operational complexities for their customers and ideally develop performance driven solutions on the back of very strong industry capabilities. As the logistics industry evolves, innovative 3PLs have also developed global best practices that enable them to provide customised warehousing solutions and hassle-free management to their customers.

Best practices services such as achieving business metrics, continuously optimising networks, having tech-enabled operations, highly experienced personnel and risk management procedures are competitive advantages customers can achieve with a 3PL. Best practice solutions, which expert 3PLs set as a benchmark service level, are developed through decades of expertise and experience with broad customer bases .

Read on to learn 5 ways a 3PL can deliver best practice logistics to your business.

Late last year, on December 20, 2015 the Chinese Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) commenced. After this date, companies that import from China and comply with the terms of the Free Trade Agreement are eligible to claim preferential duty rates. For many importers in Australia, this reduction in duty represents a significant saving. Since the commencement date, we have been working with our small, medium and large customers to assist in utilising the benefits of ChAFTA. In theory, the terms of the Agreement appear quite simple. An importer receives a Certificate of Origin (COO) and enjoys a saving in Customs duty.

However, in working through the process it has become apparent that it will be much more challenging for importers to easily achieve the preferential duty rates that are available. These challenges are real and it is important for importers to understand the issues faced by their Customs Broker, when attempting to clear their goods under ChAFTA. The Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) has recently announced some of the challenges faced by Freight Forwarders, Customs Brokers and importers on the Lloyds List Australia blog.

Read on to learn 4 problems and solutions with realising the benefits of the ChAFTA.

Businesses with a supply chain know that goods being imported via different modes of transportation such as air freight and sea freight are stored at various transaction stages before they reach their final destination as part of the freight forwarding service. These storage charges are billed by various agencies involved in the importing of goods under different categories such as storage, demurrage and detention charges. In most cases, storage is free for a certain time, however, extended use of space and equipment beyond the free period results in storage charges. Understanding these charges and the different types of storage can be confusing if you are less experienced with the importing and exporting process.

Experienced freight forwarders such as BCR have been working with import agencies for decades and have a thorough and detailed understanding of these charges. Expert providers also understand that not paying close attention to these charges can cause increased costs and may inflate your total freight costs to much higher levels than what was forecasted. Smart business understand this and rely on experienced and professional freight forwarders to ensure storage charges are minimised with attention to detail and tight proactive co-ordination.

Read on to learn 3 ways your freight forwarder can assist you in saving these charges.