Last Friday 30 October, the Australian Border Force (ABF) announced a Protected Industrial Action (PIA) effective immediately that will include 24 hour bans on national Container Examination Facilities (CEF) operations.

While usual industry practice sees up to 100 containers passed through the CEF per day, importers may experience delays with “holds” on all CEF selected containers for the duration of the PIA commencing from Tuesday 3 November through to Monday 9 November.

Read on to learn how the PIA may impact Australian importers and how your freight forwarder, BCR will assist.

In today’s highly competitive market, your ability to fulfil customer orders may determine the success and consequential growth of your business. Increasing the speed at which you can fulfil your customers’ orders has become one of the most important parameters for the selection of the right 3PL in Brisbane and other states across Australia.

The rate of order fulfilment has to be achieved by focusing on the entire supply chain and identifying the areas where different methods can be deployed with a two-pronged objective to avoid delays and increase speed. This starts with the right planning, continues through the execution and is ideally part of continuous improvement initiatives. Smart businesses understand this and engage a 3PL in Brisbane that can assist with continually focusing on increasing the rate of order fulfilment.

Read on to learn 6 ways you can increase your fulfilment rates with a Brisbane 3PL.

In this month’s edition, learn the current state of the import sea freight Australia market including the shortage of space out of North East Asia to Australia which is expected to continue through to mid-November.

We also share details on the new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) container weight verification requirement that will come into force from 1 July 2016. 

Read on to learn about the current full sea freight Australia market conditions.

Outsourcing freight operations to international freight companies enable businesses to grow faster by focussing on their core competencies along with many other benefits. However, sometimes unfounded myths and perceptions cause unnecessary confusion for Australian business owners and new importers/exporters which may deter them from using the services of international freight companies.

These myths are commonly related to service levels, costs, controls, transparency and data security. International freight companies are likely aware of these myths and it is ideal to clarify these with their customers from the very beginning. Smart businesses also tend to clarify any misleading facts and clear any misconceptions they may have about freight forwarding services.

Read on to learn the most common myths and misconceptions about international freight companies and learn the truth.

With the evolution of supply chains and more businesses outsourcing activities across their supply chain to third party logistics providers, many pricing models have come into prevalence. Each year we speak with a significant number of business looking to outsource part or all of their warehousing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Townsville and one of the questions we are asked frequently is which kind of 3PL warehousing pricing models do we offer.

It is an important question as it can have a significant impact on the bottom line for the customer and for the 3PL provider. The most frequent models used include activity-based, cost plus management fee, percentage of sales, pay per use and pay per unit. These 5 models offer a lot of flexibility to third party logistics companies and their customers to choose a model that works best for various business scenarios. Even if the same third party logistics company is managing all or few parts of a supply chain, the pricing models can differ for parts based on the service being performed and what works best for both the partners.

Read on to learn 5 common pricing models that may best compliment your business scenario. 

Every year, we meet with hundreds of companies that are considering outsourcing their warehousing or international freight forwarding to a 3PL provider. Many of these companies are looking for ways they can optimise their logistics business and focus more of their core competencies and their customers. Making the choice to increase the use of a 3PL is an important question and not the best choice for every company. In this post we will share 5 ways you can increase your customer opportunities with third party logistics compared to working exclusively with your in-house logistics set-ups.

Third party logistics companies in Australia have a wide network across many domestic cities including Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Townsville, Cairns and Perth, and have a trusted global network for freight forwarding 3PL warehousing and international transportation. A 3PL can customise their services which can assist you to expand your market reach or achieve rapid scaling-up or down to fulfil customer demand and optimise your inventory.

Read on to learn how you can increase your customer opportunities by working with third party logistics companies.

As a leading independent international freight forwarder and 3PL company, we speak with hundreds of customers each month and a common question we receive is about the state of the import sea freight market into Australia. It is an consistently asked question and at BCR we believe it is important to share sea freight market knowledge with our customers and prospects.

Read on to learn the state of the import sea freight market to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth (Fremantle) and Adelaide so that you are prepared for the traditional peak season period.

Before you decide to use a freight forwarder for your international freight and shipping operations, an important question that needs answering is how much value can your freight forwarder bring to assist you to gain a competitive advantage?

Ideally, the competitive advantage that your business can gain can be measured both strategically and operationally. Strategically, a freight forwarder is likely to be able to keep you informed on the international freight markets you use and propose strategic solutions to benefit your business. Operationally, a freight forwarder is likely to assist with robust operations ensuring on-time performance and a competitive price.

Read on to learn 4 ways your freight forwarder can assist you to gain a competitive advantage both strategically and operationally.

3PL providers have been managing warehouses for a broad range of customers across different verticals for decades. This level of experience and exposure to a large variety of customers enables 3PL providers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth/Fremantle and Townsville to gain vast knowledge of efficient processes and best practice services. This knowledge is often leveraged and deployed across a range of customers and industries where providers are continuously improving these processes to achieve market leading outcomes.

Year after year, we receive feedback from customers about the value of being able to provide services that manage all aspects of a supply chain operation and customising them to customer specific needs. Expert 3PL providers can assist you to create efficient processes based on your business needs, product profiles and service levels that you ideally want to achieve including efficient warehouse lay-outs, receiving, put-away, picking, packing, sorting and dispatching services.

Read on to learn how your business can gain 6 efficient warehouse processes with 3PL providers.