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Parcel Shipping Systems Enhanced: Using Data Analytics

by BlogSpend Intelligence

Small parcel shipping charges are costly. For this reason, customers opt for products that have a “free shipping” tag. E-commerce giants like Amazon are cashing in on this term. As a result, to outdo their competitors, shippers need to control costs. This article addresses the different ways shippers cut parcel shipping costs using data analytics.

Parcel shipping and logistics are complex processes. Here, we will understand the parameters affecting shipping costs.

Factors affecting parcel shipping costs

Parcel shipping involves high expenses. The expenses are dependent on factors such as:

  • Parcel destination
  • Delivery speed
  • Parcel size
  • Parcel weight
  • Carrier rates
  • Customs duty, taxes, etc.
  • Shipping insurance
  • Delivery surcharges

Shippers have to consider these factors for reducing parcel shipping costs.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of Parcel Shipping

KPIs are equally essential in understanding parcel shipping costs. Consider the following KPIs

  • Spotting potential shipping issues
  • Accuracy of order
  • Tracking the delivery time
  • Costs incurred during transit
  • Warehouse expenses
  • Numbers of orders shipped
  • Accuracy of inventory and turnover

Understanding these KPIs will help in controlling shipping charges.

How is data analytics helping?

Parcel shipping generates tons of data. Analysis of the data helps in optimizing supply chain and logistics management. Data analytics of the shipping data controls your parcel spend. Shipping analytics simplifies the process and brings transparency. Automating decisions and implementing real-time analysis reduces shipping costs.

Role of predictive analytics in shipping

Predictive analytics give shipping insights to shipping companies. It improves the efficiency of shipping services. As well as assesses what the future holds. In addition, it can identify any preventable conditions. Shipping software with programmed algorithms makes systems easy to use. So, shippers get actionable data at their fingertips.

Five ways to cut parcel shipping costs

Predictive analytics helps shippers lower parcel shipping costs. Shippers maximize parcel savings by tracking small parcel shipping spend.  Thus, the future of parcel shipping lies with shipping analytics.  It can optimize shipping performance. There are five ways in which it can achieve this.

1. Collection of shipping data

Shipping data is complex and disparate. It is present in shipping carriers and third-party systems. Automating data capture is vital in data collection.  Automation can separate data collection.  For data analysis, current shipping data is relevant.  It gives insights into reducing shipping costs.

2. Optimizing and normalizing data

Optimizing shipping data is beneficial for companies. The collected shipping data is filtered. It gives companies the most efficient shipping process. Normalizing shipping data is storing it in a single archive. Each parcel is analyzed effectively. Robust, cloud-based shipping software can help in normalizing shipping data.

3. Utilizing real-time analytics

Automated systems can utilize real-time shipping data for decision-making. Predictive analytics use the normalized data on a user-friendly Business Intelligence (BI) platform. Experts will examine the data and point out process improvements. Real-time analytics is problem-solving shipping processes.

4. Streamlining communications with partners

Engaging in discussions with the shipper’s partners is necessary. As partners, who are vendors or carriers can exchange shipping data with shippers. This communication between partners will streamline the shipping process. Robust contacts will help predictive analytics.  It gives insights on methods to reduce shipping costs.

5. Responding to real-time data

Up-to-date information is easy to use in controlling shipping spend. Shippers can view parcel shipping expenses in real-time.  There is an instant correction of any mismatch in data. Shippers use real-time data to make informed decisions instantly. Small parcel shipping costs will reduce by responding in real-time.

Maximizing parcel shipping profits

Every shipping company’s goal is to protect assets and maximize profits. Shippers can achieve this by reducing shipping costs. The use of data analytics is improving parcel delivery services. In addition, parcel shipping systems need to be automated to stay ahead of the competition. Audintel is the guide for shippers in maximizing parcel shipping profits.

To Summarize

Shippers get repeat business by keeping customers happy. Further, if you reduce shipping costs, you earn more customers. Therefore, there is a need to automate parcel shipping systems. Technology like data analytics is enhancing parcel shipping systems.

Hence, Audintel has an intuitive state-of-the-art Technology Platform. It provides supply chain analytics technology.  And so, the user can extract actionable business insights. For further queries, please visit Audintel or contact us at +1 (619) 354 8539 or mail to [email protected].

Manager,Analysing,Performance,Data,On,Dashboard,With,Kpi,And,Metrics.

Reasons to consider a Freight audit software solution

by BlogFreight Audit

Freight Audit Software Solution

The freight audit software solution will help companies save costs incurred through invoices. This will, in turn, have a huge impact on their annual profits.

Nowadays charges from various transporters are negotiated and impacted by the oil market. Without a firm understanding of all the intricacies of the shipping industry, a company is always at risk of being consistently over-charged. That is why many businesses turn to a freight audit software provider or a freight audit and payment company. Audit companies handle the laborious task of auditing their freight bills.

Most of the companies will not be able to handle the massive task of processing, organizing, auditing, and paying the carrier companies. It is not only time-consuming but also requires dedicated internal staff. The opportunity to maximize your profit margin through business intelligence will be missed if your company does not take advantage of the intelligence gained from the data.

Freight Bill Audit and Pay

So freight bill audit and freight payment software is an essential component of any business. Many companies do not utilize technology to manage freight bills, resulting in a lost opportunity for multiple cost savings.

The old-school way of manually processing freight bills and hoping for the best overlooks many important and potentially expensive factors. Some companies shipping and receiving more than hundreds of shipments every month, resulting in paperwork in different formats from carriers. In the long run, this will become overwhelming, and inevitable errors get cropped in either from human inaccuracy or a processing mistake.

Discrepancies In Freight Bills

But if your company is being regularly wrongly billed, the costs add up quickly. Most companies do not have the resources to devote to auditing every single bill, so some will resort to a random check, giving the organization only a sample of the entire picture. This will result in risking the forfeit of any lost capital due to overpayment, errors, hidden fees, or redundant costs.

It should be clear that a sound strategy is a priority when it comes to Freight Auditing and Payment. Experts estimate that a company can expect freight charges to typically represent up to 10% of a company’s total cost of goods. It is a significant enough portion to pay attention to and to apply the most effective tactics to minimize.

Freight Paper Invoices

Paper invoices run the risk of becoming lost, and a company loses the ability to analyze bills and data. The cost to internally process and pay freight invoices can be measured at around $11-$12 per invoice. Along with the cost of allocating manpower to perform this laborious task, human inaccuracies or inattention to unforeseen factors may choke even the most well-intentioned internal department. Also, the opportunity to file a claim for reimbursement for any error is typically 180 days and must be handled on time.

Freight Bill Auditing Process

The freight audit company follows a specific process to confirm all inaccuracies are noted and corrected. It provides the client with a detailed evaluation of their shipping and receiving procedure based on ad hoc data. The process begins when the shipping invoice is received either manually or through EDI. The freight audit company will then verify the bill, inspect for errors or inaccuracies, and ensure that:

  • The invoice has not been previously paid or is not a duplicate,
  • Is indeed the responsibility of the shipper to pay,
  • Any tariffs were calculated correctly,
  • Accessorial charges are legitimate and
  • All necessary documentation such as the Bill of Lading and purchase order numbers are included.

They will file a claim to be reimbursed for the mistake or oversight whenever inaccuracies are spotted. If they are assigned to make the payments as well, they will handle the processing of the bill to ensure that it arrives as scheduled.

Audintel’s role :

We at Audintel have a freight audit software solution, which consists of various audit checkpoints to capture any discrepancies done by the carriers. We provide business intelligence reporting which can be used for detailed insights and also plan a better strategy when compared to the competitors. For further queries, please visit Audintel or contact us at +1 (619) 354 8539 or mail to [email protected].

Need for Freight Audit

Why do we need a Freight Audit?

by BlogFreight Audit

What is a Freight Audit?

Freight auditing is typically provided by an external audit company.  They carefully inspect the carrier invoices and look out for all the inaccuracies in the carrier invoices. Inaccuracies can include billing errors, incorrectly classified shipments, unapplied tariff weight breaks.

This audit will help a company to prevent over-billing, negotiate future shipping rates and choose better transportation strategies along with the most efficient carriers.

Nowadays freight rates and freight pricing in the logistics industry are becoming increasingly complex, and carriers make innumerable mistakes and also fail to meet service level agreements. And thus shippers use freight auditing as a tool. This tool ensures that the shippers pay carriers only after determining that the freight invoices are 100 % accurate and precise.

Rates in the LTL industry are very complex. They are calculated by a range of factors which include mileage, cost of diesel, product type, pickup, and delivery fees. Some of these fees and charges are negotiated with the shipper. Carriers can always add new charges or sometimes they increase existing charges also. For this reason, it is very difficult to track a company’s freight bills to ensure that they are accurate.

Carrier Formats and Error Frequency

Making matters more difficult is the fact that a company almost certainly uses more than one carrier, and each carrier’s invoices are different from one another and they all use different formats. This task becomes challenging when there are potentially hundreds and thousands of items to ship every month. And due to the large volumes of shipments, many errors go unnoticed and undetected.

One out of every four freight bills contains an error that could affect the company’s finances. Manual auditing and freight payment are time-consuming and often require additional administrative staff and time. For companies who lack these resources, they can save time and money by outsourcing freight Audit to an external audit company who has expertise in capturing all the errors and also using the auditing software.

Freight Audit Software

Examination of freight bills is a business process. Freight bill’s duplicates and accuracy are adjusted and verified. Now the shipper can stop wasting the time of their Accounts Payable department on the grueling, time-sensitive process of auditing, while also bringing in extra money at the same time. The shipping company has to pay the cost when there are overpayments. There are also other benefits like actionable data that can be used to negotiate better rates with the carriers.

Freight Invoice

Carriers submit an invoice to the customer or an external audit company, this invoice is the freight bill. Audit companies approach the respective carrier when there are errors in the shipper’s invoice. They suggest the carriers to correct and generate a new invoice. Here at AudIntel, as a leading freight audit provider, we ensure that shippers are not overcharging for their freight services. For example, in the shipping world, overpayments occur far too often. Carriers like FedEx freight/UPS freight delivers an average of 9 million packages in 220 countries every day. Hence the mistakes are inevitable. As a result, the freight audit service ensures that your actual freight invoice matches the quote.

AudIntel’s role in freight audit 

We at AudIntel, do many explicit audit checks on various types of freight invoices. This makes sure that even the smallest of discrepancies are captured. This in turn saves a good share of money for the shippers. And also provide data insights showcasing trends for revenue, shipments, accessorials, carriers, etc. For further queries, please visit Audintel or contact at +1 (619) 354 8539 or mail to [email protected].

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How late shipments could impact shipper’s KPIs

by BlogTSM Services

Overview 

Late shipments are something that shippers should be paying attention to. Shippers have to take necessary action steps to improve their KPIs and cut down costs.

What will you know from this article

  • An overall insight into how to identify late shipments and the need for identification, through market research.
  • Financial impact on shipment costs.
  • How to submit claims to carriers.
  • The role of audit firms in the identification and submitting claims through a variety of software tools.

How can Audit firms help the shippers

We will discuss the need for shippers to make a strategic decision whether to go with audit firms or not. Lastly, we shall talk about the audit firm’s add-on services offered, compensation models, and how firms deploy security measures to protect the confidentiality of sensitive customer information.

We hope this article surely helps you to take your current business to the next level just by implementing some of the best practices discussed in detail below.

Let’s deep dive on, what are late shipments and how would you identify a late package?

In the current context even if we try to know we cannot find out if the package is delivered on time. Most of the time, it is very difficult to identify, and this is where the tools come into the picture. The best-in-class tools produce the best result.

What is the need to identify late packages?

  • For explanation purpose, we would like to categorize the reasons into two: First and foremost is the performance of a company depending on how well they are satisfying their customers. Customer satisfaction depends on a better price, quality product, and product on-time delivery. On-time delivery plays a pivotal role in the success of a company. But identifying the late packages is one of the KPI for the company’s growth.
  • The second reason is the huge unimaginable revenue potential. Most of the carriers offer GSR (Guaranteed Service Refunds) for shipments not delivered on time. If in case they don’t fulfill the promise, the carrier would offer a refund on shipping charges. However, they just don’t refund the money just like that. There is a process built around for claiming for refunds, on which this article is built upon.

Submitting Claims for late shipments:

The main catch for submitting the claims is, these usually have to be submitted within 15 calendar days of product delivery or invoice date. Usually, most companies simply don’t have time to pursue these. The majority of shippers don’t even realize that they are leaving money on the table. This is because any shipment if delivered even a minute late to committed time is considered late. The shipper is entitled to a refund for such late shipments. Research reveals that Late shipments recoveries can recoup up to 3% of shipper’s costs. However, handling these claim submissions is a little time-consuming. It involves identifying the late packages, process them in the system and submit for claims. This is where audit/recovery firms come into the picture.

Role of Audit firms :

Audit firms analyze each package, identify late packages using their software tool, and submit claims on the behalf of the shipper. They just charge a contingency fee based on the savings made. The percentage of recoveries generated by shippers versus audit firms varies significantly as audit firms have processes in place, complete domain knowledge, tools in place, and manpower to implement. The higher percentage of credit received depends on the proficiency of the audit firm.

How Audintel can help you :

AUDINTEL is a one-stop solution that delivers a secure small parcel audit platform by using proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive predictive analytics, hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the best in class cloud hosting provider. AUDINTEL’s 36-point parcel audit is the most proficient auditing process currently available, and its ability to maximize credits from your carriers is very unique. AUDINTEL’s small parcel audit disputes all eligible late deliveries and any other mischarges tied to the package. For further queries, please reach out to [email protected].

Shipper’s decision-making evaluation:

Depending on the volume of shipments, a shipper can approach the audit firm for helping them in recovering the percentage of their costs. After thorough market research, the shipper should be finalizing the company. It constitutes a team with an immense knowledge base and has shown proven results. Audintel has a fully automated monitoring system and has security controls in place. The client’s shipping data consists of customer names and addresses and hence should be kept confidential.

On the same lines, Shippers should also be checking on add-on services offered by the audit firms to justify the cut offered. Add-on services may include rate audit (whether the carrier is applying the correct rate and is not charging unnecessary surcharges), Audit platform access, reporting, and maintenance. The contracts between shippers and auditors may vary from shipper to shipper. The compensation plan may vary from gain share split/contingency basis to a flat rate per transaction, whichever suits the shipper.

Conclusion:

To conclude, customer service is of prime essence, a satisfied client means you are satisfied. Hence, it is highly encouraged for shippers to not sign a waiver on GSR with any carrier. Additionally, you ensure that you get refunds for late deliveries. For further queries, please visit Audintel or contact us at +1 (619) 354 8539 or mail to [email protected].