Maintaining an efficient supply chain operations is indeed the foundation of any successful import and export business. Ensuring that every supply function is optimized will not only benefit the company with an improved financial position but also with reduced operating costs and enhanced customer satisfaction as well.
Achieving a high level of supply chain efficiency isn’t a walk in the park, however. With a lot of moving parts involved – from strategic planning to supplier management, production, and transportation, import, and export business are most often required to partner with freight forwarding and logistics companies that will supply them with core capabilities that they don’t have. But what are freight forwarding companies, anyway? A quick Google search defines freight forwarders as an individual or a company that organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to deliver goods from the manufacturer or supplier to a market or final point of distribution.
In essence, these companies help import and export companies to ship their merchandise which if they do by themselves can be a very costly business. Many people are confused in freight forwarders with another core component of an efficient supply chain – customs brokers. If you want to learn more about these two, check out the infographic below from Excelsior.
Infographic Source: https://excelsior.ph/2019/01/31/whats-difference-freight-forwarder-customs-broker-infographic/
