Supply Chain Control Amid COVID-19: Optimizing Inbound Shipping

Supply chain is a mess right now. Very little air cargo is moving since passenger planes are being shut down. Businesses who ship need tools to better connect with all carriers on inbounds.

Businesses need better rates, more options, and greater visibility into their inbound shipping to stay competitive and rise above the current climate. 

Inbound Shipping Issues

We covered the key issues in our post The First Shipping Mile: Optimizing Inbound Shipping, but it bears repeating given how tight organizing supplies, goods, and raw materials are right now. 

Primarily, issues boil down to:

• A lack of visibility into inbound shipments
• No set standards of compliance
• No accountability on ensuring set criteria is met

Optimizing Inbound Shipping

If you're not using TMS shipping software, now is the time to take advantage of the many deals companies are making to help businesses right now. The right technology ensures you stay on top of your inventory, which is critical normally, and extra critical now.   

A TMS solution that integrates with your inbound shipping can give you:

• Real-time visibility into all inbound shipments
• Stay on top of inventory quantities, troubleshoot delays, and prepare for incoming influxes
• Ready access to multiple shipping options   
• Greater control over routing changes once shipments are en route

Stop Letting Suppliers Ship On Their Rates!

Good advice before. Stronger advice now. There are TMS tools that free you from suppliers profiting off your orders. Traditionally businesses are at the mercy of suppliers on what carrier rates they must pay, however, you can, in fact, set up your own carrier accounts and require that your supplier ship with your account number. This removes any markup costs they typically add to your invoice.

How Can FreightPOP Help With Inbound Shipping?

FreightPOP's shipping software lets you integrate your PO management system to manage your inbound shipping better and give you full supply chain visibility.     

FreightPOP’s TMS tools for inbound shipping include:

• PO Management:
• Easy access portals for processing 
• Import purchase order data from ERP into our TMS Vendor and Supplier Portal
  
  
• Multi-leg Shipping:
• Schedule real-time pickup for each leg
• Transact all shipping legs and routes
  
  
• Ocean Tracking:
• Real-time visibility on ocean shipments: see vessel details, coordinates, and delivery timeframes 
  
  
• In-transit Reports for Inbound Shipments
• Stay on top of inventory

We Give You Partner Rates!

Our shipping software incorporates any negotiated contracted carrier rates you have with our own contracted rate deals. This means you can shop hundreds of carriers live in the marketplace, your rates, and our partner rates. It's more choice. You save money by having multiple options, and you can supply your account number to suppliers and eliminate the markup costs you are currently paying. 

Our tools will help set you up for greater success when the COVID-mayhem eventually subsides. We cover some evidence of how in our recent post Why Lean Into a Downturn - Redirect, Reinvest, and Rebound.  

We encourage you to reach out for a demonstration to learn the ins and outs of our shipping software.