Recession Leads to Widespread Adoption of Lower Cost Shipping Options

Almost all shippers (95%) use two or more carriers and the largest shippers are more likely to use 5 or more carriers (28% vs. 9% for small shippers). That's according to a study on parcel shipping and global trade management conducted by Kewill, a provider of solutions designed to simplify global trade and logistics. More than half of the survey respondents (53%) still use a manual process to determine licensing requirements for exports and destination country import regulations.

"This study confirmed what we often hear: the consistent theme is that companies have cut back on staffing and complicated the tasks by adding options and focusing on cost reduction, so fewer people are being asked to do more," says Brian Hodgson, vice president of marketing and business development for Kewill. "While that may have been an acceptable strategy when business was down, as the markets recover, companies should pursue automation to help the smaller teams handle increased demand."

Some key findings from the report include:

* Ninety-six percent of survey respondents made changes to their business in response to the recent economic slowdown, especially headcount reductions, use of lower cost shipping options, and changes to the carrier mix.

* Despite headcount reductions, employees are spending considerable time and effort processing import and export documents and have reported a measurable level of errors that cause delays and rework.

* Sixty percent of survey respondents are using lower cost shipping options. One-third changed the carrier mix to include regional carriers and/or consolidation.

* Despite the reduced headcount in shipping, the majority of companies (59%) report that it takes more than 10 minutes, on average, to produce and distribute export documentation.

Kewill surveyed over 500 logistics professionals, executives, and managers in industries ranging from aerospace and electronics to healthcare, agriculture and retail; and from companies doing less than $50 million in business to many (35%) over $1 billion in revenue. Survey participants revealed their challenges and strategies in parcel shipping, export and global trade management.

Source: http://logisticstoday.com/