I am sure that you have heard the terms Warehousing, Distribution, or Order fulfillment. But what do they mean and what specific activities conform to these logistics services?
Warehousing consists of storing goods for a specific length of time, to be sold or distributed later. The activity of ‘warehousing’ requires a physical location that could very well be a small spare room at home, or a large commercial building specifically designed for storage.
The most common targets for hackers and cyber-attacks are small to mid-sized businesses. Freight companies, warehouses, and import and export businesses are no exception. Today more sensitive and personal data is stored in the cloud than ever before and a data breach can cost a company millions of dollars, as well as impacting negatively its reputation.
Exporters and Importers at some point have probably noticed the distinct markings on shipping containers and many have wondered what they mean; the truth is that not too many people who see these markings know the meaning behind them and their relevance.
Port congestion is a current reality across many ports of the US. It is estimated that of the 10 nation’s busiest ports at least 7 are facing congestions as a result of the global supply chain disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic during the second and third quarters of 2020; affecting manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.
Covid-19 has had devastating effects on the international transportation and logistics industries in general, however not all services have been affected in the same proportion.
For Airfreight, the influx of PPE from Asia during the crucial months of the pandemic compensated for the reduction of regular cargo. The overall decline in tonnage moved through major US airports was minimal.
It is not surprising that COVID-19 has hurt global trade and consequently, data collected during the first months of the pandemic revealed a fall in imports and exports of goods to and from the US affecting drastically the activities at ports around the nation.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refers to all protective clothing, helmets, gloves, face shields, goggles, facemasks, and other equipment designed to protect the wearer from injury or the spread of infection or illness. If PPE is intended to be used as a medical device, then it must conform with the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulations.
In the last quarter of 2019, the International Chamber of Commerce launched the Incoterms 2020. A set of rules that guide the trade community on the day to day transactions. One of the main roles of these rules is to alleviate disputes between traders (importers and exporters) at an international level. The Incoterms eliminate common challenges such as language barriers and geographical locations and ease the path of doing business many times with unknown suppliers in foreign lands.
When it comes to logistics or any other industry, businesses need to constantly foresee and play in their heads adverse circumstances and plan accordingly for possible unexpected disruptions.
Due diligence always rewards those who take it seriously and by the end of a crisis, they are in a better position than those who did not have a strategy for the unforeseen.
As defined by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) “a Certificate of Origin (CO) is an important international trade document that certifies that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. They declare the ‘nationality’ of the product and serve as a declaration by the exporter to satisfy customs or trade requirements”.
