How ecommerce helped the freight forwarding business

How ecommerce helped the clog advancement businessIntroductionThe implementation of internet and electronic communication systems is changing the traditional face of freight packaging and the cargo ships industry has to change with it. It is evident that e-commerce is no longer an emerging technology and it has already conquered a major place in the heart of freight forwarding business. Electronic communication system has become one of the main trump table in shipping industry to live up the higher expectations of a customer. This paper will review briefly the applications of e-commerce in general and in particular(prenominal) to the transport sector especially freight forwarding business.E-CommerceElectronic commerce is defined as the electronic exchange ( auction pitch or transaction) of information, goods, services, and payments over telecommunications networks.It involves mainly distribution, buying, selling, merchandising and servicing of products or services by the use o f electronic means such as the Internet, and different computer networks. E-commerce has grown exponentially due to the convergency of technological developments, the merging of the telecommunications and computing industries, and globalised business models. The universal adoption of the Internet not only led to further rapid growth of the B2B sector, but in addition created a new business-to-consumer (B2C) market.The main factor that put e-commerce towards the top of the public is the popularisation and commercialisation of internet. E-commerce now touches virtually all aspects of economic and social life.(Swamidass,2000) clog ForwardingFreight forwarders acts as an intermediary betwixt exporters, importers or other companies organising efficient transportation of goods. They makes arrangement for transportation of goods by satisfying the customer requirements apply various services like Shipping lines, Airlines Road and Rail freight operators. There atomic number 18 a lot of companies involved in freight forwarding business and these varies according to the size and type. In some cases the freight forwarders will only deal with particular goods only and they will be confined to certain geographical areas. Following are the functions carried out in freight forwarding businessCargo consolidation and multimodal transportTranshipmentPacking, warehousing and distribution.Arranging cargo indemnificationDocumentation and customs clearancePayment of freight and local taxesSaved fax, phone and courier costPossibility to reuse information and create templates rapture distribution analysis and transportations arrangements(UNESCAP,2011)Greater speed in transactionsIn e-commerce, transactions are faster than traditional commercial transactions. Before the advent of e-commerce, freight forwarders prepared the historys with the help of a lawyer and lot of stamps were used. The main advantage of e-commerce is that it allows electronic exchange of cargo documents th rough internet like measuring rod of burden instructions, freight invoices, container status messages, motor carrier shipment instructions, and other documents with increased accuracy and efficiency by eliminating the need to re-key or reformat documents. It also enables streamline document handling for shippers, freight forwarders and trucking firms without the monetary and time investment required by the traditional document delivery systems and thus paperwork is significantly reduced and the shipping department will therefore be more efficient.(ELC,2011).For vitrine US Customs Service supports an EDI-based system for ocean cargo which can report, electronically, the cargo manifest, bill of lading and other shipping-related information. This online data system has proved to be beneficial in permitting quicker cargo release and increased carrier productivity through reduced cargo-processing time. It has also helped some port authorities to become more competitive by reducing car go customs clearance and processing times.(GXS,2011) hold of e-commerce in cargo handling documentation helps inReducing costsImproving data accuracySimplifying business processesAccelerating business cyclesEnhancing customer service.(ELC,2011)Shipment introduceClients need connectivity with the Freight Forwarding systems to access their files for status, to extract reports from Freight Forwarding databases, and have their shipments processed in an error free and timely manner. Shipment trailing engages global positioning systems(GPS), which keep track of vehicles so that customers can find out exact location of the shipment at a given time. This gives import shipping information access to anyone in the association, from any location. The greatest demands for shipment tracking has developed in express or parcel delivery services.(ELC,2011)DHL is an example of a company where tracking has always been a crucial component to operations, which began with customers making calls to cus tomer service to trace their goods. Now a number of options are available (Smith, 2002) Business Asia).Customer orientationE-commerce helps in delivering better services to their customers like providing websites which helps the customer to gather information about the freight forwarders whom they wish to get over their goods. The customers can make right decision regarding their selection of the right freight forwarders. Some companies permit tariff information on the Internet sometimes on with calculators, enabling the shipper to input details such as cargo origin and destination, cargo characteristics, etc., providing the required freight rate instantly. These systems provide considerable benefit to shippers by simplifying and expediting numerous tasks involved in freight rating, which would otherwise involve considerable time, cost and human resources to complete .Another fact is that these website helps in boosting, branding and building up the goodwill of the freight forwar ders for the purpose of marketing.(Lai Wang,2008)FedEx uses their secure saver which helps the computer software to set up an online catalogue and the order-handling system hooks into a user interface which helps to recital online customers orders and make sure of confirmation numbers. With automatic inventory updating it is possible to pack the order.(Timmer 1999).. FedEx also has an E-Commerce Builder program, which offers Web design, hosting, order management, real-time financial settlement, and fulfillment to small and midsize companies, at no cost.(Business wire,2011)Shipping portalsThese have become a major strategic positioning exercise by liners, but internal strategies vary. The 3 major liner shipping portals online areGT Nexus, an e-logistics software company, using its portal to drive its strategy of becoming a global leader in e-logistics software and servicesINTTRA, an industry portal rather than a software provider, aiming to facilitate the interaction between use rs and their carriersCargoSmart, aiming to add value to core booking and tracking facilities and to provide a more complete solution to users.(Wn,2011)3PL LogisticsIncreased adoption of logistic out-sourcing by manufacturing companies has led a steady growth of third party logistics (3PL) and in recent years, most of the traditional freight forwarders have transformed into 3PL.For the smooth operation of the organisation It is important to have successful information exchange between the parties involved in the business and to cooperate with remote warehouses and inland transport provider. Here e-commerce plays a vital role in helping the freight forwarders to manakin out the problems with efficient communication systems and tools like EDI and ETF while they are emerging wholly as a 3PL. (Bumstead and Cannons,2002)ILG is a traditional freight forwarding company and now has emerged into a 3PL and provides services like shipping, e-commerce support, warehousing, fulfilment and the co mpany believes that without the help of e-commerce they wouldnt have emerged as a 3PL (ILG,2011)Crown logistics, a freight forwarding company in Hong Kong with the help of e-commerce have helped to improve the utilization of its resources, such as warehouse space transportation fleets, customs procedures, specialized packing and transports, on-time delivery and tracking technology. Company itself is in the process of expanding its operations across greater China, with the objective of becoming a full-pledged 3PL company (Crown logistics,2011).Port servicesSeveral ocean ports around the world, including those of New York, Rotterdam, Singapore and Hamburg have electronic systems which link up various parties engaged in the movement of freight through the port, including shippers, forwarders, customs, terminal operators, carriers and other port users.Singapore TradeNet, an EDI system that has dramatically reduced turnaround times for processing information about ship arrivals, loadin gs and unloadings and departures .(Applegate et al,1993)According to Lee and Whang in the near future, there will be an explosion of business-to-business applications of the Internet as visionary companies develop new paradigms of e-business for the future. This can be understood also to confer to new technologies that extend the ambit of e-business, such as mobile communications technology.(Lee Whang,2001)ConclusionE-commerce is an essential requirement in modern business methodology that cuts costs and at the same time increases the quality of services and thus achieving greater efficiency in freight forwarding business. The scope and range of these benefits makes it clear that e-commerce in the form of e-business processes and systems can have an enormous impact in terms of benefits to the entire supply chain.Word Count 1480