Supply-chain visibility is critical, particularly for industries with complex, multi-mode and international logistics such as retail. Lack of visibility on inbound shipments complicates merchandising planning and manufacturing scheduling processes. Poor visibility also lowers productivity. Many companies staff full-time personnel to fax, phone, email and query hundreds of websites to piece together the status of inbound shipments.

GXS offers some of the most robust logistics services on the market—with current, accurate and complete status information on all your in-transit shipments. Our logistics services feature dynamic estimated-time-of-arrival calculation, electronic proof of delivery, multi-modal transload tracking, item/SKU-level detail, event-based alerting and RFID support.

With logistics services, you can answer key questions such as, “Was my order delivered to the customer?”, “When will my shipment arrive at the distribution center?”, or “Were all the items and quantities shipped that were supposed to ship?”

Benefits

GXS logistics services also offer benefits to suppliers by monitoring activities within your demand-chain network.

• Reduced Cost of Transportation – By measuring the performance of suppliers and carriers, you can quickly identify problems and take corrective action. With SKU-level visibility on shipments and exception-based alerting, you can identify potential delayed shipments. Fewer delayed shipments will mean fewer expensive, expedited shipments.
• Reduced Inventory – Most companies buffer supply chains with safety stocks to account for the uncertainty of inbound shipments. GXS logistics services provide current, accurate and complete details on all shipments in transit.
• Productivity Improvements – You can significantly reduce the phone calls, faxes, emails and spreadsheets required to collect, aggregate and clean logistics data. Our customers report a typical savings of 75% in labor hours spent on tracking and tracing shipments.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction – Suppliers can improve customer satisfaction through higher-quality information in your demand chain. When your customer calls, you can provide up-to-the-minute status information for all in-transit orders. We can help boost your performance ratings as well by ensuring that your supplier scorecard for on-time delivery is based on accurate and complete data.

Features

GXS offers a wide range of logistics capabilities.

• Network of Logistics Partners via the GXS Trading Grid – GXS has established relationships with the top marine, rail, ground and air transport providers in over 65 countries around the world, including 85% of the top 15 ocean carriers, 85% of the top air cargo carriers, 75% of the top 20 logistics and transportation groups and 50% of the top third-party logistics firms.
• Automated Data Quality Management – Our innovative, rules-based engine features more than 550 standard and customer-specific rules, used to validate data across all trading partners and integration channels.
• Dynamic Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) – Get a real-time calculation of estimated time of arrival for in-transit shipments. Our advanced algorithms assess the impact of activities, events and dates over the life of each shipment and order.
• Electronic Proof of Delivery – Automated, electronic verification and confirmation of shipment delivery can help accelerate and lower the cost of customer payment activities.
• Consolidator Visibility – Get visibility into inventory staged at key consolidator locations. Details such as orders, items, shipment tracking numbers, ship dates and status are available.
• Transload – Multi-modal and consolidated shipment records are combined for each unique segment to provide an end-to-end view.
• Item/SKU Detail – Individual line items are tracked for each order. You can view details such as item number, item code, contract, color, SKU, season and size for each shipment.
• Case/Carton Tracking – Case or carton ID, dimensions, item batch, lot and serial number are visible for each shipment.
• Exception-based Framework and Rules-based alerting – Users are presented with exceptions to pre-configured business rules, allowing them to focus on the most pressing supply-chain issues. Users can also receive email alerts based on pre-defined events.
• Role-based views – Whether you’re a materials manager, buyer, merchandiser, warehouse manager or receiving clerk, the user interface is designed to allow you to view the data based on your particular role within the order, shipment or settlement process.