Facts check on forwarding and logistics industry

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03 Nov, 2022

e-Invoicing is mandatory for businesses, having a turnover of 10 crores. It is a challenging task, which can have consequences like hefty penalties if not managed well. At Newage, we believe in a customer-first approach and have created a knowledge series for freight forwarders to get to know more about e-invoicing and get their businesses compliant with the Government’s mandatory regulations. Hope you find this knowledge series on e-invoicing informative and useful.
India e-Invoice: What you need to know
Although e-invoicing is not new, its relevance has grown manifold in recent times. The pandemic was the catalyst in encouraging freight forwarders to embrace digitalization overnight and adopt touchless technologies like e-Invoicing.
What is e-Invoicing?
Electronic invoicing (e-Invoicing) is the system in which all B2B invoices are electronically uploaded and authenticated by the GSTN for further use on the common GST portal. Under the electronic invoicing system, an identification number will be issued against every invoice by the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) to be managed by the GST Network (GSTN).
In simple words, e-invoice is the invoice document exchange between a seller and a customer in an integrated electronic format. It fully automates the process of invoice capture with data being decoded by the buyer’s AP system regardless of the invoice format. Both stakeholders can manage invoicing data on a central cloud-based platform.
Today, e-invoice is not an option because, from 1st October 2022, the government of India made it mandatory for businesses with a total annual turnover of more than Rs. 10 Crore in any previous financial year from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Benefits of e-Invoicing
Streamlined & efficient processes to reduce the turnaround time
e-Invoicing helps organizations streamline their invoice processing cycles, reducing manual work, approving, tracking, and chasing invoices and human errors. Implementing it ultimately results in better efficiency and faster turnaround time.
Better visibility
Electronic invoicing enhances visibility into invoices, purchase orders, supporting documentation, and contracts. It tracks invoices and offers detailed audit trails.
Reduced risk
Greater visibility into invoices leads to a reduced risk of invoice fraud, human error, duplication, oversight, etc. Organizations can save countless hours with e-invoicing.
Transparency in tracking expenditure and savings
e-Invoicing enables efficient tracking of money spent and saved. This can help you identify opportunities to save more and make an informed decision.
Improved accuracy
Improved visibility and end-to-end tracking offer increased accuracy. You can also track invoice validation, approvals, and payment in real-time. This considerably reduces errors and eliminates overpayments and duplicate payments.
Eco-friendly initiative
By switching to e-Invoicing, you can eliminate the need for paper-based invoices. This reduces the wastage and costs associated with paper-based processes used within your supply chain processes.
In conclusion:
e-Invoicing has become one of the most strategic steps companies are taking toward the digitization of processing cycles. With the government, introducing mandates, it is the right time to do e-invoicing for your business.
Save your time and effort by reporting your e-invoice to Invoice Registration Portal through eFreight Suite and obtain IRN instantly. eFreight Suite is integrated with IRIS, Cleartax, Webtel, FYNAMICS or any other ASP that Forwarder subscribes for e-invoicing through API.
eFreight Suite simplifies the freight operation without human interface with its advanced features like auto Audit Reports & auto alert e-invoicing system for due payment which saves time and improves productivity.
Summary
GST was implemented on 01 Jul 2017 by the Government of India as part of major indirect tax restructuring to implement the One Nation One Tax Policy. The GST Act aimed to make India a unified economic market with common tax rates and procedures across the country by subsuming a multi-level tax structure preceding it.
GST is a digitalization driven to bring transparency and ease of doing business. The e-returns filing, e-way bills & e-invoicing to name a few.
e-Invoicing was introduced to automate the tax filing process for taxpayers. The Government made it mandatory based on the turnover. Initially, it was introduced on 01st Oct 2020 for businesses with a turnover of Rs 100 crores. Later, from 1st Apr 2021 for businesses with a turnover of more than Rs. 50 crore and then again extended to turnover with Rs 20 crores from 01 Apr 22. Now, the same has been extended to businesses with a turnover of Rs 10 crore from 01 -Oct-22. Government is likely to extend the e-invoicing to Rs 5 crore from 01 Jan 23 and later may extend up to Rs 1 crore turnover businesses in the next fiscal year.
The e-Invoice System is for GST-registered persons for uploading all the B2B invoices to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). The IRP generates and returns a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN), digitally signed e-invoice, and QR code to the user.
With its advanced features, eFreight Suite simplifies freight operations without the need for human interference. Once an invoice gets posted in eFS, the IRN is generated automatically. The invoice is automatically emailed to the customer. Scheduled periodic outstanding statements are emailed to customers on a periodic basis. Digital Signature is mandatory as part of IRN generation. In eFS, a Digital signature (PFX format) is integrated in all e-invoices.

To know more about how eFreight Suite can help you

Schedule a Demo

27 Sep, 2022

As freight forwarders and logistic companies are competing in the online marketplace along with ever-increasing demands from customers. The eminent requirement of any freight forwarder today is to have a mechanism, which enables seamless communication between teams, improves transparency, focuses on organization goals, and enhances customer satisfaction. Email, which is the current mode of communication is not productive. In fact, employees spend 5 hours per week managing emails that are less than 10% critical as per a survey from Mail bird.
A typical freight and logistic organization have multiple functions such as Sales, Documentation, Operations, Finance, HR, Admin, and Top Management. To successfully close any shipments, all the teams should work in tandem. Further with distributed teams/resources, organizations need to equip these functions with a communication system that is industry compliant, fast, secure, enables sharing of data, and is location independent. An ineffective mode of communication leads to unnecessary delays, process inefficiencies, and lower customer satisfaction. On the other hand, a fast and reliable communication system ensures employees are up to date with the shipment progress and can take necessary decisions to ensure the shipment is smooth and on track. This is possible with cloud-based ERP solutions, which are transforming the flow of information in the freight industry.
Next-generation freight software solutions are cloud-based ERPs that are changing the ways how employees collaborate and communicate with each other. Cloud computing along with automation opened the doors for instant and reliable updates. The data captured by one employee is available in real-time with all the required stakeholders. A well-designed ERP captures the data entered by a user to update dashboards in real-time, set follow-ups, if required send notifications via email / SMS / pop-up, generate insights, and more. Below are the key objectives, a freight forwarder can achieve with a state-of-art cloud-based ERP:
Enable instant and robust communication
Provide an instant update on the shipments
Authorized employees have access to updated information irrespective of location
Improve process efficiencies
Real-time insights
Any time anywhere access
Below is a brief commentary on the advantages of a well-engineered cloud ERP:
Enables instant and robust communication
Instant and reliable communication improves interdepartmental cooperation — the cloud makes it much simpler and faster. Freight software solutions that are cloud ERP foster cooperation and accountability throughout organizations as EXIM dashboards are up to date and one can configure follow-ups as needed for a shipment. There is no dependence on communications, as ERP offers an easy and faster way to share data
Provide instant updates on the shipments
Connects your employees, vendors, and customers with accurate, real-time status updates on the shipments. This combined with automation for sending emails to stakeholders, the freight software solution brings transparency to the organization and helps in achieving improved customer satisfaction
Access to updated information
With web-oriented systems, data integration and data accuracy improve greatly. With access to updated information, the employees can prioritize and plan their tasks. This results in a reduction in delay-induced penalties and hence, improved profits
Improve process efficiencies
With ERP, one can have a seamless flow of information, within teams and various modules of ERP. Data flow, such as Enquiry à Quotation à Booking à Job à Invoicing, save time, reduces errors, and improves efficiency
Real-time insights
The data is always up-to-date and hence, equips the authorized person with access to updated reports and business insights in real-time. One need not wait for end-of-month reconciliations, one has access to updated data at any given time and hence, can accordingly be strategized and take business-critical decisions
Any time anywhere access
Cloud-based solutions are designed for anywhere anytime access. This means the employees can login to the system and have access to data, or input data from any location. Ensuring that teams get required support irrespective of the location.
A Cloud-Based ERP transforms how employees collaborate
For organizations to remain competitive in the market and bring in differentiators to their customers, cloud-based ERP brings the necessary value to an organization. Businesses that switch to such a system can expect to see a 30 to 40 percent increase in productivity.

06 Sep, 2022

Freight forwarders face challenges like delays, miscommunication, loss, and damage during cargo shipment. However, these problems are preventable with reliable freight shipping software. For example, customs-related delays caused due to manual work or procedural errors can be avoided with a shipping management software. Below are some of the common issues that make freight forwarders face, and how a freight shipping software can address them.
Here are some of the most substantial issues that make freight forwarders’ jobs more difficult, and how professional freight shipping software provider addresses them.
Billing Discrepancies
The money associated with the land, ocean, and air freight is complex. Invoices should give a concise summary of charges. However, many clients are unaware of the billing terminology, and the money they can save. Shipping management software companies provide complete transparency while performing different tasks and can address the concerns of freight forwarders easily.
Cold Customer Service
Customer service is a critical part of a freight forwarding business. Although many freight forwarders provide shipment details online, customers may still have questions.
A friendly and knowledgeable customer service representative gives customers greater peace of mind that can rectify shipping concerns. Today, freight shipping solutions companies have excellent customer support facility, 24 hours a day for the clients. They also have website, which is built with bot functionality that can easily provide quick answers and expert advice.
Zero Visibility
Freight forwarders should be able to track the complete shipping details. Any delay in the shipping journey can result in money loss. Freight shipping software share prime information about shipments, reporting capabilities, document storage, and the status of shipments. This avoids additional cost that would have incurred otherwise.
Lack of Domain Expertise
There are hundreds of variables affecting shipments and it is practically impossible to account for each of them. Shipping experts are domain certified and well-versed with the freight forwarding industry. The professionals understand the unique requirements of clients and meet their expectations by complying with all the rules and regulations properly.
Invest in a professional freight forwarding solution provider. The experts deliver the best freight forwarding solution to minimize or eliminate delays, even under critical circumstances like global disruptions.
People-first Approach
A business thrives only if it invests in addressing the concerns of customers rather than just focusing on increasing ROI. Customer service is the core value of companies, and they should believe in people-first approach to delight customers. The professionals should resolve clients’ concerns and work hard to offer a smooth sailing experience.
Newage is one such company that understands the significance of being transparent at every step of the process. Our experts are passionate about freight forwarding industry, so we take a genuine interest in your needs. We can help you streamline your cargo delivery journey by providing the most affordable and reliable options. Irrespective of the size of your freight forwarding business, we can help take your company to the next level.
About Newage
For over a decade, Newage has been offering the best-in-class solution that has helped freight forwarders across the globe. We have been a torchbearer in bringing freight forwarding solutions into the industry for almost 2 decades.

09 Apr, 2022

Digital document management service plays a crucial role to maintain an online record of all the necessary documents including invoices, creation of HBL, managing MBL surrendering, and others for trouble-free freight forwarding business. As the world continues to depend extensively on digital operations, we too must embrace it to make our logistics business touch the zenith. According to a recent KPMG survey, the investment in intelligent automation will reach $232bn in 2025 as compared to $12.4bn today. The inclination towards digital document management is due to benefits like enhanced customer experience, streamlining manual processes, improved network efficiencies, and supporting onboard new business models. Availing digital document management services in the freight forwarding business is essential for ongoing growth and success, especially when the market is volatile.
Shortcomings in Manual Document Management
Maintaining documents manually is ineffective, clumsy, and challenging for freight forwarders. Some of the flaws with traditional document management include:
Large stacks of papers to search through for specific records
Easily lost papers that are hard to file, track, and access
Easier to lose and damage important papers during transit
Tricky to coordinate and collaborate over physical papers
Long hold times to get feedback on work
Time consuming and error-prone invoices
Slower response to market changes like e-commerce shipping
Digital document management services can reduce or even eliminate many of these issues that are prevalent in traditional document management.
Digital Document Management in Freight Forwarding Business can Reduce Risks
Having a record of digital documents in place reduces risks to shippers, carriers, brokers, and forwarders in their day-to-day operations. Everything from data access to security measures can be improved by having a digital processing system in place. It is faster, reliable, secure, and reduces possibilities for losses, expenses, and disruptions.
Additional Benefits of Availing Digital Document Management Services
Embracing digital document management service in freight forwarding can deliver numerous other benefits such as:
Quicker response time to inquiries
Improved resolutions to customer concerns
More reliable solutions to disruptions
On-demand data analysis and access
Enhanced predictive planning results
Faster growth and onboarding procedures
Modernize enhancements network-wide
Choose Newage for exceptional digital documentation services. We deliver outstanding export and import documentation services.
Export Documentation
Get shipment details from customers for the creation of HBL
Provide draft and seek approvals for HBL
Provide shipping instructions to carriers for the creation of MBL
Maintain a follow up for invoice payments
Review draft and finalize MBL with carriers
Arrange and prepare documentation for IMCO Cargo
Issue OBL, Send Pre-alerts
Update systems with provisional cost and revenue
Ensure all additional cost is updated before issuing invoices
Create invoices for customers at the HBL level
Generate Request for payments as per MBL per Carrier
Import Documentation
Receive Pre-Alerts and equipped with necessary documents to create import jobs
Update systems with provisional cost and revenue
All additional cost is updated before issuing invoices
Create invoices for customers at the HBL level
Maintain a follow up for invoice payments for issuance of delivery
Manage customs clearance formalities
Manage cargo deliveries
Digital document management service can do wonders for overall freight forwarding operations. Every process becomes easier and consumes lesser time when records are available with a few clicks rather than going through the lengthy paperwork copies. It also supports freight forwarding and supply chain managers by enabling enhanced partnership with different stakeholders including shippers, carriers, brokers, and customers. Contact Newage today to book a demo and discover how digital document management service can be helpful for your freight forwarding business.

09 Apr, 2022

Freight forwarders must ensure that the right cargo is delivered to the right customers at the pre-decided timelines. It is a tedious job to manage all the tasks manually, especially when you have large volumes. Many companies are already taking the benefits of freight forwarding software to discover the hidden potential. You can also integrate a logistics software however; it is essential to understand the different options available in the market.
What are the options available for you?
Technology augments your capabilities, saves time, reduces redundancy, and increases efficiency. To support your customers in cargo delivery, freight forwarders can either build a custom software from scratch or integrate an existing solution off-the-shelf. Both approaches differ in set-up, upkeep, and results.
A customized freight forwarding software is designed by considering your business’s unique requirements. It includes several iterations and perspectives to come to a satisfactory solution.
If you choose an off-the-shelf logistics solution, you are served from the minute you integrate it. You can start booking your shipments in a short time. Also, it offers the benefit of cost and scalability.
Hosting is another important factor for implementing an application. You can choose either on-premises or cloud hosting. On-premises is costlier and more tedious than cloud-hosting. Today, cloud hosting is preferred due to its security, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Both tailored and off-the-shelf solutions can be hosted on a secure server and managed by a third party.
According to a report by Gartner, nearly two-thirds of end-users prefer cloud in comparison to on-premises solution.
Call our experts and book a demo with Newage to learn how our innovative solutions can help your business.
Dilemma in selecting a tailored or ready-made freight forwarding solution
While tailored freight forwarding solution can meet your requirements, but usually results in costing huge amount of money due to fluctuations in requirements. This could also push the implementation of the product too far and affect schedules.
Ready-made solutions are designed to eliminate the pain points of specific industry. Also, it is built with multiple perspectives and includes many years of research.
Logistics operations include sales, custom services, documentation work, and transportation to name a few. Consider the overall venture rather than limited to a single operation. A custom-made application may be unable to accommodate different functionalities, whereas off-the-shelf products offer you the flexibility to select and choose the additional modules as plug-and-play.
Why ready-made solutions are a good investment for freight forwarders
In freight forwarding business, several operations are repetitive and involve constant communication with the teammates. Automation for repeated tasks reduces human intervention for a steady growth. Ready-made solutions make hassle-free communication due to a central database. It also monitors the tasks in real-time and gives flags timely. Below are some of their benefits:
Affordable and high return on investment
Technical expertise in logistics domain
Flexible and easy integration
Conclusion
Off-the-shelf freight forwarding solution can manage disruption easily, plus it accelerates the growth. For risk mitigation and better customer satisfaction with cost optimization, invest in ready-made software like eFreight Suite. Book a demo today!

16 Feb, 2022

Logistics is the process of managing how resources are procured, stored, and delivered to their final destination. These resources can be people, equipment or raw material.
A logistics Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a quantitative tool to measure various metrics related to purchasing, warehousing, transportation, delivery of goods, and financials in order to gauge the performance within the logistics department. By tracking KPIs, businesses can discover the areas, which need improvement. Logistics KPIs are also vital for businesses to compare their own performance against industry benchmarks. In this article, we will discuss:
KPIs Dos and Don’ts
How to set the logistics KPI
Top logistics KPIs to implement
KPIs Dos and Don’ts
Do:
Choose KPIs that are relevant to your business.
Make sure you have accurate data for measuring different metrics in order to get the accurate KPIs.
Take actions on the results obtained.
Share the results with your supply chain management staff and employees to get ideas for improvement scope.
Don’t:
Avoid taking large number of KPIs at once.
Do not take the same KPIs every time. Include different KPIs to analyze your business.
Do not keep the same target for each KPI. Set higher standards considering previous goals.

Setting up the Logistics KPIs

Setting up logistics KPIs depends on determining the company’s goals. For logistics, commence with KPIs that answer the following questions:
How many orders that arrived were damaged, by month?
What percentage of promised deadlines is being missed?
How do out-of-stock items affect customer wait times?
How frequently did customers receive the wrong order?
Is our shipping department maximizing its capacity?

Logistics KPIs for 2022

Consider the following logistics KPIs to implement in 2022:

Warehousing

Perfect order rate: Also known as customer order rate that focuses on customer satisfaction. It identifies the percentage or ratio of orders that are shipped with zero hassles. These hassles can be damage, wrong items sent, or delayed shipping/receiving.
Order accuracy: This metric relates to perfect order rate that focuses on quality within the warehousing picking process. It evaluates the number of errors made in the picking process.
On time in full: This metric consider both order accuracy and perfect order rate to measure how many parcels were shipped in full and on time, rather than in pieces.
Inventory turnover: Also known as stock rotation and measures number of times in a period a company sells all its stock of a specific product.
Inventory accuracy: This KPI metric determines how closely your inventory records reflect what is actually in storage. It also helps with forecasting for future purchase orders.
Warehousing cost: It covers the expenses specific to your warehouse. Warehousing cost can include any equipment, labor, delivery or shipping costs that get products into and out of the warehouse.

Transportation

Below are some of the top key performance indicators for the shipping industry:
Shipping time: It measures the time for a company to ship an order on or before the requested date. This metric is vital to customer satisfaction.
Average dwell time: Also known as wait time, is the length of time a carrier sits before processing for pickup and delivery. This metric indicates the efficiency of a warehouse. Shippers with low average dwell times will struggle to attract drivers and retain carriers and drivers.
On-time delivery: This metric affects customer service and measures the rate at which complete orders are delivered in full.
Transportation costs: They are the group of metrics that track an order’s price from commencement to end. It includes order processing, supervision, inventory carrying costs, warehousing and transportation costs.
These are some of the important logistics KPIs, which you can also consider. Choosing the right KPIs to implement in 2022 should be a team decision. Come up with some ideas and share them with warehousing staff and transportation staff. Keep a note what they think of the KPIs and which ones they would like to see in use too.

14 Feb, 2022

The pandemic has hit many businesses badly. However, those having online presence are able to survive and even rise during these uncertain times. Take the example of logistics industry, which has been growing sharply even during peak pandemic. The supply chain and logistics industry have outgrown the traditional work processes and made its mark worldwide. Modern technology has carved its path in this industry and now, it has become a necessity to muddle through the impact of high market fluctuations.
Freight software is a game-changer for the logistics business that can provide end-to-end visibility to different stakeholders including shippers, carriers, retailers, and forwarders.
Tracking, transacting, and managing shipments, automating back-office operations, finding quotes are some of the functions of freight software. However, selecting ideal freight management software is challenging because of the availability of various providers in the market. We have several considerations for you to filter your choice while implementing any freight solution:

Built with cutting-edge technology

‍Integrate functional-rich freight software, developed with modern technology for a successful business. Ensure comprehensive customer support to meet the current logistics standards. The freight software should be robust enough to achieve the imminent technology and operating systems.

Centralized system

Many freight providers allure customers by showcasing different tools and components. However, a decentralized model can be complex and non-synchronized, thus delaying the complete work. It is always recommended to choose software, built with all the essential integrations and interfaces, helping end-customers and shippers to easily track, transact, and manage all their shipments directly from one platform.

SaaS-based Product

Freight software having subscription based model are flexible, can update themselves with time and thus, provides no compatibility issues and better control over diverse operations. Opt for SaaS based logistics software.

Customized modules

Every business has unique requirements and thus, expects a robust logistics solution which can fulfill it. Freight system providers have customized software modules that can be budget-friendly. They accomplish the different needs of their customers.

Timely software implementation

The implementation of freight software depends on various factors including size of the company. Invest in a service provider that has a good track record of fast and efficient installation. The service contract between both the parties, i.e. provider and company should specify a reasonable time frame for implementing the freight software.

Customer support

The different entities involved in the logistics business have to work round-the-clock for seamless cargo delivery. Therefore, it is crucial to reach a provider with competent and skilled customer support to guarantee system functionality at any time.

Market reputation

A reputed and experienced freight provider is well-versed with the current industry trends and the needs of different stakeholders. The challenges and hurdles are common in fast-developing technology, but what is more important is how a logistics business overcomes them and in what time frame to adapt to an updated system.

Data protection

It is the liability of service provider to maintain the confidentiality of the sensitive information shared by any business. When choosing any freight provider, ensuring the implementation of strong policy about data privacy and security is crucial.

Conclusion

Choosing the right freight software can be a challenging task. Explore the market properly to find a tailored system to meet business requirements.
eFreight Suite by Newage Software and Solutions caters to the individual needs of the business for their success.

11 Feb, 2022

Logistics models are helpful for businesses to execute customers’ delivery expectations. Decision on a fixed or flexible logistics model is one of the most crucial strategies that can determine the efficiency of overall supply chain operations. A proper understanding of both fixed and flexible logistics models is necessary to make an appropriate decision. Before the pandemic, fixed logistics had held a greater importance for gaining a larger customer base. But post pandemic, flexible logistics models supported businesses to easily enter into populated urban markets at reasonable costs. There are certain parameters to consider before choosing any logistics model.
Fixed Logistics
A fixed logistics model is asset-heavy that businesses carry out for fixed-term lengths and in static locations—usually predicated on leasing or owning buildings. It includes long-term investments and is suitable for managing high-volume, complex operations that may require automation and customization.
Flexible Logistics
A flexible logistics model is asset-light that comes without term-length agreements, square footage restrictions, or location constraints. It improves omnichannel operations by allowing retail businesses to set up e-commerce fulfillment networks. This model makes easier for businesses in providing rapid retail replenishment, and/or responding to supply chain disruptions and shifting market dynamics.
Differences between fixed and flexible logistics models
Characteristics
Fixed Model
Flexible Model
Limitations
Fixed model is expensive to implement, requires several contracts and/or partnerships and unsuitable for responding quickly to change.
Flexible model is not meant for highly complex operations that demand significant automation or customization for unique product characteristics.
Strength
It is best for businesses that have stable, predictable forecasts. Fixed model can support high-volume, complex operations that may require automation.
It is suitable for businesses focused on improving delivery promises through logistics network expansion. Flexible model is beneficial for mitigating future disruptions and can manage fast-moving, unpredictable forecasts.

Scalability

Scalability is the biggest difference between fixed and flexible logistics models. Businesses aspire to expand their logistics operations regularly prefer flexible logistics model as it takes reasonable cost to expand and less time to adjust to the demand changes. The ability to expand logistics operations in a flexible logistics model depends on the available goods capacity and capabilities of businesses in certain markets.
A fixed logistics model is slow, has limitations of footprint and owned capabilities, and requires huge money for expansion of logistics operations.

Time and speed of execution

Flexible logistics models are suitable for businesses to improve their supply chain resilience. It takes around two to three weeks or a month for them to execute this model.
Businesses that do not have immediate requirements to meet dynamic market demand go for the fixed logistics model. It is costly to implement and maintain, and takes anywhere between three months to a year to implement this model.

Predictable and unpredictable forecasts

Businesses or portions of businesses having stable and predictable sales prefer fixed logistics. It suits complex, high-volume logistics operations, and requires automation to support unique business needs.
Flexible logistics model is suitable for businesses that develop faster, affordable delivery promises and experience seasonal peaks and massive growth. It helps in identifying future disruptions, managing fast-moving and unpredictable forecasts.

Differences in investment approaches

Flexible logistics does not involve any operating expenses for a fixed time frame. It incurs only a program specific or project-specific investment. Their startup costs are lower as compared to the fixed logistics model.
Fixed logistics incurs huge capital expenditure and operating expenses with fixed monthly costs for a fixed time period. They attract a high or atleast medium level of startup costs.

Outsourcing to 3PL or owned network

It is favorable for businesses to outsource their operations to a 3PL provider to fulfill on-demand deliveries for products. They work with a flexible logistics model for goods that require on-demand delivery.
Businesses having customized operations for unique product characteristics prefer to work with an owned network to gain more control over their supply chain operations. They prefer fixed logistics to deal with goods that have a significant demand and operational complexity.

Conclusion

Businesses can either choose between fixed/ flexible model or can complement their fixed infrastructure with a flexible model. A business can use its fixed infrastructure to support complex operations while adding flexible programs that expand and contract with businesses’ changing needs. By complementing the two models, businesses solidify a long-lasting, resilient supply chain strategy that can keep up with future eCommerce demands and improves omnichannel logistics operations.

28 Nov, 2021

All logistics and supply chain experts always think lots of business ideas to maintain an ever rewarding forwarding business and become a profit making freight forwarder.
Nowadays, amidst this cut-throat technological competition, getting success is easier than maintaining it for long.
With digitalization coming at very less resource requirements, the market is open for all and no one can create monopoly over it and remain king forever. Today, we all are in the same page and here achieving and maintaining that achievement has become one of the most serious problems for the forwarders of the current times.
A big company and small startups, both have to work hard continuously, and a bunch of tech-savvy resource from a small start-up can disrupt the entire industry.
As we know, a Freight Forwarder handles the movement of goods from point to point on behalf of the cargo owners. The essence of freight forwarding is to ensure that any forwarder collects and delivers cargos from the seller to the buyer, at the right price, at the required place, with the right condition of the products when it was picked up. They need to even find out the most suitable and optimal carriers, containers, and shortest routing possible.
Here, whosoever is able to provide the same services at the most reduced price and are able to maintain that cost for long are categorised as the winners.
But it is easier said than done, and just like any other businesses, there are lots of real-time challenges which forwarders have to face to maintain their services. These challenges may come at the cost of increased discharging rate of freight forwarding business. There are various costs like variable cost, fixed cost, statutory and incidental costs. Let’s discus them all one by one.
Variable costs– These costs are beyond the control of any forwarders like freight rates, fuel costs, road/rail haulage. It is because, the fluctuation of these costs are based on market demand and supply.
Fixed costsare costs that remain the same over a period and doesn’t change even when the volume of the output varies, like staff costs, operating systems, warehouse rent, and more.
Statutory costs– These are some costs which are enforced the government of the land like Customs Duties, taxes and other costs related to or enforced by Governments.
Incidental costs– There are various costs which incurs while we operate the freight forwarding job in the real-time like Demurrage, Storage, Detention and various other costs that are not taken under consideration during the invoice generations by the seller or buyer in the supply chain.
Then there are various invisible costs which forwarders have to bear to run the businesslike hiring resources to gather market intelligence, business plans, negotiations, enforcing contracts and transactions.

How to reduce the above mentioned costs?

Smart procurement
To complete the forwarding job, a freight forwarder has to use the services of Carriers, Customs Agencies, Truckers, Warehouses, Pack Houses, Depots and many more.
So they can reduce the procurement cost by onboarding NextGen freight forwarding software like eFreight Suite which comes inbuilt with direct integration of carriers and customs agencies.
Having a proper cargo management software allows the forwarder to find the right mix of services across the globe.
Process optimisation
Freight forwarding is a highly sensitive business as it covers various intercontinental activities via sea, road, rail, either individually or in combination.
So handling laws and peoples of different countries may sometimes cost you extremely high if not handled correctly. So here all forwarders need one efficient legal team which can navigate them from legal challenges.
Recently, digitalisation has become a perfect model for single-window solution or panacea which plays an important role in helping freight forwarders streamline their entire processes. Today, we have digital freight forwarders for whom digitalization and digitization have become company USP.
Controlling overheads
Overheads becomes nasty for freight forwarders who own and operate their own warehouses, trucks, depots which may not always be used optimally.
Companies with digital backup save money and also have the flexibility to offer a better service with very less capital investments.
Reducing overheads and running a forwarding businesses on the digital platform allows the forwarder to offer customers a powerful value proposition.
Avoiding mistakes
No forwarder can run business100% error free. However, the key to own a profit making freight forwarding company is to minimise the errors and keep on learning from the previous mistakes. Some inevitable mistakes like incorrect quotations, incorrect processes followed, incorrect and untimely documentation etc, may come, even if you try hard to get rid. Forwarders can reduce the percentage of errors by automating the process with digitalization.
Cost Control and Staff
The money incurs to maintain staffs can only be controlled if the company shift their entire process to the online portal via digitalization and digitization.
Today, with digitalization forwarders get BI reporting support which give the most rewarding business insights and foresights some business plans based on the past online data.
This online data helps forwarders in defining proper organisational structure of various competitors, which helps in reading their strategies.
Providing value-added services
Customizable value-added services can work like panacea to your customers’ needs. It not only offers the service basket as per the customers’ requirement but also allows forwarders with improved profitability and substantially. Here at Newage, we provide different web tools along with our flagship software, eFreight Suite, which helps in streamlining the forwarding processes. We offer it on pay-per-use basis, which customer have to pay only when they use.
The business of global trade and logistics is a hard nut to crack so catering to demands from customers is the only left solution with forwarders.
Efficient Data Management
Data management or the documentation runs parallelly with the cargo, and even a minute delay or error in the documentation may cost in millions. In the other words, it increases the demurrage, detention and storage charges of any forwarders whose consignments have reached the post but customs agencies have found some discrepancies in the data. The best method to maintain hassle-free documentation services is to onboard the technology driven documentation services. In any shipping transaction, a lot of data flows just to move cargo from one place to another. As per Deloitte, 15 billion data get processed per month only in the USA market.
Reliability–
Today, consignees and shippers desire forwarders who are reliable and having good market presence. A reliable forwarder always remains pro-active to help customers out from any complex forwarding situation. Normally, forwarders have deep-rooted relations with different custom agencies and government officers, which works under dire situations.
So the summary is that, Digitalisation and digitization have become an inevitable choice for the forwarders to streamline end-to-end freight forwarding industry. This online platform works like a single window platform which solves all types of forwarding requirements like
Direct Customs Filing
Liner Integration for eAWB, eHAWB, eMAWB, and eBL Submission
Real-Time Shipment Tracking
End-to-end Accessible Customer Portal
Create Booking, Quotation, Invoice, Statement of Accounts
BI Reports and Dashboards for Business Insights
All-in-one System for CRM, ERP, Accounting
3PL WMS
So automate the booking to billing process with digitalization and become invincible forwarder with Newage.

05 Nov, 2021

The future of transportation & logistics industry is bright. Today, forwarders admire the importance of digitalization and digitization in their forwarding business. They can not only come up with highly rewarding business ideas but also quickly wrap up any unsuccessful strategies.
In the past couple of years, specially after the global outbreak of deadly coronavirus, the transportation and logistics industry has completely changed. During recent pandemic lockdown, the forwarders who were running their freight and logistics business on the digital platform were the least affected. While those who were following the traditional business practices got wiped out of the market.
Digitalization has saved the global economy from becoming standstill. It the perfect answer for various limitations attached with the traditional approach. This major shift will stay here for long, because of its attached benefits.
So in this article we will look into those benefits which compel forwarders to framing their business strategies around the digitalization. But before discussing much about the digitalization, we must look into what our national and international bodies are saying about it.
As per the 46^th annual report of World Economic Forum 2016, Davos, Switzerland
The theme of the 46th annual report of World Economic Forum 2016, Davos, Switzerland, was Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As per this report, the third decade (2020-2030) of the 21st century will witness most industries undergoing the digitization process. In the coming future, the digital transformation will completely envelop the global economy which includes the transportation and logistics sector.
Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, described the fourth industrial revolution as the combination of hardware, software, and biology (cyber-physical systems). Here the cyber-physical systems mean a computer system that runs on the mechanism controlled or monitored by the computer-based algorithms and exhibit multiple and distinct behavioural modalities like human beings.
In this way, the companies which will work intertwine with the technology will rule the economy, while the companies resisting these inevitable changes will get washed away.
This ongoing digitalization and automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices will benefit all industries irrespective of the work. Even the Logistics and freight industries have not remained untouched, and they are getting unparalleled benefits by onboarding the software that can run their machines with cognitive abilities like humans.

How digitalization helps logistics industries achieving zenith and becoming fail-proof?

Digitization means capturing and converting an analog signal into a digital form to generate a digital representation that can be electronically processed or stored for our future use. It is a method through which logistics companies connect their entire supply chain work and get 360-degree visibility.
Nowadays, with digitalization, logistics companies have become well-equipped with a higher degree of artificial intelligence. They store online data to analyse and detect some patterns, which helps in framing future business plans. Till 1993, only 3% of the business units were using online information, and this figure has reached 94% by 2007. The better data and transactions are processed, the seamless machine-to-machine communication (M2M) will happen. And these all will result in attaining a fully automated supply chain and logistics industrial work.
Building a logistics network with digital technologies offers a new degree of resiliency and creates a pro-competitive business environment. This high-tech network provides the most efficient and transparent service delivery to its customers. With digitalization, a company can maintain large-scale logistics data and apply complex algorithms to them, which helps them saving money, increasing margins, and operating a more cost-effectively and environmentally friendly supply chain network.
According to the World Economic Forum, digitization in the logistics industry could provide $1.5 trillion in value through the year 2025. The digital logistics ecosystem has four key enablers: technology, process, organization, and knowledge. If we Integrate technology properly and apply them with technical expertise across the supply chain business, then the success rate of those digital logistics strategies is always high.

Top 6 reasons logistics companies noticing the maximum impact of digitalization

Improved communication– Digital platform allows logistics companies to equip their customers with an end-to-end communicable network. The Oracle data an 87% of shippers reveal that they desire to work with logistics companies having good tracking and tracing facilities.

Cooperation– In the logistics business, companies regularly deal with the national or international cargo shifts, and digitalization allows them to share warehouse and transport capabilities with others. Technologies allow a seamless inter-organizational information exchange within two organizations.

Connectivity– Digitization enables horizontal integration with their competitors and business partners while vertical integration from supplier to customer along the supply chain to sustain end-to-end visibility.

Adaptiveness– Digitalization allows logistics companies to run the dynamic adaptable system, with which they can customise and characterize their entire business components as per the need of time.

Integration– Digitalization enhances the ability of a system to connect, monetize, integrate, and share any data, system, device, and process in near or real-time. Nowadays, three types of integrations are possible- 1) Vertical integration 2) horizontal integration through value network 3) end-to-end digital integration of the logistics across the entire supply chain.
Autonomous control– Digitization enables autonomous decision-making machines which work without outside control. The machine-learning language like transvoyant helps to predict analytics.

This era of logistic business will be incomplete without the NEXT GEN technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, nanotechnology, cloud computing, SaaS application, robotics, and a lot more. Thus digitization fixes all the loopholes of the logistics company and makes it fail proof.

18 Oct, 2021

Customer experience is all those interactions (brief or detailed) that a customer has with an organization.
– Annette Franz, founder, CX Journey

Customer experience has always been a deciding factor for the customers whether they will purchase any product or service. So business units put their head to chalk down some proven customers engaging strategies while making business plans.
Earlier companies were not bothering it much, as the voice of unsatisfied customers was not reachable to many.
But with the advent of social media platforms, this scenario has completely changed.
With social media, anyone has the power to escalate the incidence of bad experiences around the world.
Today, customers decide whether the product will survive or not in the market. Now, even a single incidence of a bad user journey can cost heavily for a company.
Consider one software company, which had good market reach, found itself in the eye of a storm when its customers repeatedly found glitches in the software. The unsatisfied customers (other companies) reported their concerns to the customer care executives, and rather than listening to them patiently and assuring them about resolving the issue, they ignored the concerns of customers.
That incident put the product in a bad light and the company faced unnecessary criticism.
Although, that particular software company had a monopoly in the market, and its executives were not trained to handle unfavourable situations.
That bad customer experience management had escalated the issue globally, and the company had to apologize to the customers by revamping the product.
Had their executives been trained in handling end-to-end customer journey mapping, the company had not faced that nightmare.
The above example is just a glimpse of the bad customer services experiences. The company survived that bad consumer journey because of its already acquired name in the market. However, it becomes impossible for many companies or start-ups to stand tall amidst the wave of dissatisfaction raised by the customers.

Now, who is to blame here?

Whether any software company has to focus more on handling customers or they need to concentrate on their core functionalities, i.e. software development?
The answer is obviously on their core function.
Nowadays, it becomes impossible for any company to handle customer experiences that range from outstanding to infuriating within limited internal resources. Today, companies need to work on customer journey mapping, to keep track of how they engaged or will engage their customer.
So the best option left with the companies is to outsource their complete customer lifecycle management for sales, customer support, customer success and focus on their core functionalities.
In this way, they can concentrate on their business and let the other company handle the end-to-end customer services.

How to deliver a great customer experience and run businesses in tandem with back-office services?

Customer experience is a vast subject and there are various aspects that need to take care of while managing customers to start a business with the company and engaging them for long. Below are some notable aspects of user experiences.
Culture, strategy, and processes
As we know, customers are the real king. They can even reject good products and accept any average one. A company needs to develop proper culture, strategy, and processes to pull new customers into the business and keep them in the loop for a longer time. However, it may become impossible for any company like logistics and supply chain company to develop a customer-focused ambiance while focusing on their supply chain management. So they must outsource the customer services job to other companies which maintain a talent pool of deep domain experts.
Customer handling is an art that one can gradually develop to accrue benefits out of it. Newage maintains a talent pool of experts who first understand the industry thoroughly and then focus on engaging the customers, thus helping its clients effectively discharge their hard-core job.
Anticipation
The experts who handle customers daily can even anticipate customer needs even before they ask. In this way getting help from the experts resolves the customer issues even before it arises in reality. Here a company like Newage can be helpful. It has been outsourcing customer services to various Fortune 500 companies and has the capabilities of handling customers of any number.
“If a product is able to stand up with the customer expectations then half of the battle post-sale support is already won.”
Understanding the company’s strategy
Customer service experts play essential roles in delivering unparalleled customer experience and engaging loyal customers for long. All these starts from imbibing the company’s strategy and training to implement an impactful customer journey. In this regard, more than 78% of companies take the help of industry leaders like Newage, which forms dedicated teams to handle customer lifecycle management from starting till the end.
Information
Information can be business-to-customer, partners-to-customers, employee-to-employee- in the form of content, data, and analysis.
Both external and internal Knowledge management play a vital role in improving organizational efficiency and providing customers with self-service options. Here also companies like Newage works like beneficial, as it maintains knowledge management resources.
Technological Advance
Modern-day customers are highly dependent upon technology, so their customer experience also relies on technology. And only a company with tech-savvy customer services providers can manage to give a good customer service experience. Technologies like customer lifecycle management allow supporting companies with end-to-end customer support for sales, customer support, and customer success.

Why are companies giving more suddenly importance to Customer Experience (CX)?

It is because nowadays, social media platforms work like pro-customer. They can upload a review of a product, concerns, and feelings for any particular brand. All these play the role of catalyst for customer retention, lifetime value, and loyalty. So now, every customer services expert must be an expert in handling social media, and companies cannot neglect the Power of Social Media.
Let us talk about one more incidence. Recently Cristiano Ronaldo had shifted Pepsi bottles from his desk in a press conference and asked the public to drink water; it went viral and had brought the wrong impression for the product. The company suffered both monetary and popularity losses in the market. So one can imagine the power of social media, and the worst part of these platforms is that it stores both the good or bad story of your product for a long and will not let your customers or prospects forget it and move over.
So a customer-supporting company must be well-versed in handling social media. Even a single piece of information can make or break the company. Newage, being a software company, works like a pro-social media expert.

Why do Customers become loyal to a Company?

73% for a Friendly Customer Support
55% for Getting the Information They Want
36% for a Personalized Experience
33% for Good Reputation

What are some prominent reasons to invest in CX?

42% to Improve Cross-Selling and Up-Selling
33% to Improve Customer Retention
32% to Improve Customer Satisfaction
50% to Double the Profit Margin

A positive customer experience might include:

Marketing setting realistic expectations about the selling product and services
Intuitive Product Design
Easy-to-access Self-help Resources
Proactive Messaging Around Known Issues
Sales Being Transparent About Pricing
On-the-go customer support with short waits
Lastly, Attracting and retaining customers in the cutthroat competitive business environment is no small feat, and companies that ignore the importance of providing an effective and seamless customer experience can end up losing the battle easily to rivals who have understood that customers only defines a good or bad service. So choose your customer support team wisely as the bad customer journey mapping can lower down the interest of customers. And nowadays, finding an alternative product and service is as easy as a Google search.
Let Newage handle your end-to-end customer support.

16 Sep, 2021

The Freight Forwarding industry is one of the most rewarding and dynamic businesses in the world. It bridges the gap between two distant places across the globe while moving cargo from one place to another. In other ways, we can say that forwarders always become a reason to smile among people.

However, this easy-looking task of shifting cargo involves a great effort to overcome the dynamic challenges of a freight forwarding industry. Forwarders face challenges like frequently changing EXIM rules and regulations, shortage of drivers, lack of visibility, and a lot more. They always desire a technical solution that could solve their problems and allows them to serve seamlessly even beyond the boundaries of their countries. In this regard, only the digital platform and ITeS driven services can help freight forwarding companies by automating their entire processes.

Now selecting a perfect software that could work as a single-window platform is big trouble, as the market is full of software. Forwarders want fully customizable and scalable software that can nicely fit with the demands of their specific businesses.

This article will give you insights into a globally recognized freight forwarding software, eFreight Suite, which helps forwarders move cargo on FastTrack.

efreight Suite: A SaaS-Based Freight Forwarding Solution.

efreight Suite is yet another cutting-edge software, developed by Newage Software and Solutions, a globally recognized software company. Newage has a talent pool of deep-domain experts who know the challenges of the freight and logistics industry from its grass root level. The company has been a torchbearer of bringing digitalization into the freight and logistics industry for almost 2 decades. And to automate the end-to-end logistics and supply chain industry and solve all problems linked with the freight industry, it developed eFreight Suite.
Let us find out how eFreight Suite provides solutions in all fronts of the freight forwarding industry

Ocean Freight– eFreight Suite makes the ocean freight business seamless. Forwarders can Quote, Book, and Ship LCL and FCL all over the world with one platform. The documentation services of Newage which work in tandem with eFreight Suite make the job of forwarders easy. Now they use digitalized documentation instead of paper documents. Forwarders can send an electronic bill of lading (eBLs) directly to the mailbox of shippers and save time and paper. Thus with eFreight Suite users can optimize their supply chain through the broadest ocean freight offer with exclusive service levels and go green solutions.
Air Freight– efreight Suite has a dedicated eAir module for Airfreight businesses. With this module, forwarders can achieve operational efficiencies by maintaining flight schedules, AWB. They can control air shipments execution with a single click from generating to submission of FWB, FHL. The software has direct integration with leading carriers and customs agencies. This integration allows even a non-IATA member to run the air freight business.
Land Freight– eFreight Suite is a perfect example of scalable software with abilities to link land cargo jobs with ocean and air shipments, to make the cargo shift seamless. So Forwarders can control LTL and FTL shipment and link them with other modes of transports. While shifting cargo the documentation services go hand in hand. So here also Newage documentation services can be handy which provides 24*7 documentation services.
Tracking and Tracing Cargo- eFreight Suite has integration with some world-class level tracking and tracing system providers. Forwarders can track and trace the whereabouts of the cargo in real-time. The system helps forwarders in many ways like,
Gives complete detail of fuel consumption.
Alerts the drowsiness of a driver
Allows switching off the vehicles from remote in case of cargo theft
Complete mapping of the vehicle movement
Webtools- The webtools come added with eFreight Suite to make the forwarders’ job easy.
Integration of MSc Invoices- It helps forwarders to fetch their invoices and automatically book the cost in eFreight Suite.
Collaboration with MMD3– Users are allowed to file VGM & Form 13 by CHA, freight forwarders from eFS to the MMD3 portal via API with no multiple clicks. It helps in accelerating the EXIM trade
Seamless GST e-invoicing process with integrated APIs to IRP– eFreight Suite has integrated APIs with IRP which completes the e-invoicing process hassle-free. So all Indian forwarding service providers generate hassle-free e-invoicing from IRP.
Container Visibility: Track the export and import containers through API Integration. It will auto-feed container milestones and give them visibility about the status of the shipment to our customers
Power BI Report– The power BI report makes the forwarding work invincibly strong by generates various reports like non-performing branches, salesman reports, increase or decrease of finance report, to name some. With the help of these reports, any forwarder can draw out valuable insights from the past business steps.

No end-to-end visibility– Today customer needs accurate information about the shipment, packing, dispatching, and delivery timing. The manually operated delivery processes are not apt to handle their demands, and automation is the only solution left with the forwarders.
Unable to share data amongst supply chain partners- Supply chain management has various departments linked within itself, and thus real-time data processing will move all of them at the same speed. Technologies help forwarders with discharging quick and on-time services to their customers.
Improper product verification- Industry experts are cautious about the impatient behaviour of customers who have a no-wait tendency. They desire the right product, exact quantity, at the right time, at the right place, and this cannot be possible without the help of technology.
24/7 customer support availability- The major challenge which forwarders face is to handle calls with manual support. Technology has taken a giant leap in this field in the chatting process. Experienced customer engagers with artificial Intelligence backed chatbots will not let any of your customers’ calls going unanswered.

Top-of-the-Line Features

Track and trace cargo with 360-degree supply chain visibility.
Integration with the leading carriers and customs agencies saves 2-3 hours/ filing in border agreement.
Auto-trigger, SLA mapping and KPI reporting allow forwarders to gauge productivity.
Real-time visibility of the cargos increases the timely monthly collections by 50-60%.
Automated email triggering and configurable email triggers save 2-5 hours/ job lifecycle
Reduces quotation turnaround time by 30%.
Streamlines the freight business with rate master data, contract quotations, eQuotation & eBooking.
Automated invoice settlement, job status updates save 40% reconciliation time.
Eliminate manual filings – benefit from the most exhaustive customs, GST, VAT integrations – reduce opex by 20%

Recently Newage has partnered with Location Solution to provide trucking solution capability within eFreight Suite with automated order creation and continuous order status monitoring. The trucking work is part and parcel of the freight and logistics industry, so this upgradation will immensely benefit forwarders.
Now forwarders will get the following world-class features in eFreight Suite: –
Automated Order Creation in TMS
Visibility and Order Status Monitoring
Route Management with Geo Fencing
Scheduling the orders to truck and driver
So all these features and webtools make eFreight Suite a perfect freight forwarding software that solves all problems linked with the freight industry.
To know more about Newage, log on to https://www.newage-global.com/

Characteristics	Fixed Model	Flexible Model
Limitations	Fixed model is expensive to implement, requires several contracts and/or partnerships and unsuitable for responding quickly to change.	Flexible model is not meant for highly complex operations that demand significant automation or customization for unique product characteristics.
Strength	It is best for businesses that have stable, predictable forecasts. Fixed model can support high-volume, complex operations that may require automation.	It is suitable for businesses focused on improving delivery promises through logistics network expansion. Flexible model is beneficial for mitigating future disruptions and can manage fast-moving, unpredictable forecasts.

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