When Xerox and its 3PL needed to improve the accuracy of export data filings, they thought it would mean costly changes to a warehouse management system. Instead, they found a much simpler way.
Contributing Editor Toby Gooley is a writer and editor specializing in supply chain, logistics, and material handling, and a lecturer at MIT's Center for Transportation & Logistics. She previously was Senior Editor at DC VELOCITY and Editor of DCV's sister publication, CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. Prior to joining AGiLE Business Media in 2007, she spent 20 years at Logistics Management magazine as Managing Editor and Senior Editor covering international trade and transportation. Prior to that she was an export traffic manager for 10 years. She holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University.
Implementing changes to software can be like opening the proverbial can of worms. For one thing, the interconnected nature of business systems today means that revisions or upgrades in one area will almost certainly lead to changes elsewhere. For another, what appears on the surface to be a simple matter—adding new fields to a report, for instance—may end up requiring costly and time-consuming reprogramming.
That was a concern at the Groveport, Ohio, distribution center operated by the third-party logistics company (3PL) Genco on behalf of Xerox. In order to improve the accuracy of government-mandated export filings, the facility would have to change the way it collected and entered data for those reports. But that raised the prospect of expensive revisions to the warehouse management system (WMS) that contained some of the required information.
Fortunately, a collaborative effort involving the shipper, the 3PL, and a software developer led to a simpler solution: an easy-to-use "app" for the WMS that allows anyone to create accurate filings—no special programming or export management expertise required.
ON TIME BUT ERROR-PRONE
The Groveport DC exports Xerox-brand printers, cartridges, and other printer supplies worldwide, much of it destined for Asia and South America as well as Canada and Europe. The facility ships approximately 4,000 order lines per month in full and partial containers, according to Xerox's Ron Tegner, manager, indirect channel strategic partnerships and supply chain support. In the past, those shipments often were delayed because the export information submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) contained errors.
The U.S. government requires exporters to file certain pieces of information via the Automated Export System (AES) operated by CBP. AES enables exporters to electronically submit data that used to be included on the paper Shippers Export Declaration, such as shipper, destination, Harmonized Tariff System identification number, export carrier, transportation mode, and voyage or flight number. As soon as AES receives that information, the system validates its accuracy and completeness; it also confirms that the information meets the requirements of other federal agencies, such as the Bureau of the Census and the departments of State and Commerce. If all is correct, AES then generates a confirmation message. If not, the system sends an error message to the party that filed the data.
Xerox was initiating timely AES filings, which Genco prepared and ADSI, a third-party shipping system, transmitted to AES. But the method used for creating the reports frequently led to mistakes. The problem was that the operation was relying on a particular screen in Genco's proprietary D-Log Plus warehouse management system to capture the necessary information.
"The screen didn't have enough checks and balances to tell whether the data was correct and complete," recalls Jim Rubino, Genco's senior vice president of systems. "We were relying on people to remember certain things and to enter them correctly. It required someone who was very knowledgeable about export declarations and processes sitting at the screen. That wasn't a reality for this operation." Not to mention that any process that relies on manual intervention is likely to introduce errors and omissions, he adds.
And that's exactly what happened. "We were seeing spelling errors and incomplete or missing data being sent to AES," Tegner says. "For example, air shipments did not always include flight numbers." Consequently, AES kicked back error messages, and shipments were delayed while Genco's staff addressed the errors and resubmitted the filings. This also left the shipper vulnerable to possible fines.
That could not continue, of course, so Genco's information system experts called in DMLogic, a software developer and systems integrator, to help find a solution. Although Genco had developed D-Log Plus in-house, it collaborates with DMLogic on installations and integration—the "care and feeding" of the WMS, as Rubino puts it.
FOLLOW THE WIZARD
The solution was to automate and integrate the collection of export shipment information, the validation of that information, and the creation of the AES filing. Initially, the Genco and DMLogic systems experts planned to build new functionality into D-Log Plus. But, Rubino says, "We very quickly saw that was going to become a bit invasive into the WMS and that it would require a lot of changes to user interfaces and to background logic." Such changes would also make it more difficult and costly to implement upgrades and do other maintenance tasks down the road. Was there another way to achieve the same objectives, but without making major modifications to the WMS?
The DMLogic team thought there was. They suggested using stepLogic, a tool for software developers that interfaces with a WMS but does not change it. Instead, it replaces development tasks with configuration steps. "StepLogic is comparable to a software 'wizard.' It leads you through the various steps to set up a screen and to query a database," explains LeeAnn Dawson, director of information technology for DMLogic.
Genco's Rubino describes stepLogic as a "software accelerator tool" that enables the rapid implementation of changes with little or no programming. "That was the beauty of it. It didn't require a programmer to figure this out," he says. What it did require was a "superuser"—someone with a thorough knowledge of Xerox's export operations—to define the rules for retrieving the appropriate information for each input field and then put those rules into stepLogic in the right sequence so the program would guide the user through the process without missing any steps. "It asks the user question 1, and then based on that answer, it asks the next question," he explains. "It makes sure that all questions are answered and that all questions that need to be asked are asked."
But it doesn't require export expertise to answer those questions. The WMS alerts users—Genco employees at the distribution center—when an export shipment is ready and thus requires an AES submission. To input the information used by AES, users choose from options on drop-down menus. "The screen provides lists of legitimate values, instead of the former process of manually typing data into text boxes," Tegner explains. That change has completely eliminated spelling and other errors, such as incorrect spacing and place names that differ from the format required by AES.
Exactly which questions are asked depends on the nature of the shipment. "You're almost following a script," Dawson says. "If you have an air shipment to Puerto Rico, then you need to be prompted for certain information. That query will follow a different path than it would for an ocean shipment to China."
When all questions have been satisfactorily answered, the data flows to ADSI's system, which electronically submits the AES filing to customs. ADSI also uses the data as well as some additional information it pulls from D-Log Plus to create export documentation, such as shipping labels and customs invoices, Dawson says.
NEW AND DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS
Since implementing the new system, AES filing errors have essentially been eliminated. "We went from getting daily calls to I can't tell you the last time I had a call about an AES issue," Dawson says. Xerox and Genco were also pleased with the flexibility the software tool offers, including the ability for superusers to reconfigure screens and menus in a matter of minutes, without incurring programming costs.
The shipper and 3PL have worked on developing new applications of the stepLogic platform, including an app that allows multiple countries of origin to be entered and tracked for a single stock-keeping unit (SKU), Tegner says. Just last month, the distribution center deployed a stepLogic app in a completely different area: managing the divert lanes for an automated print-and-apply system.
Rubino believes this type of software tool has many potential applications. "From a user standpoint, it's intriguing because it's very configurable and anyone can do it. It's an interesting concept, and we're looking at where else we might use it."
The German forklift vendor Kion Group plans to lay off an unspecified number of workers as part of an “efficiency program” it is launching to strengthen the company’s resilience and maintain headroom for future investments, the company said today.
The new structural measures are intended to optimize Kion’s efficiency, executives said in their fourth quarter earnings report.
“While internal programs to continuously improve product, production, and services costs were already up and running throughout 2024 and will continue, further structural measures will address a more efficient setup for Kion in Europe. This is expected to have an impact on personnel requirements subject to consultations with the respective employee representative bodies as required by local laws,” the report said.
“The efficiency program is addressing developments in the macroeconomic environment. European economies are struggling to gain momentum – this affects key customer industries in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, where Chinese competitors have been improving their market position in the aftermaths of the recent pandemics,” Kion said.
The move comes as Kion reported that it finished its 2024 financial year with slightly improved revenue of $11.9 billion (over $11.8 billion in 2023), and profitability (measured as earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)) that significantly increased to $951 million (over $820 million in 2023).
The company now plans to pay $249 to $269 million in financial year 2025 to implement the cost saving measures. Following that one-time charge, it expects to achieve sustainable cost savings of $145 million to $166 million per year, beginning in 2026.
“In order to maintain headroom for investments ensuring our future, to further strengthen our competitiveness and our resilience, we must manage our cost base. This requires structural and sustainable measures,” Christian Harm, CFO of Kion, said in a release.
By the numbers, fourth quarter shipment volume was down 4.7% compared to the prior quarter, while spending dropped 2.2%.
Geographically, fourth-quarter shipment volume was low across all regions. The Northeast had the smallest decline at 1.2% with the West just behind with a contraction of 2.1%. And the Southeast saw shipments drop 6.7%, the most of all regions, as hurricanes impacted freight activity.
“While this quarter’s Index revealed spending overall on truck freight continues to decline, we did see some signs that spending per truck is increasing,” said Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics. “Shipments falling more than spending – even with lower fuel surcharges – suggests tighter capacity.”
The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index measures quantitative changes in freight shipments and spend activity based on data from transactions processed through U.S. Bank Freight Payment, which processes more than $43 billion in freight payments annually for shippers and carriers across the U.S.
“It’s clear there are both cyclical and structural challenges remaining as we look for a truck freight market reboot,” Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said in a release on the results. “For instance, factory output softness – which has a disproportionate impact on truck freight volumes – is currently weighing heavily on our industry.”
Volvo Autonomous Solutions will form a strategic partnership with autonomous driving technology and generative AI provider Waabi to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks, with testing scheduled to begin later this year.
The announcement came two weeks after autonomous truck developer Kodiak Robotics said it had become the first company in the industry to launch commercial driverless trucking operations. That milestone came as oil company Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. used two RoboTrucks—which are semi-trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver self-driving system—to deliver 100 loads of fracking material on routes in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.
Atlas now intends to scale up its RoboTruck deployment “considerably” over the course of 2025, with multiple RoboTruck deployments expected throughout the year. In support of that, Kodiak has established a 12-person office in Odessa, Texas, that is projected to grow to approximately 20 people by the end of Q1 2025.
Businesses dependent on ocean freight are facing shipping delays due to volatile conditions, as the global average trip for ocean shipments climbed to 68 days in the fourth quarter compared to 60 days for that same quarter a year ago, counting time elapsed from initial booking to clearing the gate at the final port, according to E2open.
Those extended transit times and booking delays are the ripple effects of ongoing turmoil at key ports that is being caused by geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, and port congestion, Dallas-based E2open said in its quarterly “Ocean Shipping Index” report.
The most significant contributor to the year-over-year (YoY) increase is actual transit time, alongside extraordinary volatility that has created a complex landscape for businesses dependent on ocean freight, the report found.
"Economic headwinds, geopolitical turbulence and uncertain trade routes are creating unprecedented disruptions within the ocean shipping industry. From continued Red Sea diversions to port congestion and labor unrest, businesses face a complex landscape of obstacles, all while grappling with possibility of new U.S. tariffs," Pawan Joshi, chief strategy officer (CSO) at e2open, said in a release. "We can expect these ongoing issues will be exacerbated by the Lunar New Year holiday, as businesses relying on Asian suppliers often rush to place orders, adding strain to their supply chains.”
Lunar New Year this year runs from January 29 to February 8, and often leads to supply chain disruptions as massive worker travel patterns across Asia leads to closed factories and reduced port capacity.
Women are significantly underrepresented in the global transport sector workforce, comprising only 12% of transportation and storage workers worldwide as they face hurdles such as unfavorable workplace policies and significant gender gaps in operational, technical and leadership roles, a study from the World Bank Group shows.
This underrepresentation limits diverse perspectives in service design and decision-making, negatively affects businesses and undermines economic growth, according to the report, “Addressing Barriers to Women’s Participation in Transport.” The paper—which covers global trends and provides in-depth analysis of the women’s role in the transport sector in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—was prepared jointly by the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Transport Forum (ITF).
The slim proportion of women in the sector comes at a cost, since increasing female participation and leadership can drive innovation, enhance team performance, and improve service delivery for diverse users, while boosting GDP and addressing critical labor shortages, researchers said.
To drive solutions, the researchers today unveiled the Women in Transport (WiT) Network, which is designed to bring together transport stakeholders dedicated to empowering women across all facets and levels of the transport sector, and to serve as a forum for networking, recruitment, information exchange, training, and mentorship opportunities for women.
Initially, the WiT network will cover only the Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa regions, but it is expected to gradually expand into a global initiative.
“When transport services are inclusive, economies thrive. Yet, as this joint report and our work at the EIB reveal, few transport companies fully leverage policies to better attract, retain and promote women,” Laura Piovesan, the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s Director General of the Projects Directorate, said in a release. “The Women in Transport Network enables us to unite efforts and scale impactful solutions - benefiting women, employers, communities and the climate.”