The success of trading companies rely on the relationships the companies have with suppliers and their end customers. It is no surprise that the success of their business relies on these two entities not dealing directly with one another. In shipments controlled by the trader, it is vital to set in place best practices to ensure that the trader protects the supplier information from the end customer. In these shipments, please reference our blog post on the subject for more information.
While the practice is a specialty of a select number of international freight forwarders, there are more vulnerabilities when the trading company’s consignee controls the cargo on a free on board (FOB) shipment.
How are you keeping your supplier information private in FOB shipments?
One of our trading clients recently had a FOB shipment where the large freight forwarder did not take proper steps to ensure the documentation was hidden. The owner of this trading company was in his customer’s warehouse and actually saw his factory information on the packing list attached to the pallets!
The business was at a major risk of losing a top account because of the carelessness of the non-specialized freight forwarder. Thankfully, the business owner was able to remove the factory information before the customer noticed (and before the customer went straight to his factory).
The solution that was provided to this trading company after this scenario, and many other who have consignees who would like to control the shipment, is a document switch with the trusted freight forwarder before the cargo moves with the other transportation company.
This ensures control over the supplier information even where the trader is allowing their end customer control the freight. For many businesses, this added protection is a safeguard they are willing to implement so they can ensure the FOB shipment does not expose their factory.
If you’d like more information on this subject, or to see if this document switch solution can work for you, please call LILLY + Associates International at 305-513-9510.
