While the world’s consumers enjoy an ever-increasing variety of new products at progressively more affordable prices, retailers rely on greater efficiencies in supply chain management to make this possible. By sourcing apparel, toys, shoes and other consumer products from suppliers in developing nations such as Pacific Asia and Latin America, where labor costs are markedly lower and investment capital more affordable, retailers continue to be competitive despite in a marketplace where margins are being squeezed by big box competitors with enormous buying power.

However, overseas sourcing comes with new logistics challenges.

Purchase orders must be managed from thousands of miles away from the locations where goods are made, inspected and shipped. Orders often are written against goods in transit with the expectation that the shipments will arrive on schedule and goods will meet quality controls upon arrival. And marketing departments notoriously launch product sales and promotions for goods that are still in transit. Accordingly, quality control measures at the point of shipping, visibility of in-transit goods, and the efficiency of order fulfillment often determines the difference between a successful sales promotion and huge write-downs of losses due to late-arriving or sub-quality goods.

Nippon Express USA provides a broad range of logistics and supply chain services to the retail industry including:

• Supply chain management consulting services available from Nippon Express USA’s staff of highly skilled logistics and international trade specialists help customers evaluate other supply chain functions, such as mode selection and routing, vendor-managed inventory options, and collaborative planning and forecasting
  
  
• Operating as a lead logistics provider than can advice, direct and manage every step in a global retail supply chain, as well as perform transportation, forwarding and distribution
  
  
• Ensuring that the high-quality goods ordered by retailers are examined and/or tested at the supplier end and that all export trade documents are in order, thereby avoiding crippling delays at customs and other points along the logistics chain
  
  
• State-of-the-art information technology systems providing total supply chain visibility including purchase order management at supplier factories, in-transit status, customs clearance status, warehouse inventory and order fulfillment status
  
  
• Door-to-door transportation for FCL and LCL shipments from supplier factories, through cross-docking operations at Container Freight Stations and on to customer locations. There is even expedited freight services if an unexpected glitch threatens