Nearly all of Nippon Express USA's North American warehouses handle typical order fulfillment and product distribution, but many of these facilities also offer capabilities specially suited to handling specific products with special needs. Here are just a few examples of the special services that Nippon Express USA provides at strategically located DCs around North America:

Export Packing and Crating
Because Nippon Express USA takes responsibility for the cargo from door-to-door it maintains the highest standards of cargo packing and crating. From heavy machinery, to fragile microchips, to household goods, Nippon Express's USA can pack it all. Nippon Express USA crates items on the customer location or in one of their facilities around the US. Each item is protected based on predetermined product requirements, with special features that protect from water or humidity damage with plastic vapor barrier encasing and shifting with 'tilt' monitoring devices.

Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs)
Nippon Express USA operates select warehouses within foreign trade zone designated locations in gateway cities. FTZs allow importers to defer customs clearance of their goods for any number of reasons. For example, customs duties are often lower if the products receive added value before being cleared. Imports may be held in the U.S. temporarily and re-exported to avoid duty altogether. Importers may simply want to hold the goods and not pay duty on them until they are ready to ship to customers to improve cash flow. Nippon Express USA can provide these customs-saving services for its customers.

Container Freight Stations (CFS)
Containers inbound to the U.S. move expeditiously from the port of entry to any one of 32 CFSs operated by Nippon Express USA warehouse facilities in key markets around the country. At these facilities, the containers and/or air cargo unit load devices (ULDs) are de-consolidated or unloaded goods are cleared by Customs and individual shipments are staged for collection or final delivery to customers.

Cross Dock Operations
Nippon Express USA can move "hot-tracked" inbound shipments directly from air and ocean port gateways to customers bypassing conventional distribution channels. Ocean containers and air cargo ULDs move to strategically positioned Nippon Express USA Container Freight Stations, where they are de-consolidated, bar-code scanned, affixed with a system generated cross dock label, and staged for immediate delivery with outbound documentation to final place of delivery. Our Arrow International GNS NVOCC service introduced an innovative approach to serve their import customers by designing a cross dock methodology and ocean freight containers are devanned at the CFS in the Long Beach CA port area, and transferred immediately to expedited motor carriers for rapid delivery to regional company operated freight stations.

Refrigerated or Chilled Products
Nippon Express USA and the global network of Nippon Express companies deliver logistics service solutions to customers asking for premier handling of "fresh", "frozen" and many other perishable commodities to and from the U.S. Nippon Express USA temperature-controlled warehouse facilities are located at or near all major air and ocean ports. These facilities receive chilled or frozen products directly from airlines, vessel operators or trucks and, monitors temperature and humidity settings, coordinates import or export facilitation demands and ensures special handling needs are kept. Products maybe consolidated into refrigerated containers or ULDs for export, at company operated facilities by personnel educated in servicing this sensitive area of expertise.

Service Parts
Nippon Express USA has a network of service parts DCs that support dealers, field engineers and direct customers for a wide variety of products from consumer electronics, to auto parts to HVAC components. Nippon Express USA has state-of-the-art technology to help companies optimize parts inventories to manage costs as well as customer service levels.

Reverse Logistics
Nippon Express USA provides a turnkey reverse logistics channel for customer returns, repairs, replacements and disposal. A growing number of Nippon Express USA DCs offer this capability. Nippon Express USA's reverse logistics services minimize unauthorized returns, transportation costs and call center administrative burdens. Recovered inventory provides a new revenue stream.

Light Manufacturing or Postponement
To save on inventory costs, the number of stock-keeping units, customs duties or transportation, it is often advantageous for the manufacturer to have Nippon Express USA assemble,finish or specially pack products at the warehouse to meet specific customer requirements. Nippon Express USA provides these value-added services at company operated facilities.

Pick & Pack
High-volume order fulfillment of "piece-count" rather than full cases or pallets requires special picking equipment and carefully trained workers. Nippon Express USA has several facilities designated for such pick & pack operations.

Manufacturing Support
Lean manufacturing techniques require sequential, just-in-time delivery of components to points on product lines at specific times. Nippon Express USA provides this precise manufacturing support from warehouses located very near major manufacturing plants, especially designed for the automotive sector.