Subscribe

Day: 18 June 2021

Transporeon Carrier Convention 2021 kicks off

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Transporeon has kicked off its largest event and convention for the audience of carriers, 3PL and 4PL operators and forwarders. During the 5-day online event (17-23 June), Transporeon will announce and present products and services that help carriers to improve collaboration with shippers, freight forwarders and other carriers and, with this, helps them to drive their economic and ecological efficiency.

The agenda revolves around three main themes that are business critical in an increasingly connected world and changing business environment: smart data network services, connectivity, and real-time insights.

Transporeon Insights

Transporeon has one of the richest datasets globally. More than €45bn worth of freight went through the different parts of its platform last year. It is an invaluable resource that can help make logistics more efficient to the benefit of all involved parties.

With Transporeon Insights the company announces a new advanced analytics and market intelligence tool that allows to make informed, data-driven pricing (buy/sell) decisions by providing near real-time visibility on the contract and spot pricing as well as capacity market development. This new tool helps to create further transparency on the European FTL market enabling better-informed procurement strategies for shippers as well as increased asset profitability for carriers.

Transporeon Insights will be made available for all market participants in September 2021 starting with beta customers from June.

Transporeon Autonomous Procurement

Transporeon extends its product offering into the field of autonomous procurement with the recent acquisition of TNX Logistics. With Transporeon Autonomous Procurement, forwarders are now able to achieve significant improvements in their spot buying strategies. The product supports autonomous procurement for up to 90% of road spot freight.

It assists with pricing, negotiating, and assigning spot freight to best fitting carries. Carriers benefit, as they save time because they receive targeted offers and can optimally load their trucks by just accepting offers instead of negotiating and waiting for assignments.

Strategic partnership with ZeKju

Transporeon announces a strategic partnership with ZeKju and will also be a minority investor in ZeKju, a platform that enables digital communication in the road transport industry.

Combining commonly used consumer messengers with value-adding features like translation, ZeKju provides a simple way to digitalize communication in road transport. In contrast to app-based communication solutions, ZeKju requires neither truck drivers nor dispatchers to install any new software. As such, it is the perfect tool for small and mid-sized carriers to digitalise their operations.

“We share Transporeon’s vision to support the road transport industry with state-of-the-art, pragmatic digitalisation services. And we strongly believe that Transporeon is a perfect partner to make ZeKju available to a large number of carriers,” says Dr. Hendrik Rosenboom, founder of ZeKju.

Visibility Data Centre

With the new Visibility Data Centre, carriers now have one central place to manage all their activities regarding onboarding their fleet and building a virtual subcontractor network. The Visibility Data Centre also provides the carrier dispatchers the possibility to allocate assets on an upcoming transport. It ensures correct master data collection and allows the carriers’ customers to receive real-time visibility throughout the transport.

In addition to the onboarding of subcontractors and connecting their own and the subcontractor’s fleet, carriers can benefit from the ‘Fleet Viewer’, which consolidates a mixed fleet providing one single overview of the carrier’s asset pool. This gives the dispatcher transparent insights into available capacity across their fleet.

Furthermore, dispatchers will be able to communicate directly with the carries utilizing the ZeKju technology. And since real-time visibility is becoming an industry requirement, the carriers can easily share data on transport level through Sixfold’s ‘OVD’ (Open Visibility Data). This way they can ensure data is shared on transport level rather than on fleet level. The Visibility Data Centre is therefore perfect as a daily work tool for carriers.

New Carrier Business Unit at Transporeon

As of 1st July 2021, Gruziana Hoxha will join Transporeon as Executive Director for Carrier Management, signalling the next stage of the company’s evolution to a more carrier centric organisation.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Gruziana to the Transporeon Group. In her new role she will build and lead our new Carrier Business Unit and further develop the products and services we deliver to the carrier community on our platform,” says Stephan Sieber, CEO Transporeon. “Over the last years already, Transporeon has increasingly invested in developing carrier-centric services, with products like carrier premium account and carrier trust centre, a growing portfolio of turn-key integration tools for most common carrier applications as well as advanced onboarding and support processes.

“Therefore, building a new Carrier Business Unit is the logical next step for us to further drive our growing product portfolio that is focused on helping carriers grow their business and also support them in their carbon emissions reduction goals.”

Gruziana Hoxha adds: “After almost 10 years of experience in the supply chain industry, leading, developing and scaling diverse teams in multi-national and fast-growing companies like Fercam, Uber Freight and most recently Sennder, and with my passion for the digitalisation in the global logistics and transportation industry, I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to build the carrier organisation at Transporeon.”

Carrier of the Year Awards

The Carrier Convention will close with the premier of the Transporeon Carrier Award Ceremony which celebrates the six winners for the “Carrier of the Year Awards”. These awards recognise outstanding customer commitment and high transparency regarding transport performance.

Registrations for the Carrier Convention are still open. It’s not too late to register here.

 

 

Transporeon Carrier Convention 2021 kicks off

Posted on by David Priestman

Transporeon has kicked off its largest event and convention for the audience of carriers, 3PL and 4PL operators and forwarders. During the 5-day online event (17-23 June), Transporeon will announce and present products and services that help carriers to improve collaboration with shippers, freight forwarders and other carriers and, with this, helps them to drive their economic and ecological efficiency.

The agenda revolves around three main themes that are business critical in an increasingly connected world and changing business environment: smart data network services, connectivity, and real-time insights.

Transporeon Insights

Transporeon has one of the richest datasets globally. More than €45bn worth of freight went through the different parts of its platform last year. It is an invaluable resource that can help make logistics more efficient to the benefit of all involved parties.

With Transporeon Insights the company announces a new advanced analytics and market intelligence tool that allows to make informed, data-driven pricing (buy/sell) decisions by providing near real-time visibility on the contract and spot pricing as well as capacity market development. This new tool helps to create further transparency on the European FTL market enabling better-informed procurement strategies for shippers as well as increased asset profitability for carriers.

Transporeon Insights will be made available for all market participants in September 2021 starting with beta customers from June.

Transporeon Autonomous Procurement

Transporeon extends its product offering into the field of autonomous procurement with the recent acquisition of TNX Logistics. With Transporeon Autonomous Procurement, forwarders are now able to achieve significant improvements in their spot buying strategies. The product supports autonomous procurement for up to 90% of road spot freight.

It assists with pricing, negotiating, and assigning spot freight to best fitting carries. Carriers benefit, as they save time because they receive targeted offers and can optimally load their trucks by just accepting offers instead of negotiating and waiting for assignments.

Strategic partnership with ZeKju

Transporeon announces a strategic partnership with ZeKju and will also be a minority investor in ZeKju, a platform that enables digital communication in the road transport industry.

Combining commonly used consumer messengers with value-adding features like translation, ZeKju provides a simple way to digitalize communication in road transport. In contrast to app-based communication solutions, ZeKju requires neither truck drivers nor dispatchers to install any new software. As such, it is the perfect tool for small and mid-sized carriers to digitalise their operations.

“We share Transporeon’s vision to support the road transport industry with state-of-the-art, pragmatic digitalisation services. And we strongly believe that Transporeon is a perfect partner to make ZeKju available to a large number of carriers,” says Dr. Hendrik Rosenboom, founder of ZeKju.

Visibility Data Centre

With the new Visibility Data Centre, carriers now have one central place to manage all their activities regarding onboarding their fleet and building a virtual subcontractor network. The Visibility Data Centre also provides the carrier dispatchers the possibility to allocate assets on an upcoming transport. It ensures correct master data collection and allows the carriers’ customers to receive real-time visibility throughout the transport.

In addition to the onboarding of subcontractors and connecting their own and the subcontractor’s fleet, carriers can benefit from the ‘Fleet Viewer’, which consolidates a mixed fleet providing one single overview of the carrier’s asset pool. This gives the dispatcher transparent insights into available capacity across their fleet.

Furthermore, dispatchers will be able to communicate directly with the carries utilizing the ZeKju technology. And since real-time visibility is becoming an industry requirement, the carriers can easily share data on transport level through Sixfold’s ‘OVD’ (Open Visibility Data). This way they can ensure data is shared on transport level rather than on fleet level. The Visibility Data Centre is therefore perfect as a daily work tool for carriers.

New Carrier Business Unit at Transporeon

As of 1st July 2021, Gruziana Hoxha will join Transporeon as Executive Director for Carrier Management, signalling the next stage of the company’s evolution to a more carrier centric organisation.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Gruziana to the Transporeon Group. In her new role she will build and lead our new Carrier Business Unit and further develop the products and services we deliver to the carrier community on our platform,” says Stephan Sieber, CEO Transporeon. “Over the last years already, Transporeon has increasingly invested in developing carrier-centric services, with products like carrier premium account and carrier trust centre, a growing portfolio of turn-key integration tools for most common carrier applications as well as advanced onboarding and support processes.

“Therefore, building a new Carrier Business Unit is the logical next step for us to further drive our growing product portfolio that is focused on helping carriers grow their business and also support them in their carbon emissions reduction goals.”

Gruziana Hoxha adds: “After almost 10 years of experience in the supply chain industry, leading, developing and scaling diverse teams in multi-national and fast-growing companies like Fercam, Uber Freight and most recently Sennder, and with my passion for the digitalisation in the global logistics and transportation industry, I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to build the carrier organisation at Transporeon.”

Carrier of the Year Awards

The Carrier Convention will close with the premier of the Transporeon Carrier Award Ceremony which celebrates the six winners for the “Carrier of the Year Awards”. These awards recognise outstanding customer commitment and high transparency regarding transport performance.

Registrations for the Carrier Convention are still open. It’s not too late to register here.

 

 

Kite Packaging extends its hivewrap range

Posted on by Keith McKinley

In addition to its original natural brown colour option, hivewrap from Kite Packaging is now available in a bright, modern white tone.

Hivewrap is the environmental innovation providing an alternative to bubble wrap, supplying superior flexibility, space-saving expandability and 100% recyclability. Comprised of honeycomb-inspired hexagonal cells, the clever construction requires neither glue nor tape to adhere, simply interlocking into itself for a secure fit.

Available with a specially designed dispenser, hivewrap enhances the speed, effectivity and green credentials of an entire enterprise.

Plastic-free and fully biodegradable, this wrap has traditionally only been available in a natural kraft shade to reflect these values of sustainability. However, the brand-new crisp white radiates a sense of purity, cleanliness and is perfectly suited to packaging luxurious premium products such as cosmetics, homeware or glassware.

The extremely flexible hive construction gives an intricate yet elegant appeal to the snow-white paper, cultivating a unique customer experience that goes above expectations. Match perfectly with Kite’s selection of pristine white postal boxes.

Sustainable paper wrap is also an incredibly economic investment when compared to bubble wrap. Using the same amount of both products to wrap the same volume of items equates to a 35% cost saving and 20x less space required in a warehouse. When considering storage and logistics, this degree of space conservation can directly translate to more potential for custom and growth for a business.

Kite Packaging extends its hivewrap range

Posted on by David Priestman

In addition to its original natural brown colour option, hivewrap from Kite Packaging is now available in a bright, modern white tone.

Hivewrap is the environmental innovation providing an alternative to bubble wrap, supplying superior flexibility, space-saving expandability and 100% recyclability. Comprised of honeycomb-inspired hexagonal cells, the clever construction requires neither glue nor tape to adhere, simply interlocking into itself for a secure fit.

Available with a specially designed dispenser, hivewrap enhances the speed, effectivity and green credentials of an entire enterprise.

Plastic-free and fully biodegradable, this wrap has traditionally only been available in a natural kraft shade to reflect these values of sustainability. However, the brand-new crisp white radiates a sense of purity, cleanliness and is perfectly suited to packaging luxurious premium products such as cosmetics, homeware or glassware.

The extremely flexible hive construction gives an intricate yet elegant appeal to the snow-white paper, cultivating a unique customer experience that goes above expectations. Match perfectly with Kite’s selection of pristine white postal boxes.

Sustainable paper wrap is also an incredibly economic investment when compared to bubble wrap. Using the same amount of both products to wrap the same volume of items equates to a 35% cost saving and 20x less space required in a warehouse. When considering storage and logistics, this degree of space conservation can directly translate to more potential for custom and growth for a business.

Apparel manufacturers reduce chargebacks with thermal printers

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Footwear, apparel, consumer electronics, and other consumer goods manufacturers and suppliers can incur tens of thousands of dollars in chargebacks per year solely from shipping carton barcodes that do not meet specifications. Strict barcode requirements set forth by the International Standards Organization (ISO) must be met, and accuracy is imperative.

Using TSC thermal industrial printers with integrated barcode inspection systems, manufacturers can scan and grade their barcode labels before they are placed onto shipping cartons, reducing chargebacks and enhancing efficiency. Keep reading to learn more about how our thermal printers deliver these results.

High-Volume DCs, Razor-Thin Margins

Major retailers receive hundreds of pallets every hour in each of their distribution centres from dozens of manufacturers. And these retailers run a business model on razor-thin margins. Processing time must be quick and efficient. If an incoming carton’s barcode label can’t be read quickly and easily, then processing time grows and productivity is hampered.

Retailers can require that all vendors produce barcodes that meet strict ISO barcode standards to ensure swift processing of incoming shipments. Manual processing of barcodes costs retailers a significant amount of time and money. Suppliers with barcode- labels that fail to meet required standards could be hit with chargeback fees and may even have their entire shipment rejected. Consistent failure to meet ISO barcode standards could result in renegotiation or cancellation of a supplier’s contract.

Scanning and grading labels before they are placed onto the shipping carton empowers vendors to quickly and easily test and ensure accurate barcodes. Testing barcodes before shipments leave the facility to retail distribution centres is the most reliable way for apparel manufacturers to avoid hefty chargebacks and other issues that could affect their bottom line.

Consistent barcode testing and quality can be achieved using the Printronix Auto ID T8000 and T6000e ODV-2D barcode inspection printers, which come equipped with scanning solutions inside the printer’s footprint. Because the scanner is integrated with the printer controller, there is no need for an external PC, software, or the creation of a “golden image” of the label to produce accurate, ISO-compliant labels. This means:

  • Simplified verification without the need for external scanners
  • Lower costs since no additional software investment is required
  • Expedited quality using built-in printer scanners that automatically find and grade up to 50 barcodes per label

The integrated scanner grades to ISO standards and verifies that each barcode’s data sent to the printer matches the printed barcode. Reading barcodes from a wide variety of data streams, including PostScript and PDF, the integrated scanner finds, verifies, grades, and reports the details of every barcode on every label through the Printronix Auto ID free, standard device management software PrintNET Enterprise. These reports can be exported for integration or stored in the host system to help defend against chargebacks.

There is no need to define requirements in a software program, change the data stream, or set up and use external attachments. Printronix Auto ID industrial printers can get up and running quickly. These printers automatically overstrike bad labels, reducing costly manual processes while improving quality, reducing the risk of chargebacks for non-compliant labels.

Reduce chargebacks with the Printronix Auto ID T8000 and T6000e industrial printers. Featuring ODV-2D barcode inspection technology, TSC says these printers are loaded with benefits that enhance barcode compliance and quality, all at a competitive price.

Apparel manufacturers reduce chargebacks with thermal printers

Posted on by David Priestman

Footwear, apparel, consumer electronics, and other consumer goods manufacturers and suppliers can incur tens of thousands of dollars in chargebacks per year solely from shipping carton barcodes that do not meet specifications. Strict barcode requirements set forth by the International Standards Organization (ISO) must be met, and accuracy is imperative.

Using TSC thermal industrial printers with integrated barcode inspection systems, manufacturers can scan and grade their barcode labels before they are placed onto shipping cartons, reducing chargebacks and enhancing efficiency. Keep reading to learn more about how our thermal printers deliver these results.

High-Volume DCs, Razor-Thin Margins

Major retailers receive hundreds of pallets every hour in each of their distribution centres from dozens of manufacturers. And these retailers run a business model on razor-thin margins. Processing time must be quick and efficient. If an incoming carton’s barcode label can’t be read quickly and easily, then processing time grows and productivity is hampered.

Retailers can require that all vendors produce barcodes that meet strict ISO barcode standards to ensure swift processing of incoming shipments. Manual processing of barcodes costs retailers a significant amount of time and money. Suppliers with barcode- labels that fail to meet required standards could be hit with chargeback fees and may even have their entire shipment rejected. Consistent failure to meet ISO barcode standards could result in renegotiation or cancellation of a supplier’s contract.

Scanning and grading labels before they are placed onto the shipping carton empowers vendors to quickly and easily test and ensure accurate barcodes. Testing barcodes before shipments leave the facility to retail distribution centres is the most reliable way for apparel manufacturers to avoid hefty chargebacks and other issues that could affect their bottom line.

Consistent barcode testing and quality can be achieved using the Printronix Auto ID T8000 and T6000e ODV-2D barcode inspection printers, which come equipped with scanning solutions inside the printer’s footprint. Because the scanner is integrated with the printer controller, there is no need for an external PC, software, or the creation of a “golden image” of the label to produce accurate, ISO-compliant labels. This means:

  • Simplified verification without the need for external scanners
  • Lower costs since no additional software investment is required
  • Expedited quality using built-in printer scanners that automatically find and grade up to 50 barcodes per label

The integrated scanner grades to ISO standards and verifies that each barcode’s data sent to the printer matches the printed barcode. Reading barcodes from a wide variety of data streams, including PostScript and PDF, the integrated scanner finds, verifies, grades, and reports the details of every barcode on every label through the Printronix Auto ID free, standard device management software PrintNET Enterprise. These reports can be exported for integration or stored in the host system to help defend against chargebacks.

There is no need to define requirements in a software program, change the data stream, or set up and use external attachments. Printronix Auto ID industrial printers can get up and running quickly. These printers automatically overstrike bad labels, reducing costly manual processes while improving quality, reducing the risk of chargebacks for non-compliant labels.

Reduce chargebacks with the Printronix Auto ID T8000 and T6000e industrial printers. Featuring ODV-2D barcode inspection technology, TSC says these printers are loaded with benefits that enhance barcode compliance and quality, all at a competitive price.

Alstef Group launches new software suite

Posted on by David Priestman

Developed by Alstef Group through knowledge and experience gained over 40 years of intralogistics management and controls, OPAL is an innovative, unified software suite, which ensures the overall control of automated storage, AGV fleets, order picking, and the associated flows for all logistics solutions offered by the group.

OPAL manages the business challenges of a logistics installation, by providing speed, precision, and traceability while reducing preparation times. Efficient and agile, this suite adapts to the specificities of the distribution channels and ensures optimized management in real-time of each activity.

With its broad connectivity, OPAL interfaces with all information systems on the market, in order to provide a global intralogistics vision. The software suite has also been designed to meet quality and cyber security requirements. “It was important for us to offer a robust and functionally rich solution that was also highly secure and complied with ANSSI recommendations,” explains Yang ZHAO, Industrial IT Director at Alstef Group.

Depending on the customer’s application, all or part of the native functions are activated and configured to meet the needs of the installation.

A modular approach around a main WCS

In addition to native functions which optimize all the movements of the handling equipment while working within rules and constraints of the business, several complementary modules enrich this software offer.

Three modules are available to support operations: OPAL Overview provides a visualization of installations; OPAL Notify offers real-time notification of events, and; OPAL Analytics provides customisable operational dashboards (KPIs). Finally, OPAL benefits from a process monitoring module with OPAL IT Monitoring, a tool for tracking incidents and IT resolution.

“With OPAL, Alstef Group writes a new page in its history and confirms its commitment to its customers,” says Uwe Klärner, Sales Director Intralogistics, Alstef Group. “Opal is the reflection of our will to develop innovative and agile solutions, adapted to the operational needs of our customers.”

Strengths and flaws in the EU’s new IOSS

Posted on by David Priestman

Beleaguered British retailers are braced for yet more changes to how they sell goods to the EU. From 1st July 2021, a new EU Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme means British-based e-commerce companies only need to register and pay VAT in one EU country to sell goods not exceeding £135/€150 across the entire EU. The new IOSS regulations certainly make retailers’ lives easier, but they aren’t entirely good news, says the international delivery expert ParcelHero.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: “On the face of it, the new IOSS scheme helps return things to their pre-Brexit norm. However, in the case of the IOSS, the devil really is in the detail. We’re revealing five reasons GB traders should welcome the new scheme and five reasons the IOSS might make selling to EU customers even more complicated and expensive.”

Five reasons to welcome the new IOSS

1 IOSS greatly simplifies VAT procedures by allowing non-EU online sellers (remember that includes sellers based in Great Britain post-Brexit) to register for VAT in one EU member state, collect VAT from all their EU sales and report on a single monthly IOSS VAT return. No more multiple VAT filings in multiple countries.

2 Life is greatly simplified for sellers using online marketplaces. These become the ‘supplier’ when cross border B2C sales are made on them by third-party sellers. VAT liability (collecting and reporting) for sales in EU countries will fall on the marketplace rather than the merchant, providing the consignment is valued at less than £135 (€150). Our top tip is that businesses using only online marketplaces may now be able to end any existing EU VAT registrations, as they will no longer be responsible for collecting and reporting VAT.

3 Retailers’ EU-based customers won’t be facing any more unexpected VAT payments on purchases of goods sold in Britain, which will build back trust in buying from GB sellers.

4 Northern Ireland-based companies may enjoy an exemption threshold. NI firms can join the alternative intra-EU OSS scheme. Providing their sales to the EU don’t exceed £8,818/€10,000 per annum, NI-based organisations will only need to follow domestic VAT rules.

5 The IOSS scheme is voluntary and will speed up sellers’ EU shipments by creating a fast-track Customs clearance ‘green channel’ for consignments not exceeding £135/€150.

Five flaws in the new IOSS

1 The changes remove the previous VAT exemptions for SMEs on EU shipments worth £19/€22 or under. That means about 26,000 UK e-commerce sellers will have to register for VAT for the first time or stop selling to the EU.

2 The EU estimates it will cost around £6,900 per company each year for British sellers (that excludes Northern Ireland companies) to register and comply with IOSS regulations as a ‘non-Union’ user.

3 Unlike EU-based OSS users, IOSS users based in Great Britain don’t qualify for the new £8,818/€10,000 threshold before they have to pay EU VAT, rather than follow domestic rules. Only Northern Ireland sellers (under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol) have this option.

4 The new IOSS only applies to deliveries of items valued under the £135/€150 threshold. For all goods over that amount, GB businesses will have three choices: ensure their customer pays the import VAT at Customs; offer the option of delivering with all duties paid (DDP) or hold stock somewhere in the EU and register for VAT there.

5 Confusion still exists around registration. The gov.uk website states: ‘…it is not expected that the UK IOSS registration portal will be available for use for the 1 July 2021 launch’. There is also uncertainty about whether GB companies signing up for IOSS in an EU country must appoint an intermediary agent to register and file returns. Together with the French and German governments, ParcelHero believes this requirement does not apply to British sellers, as the UK-EU trade deal includes a tax and VAT mutual assistance agreement. The Republic of Ireland is a favourite option for GB companies because it uses English in business but, just to complicate matters, it recently stated it doesn’t yet recognise the agreement. Consequently, it will require the use of an intermediary agent.

ParcelHero’s in-depth analysis of the ongoing UK-EU trade problems and, in particular, the powder keg Northern Ireland Protocol agreement can be seen at: https://www.parcelhero.com/research/brexit-study

Strengths and flaws in the EU’s new IOSS

Posted on by David Priestman

Beleaguered British retailers are braced for yet more changes to how they sell goods to the EU. From 1st July 2021, a new EU Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme means British-based e-commerce companies only need to register and pay VAT in one EU country to sell goods not exceeding £135/€150 across the entire EU. The new IOSS regulations certainly make retailers’ lives easier, but they aren’t entirely good news, says the international delivery expert ParcelHero.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: “On the face of it, the new IOSS scheme helps return things to their pre-Brexit norm. However, in the case of the IOSS, the devil really is in the detail. We’re revealing five reasons GB traders should welcome the new scheme and five reasons the IOSS might make selling to EU customers even more complicated and expensive.”

Five reasons to welcome the new IOSS

1 IOSS greatly simplifies VAT procedures by allowing non-EU online sellers (remember that includes sellers based in Great Britain post-Brexit) to register for VAT in one EU member state, collect VAT from all their EU sales and report on a single monthly IOSS VAT return. No more multiple VAT filings in multiple countries.

2 Life is greatly simplified for sellers using online marketplaces. These become the ‘supplier’ when cross border B2C sales are made on them by third-party sellers. VAT liability (collecting and reporting) for sales in EU countries will fall on the marketplace rather than the merchant, providing the consignment is valued at less than £135 (€150). Our top tip is that businesses using only online marketplaces may now be able to end any existing EU VAT registrations, as they will no longer be responsible for collecting and reporting VAT.

3 Retailers’ EU-based customers won’t be facing any more unexpected VAT payments on purchases of goods sold in Britain, which will build back trust in buying from GB sellers.

4 Northern Ireland-based companies may enjoy an exemption threshold. NI firms can join the alternative intra-EU OSS scheme. Providing their sales to the EU don’t exceed £8,818/€10,000 per annum, NI-based organisations will only need to follow domestic VAT rules.

5 The IOSS scheme is voluntary and will speed up sellers’ EU shipments by creating a fast-track Customs clearance ‘green channel’ for consignments not exceeding £135/€150.

Five flaws in the new IOSS

1 The changes remove the previous VAT exemptions for SMEs on EU shipments worth £19/€22 or under. That means about 26,000 UK e-commerce sellers will have to register for VAT for the first time or stop selling to the EU.

2 The EU estimates it will cost around £6,900 per company each year for British sellers (that excludes Northern Ireland companies) to register and comply with IOSS regulations as a ‘non-Union’ user.

3 Unlike EU-based OSS users, IOSS users based in Great Britain don’t qualify for the new £8,818/€10,000 threshold before they have to pay EU VAT, rather than follow domestic rules. Only Northern Ireland sellers (under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol) have this option.

4 The new IOSS only applies to deliveries of items valued under the £135/€150 threshold. For all goods over that amount, GB businesses will have three choices: ensure their customer pays the import VAT at Customs; offer the option of delivering with all duties paid (DDP) or hold stock somewhere in the EU and register for VAT there.

5 Confusion still exists around registration. The gov.uk website states: ‘…it is not expected that the UK IOSS registration portal will be available for use for the 1 July 2021 launch’. There is also uncertainty about whether GB companies signing up for IOSS in an EU country must appoint an intermediary agent to register and file returns. Together with the French and German governments, ParcelHero believes this requirement does not apply to British sellers, as the UK-EU trade deal includes a tax and VAT mutual assistance agreement. The Republic of Ireland is a favourite option for GB companies because it uses English in business but, just to complicate matters, it recently stated it doesn’t yet recognise the agreement. Consequently, it will require the use of an intermediary agent.

ParcelHero’s in-depth analysis of the ongoing UK-EU trade problems and, in particular, the powder keg Northern Ireland Protocol agreement can be seen at: https://www.parcelhero.com/research/brexit-study

Freight market recovering but rates remain high

Posted on by David Priestman

Transport Intelligence’s (Ti), latest report, Global Freight Forwarding 2021, shows the post-Covid-19 global forwarding market is settling in to its recovery phase after dramatic contractions in 2020. However, market dynamics remain skewed with limited capacity available and sky-high freight rates presenting a challenging market for shippers and opportunities for forwarders to secure high margins.

The Global Freight Forwarding market contracted by 8.7% in 2020, recording its worst year since the financial crisis as a result of the pandemic. The sea freight forwarding market contracted by 3.8% in 2020, but air freight forwarding suffered worse with a decline of 12.3%. However, the freight forwarding market is expected to bounce back strongly with growth of 11.6% in 2021 and a CAGR of 5% from 2020-2025 as volumes recover.

The sea freight forwarding market is set to grow at 7.6% in 2021 and at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2020-2025. Growth in 2021 will largely be driven by the bounce back in volumes from 2020, particularly in Q2 2021 vs Q2 2020. Sea freight forwarding growth out to 2025 will be driven by the ongoing recovery in volumes, modal switches from air to sea and new trade agreements generating more trade.

Air freight forwarding is set to grow at 14.9% in 2021 and at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2020-2025. Growth in 2021 is largely driven by a recovery of volumes from 2020 and very high freight rates. Longer-term growth out to 2025 will be driven by a recovery in global trade and strong growth in air freight intensive sectors like high tech, pharmaceuticals and cross-border e-commerce.

The new report also shows that amid all the disruption to the air freight market the top 20 freight forwarders have significantly increased their share of overall volumes, from 65.05% in 2019 to 74.89% in 2020. The top 20 actually increased the air freight volumes they handled in 2020, despite market volumes declining by 12.50%. Coupled with the high air freight rates that persisted through 2020, this led to a very good year for large forwarders.

The sea freight market also saw volumes decline from 2019, with 9.95% fewer containers handled in 2020. Nevertheless, capacity constraints and high freight rates enabled the top 20 forwarders to broadly maintain their revenues, even though they carried 7.49% fewer containers than in 2019.

The new report provides a view of the future of both the air and sea freight forwarding markets and an outlook for volume, price and capacity development for the rest of 2020. It also examines the performance of freight forwarders in detail and how many of the larger players managed to achieve record margins, with the average freight forwarding margin for 2020 increasing to 7.5%.

“A tumultuous 2020 saw major disruptions in supply chains the world over with the ability of forwarders’ to keep goods moving severely tested by shocks to supply and demand, carriers greatly reducing capacity, and congestion at logistics gateways, amongst other forces,” said Nick Bailey, Ti’s Head of Research.

“Although the market saw one of the sharpest contractions in recent memory in real terms, sky high rates resulted in record-breaking top-line performance for many forwarders. The pandemic also accelerated digitisation and digitalisation efforts across the market as speed, agility and responsiveness proved highly valuable capabilities during the crisis.”

The report also examines the developing digital freight forwarding landscape. There is a new market map for the digital landscape and profiles of the major players to show how their capabilities are developing. The latest analysis highlights how they are increasingly competing with established forwarders with a full suite of end-to-end value added services and acquiring key assets to enable this, all underpinned by their technological base.

Global Freight Forwarding 2021 also drills down in to technology further, taking a closer look at the software that underpins freight forwarding services, assessing the strategies pursued by different forwarders to develop their capabilities and providing profiles of the solutions available on the market.

The latest news from the market of consolidation among the top players corroborates Ti’s view that we are likely to see further M&A activity among freight forwarders through 2021. But the report also explains that it is likely we will also see considerable M&A activity involving the digital players and software entrants which are competing to capture the growth of digitalization in the market.

To download Global Freight Forwarding 2021, please visit: https://www.ti-insight.com/product/global-freight-forwarding

Subscribe

Get notified about New Episodes of our Podcast, New Magazine Issues and stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter.