As Mailing & Shipping Operations Consultants, our incoming telephone calls, faxes and e-mail inquiries automatically provide us with current mailing and shipping industry concerns, requests and desires. The types of requests and comments which we get, clearly define a snapshot view of what's hot or cold in the industry. They also help us to identify strong points as well as weak spots in current technology, automation and programs.
Since the last article we published regarding parcel shipping and manifesting systems ("How to Design the Best Manifest/Shipping System for Your Customer, BTA Solutions, April '97), our sources of incoming information and requests have increasingly indicated the desire for more information on this topic. Many shippers, mailers or warehouse managers are unsure where to turn next in order to find, evaluate, compare and select the right system to handle their particular needs.
In this article we will touch on some of the key points which should be taken into consideration when choosing or comparing shipping and manifesting systems. We will also review a few specific makes and models as references as well as starting points for your search. Although we will in fact review a few particular makes and models by name, this article is not intended to be a direct head-to-head in depth product comparison nor "Editor's Choice" type of article. The primary purpose of this article is to share current information with the readership which will help them to get a broader understanding of what is currently available today and to realize just how many different types of options are out there.
I am happy to say that a lot of things have changed since last April. For starters, the market has become much more attractive for independent dealers of shipping and manifesting systems. Several individuals have reported that the big parcel shipping companies and overnight carriers such as FedEx, UPS, etc. have not been handing out their "loaner systems" as easily and hungrily as they used to. Apparently someone must have figured out that handing out (lending), setting up and maintaining hardware in the fashion of locked-computers, monitors, keyboards, scales, etc., and then training people to use them may have cost much more in reality than they thought that it would. The initial plans on paper probably looked much more attractive, compared to the overall parcel shipping revenue profits that have actually been brought in across the board from doing so.
This, combined with the fact that customers are getting more demanding by the second, in our fast-paced environment may have proven that the hardware and computer business is better off handled by the experts (VARS, independent dealers and computer service companies), rather than carriers that specialize in moving packages and parcels as their core business.
As the ever demanding market continually expects more, with less and faster than before, it makes more and more sense for companies to do what they do best and stop trying to be all things to all people. While the big carriers have the enormous task and burden of taking care of their core business of shipping extraordinary volumes of packages, parcels, overnight and expedited letters each day, independent dealers can concentrate the majority of their efforts on helping their customers.
Independent equipment dealers and VARS can often more appropriately take the time, effort and energy needed to spend working closely with a client and offer more personal attention which is usually needed. In order to provide long term solutions, it is often necessary to spend a fair amount of time on the inside with a client so that weak spots as well as crucial desires may be properly identified, considered and prioritized.
Large blocks of time can easily shoot by in a heart beat before you know it when correctly investigating the needs and concerns of a shipping and mailing department and operation. To do the job in the best fashion, it is important to look at the entire process of an operation from the initial telemarketing/sales, customer service or managerial areas right on through to the shipping and receiving department(s). The shipping and receiving departments of a company should really be viewed as either the beginning or the end of the entire process. If only the shipping and receiving areas are taken into consideration and evaluated when determining needs and selecting a shipping and manifesting system, the chances of doing it right would be drastically too slim to make good business sense.
Long term, win-win solutions can not be made by choosing a product from a catalog or taking the word of a hot-shot salesperson. Time must be taken, plenty of the right questions must be asked (based on each particular and unique situation) and the answers gathered must then be thoroughly reviewed. In addition to taking the customer's current details, needs, desires and system flaws and product volumes into consideration, future growth, expansion, network connectivity and several other factors must also be adequately forecasted and respected.
Simply put... unless you are a very large, (or at least a very rich $$$) corporation with deep pockets, it is very unlikely that you will find a large package carrier who is either in a position, or has the desire to adequately spend 1-on-1 time with you in order to extensively review your situation to ensure that you make the best decisions and selection.
Especially during the past few months, customers have been begging for the in-house ability to do things better, more efficiently and faster. Time is money and business is getting more competitive every day. Now more than ever, end users yearn for the ability to integrate shipping, manifesting and tracking software and systems into their current computer networks, organizational systems, primary databases, back-up systems and internet/intranet operations. They strive for real-time order fulfillment and shipping/tracking and reporting capabilities.
Whether they prefer to utilize just one, two, three four or five different shipping carriers, they want the ability to only have to house and use 1 system. Nobody wants to put up with the hassle, cost and toil of keeping employees trained and familiar with a different system at each spot on the long counter top or across the room any longer. Those days are gone! "Welcome to the 90's."
Space restrictions due to typical corporate downsizing, high square foot costs for commercial space, the electricity, maintenance and other general costs required to continually run and operate a large array of independent/proprietary systems basically make such systems much less attractive.
In the old days, shippers and mailers put up with such nonsense, redundancy and waste because they had to. Years ago we did not have nearly as many options available as we have today.
Another terrific benefit which makes the independent dealers look even more attractive when choosing a shipping/ manifesting system is the fact that several of the systems they offer are known as "multi-carrier". This means that the systems are capable of entering the necessary software, settings, zone & weight information and pricing tables to use just one type of system to handle all of a customer's preferred carriers (UPS, FedEx, Etc.).
Many of these systems even have the ability of instantly comparing the different carriers on a package by package basis, taking the time of day/cut off and pick up time deadlines, weight, destination, etc. into consideration in order to calculate and show the most attractive carrier for each particular package uniquely!
Just try to ask a large carrier such as FedEx if they would be so kind as to install some UPS, DHL or Airborne Express software into one of their proprietary systems which they would lend a customer (if they felt that the client was "worthy enough" to qualify for one in the first place). If you are still standing after you ask them, and they agree, please provide me with the contact's name and number because I would love to interview them!
Chances are great that should they live up to the challenge, have the technological ability to do so and actually have such clients to give us for references, we would most likely find that the clients would be spending extraordinary amounts of money shipping with the carrier, thus justifying the special treatment not available to the average bear.
Now, let's review just a few of the solutions currently available and what people are saying about them. Again, this is article is not intended to be a full list and comparison tool to show all of the systems available today. The following models and points are mentioned solely to provide a basic starting point for consideration of helpful benefits and market desires. There are currently many makes and models available, whether listed here or not and in order to properly design and install the best solution for any particular customer, thorough market research, interviews and on-site evaluations must be made in advance.
However, out of all the random systems we considered and reviewed, without any hesitation I was especially impressed by two of the solutions right off the bat. One was the Tracer Clippership software, teamed up with it's optional TracerX software. As shared with us by Tracer Research, Inc.'s CEO, Mr. Bob Malley the Tracer solutions allow fast reporting, network capabilities, multiple carrier instant rate comparisons and TCP/IP socket access. The Tracer solutions also provide customers with the abilities to upload revenue files to carriers, handle barcode labeling tasks and track on-line in order to provide full compliance. It is also very flexible and desirable in that it easily integrates into many types of networks/systems and supports many popular peripherals.
The other solution that was often reported as very favorable was the Aristo APSS Shipping System. It too offers many of the capabilities that users are asking for as mentioned above. Sal Dassaro, CMDSM, Vice President of Datamation Systems, Inc. had an especially interesting view on the subject. You see, for several years Dassaro previously worked for UPS before joining the team at Datamation. While still with UPS, Sal was responsible for helping to determine the needs of their largest customers (whom UPS felt "deserved" their attention) and then making it possible for UPS to install their own shipping and manifesting systems. This has given Sal the rare advantage of seeing both sides of the fence first hand. Now as V.P. of Datamation, one of his primary responsibilities is to select which product lines his company will distribute & support. Sal claims he chose the Aristo system primarily due to it's flexibility and affordability. Mr. Chase Sowden, National Sales Director of Aristo Computers feels that a great deal of their success is that "the system is platform independent and is not hardware proprietary. The user has access to the set-up program, thus not independent on the dealer." One for the road. Ascom has released their Challenger 5000 system which is an all new Windows 95 based product which will add even more competition and choices to the fast paced world of shipping and manifesting solutions.
Scott DeMayo, CMDSM, MPQCS
President
DeMayo Mail Management Consultants
Copyright 1997 DeMayo Mail Management
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