Global Logistics Business Protects Revenue and Improves Efficiency

Global logistics business protects 100% of shipping revenue and improves efficiency by 68% using Revenue Protection system from Avery Weigh-Tronix

As a global business that transports millions of parcels and freight consignments around the world, it is vital that our customer is able to protect its revenue by checking consignment weight and dimensions against customer declared data.

The operational cost of transporting a consignment is often determined by the amount of space it takes up rather than the actual weight. In an industry where 54% of consignments are simply not checked at all, carriers can protect their profitability by incorporating accurate volumetric weight pricing into their pricing strategy and by checking customer declared weights are accurate.

In August 2016, Avery Weigh-Tronix approached the company to work in partnership to explore the most efficient way to check the declared weight and size of consignments and attempt to remove the manual processes involved in capturing this data that can often cause inaccuracy.

Manual, labour intensive processes

The customer’s current processes were mainly manual, requiring intervention at numerous points and relying upon manual data recording. A consignment would arrive at their facility and be unloaded by pallet truck and transported to their revenue protection area, often with a 4-5 hour standing time, before being weighed and measured with a manual tape measure. The data would be recorded by hand and typed into their system where it would be compared with customer declared data and surcharges applied if necessary. The consignment would then be moved to their outbound bay for onward shipping.

As well as being a lengthy and potentially error prone process, the revenue protection area could become a bottle neck during busy times, leading to inefficiency in the operation. Errors associated with manual data capture meant that the company could not realise 15% of the surcharges identified. A faster, more robust and accurate process was required.

68% faster turnaround and reduced touch-points

Following an in-depth review of the company’s processes, Avery Weigh-Tronix installed its Revenue Protection system. The solution had an immediate impact, enabling the customer to streamline their operations and achieve a 68% faster turnaround versus their previous processes.

Incoming bulk freight is unloaded and weighed using a forklift truck fitted with an Avery Weigh-Tronix forklift scale system. Whilst still on the forklift, the consignment is scanned and its measurements taken using an Avery Weigh-Tronix Cubetape digital dimensioning system. The consignment can then be routed straight to the outbound loading area, eliminating the revenue protection bottle-neck and increasing productivity by eliminating the need to travel to a fixed weighing / dimensioning location.

The whole process takes place while the item is sitting on the forklift forks, reducing the number of touch-points and streamlining processes further.

Complete audit trail protects 100% of shipping revenue

By combining the forklift scale data with the dimensional data, the customer can quickly and accurately capture the weight and dimension of parcels and heavy / large freight.

The system automatically calculates a volumetric weight for the consignment and compares it to the actual weight, alerting the operator to consignments where a volumetric surcharge could be applied. As well as identifying all instances where consignments have been under-declared, the audit trail enables the customer to eliminate the 15% of surcharges previously disputed by customers, resulting in 100% of revenue being protected.

Speedy return on investment

The solution has enabled one of the UK’s biggest logistics companies to protect against the revenue loss that can be caused by under declaration of consignment weights, while removing the extra processing time, labour costs and floor space often associated with revenue protection checks.

Based on the data collected during the trial, the company has forecasted additional income of £100,000 to £150,000 per week once the system has been rolled out across all of its UK depots. With such a speedy return on investment, the Revenue Protection system from Avery Weigh-Tronix looks set to revolutionise the way that shipping companies handle their revenue protection operations.