And to be sure, with a sound supply chain strategy in place, any organization is better able to devise tactical steps to achieve its objectives.

When we work together to develop an effective supply chain strategy, we build on a shared understanding of your organization’s core competencies, areas of focus and means of differentiation.

Should you focus on a particular market or segment to gain supply chain efficiencies? Do you differentiate by providing the lowest cost to customers or providing services that other competitors cannot? We know that the most effective options align with your company’s brand and business strategy and your operation’s capabilities.

Together, we’ll blueprint a supply chain strategy that not only achieves current objectives, but helps sustain success through shifts in economic conditions, corporate strategy, technology as well as social, political and environmental factors.

Zapp  has been working with many clients to identify product-wise manufacturing and storage locations, evaluate transportation options and providers, optimize resource allocation, understand and manage performance, and implement more efficient, more effective processes. We can help you too.

To meet clients’ high efficiency and high velocity supply chain constraints combined with a critical need for visibility and performance information, transportation management systems are critical assets to effective transportation management.

Selected Solution Features

• Carrier and mode selection
• Data integration with transportation management source systems
• EDI integration: customer, supplier, carrier
• Exception reporting and carrier performance management
• Freight Bill Audit and Payment (FBAP)
• Load planning (routing and rating)
• Load tendering, acceptance, release and carrier dispatch
• Order acceptance and entry
• Shipment tracking and tracing
• Standard and customized reporting

We provide a web reporting solution provided from an enterprise data warehouse. The goal of the web-based reporting is to standardize, unify and integrate data to improve information delivery to clients and allow users easier access and ad hoc report building capability.

Selected Warehousing Services

• On time order fulfillment and material handling
• Value added services: kitting, packing, metering, sequencing, light assembly, labeling, bundling and unbundling, repairs
• Reverse logistics
• Staff hiring and training
• Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), RFID, EDI integration
• KPI Management

We spent many years as supply chain consultants where we observed inventory planning practices that could have been significantly improved with better tools. Our mission is to take the guesswork out of estimating the right amount of inventory for your business. We believe that without the right tools, most companies either don’t set inventory levels using effective math and science, or they invest too much time attempting to get to the right answers.

It is a web based track trace application available through our appointed partner’s system that allows visibility to shipment information from point of shipment request through delivery at final destination.  Includes advanced search options and proactive notification of exception shipments.

The reconciliation is done using a purchase order number created at the time the shipment is dispatched with the actual shipment information (origin, destination, load number, applicable surcharges) received after delivery. Before processing payment, the bills are audited for accuracy. There are two audit services:

• Pre-audit occurs before the payment is made to a carrier
• Post-audit process occurs after searching for rate and billing errors after the payment is made

FBAP provides very valuable information on the logistics network including: actual amount shipped by customer, carrier used, date shipped and received, amount paid, vendor compliance, actual cost and savings, exception and investigation.

This service is typically performed using a web-enabled reporting tool to give real-time access to both customers and the 3PL to respond quickly to customer inquiries.

We’ve learnt thorugh our experience that many shippers don’t have transportation expertise, freight volume or the resources necessary to negotiate competitive transportation rates. They typically choose to outsource this function to logistics service providers.4PL or even 3PLs have the freight volume, experience and resources to procure and manage optimal transportation contracts that take into consideration business rules, capacity, volume, seasonality and business partnerships. Zapp being a 4PL can assist in the following processes:

1. Bseline: Shippers provide 3PL with historical lane, volume, and carrier data to create a baseline reflecting all business rules and current freight spend. The baseline is validated by the shipper and run through the 3PL’s carrier rates database to determine value of procurement
2. RFQ: Using the baseline, an electronic request for quotation (RFQ) is created and approved by the shipper
3. Bid: The RFQ is bid out to carriers during two or three weeks where they bid for each lanes presented in the RFQ

Carrier Meeting: After selected the carriers, a meeting is set up with the shipper to review the carrier assignments, pricing and business requirements. The solution is then deployed and managed (insurance, rate adjustment, alternative carriers) by the 3PL

Users can easily determine the optimum package size, arrangement, pallet configuration, and truck placement while providing stacking strength recommendations for homogeneous products based on their dimensions and other shipping requirements.

Assessments provide insight into your key organizational processes to help identify performance gaps. Upon completion of an assessment, you will receive a report containing deep, accurate, relevant, and timely benchmarks you can trust—each data point goes through APQC’s rigorous, seven-step validation process to ensure the highest level of accuracy before admission to the database. You will also receive additional peer groups in your report such as industry, geography, and entity size.

Once our client’s know where they stand against its competitors and where gaps have been identified, it gives us a target and goal to help to bridge those gaps. This enabler is very powerful has it helps our clients become even more competitive in the market place.