A Custom Solution to Process Commercial Invoices and Expedite Customs Clearance
How can an international courier process commercial invoices and expedite customs clearance to deliver their shipments on time? One of the world’s largest international couriers challenges DATAMARK to envision a custom solution to maintain its reputation for reliable, on-time delivery of packages sent anywhere in the world.
Commercial Invoice Document Processing and Contact Center Support
How can an international courier process commercial invoices and expedite customs clearance to deliver its shipments on time? One of the world’s largest international couriers challenges DATAMARK to envision a custom solution to maintain its reputation for reliable, on-time delivery of packages sent anywhere in the world.
Background: International Courier Needs to Process Commercial Invoices and Expedite Customs Clearance
One of the world’s largest international couriers needs back-office support to process commercial invoices and expedite customs clearance for package and freight shipments by truck between the United States and Canada. Since DATAMARK specializes in Transportation and Logistics Contact Center and BPO services, they respond to the challenge with a custom solution with their team in India.
First, What Happens During Customs Clearance?
When international or cross-border shipments move from one country to another, they must clear customs before delivery to the customer. To ensure quick customs clearance, the courier must provide necessary information about its packages and shipments before sending them. When the shipment arrives at customs, a customs officer will inspect the shipment to ensure that it meets import regulations. They will also examine the customs paperwork with the package to assess import duties, taxes and fees.
What Documents Are Needed to Clear Customs?
Customs paperwork includes key documents such as a commercial invoice, packing slip and shipping label. The commercial invoice is the most important as it contains information about the shipper, the receiver, the airway bill number and the export date. Your customs paperwork must be accurate and complete to avoid delaying your shipment.
The Challenge: Create a Custom Solution to Quickly Process Commercial Invoices
One of the world’s largest international couriers challenges DATAMARK to provide a custom solution to expedite customs clearance. This international courier needs a solution for processing commercial invoices quickly to ensure on-time delivery for shipments between its United States and Canadian customers. They also need a contact center queue to resolve any issues processing the commercial invoices such as missing or incorrect information. The courier requires all commercial invoices to process within 24 hours to clear customs quickly.
The Solution: 24-hour Service and a Streamlined Document Processing System Leveraging India
Tapping into its global pool of talent, DATAMARK hired an international document processing team split between Mexico and India, strategically leveraging the skilled workforce available in India. This allowed for 24-hour service over multiple shifts. Approximately 24 staff members who joined the international document processing team had to be trained in the courier’s commercial invoice process and in the use of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System is an international system of names and numbers for commodity classification. It is used by customs agencies to establish tariffs and import fees, as well as to identify restricted or regulated imports and exports.
Streamlining Document Processing: Lean and Six Sigma Methodologies and DATAMARK Experts
Taking responsibility for this critical back-office function, DATAMARK also improved the process through Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. DATAMARK’s Software Development team created a digital note-insertion tool to save time and avoid manually writing notes to update missing or incorrect information on the commercial invoices. Through this analysis, DATAMARK removed another manual step in the process by eliminating the need to print and scan additional commercial invoice information arriving via fax server.
Contact Center Services to Process Commercial Invoices and Expedite Customs Clearance
To further ensure 24-hour processing of commercial invoices for their client, DATAMARK established a Contact Center Queue to clarify customs paperwork before the shipments reach the border between the United States and Canada. This Contact Center Queue consists of trained contact center agents who handle outbound and inbound calls to and from shippers to resolve problems with merchandise descriptions, harmonized codes and delivery names and addresses.
For this client, the Contact Center Team is based in a DATAMARK facility in Mexico, along the U.S.-Mexico border. Each agent speaks flawless, unaccented English. Access to a talented, bilingual workforce is one of the advantages of establishing contact center operations in this region.
The Results: Customs Clearance in 24 Hours or Less
DATAMARK delivers a near-shore – farshore outsourced document processing solution to ensure that commercial invoices process within 24 hours or less. In this way, the international courier client can avoid shipment delays at the U.S. – Canada border.
Benefits of the Outsourced Document Processing and Contact Center Solution:
- Cost Savings: By incorporating the skilled workforce in Mexico and India, the near-shore – farshore document processing arrangement reduces potential costs by 20 to 40 percent compared to in-house document processing.
- Expert Contact Center Services: Based in Mexico, DATAMARK’s contact center agents act as an extension of the courier’s brand. They speak flawless and unaccented English as they contact shippers to resolve commercial invoice problems on behalf of our client.
- Process Improvement: Transferring document processing and contact center operations to DATAMARK was not just a matter of “lift and shift.” In taking responsibility for the back-office processes, DATAMARK applied Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to the client’s process to remove redundant steps. This philosophy of continuous improvement delivers faster turnaround and lower costs compared to an in-house process.
DATAMARK was thrilled to be able to apply their strengths in business strategy, document processing, and outsourcing global talent to help an international courier client to stay on track and on time. Solution: Analysis, Documentation and Improvement with Business Process Outsourcing
WANT TO KEEP READING?
MORE DATAMARK CASE STUDIES
We help Fortune 500 companies, large enterprises and government agencies address business challenges to increase their profitability as they grow. Explore the case studies below to learn how we’ve helped our customers and how we can help your business, as well.
