Global trade management key to supply chain growth, study finds

Kewill, a leading provider of software and SaaS designed to accelerate global trade and logistics, announced the availability of its whitepaper, “2011 Best Practices Survey for Global Trade Management.”

Kewill surveyed over 800 logistics professionals and executives for its latest report. According to company spokesmen, most respondents were qualified international exporters who were able to provide “a global perspective.” Survey participants revealed their challenges and strategies in global trade management.

This white paper is Kewill’s second annual review of the state of global trade management, which also highlights key trends and industry best practices. Among those participating was Beth Peterson, president of BPE.

“We’re finding over and over again that GTM systems are a strategic risk mitigation tool and the majority of exporters see them as an essential component of their global strategy,” she said.

Key findings from the report include:

• The majority of survey respondents export from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Almost 40 percent export from South/Central America and the Caribbean, and just 33 percent export from the Middle East and Africa.

• Seventy-three percent of respondents continue to manage trade compliance centrally from the United States (U.S.) and only 27 percent manage trade compliance within each region. This was the same as 2010.

• Companies need to be prepared for a potential increase in U.S. exports, should export control reform (“ECR”) be successful.

• Automation is an essential tool in reducing cost and mitigating regulatory threats to your supply chain. Automation frees up compliance resources allowing them to focus on complex tasks such as corporate strategy, training and audit. And automation is needed to ensure scalable daily execution at an acceptable cost.

• Seventy-three percent of respondents stated they still had completely manual or semi-automated processes for preparing export documentation.

• Surprisingly, despite the risk of fines/penalties roughly 20 percent of respondents export without screening for restricted/denied parties and embargoed countries.

The entire report is available for download: http://www.kewill.com/lc/GTMBestPractices.

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