Yusen Logistics Co. Ltd. and SATO Corporation have collaborated to launch a global logistics IT solution to integrate purchase order, production and shipment, and transport data to provide significant labor savings to customers. This supply chain optimization tool is currently available for customers with global operations in all industries and business segments.

The solution is a combination of Yusen Logistics’ NEXT Visibility System and SATO’s Daisharin SaaS scan and pack system which integrates customer purchase orders and production, packaging and shipping data at overseas factories and warehouses, together with international shipping data. The solution makes use of barcodes and portable scanners to reduce manual data entry and documentation.

In global logistics, inconsistencies between freight and documentation data lead to troublesome revision work due to geographical and language barriers. In addition, the manual confirmation of freight requires significant labor resources for incoming shipments at the destination.

The solution delivers labor savings to customers by preventing the need for such revisions, thanks to improved data accuracy from the shipping side. Effective utilization of data throughout the system dramatically enhances efficiency on the receiving side. Also, since the solution is cloud-based, overseas production and packaging status, as well as progress in shipment status, can be readily accessed online, eliminating inquiries to the factory and carrier. The service is also available for a monthly fee, reducing up-front investment and maximizing cost benefit.

The solution, recently introduced by a leading manufacturer of sports equipment, successfully reduced costs associated with import management by half. Furthermore, the coordination between purchase order management and warehouse management systems led to more efficient data management for the entire supply chain.

The Yusen Logistics and SATO solution solve issues for companies that spend too much time tracking production status and shipment status in other countries; need to make revisions to correct documentation issues; and don’t want to incur high up-front costs for system installation.