Logistics

It is important to consider the logistics of moving your merchandise to your customers. For businesses considering international trade, however, it becomes a crucial part of their decision making and planning process. International logistics can have a considerable impact on costs of the final good and on the time required to get the good to the customer. It could therefore completely alter the decision to trade and will require sufficient research into the various options to ensure that the maximum benefits can be gained. Businesses planning to invest will also need to think through how they will get their final products to the customers and those focusing on the service sector might need to consider logistics within their supply chain.

A range of modes of transport are available to businesses looking to internationalise.

A range of modes of transport are available to businesses looking to internationalise. Given that we focus on trade between India and Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, sea and air transport will be the most common modes of freight transport. To complete the journey of transport to the final customer however, a multimodal approach which incorporates rail, road and waterways is likely to be adopted.

There are a several different players involved in international transport. They include shipping lines, booking agents, freight forwarders and custom house brokers. It may be possible to take on some of the steps yourself, but more likely than not, it will pay to commission the experts. The shipper, you, is the business that is originating the merchandise. The consignee is the business receiving the cargo. This could be the business to whom you are selling but also could be a local intermediary. Getting the goods from shipper to consignee requires five physical steps and two documentation steps, according to Transporteca, a Danish logistics firm.