The Transpacific route is currently very congested, and the West Coast ports of the U.S. are now facing overwhelming volume. For us seasoned professionals, this is nothing new. It happens all too often.

The logistics teams of Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs) and importers know that identifying the most critical shipments is essential. We must focus on which containers have critical products in short supply and which are the hottest!

To prioritize containers, the logistics team has to work closely with internal stakeholders, like supply planning, inventory control, customer service, and sales. Supply planners and customer service play a crucial role, enabling the team to determine the criticalities. Like: What is incoming? When arriving? What and how much is each container? They need this information at their fingertips ASAP.

Then they need BI tools to figure out inventory levels compared to in transit. They must also have a clear understanding of their current inventory and customer demand expectations.

If the team has an International Transportation Management (ITMS) with a control tower, it can provide real-time visibility and control over the shipments.

The control tower, with BI, can analyze data and provide insights to inform decisions. If the ITMS is built on PO management or a shipment-level process with item-level details, they have the core of what they and the internal planners need to start figuring out the priorities.

With this information, the planners can analyze demand, inventory levels, and shipment status to determine the priorities. They can also categorize the containers into different priority levels, ensuring that the most critical shipments are moved first. Then they can share this back with the logistics team.

The logistics team reviews inbound reports and needs to communicate with external partners, including DCs, customs brokers and drayage services on priorities. All the key players need to know the plan and expedite accordingly.

The combined team efforts must push hard for the hot stuff!

Inbound Benefits of an ITMS Program:

 - Real-time visibility: Track shipments and anticipating potential delays.

- Data-driven decision-making: Use business intelligence platforms to determine priorities

- Improved collaboration: Facilitate communication and alignment among stakeholders.

Key Takeaways:

• Accurate container information: Supply planners and customer service teams must have knowledge of what products are in each container to inform logistics team on priorities.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders to ensure effective prioritization.
• Coordinate with your external providers on your expectations of what they need to do to move your most important shipments first. This goes for your DCs also when they are deciding which containers to unload first!
• Data-driven decision-making: Use shipment data and container information to inform prioritization decisions.

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