Navigating the Price Maze: Smart Freight Cost Calculation

July 9, 2012 - PRLog -- • Second in a series of AEB white papers on freight management
• Solutions for shipping operations and strategic supply chain management

How businesses can use smart software to better manage freight costs and what they need to look for when choosing such a solution - that’s the topic of a new white paper from software developer AEB. The white paper provides practical advice for shipping managers and supply chain management strategists alike and can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.aeb-international.co.uk/freight.

Carrier terms and conditions are to supply chain managers what mobile phone plans are to the rest of us: varying price calculation models with all sorts of cost factors and service types weave a tangled web that few can comprehend. The lack of transparency and comparability among the tariffs makes freight cost calculations time-consuming and error-prone. Shipping departments typically work on tight deadlines, and time is a critical factor when it comes to evaluating new carrier charges. .

The only way to efficiently navigate this price maze is to deploy specialised freight management solutions, which manage the various tariffs, rate schedules, and agreements of the different forwarders and allow companies to calculate freight costs for any scenario, whether it’s running a quick calculation to generate sales data or billing costs to customers.

Management of complex tariffs made easy
But choosing the right freight and transport management software is not an easy task. Tips on what to look for when choosing the right solution can be found in AEB’s white paper “Navigating the Price Maze: Smart Freight Cost Calculation,” which is available for downloaded from http://www.aeb-international.co.uk/freight.

The foundation for successful transport and freight management is the management of “quotes” - the agreements on freight charges negotiated between shippers and transport service providers. Freight and transport management software is specially designed to accommodate these often complicated agreements. Different solutions take quite different approaches to entering and managing such quotes. AEB’s new white paper takes a closer look at essential requirements, options and benefits.

Versatile freight cost calculation
Here are some key examples of where freight cost calculations come into play:

- Calculating freight costs to facilitate the selection of a carrier
- Calculating the freight costs of a specific shipment
- Calculating freight costs for reallocation (to customers, for example)
- Calculating the freight costs of inbound transports

About AEB’s white paper series
Lowering costs and increasing efficiency through smart freight management: that is the theme of a series of in-depth white papers. The first white paper was titled “Three Paths to Efficient Freight Invoice Auditing.” The second white paper is entitled “Navigating the Price Maze: Smart Freight Cost Calculation.” The third white paper will look at simulations, comparative analyses, and freight statistics, while the fourth will be devoted to the topic of freight cost reallocation. The white papers can be downloaded free of charge from www.aeb-international.co.uk/freight.

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Contacts
For further information, or interview requests please contact Andrea Krug, Krug Communications Ltd, tel. +44 (0)7740 245 867, email: andrea@krugcomms.com.
To find out more about AEB’s software solutions please visit www.aeb-international.co.uk.

Notes to Editors

About AEB GmbH
AEB is one of Europe's leading providers of supply chain logistics software and has been delivering solutions to customers for over thirty years. The company has over 5,000 customers worldwide and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, supported by offices in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore and the US.
AEB’s core product - ASSIST4 - is the comprehensive solution suite for all logistics processes in global business. ASSIST4 offers a complete set of business services for end-to-end logistics, including international goods movements, making it possible to standardize and automate business processes in supply chain execution. ASSIST4 also creates transparency and provides a reliable basis for making the right decisions about the planning, monitoring, control and continual optimization of supply networks - even beyond the boundaries of the business. The ASSIST4 suite offers full functionality via a wide range of modules including Visibility & Collaboration Platform, Order Management, Warehouse Management, Transport & Freight Management, Customs Management and Compliance & Risk Management.