Kuehne + Nagel to use INTTRA’s VGM solution

INTTRA has secured commitments from five of the top seven global forwarders for its eVGM product, which allows container weight verification data to be transmitted electronically to carriers.    The global logistics services provider Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) said Wednesday it will use INTTRA exclusively to submit electronic data related to a global container weight verification mandate set to go into effect July 1.
   The verified gross mass (VGM) rule requires shippers and ocean freight consolidators to provide carriers with a verified weight of their containers prior to vessel loading. In some locations, carriers said shippers will need to provide the VGM data prior to cutoffs stipulated at the time of booking.
   INTTRA, a provider of electronic ocean booking and shipping instructions submission software, has developed a product to allow shippers and LSPs to submit the VGM electronically to carriers. It’s one of a host of such solutions to emerge in recent weeks as software companies and 3PLs try to help the industry grapple with the new weight verification rule.
   Last week, German ocean carrier Hamburg Sud signed a similar arrangement for VGM submission, following a previous announcement with Mediterranean Shipping Co. K+N is the first global 3PL/forwarder to publicly commit to INTTRA’s eVGM product, though the software company told American Shipper five of the top seven global forwarders plan to use the solution, along with numerous carriers and beneficial cargo owners.
   “The INTTRA eVGM Service reflects how closely INTTRA has worked with the industry to understand and comprehensively address the technology needs created by SOLAS VGM,” said Otto Schacht, executive vice president, sea logistics, at Kuehne + Nagel. “Their solution gives us a broad range of options for submitting VGMs to our global ocean carrier partners. This solution in combination with Kuehne + Nagel’s own VGM customer portal will contribute to an efficient and reliable communication of VGM data from shipper to carrier.”
   INTTRA has separate VGM submission options for carriers and shippers (or forwarders). The data can be submitted by electronic data interchange (EDI), web services or by email.
   Roughly a quarter of ocean freight bookings globally are transacted through INTTRA’s portal, so the company, along with other such booking portals like CargoSmart, are natural points for the industry to turn to for VGM submission.
   The value of such solutions are particularly acute for global forwarders, who must juggle the data submission demands of customers and sourcing points on multiple continents and need some level of standardization to reduce the administrative burden.
   “Freight forwarders benefit from setting one connection and a standard way of submitting the VGM to all their carriers,” INTTRA President and Chief Operating Officer Inna Kuznetsova told American Shipper. “It means integrating and testing of only one service to the software for freight forwarding operations, whether they use their own or a standard package, such as Kewill’s, already integrated with INTTRA. The same form to fill and train their operators on, one stream of submitted messages to check for the status. Standardization is a foundation of operations excellence due to consistency and ability to tune up the performance.”
   Kuznetsova said that because freight forwarders always use multiple carriers, the scope of INTTRA’s network amplifies this benefit. Another intended benefit of the eVGM solution is that forwarders can avoid disrupting their current shipping process.
   “It does not require switching of their booking or shipping instructions from whatever channel they are using, whether it is carrier direct connection or a combination of portals,” she said. “And it allows the use of the new (EDI) message – VERMAS – submitted in time for the VGM cutoff date, that usually happens prior to the cutoff date for shipping instructions submission.”
Kuznetsova said INTTRA’s solution also accommodates the multiple scenarios forwarders face in terms of packing and weighing containers.
   “This is extremely important for freight forwarders, especially those who often transport containers packed at customer- or even competitor-managed sites,” she said. “The freight forwarder can authorize the third party to submit the weight to them and reroute it to the carrier after approval or even authorize the third party to submit on their behalf. The last option is extremely useful in the U.S. when the terminals offer free container weighing services.”
   Lastly, Kuznetsova pointed out that INTTRA is continuously working to incorporate country-specific regulations in future releases of its eVGM as those regulations are developed.
   “Almost every week we see new regulations and clarifications coming out, from Hong Kong’s requirement for the specification of the method used for weighing, to Argentina’s demand for six-month retention of data, or India’s demand for government access,” she said. “Global freight forwarders shipping from multiple locations are more vulnerable to changes in local regulations than a BCO sending goods out of a single country.”
   INTTRA has had a longstanding relationship with K+N prior to the eVGM partnership.
   “Kuehne + Nagel has been consistently at the forefront of technology adoption and leveraging standardization to improve operational excellence,” Kuznetsova said.