UPS tools to streamline international shipments

UPS tools to streamline international shipments    UPS goes live Monday with several online functions designed to streamline international shipment procedures for importers and exporters.
   The primary new technology option is called UPS Import Control. It is designed to give importers more control over their inbound shipments typically arranged by an overseas supplier. Importers can now use the feature to generate shipping labels and commercial invoices for small packages and forward those materials to the exporter, receive e-mail notifications when the labels are put into the UPS delivery system, and manage other processes.
   A shipper can distribute the labels to a vendor by e-mail, local postal service or even dispatch a UPS driver to deliver the materials and pick up the shipment.
   Import Control is available through CampusShip, the regular Internet shipping system on the ups.com Web site, or middleware that integrates into a shipper's own Web site or system.
   CampusShip is a distributed shipping system aimed at companies with multiple locations that need administrative control over shipping. It provides expense management and cost allocation features so supervisors can manage shipping operations for employees at many different sites.
   Suppliers normally are responsible for filling out an invoice, but importers usually have a better understanding of the harmonized tariff codes, the correct declarations, duties and other customs requirements in their own country and often prefer to complete them for the exporter to simply sign and apply to the package.
   Import Control, available in 55 countries, also allows the importer to remove the commercial invoice after it clears customs prior to delivery to a third party so the end customer doesn't see the value of goods declared for customs duties and figure out how much the importer has marked up the price.
   'In today's world, many times they (the importer) have to bring that shipment into their facility, remove the paperwork, repackage it and ship it out so the customer doesn't see any of that commercial invoice information. So the importer saves time and a transportation leg in getting that product directly to their customer,' Stu Marcus, marketing director for product development at UPS, explained in an interview.
   Import Control will be available in WorldShip starting in January, Marcus said. WorldShip is a distributed shipping system for high-volume shippers that is installed on a client's own system. It is not a Web-based tool. It stores information locally and then uploads it to UPS as needed. Import Control will be available in 101 countries once it is added to WorldShip.
   'We believe that by giving tools to importers around the world it will support President Obama's initiative to double exports within five years,' Marcus said.
   UPS also made changes to its online shipping tools so that importers have complete visibility to their shipments. Those tools include Quantum View Manage, which enables users to create a Web-based dashboard of all packages in the UPS system and receive customized alerts about delivery exceptions, as well as the regular tracking feature on the Web site. Quantum View Manage traditionally has been a small package feature, but UPS has now enhanced it to provide additional shipment details such as commercial invoice, package list and reweigh certificates to support air, ocean and less-than-truckload freight shipments. UPS is also enhancing CampusShip to support air freight shipments.
   WorldShip and regular Internet shipping already provide LTL freight functions. The goal is to allow customers to process and track small package and freight shipments with the same systems and simplify shipping no matter what transportation mode they use.
   UPS also enhanced its paperless invoice function. Customers can now self-enroll for paperless invoice on ups.com.
   The Atlanta-based logistics giant estimates that about 17 million shipments have gone paperless, saving about 105 million pieces of paper, since paperless invoice was introduced two years ago, Marcus said.
   UPS first announced its lineup of new functions in early June. ' Eric Kulisch