The American Fastener Journal released their March/April edition last week and it featured an article that I wrote about trade data. While the article specifically focuses on how companies in the fastener industry are using different types of trade data, the content applies across nearly every industry.

In the article, I focus on three main points:

• Understanding what types of trade data exist for companies to better understand their markets.
• Deciding what type of data to use to answer specific needs across different departments including sourcing, marketing, legal, and sales.
• Choosing the right trade data provider to work with.

In the last section, I give an unbiased description of the most important factors to consider in your trade data purchasing process. The most important point to remember is that while all trade data providers receive their data from the same sources (U.S. Customs and U.S. Census), there are significant differences between the tools you will ultimately use. The trade data tool you choose will have a major impact on how much time and effort you will spend getting to and analyzing the data.

To take a look at the full article, see International Supply Chain Trade Data on our News and Events page.

Last week, Zepol announced in a press release that we had upgraded our infrastructure and significantly increased the speed of TradeIQ. This enhancement makes TradeIQ, which was already the fastest and most powerful trade database in the marketplace, twice as fast. Paul Rasmussen, our CEO & President, had this to say about the enhancement:

"While others pay lip service to improving technology and investing in their product offerings, Zepol’s users are seeing the results of our enhancements on a daily basis. TradeIQ users receive results nearly twice as fast as before our infrastructure improvements, getting them to the specific trade information they need quicker than any competing trade database. With over 65 million shipment records, covering over 6 years of U.S. trade activity, our users have unparalleled access to the import trade data they need to run their businesses."

It is nice to be able to brag a little bit about our accomplishments and show that while some companies are cutting back, we are giving more to our customers. Take a look at the full press release here for more information: Trade data provider Zepol Corporation announces infrastructure enhancement.

With the state of the economy still in rough shape, every day the media seems to describe another industry or company that is struggling. However, this week, I have heard several stories about companies that are thriving and bucking the recession. I am happy to say that Zepol is one of them. More companies than ever  are turning to us to learn about their markets.

So what are the reasons why companies are turning to us in greater numbers than ever before? I have listed the top 4 motives from our recent prospects:

1. Knowing more about your suppliers is incredibly important right now:
   Some companies are using the information to understand what leverage they have with suppliers. Others need to know about the health of their manufacturers because they may lose customers, go out of business, and leave their other U.S. customers suddenly without anything to sell. Nearly everyone is looking to save on production costs and investigating new supply options.
   
   
2. Finding new customers is essential to maintaining the health of your business:
   There is no better source for specific trade leads than AMS trade data, and more companies are realizing that they cannot waste time on unqualified leads. Transportation service providers are focusing their account executives more, turning to Zepol to do this effectively and efficiently. Importers are also finding new uses of the data in their sales departments, as I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in "Trade Data Use: Importers finding sales prospects".
   
   
3. Understanding the state of your competitors' businesses is even more vital in a recession:
   Unlike in good times, when concentrating on your core business with little thought of your competition is passable, recessions have a way of hyper-focusing your attention on what your competition is doing. When every sale counts more than ever, knowing what your competition’s next strategic move will be is an important factor for how your company will fair in this environment. We have seen companies use our data to gage if competitors are failing, when competitor will increase or decrease prices, and when to expect a new product to hit the market.
   
   
4. Questioning the true value they are receiving from current trade data providers:
   Small importers to large carriers and ports are looking at their current contracts with trade data providers and beginning to understand that this data is not a commodity. So instead of being hoodwinked by automatic renewals that some companies are writing into contracts, they are looking at the true value that they are really getting from their current provider. Since we provide more information and better service than other trade data providers, companies are choosing Zepol because we offer both a fair price and an exceptional value (saving time and giving our customers more for their money).

The American Journal of Transportation detailed the Top 50 importers of products into the United States from our data for their February 23rd edition. George Lauriat used TradeIQ to develop estimates for the total imports for each importer in 2008. As you can imagine, this was a pretty big project to undertake, but he was able to put together a comprehensive list that showed most importers slightly increased their shipment volume.

Below are the Top 5 Importers from Mr. Lauriat's analysis:

To see the full list of U.S. Importers and read the article "Light at the end of the tunnel: How far off is economic recovery for the American shipper?", visit our News and Events page.