Zepol’s trade intelligence tools, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™, allow customers to gain essential information that increases their sourcing intelligence. With our tools you can quickly monitor competitor’s suppliers, find new sourcing options, and get alerted to industry shifts. Our customers gain accurate results that save time, money, and tedious work required by other trade information sources. Below is a video showing how Zepol’s tools can empower your sourcing team and boost your company’s bottom line:

Top logistics provider and long-time Zepol customer, Samuel Shapiro and Company, is hosting a half day seminar, Supply Chain Innovation: Find the Missing Efficiencies in Your Business Model, at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center in Baltimore, Maryland on August 12, 2010.

Topics covered at the seminar include:

• Supplier PO placement and negotiation
• Product sourcing and research
• Ocean and air market update
• Transportation options and cost analysis
• Supply chain security update

The seminar will be followed by one of the area's most popular industry events of the the year, the Annual Propeller Club Crab Feast.

Click here to sign up today to learn more about this event.

Click here to download this event's brochure.

Supply chain problems are nothing new to importers. Before the invention of the container, an importer could expect to lose some of their goods due to pilfering by dock workers or other people that would touch the products along the way to their end destination. Shipments would be loaded and unloaded multiple times, increasing the chance shipments would not be complete upon arrival.

Things have changed a great deal since the invention of the container, which provides security for shipments and allows importers to ship more types of goods to the United States from all over the world. Today, frozen shrimp are sent from Vietnam in refrigerated containers and chemicals are sent in sealed tanks from India. Just fifty years ago, none of this was possible.

However, importers still face issues. From Customs' holds on perishable goods to untrustworthy suppliers, today importers have the ability to use technology to overcome many of these challenges. Instead of goods walking out of a container, companies now provide seal technology to lock in goods. Some importers are even utilizing RFID tags and GPS chips to track shipments along the way.

The most advanced importers are going beyond U.S. Customs' online interface to track imports. While the government's system allows importers to view their own Customs entries in great detail, using AMS data tools, like Zepol’s TradeIQ, lets them see their competitors' and suppliers' entries as well. This provides them with invaluable real time intelligence into their markets.

The key to using any import technology is to be able to prove a return on investment to stake holders within your organization. Some of the time, it is very easy to do, for example winning a judgment against a counterfeiter or disreputable supplier, but it can also be difficult to show a dollar value on the intelligence that was gained and what part that played into either a cost savings or revenue generating project. It is our goal here at Zepol to ensure our customers are able to find this return, but also exceed their expectations.

As a Minnesota based company, we run into people who have certain expectations of 'Minnesota Nice'. We work hard to fill that positive stereotype by providing quality customer service, personalized support throughout the sales process, and constant updates and enhancements to our products that meet our customers' growing needs.

However, sometimes stereotypes can cause confusion and problems in business because we think we already know all the answers.

For example, China is the place to go to get cheap rice right? Nope. Changes in China's social, cultural, and economic climates have greatly reduced their agricultural output. Right now, the place to get rice is Thailand, who dwarfs all other countries' output in both total volume and value imported into the United States. In fact the U.S. imported 77% of its rice from Thailand in the last 12 months; a whopping 982,335,403 pounds!

While the above anecdote is amusing, it also proves a good point. Doing proper research into all avenues of your business is indispensable. It will ensure you are dealing with quality suppliers, that you are able to see the market shifts before you are stuck with a warehouse full of unwanted products, and that no one is profiting from your brand name but you. Proactive trade research and some industry knowledge ensures your business keeps moving forward.