Smoothing Import Processes

Secaucus, NJ, and Rockville, MD — June 16, 2003 — NextLinx Corp., a provider of global trade content and management solutions, has deployed its Trade Import solution across three Panasonic Logistics Co. of America sales companies, comprising 90 percent of Panasonic's overall business.

Panasonic, designated by the U.S. Customs as one of the 150 "low risk" importers in terms of compliance, utilizes NextLinx Trade Import solution to streamline U.S. inbound shipments, reduce internal logistics fees and increase supply chain visibility across its global network. With plans for a full enterprise rollout, Panasonic said it has integrated NextLinx's solution with four brokerage firms and two deconsolidators, providing a collaborative and standardized import process for improving its overall business operations.

"The solution has simplified Panasonic's import transactions by integrating critical global shipping information into our systems in real-time," said Dena Sedlak, group manager of Panasonic Logistics Co. of America. "As a result we have started to achieve end-to-end visibility of our entire supply chain."

Integrating with Panasonic's existing SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to automate over 30,000 of Panasonic's yearly shipments, Trade Import provides up-to-date Customs documentation, performs regulatory compliance checks and manages other government agency document requirements to ensure that Panasonic is taking reasonable care, according to NextLinx.

Panasonic said it is able to conduct variance reporting to benchmark broker performance, monitor shipment delays and data discrepancies, and reallocate resources to various internal sales companies. With proper checks and balances in place, Panasonic said it has received fewer cargo exams and requests for data.

For more information on how companies are using global trade management solutions to increase their supply chain security, see the Net Best Thing article in the upcoming June/July 2003 issue of iSource Business.