Global Vendor Management: What It Is and Why It's Essential for Your Shipping Strategy

Consider this: global sourcing, manufacturing, and sales are advancing rapidly, leaving technology providers in the tough position of playing catch up. Because technology infrastructure differs from region to region, it is challenging (to say the least) for systems to communicate across continents.

Imagine you are at your desk in Houston and you need to determine whether a completed order left the warehouse in China. It’s difficult, right? Now add in the aspect of tracking the shipment’s expected arrival in Hamburg. To get the information you need involves several languages, time zones, software programs, and much more. Even the most expert logistics professionals struggle in those instances. That’s why you need a global shipping strategy with a comprehensive global vendor management program.

What is Global Vendor Management?

Global vendor management programs are based on a foundation of purchase order (P.O.) management of global vendors. Using global technology, a provider manages the P.O.s and acts as the single point of contact between the company and its vendors. As P.O.s come in, the provider calculates the dates for cargo to be picked up and continues to verify as the delivery dates approach. The company no longer needs to arrange multiple order pickups or be concerned that one order won’t be ready for pickup. Instead, the company can:

• Monitor their shipments through the global technology
• See current shipment status down to the item level
• Reroute freight to account for increased demand or last minute outages within the supply chain
• Have the service provider clear their dock daily and bring freight to a consolidation point for shipment.

Here’s an example of how P.O. management might work.

Global Vendor Management

Global vendor management programs are available to shippers throughout the world. However, a few are unique to specific regions. Although they have P.O. management as a foundation, they are customized based on what the company wants to achieve. In Europe, three of the most common programs are:

Combined Program. Depending on the shipper’s goals, many services can be combined into a global vendor management program. Transportation, consolidation, warehousing, and customs services can be combined with P.O. management to efficiently address company requirements.
Vendor Assembly. All freight in a vendor assembly program is sourced for a single company. Vendor assembly provides fixed transit times and predictability for customers and consignees.
Merge in Transit. There are numerous ways to structure a merge in transit program. The important rule is to ship so that products never go to the company’s facility. Instead they are shipped from the vendors to the customer, with possible stops at a distribution center in between. That means the company never handles the shipments, or has to put them into inventory or reship the freight. This creates greater efficiency.

Why is Vendor Management Key to a Global Shipping Strategy?

A global shipping strategy is a program that outlines how businesses distribute their goods internationally. Global shipping is tricky, since different countries have different shipment regulations and costs tend to be high. A well-planned global shipping strategy can help businesses meet international regulations, keep costs down, and optimize supply chain processes.

An important component of a global shipping strategy is vendor management— how will your business work with carriers as your freight moves across the globe? For some forward-thinking shippers in Europe, global vendor management, combined with the visibility of a global technology platform, eliminates information gaps and reveals new opportunities for savings, security, and consistency in global shipping.

Planning and executing a global shipping strategy with a comprehensive vendor management program requires intelligent data analysis and supply chain expertise, which a global technology platform can provide. Use a global technology platform in combination with supply chain consulting for the best results.

Final Thoughts

Global supply chains simply have more opportunities for service failure. A global shipping strategy with thorough global vendor management programs, combined with solid P.O. management that is enabled by a single, global technology platform, can reduce the complexity of tracking all transportation movements. This holds true even for shipments that cross borders and oceans.

Learn more about optimizing your global vendor management through expertise, technology, and strategy.

C.H. Robinson
Third Party Logistics Provider
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