A transportation / logistics information tool that meets
the call for both strategic and tactical visibility

PHILADELPHIA, MEXICO CITY, July 7, 2009 – BDP International (BDP), one of the world’s leading privately-held global logistics and transportation services firms, today announced its BDP International Mexico unit will formally roll out a comprehensive on-line logistics customer service portal. Called BDPSmart, it provides unprecedented flexibility, end-to-end global visibility and proactive communications supporting management by exception (MBE), all via a single, Web-based interface.

The system tracks and monitors the critical milestones of a shipment, based on original input and updates from carriers and other supply chain nodes, including the customers’ own plant and warehouse operations. When the information is not forthcoming, the tool prompts BDP Mexico personnel to follow up. Users can view the data by export, import or both, select from a range of search criteria, and are automatically notified whenever there are changes between actual and scheduled events, so corrective action can be taken.

"BDPSmart is a one-of-a-kind knowledge tool supported by robust, back-end technology that ultimately will give our customers and employees the power to make decisions better and faster by delivering real-time status of transportation as well as an array of logistics reports and performance metrics," says BDP Mexico Executive Director Mauricio Boy. "The most compelling feature is its built-in flexibility, which gives anyone who uses it the control to select what type of information they want to see, how they want to see it, and who they want to see it without a lot of custom programming."

The system is completely user-configurable and navigation is intuitive, making it easier to find the desired information. Both high-level strategic and day-to-day tactical data reside in one place, eliminating the need to log in and out of multiple Web-based tools, as is the case with less integrated systems.
In addition, BDP Mexico’s customers’ customers can be granted access to information relevant to their shipments, thereby streamlining communication between exporter and importer.

Users can customize how the BDPSmart portal displays the information, by shipper’s reference number, mode of transport, departure date, estimated arrival date, and other search criteria. If, for example, a user does not want to access information by the shipper’s reference number, the display can be configured to default to one of the other search criteria.

"The feedback from beta users and industry observers familiar with the system’s capabilities would indicate there is nothing quite as intuitive or personally configurable currently on the market that compares in terms of scope, integration, functionality and ease of use," says Boy. "Among the key differentiators cited are its flexibility, metrics, and capacity to display electronically signed documents. One observer went so far as to say, 'I’ve never seen anything like this; it’s all been put together so nicely. Software vendors only offer pieces of the total puzzle'."

BDPSmart provides shipment tracking and tracing, electronic document generation and storage, metrics and drill-down reports, both user-created and system-designed reporting tools, a proactive event management engine and online transportation booking and rate requests. Access is limited to authorized users and can be segregated by privilege level via SAP CSR role, consignee, origin country, destination country, division, and other criteria.

"It’s important to many companies to be able to combine and see information in a way that reflects how their businesses are organized," explains Boy. "Most, for example, want to see the information relating to the activities of their individual business units or product lines. BDPSmart not only enables this type of data segregation but facilitates it."

As a third-party logistics provider, BDP serves as a data integrator and clearing house of disparate information for clients, carriers, shipments, operations, containers and documents. BDPSmart allows users to view the progress of an order from the time it is received through actual discharge of the cargo, all in real time from anywhere in the world. The status of orders, shipments and documents can be monitored, and supply chain performance is measured and reported to the individual user’s specifications.
Recognizing that nothing moves without the necessary documentation, BDP maintains robust storage, retrieval and output systems for both paper and electronic documents.  Documents requiring a digital signature, such as commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of analysis, certificates of origin and bills of lading, are e-mailed as attachments or securely downloaded by authorized personnel. When electronic documents are unacceptable, BDP forwards originals by courier service, electronically transmitting copy documents in advance.
BDP’s tracking systems allow users to view documents when they were generated and where they were distributed by party and document.

E-mail pre-alerts and alerts help promote proactive supply chain management. As such, they represent a key tactical capability of the system. For example, if a shipment is subject to delay, arrangements can be made for expedited transport service when it reaches its destination port. Pre-alerts notify users of impending events; whereas, alerts are used to indicate variances between actual events and scheduled dates for them to occur. Alerts can be selected for a range of events, including order received, booking confirmation, plant exit, cutoff, loaded, sail/departure date, documents sent, arrival, unloaded, cargo released and transshipment events if applicable. Pre-alerts and alerts can be triggered at a user-selected number of days’ variance; the lower the number of days, the more alerts will be generated.

On a more strategic level, the system’s built-in metrics provide a high-level management tool, which provides key measures of performance metrics for forwarders, multi-modal carriers, and even a shipper’s own internal processes. A variety of reports and graphics can be run and downloaded, including shipments processed, weight/volumes shipped, freight-spend by carrier, timeliness of document distribution, bill of lading dispatch performance, carrier performance and non-conformance events. Definable by date range, mode, origin, destination, division, carrier and container, for example, these metrics can be used to identify weaknesses in the supply chain and to provide negotiating leverage with carriers and other vendors.

In summary, BDPSmart represents the next generation in supply chain management systems, a real-time track, trace and alert tool that provides global order and shipment visibility, reporting and metrics for all supply chain partners through a single, easy-access and user-customizable portal.

For further information, in Mexico and Latin America, contact Ivette Garcia N., BDP International, 52 55 5615 1764, ext. 305; E-Mail: igarcia@bdpinternational.com.mx. Or Zulema Jureidini, Ipunto, Barranca del Muerto #30, Col. Crédito Constructor, C.P. 03940, México, Distrito Federal. Tels: 52 55 5663 3178 / 56633179; E-mail: zjureidini@ipuntorp.com.mx. In Asia, North America, and Europe, contact Arnie Bornstein, BDP International, Inc., 215-629-8493; E-mail: abornstein@bdpnet.com; or Henry Raab, 610-866-0611; E-mail: henry.raab@swbrinc.com.

About BDP
BDP International is one of the leading privately held freight logistics/transportation management firms based in the U.S. It operates freight logistics centers in more than 20 cities throughout North America and a network of subsidiaries, joint ventures and strategic partnerships in more than 120 countries. The company serves more than 4,000 customers worldwide. Clients include Bayer, Dow, DuPont, Heineken USA, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, Revlon, Trek Bicycle, Wacker and others. BDP provides a range of services, including ocean, air and ground transportation; lead logistics process analysis, design and management; export freight forwarding; import customs brokerage and regulatory compliance; project logistics; warehousing/consolidation/distribution; and Web-based shipping transaction/tracking and management systems. For more information visit www.bdpinternational.com.