AIT Designs Consultative and Comprehensive 10+2 Solution

Published on: Mar 07, 2011

The Challenge:

AIT’s South Bend station had been handling the domestic business for a worldwide distributor of military, industrial and commercial connectors. As the relationship grew, it was soon realized that the customer’s corporate headquarters location in Philadelphia was conducting its own ocean import and customs brokerage business through another forwarder.

The contact advised AIT that they were not satisfied with the quality of services currently received from the incumbent provider, particularly in light of significant ocean import regulations being enforced across the industry.

AIT-SBN immediately began collaborating with AIT’s Philadelphia team to identify areas of improvement and develop a high-quality logistics solution exceeding their customer’s current supply chain expectations.

 

The Solution:

Because the incumbent forwarder had not properly educated the customer on the 10+2 Importer Security Filing (ISF) directive and various other import requirements, AIT’s solution immediately arrived in the form of taking a consultative position with the customer.

Explaining how non-compliance could result in not only severe financial penalties but could also land them on a “watch” list created by U.S. Customs, AIT convinced the customer that the company would remain compliant and penalty-free if they allowed AIT to transport their commodities and satisfy all mandatory ISF requirements for their shipments.

Through research, information sharing, collaboration and persistence in detailing how AIT’s list of services and day-to-day operations were better suited for the customer’s business needs, AIT’s operations and sales teams in Philadelphia and South Bend were able to develop a trusted relationship.

 

The Result:

AIT’s dedicated customs brokerage team designed an integrated service solution offering the internal processes, resources and capabilities necessary for the customer’s comprehensive 10+2 compliance.

AIT eventually became a part of several RFQ processes and was awarded a consistent air import lane involving two 200 kilo shipments per week of connectors from Stuttgart, Germany to South Bend, Indiana

AIT continues to consult with the customer on providing flexible, high-quality and custom-built solutions for additional domestic and international lane opportunities.