technologyreview TRACK AND TRACE
are connected to an online portal that serves as a repository for both product and shipping information. When an
overseas factory is ready to ship merchandise to the United
States, it pulls up the purchase order electronically and
enters the packing list data into an online database (
including such details as the style and color of each item in a carton). The freight forwarder or NVOCC (non-vessel operating common carrier) that picks up the shipment then adds
further details, like the name of the ocean carrier, to the
database. The process continues all the way down the line.
All of the information provided by Jones Group’s supply
chain partners—vendors, ocean and air carriers, freight
forwarders, NVOCCs, customs brokers, domestic consol-
idators, and so forth—is held in a common database.
Although these partners all have rights to enter data into
the system, Jones Group strictly controls who has access to
what information. “We share this information with the dif-
ferent partners based on whether they have a need to
know,” says Mendoza. “For example, the freight forwarders
will only see what they need to see.”
All told, it took nearly a decade to get all of Jones Group’s
suppliers up and running on the visibility system. But the
company considers it time well spent. Among other bene-
fits, the system gives Jones Group and its partners visibility
into the contents of incoming containers, which enables
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them to decide in advance how they’ll route the products
once they arrive in North America.
More importantly, the visibility system notifies Jones
Group when things aren’t going to plan. For example, if a
factory runs late with production of an order and misses a
scheduled ocean sailing, the system alerts Jones Group to
the problem so it can find an alternate way to move the
goods. “When things are not in the time frame they should
be, we’re not out chasing the information. We can concentrate on errors,” says Mendoza. “When you’re controlling so
many partners, this happens.”
Meeting the 10+ 2 challenge
Although it was originally implemented as a shipment tracking tool, the visibility system now plays a central role in Jones
Group’s regulatory compliance program as well. In January,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began enforcing
its Importer Security Filing (ISF) rule. The ISF rule is intended to help CBP learn more about imports and their origins,
intermediate stops, and destinations in order to target high-risk shipments for further inspection. It is more popularly
known as “ 10+ 2,” a name derived from the number of data
elements importers and ocean carriers must provide to CBP.
In order to comply with the ISF rule, importers must
submit 10 specific pieces of information to CBP before a
container arrives at a U.S. port. The required information
includes the names of the supplier, seller, and buyer; the
container’s stuffing location and country of origin; and the
commodity’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, among
other things.
Since Jones Group brings in 18,000 to 20,000 shipments
a year, of which 12,000 to 14,000 are ocean containers, this
reporting requirement has the potential to be a headache
and a half. But with the visibility system in place, filing is a
snap, Mendoza says. “Now, because everything is sitting in
one database, we have the opportunity to use this informa-
tion to do all the security filings we need.”
Mendoza says the visibility system has become “absolute-
ly critical” to her company’s 10+ 2 compliance efforts. And
it’s not just because the system allows the company to
process huge volumes of information swiftly, she says. It’s
also because the setup assures data accuracy.
“If you control the base of information, like the purchase
order, the style numbers … [you eliminate the risk of] misspellings and other inaccuracies in the security filings submitted to Customs,” she explains. That helps assure the
quick acceptance of a filing, which allows imports to be
cleared in a timely fashion, she adds.
Mendoza is as surprised as anyone about the way things
have worked out. The company’s sole purpose in implementing the visibility system was to keep tabs on shipments, she says. The discovery that the system could also
streamline ISF compliance was welcome, but wholly unexpected. “When we did this 10 years ago,” she says, “nobody
had this in mind.” ;
