Logistics software startup Flexe
Inc., in an effort to meet rising
demand from e-commerce companies, said it is adding case- and
each-level handling and basic fulfillment services to its pallet-level
on-demand warehousing model.
Seattle-based Flexe provides
what it deems an alternative to
the traditional long-term contractual leasing agreements required
by most warehouses. Flexe, which
operates no real estate assets, uses
its software to match DCs that
have excess capacity with companies needing short-term space.
The service was originally
designed for pallet-in, pallet-out
storage. Now, the company is
extending that platform to include
the more complex business of handling cases, “eaches” (individual
items), and basic fulfillment services, Flexe CEO Karl Siebrecht said
in a phone interview.
“Our clients who are using this
are retail e-commerce companies
that are growing pretty aggres-
sively,” Siebrecht said. “If you’re
a large company, there are a lot
of 3PLs that will compete for your
business, but if you’re not that
large, it can be harder.”
In the second half of 2015, Flexe
saw increasing requests from com-
panies that wanted to quickly add
DCs to their e-commerce distribu-
tion networks in order to reach
more consumers with overnight
shipping.
“They are trying to keep up with
the changes that Amazon is driving, training consumers to expect
all deliveries within two days or
less and at a low cost,” Siebrecht
said. “There are companies that
are really struggling with that,
and we can help a lot.”
—Ben Ames and Mark Solomon
Flexe adds fulfillment
services to on-demand
warehouse model
Customs commissioner touts progress
of ACE, Single Window
Imports into the United States will flow faster and more efficiently due to progress on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Automated Commercial
Environment (ACE) and new resources for screening, processing, and analyzing
inbound cargo transactions, said CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske.
In an April 13 speech and a separate interview with DC VELOCITY at the
Coalition of New England Companies for Trade’s (CONECT) 2016 Northeast
Trade and Transportation Conference in Newport, R.I., Kerlikowske also
credited input from the international trade community with facilitating trade
and improving regulatory compliance. Specifically, he cited feedback from the
Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) and organizations
like CONECT that represent international trade stakeholders.
While some conference attendees agreed that better and more frequent communication between CBP and the trade community is having a notable impact,
they expressed concern about ACE’s recent technical glitches and difficulties
getting timely answers from the agency to questions about process changes.
Kerlikowske said in the interview that most of the technical hiccups were quickly
remedied, and that CBP’s decision to delay and phase in the mandatory filing of
cargo release and entry in ACE has given software vendors more time to incorporate the considerable process change that’s required. Currently, 72 percent of
cargo releases and 92 percent of entry sum-maries are being submitted through ACE,
a notable increase in the weeks since CBP
announced the delay.
Conference attendees also said they were
worried about other agencies’ readiness for
the International Trade Data System (ITDS),
also known as the “Single Window.” When
ITDS, which is built on the ACE platform, is
fully implemented, importers will no longer have to separately file information
with various government agencies. While the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and Consumer Product Safety Commission are well along in their plans,
some other “participating government agencies” are far from ready, Kerlikowske
acknowledged. One reason is that many lack the kind of human and technical
resources CBP can commit to the project, he said. Still, he said, “I very honestly
believe we will meet the president’s executive order” that ITDS be fully implemented by the end of 2016.
Kerlikowske said he is optimistic that CBP can further reduce the time
needed for cargo processing. The recently signed Trade Facilitation and Trade
Enforcement Act brings authority that rested within several different laws under
a single law for the first time since CBP was formed in 2003, he said. The law also
fully funds ACE for the first time, and it “enshrines” COAC and its relationship
with CBP as a legal requirement, he noted.
CBP is allocating additional resources to trade security and facilitation,
Kerlikowske said in his keynote speech, citing as an example nonintrusive
inspection equipment that is replacing radiation-detection portals at a number
of ports of entry. The more technologically advanced equipment is resulting in
fewer false positives and thus, fewer holdups for physical inspections, he said.
He hopes to expand to other ports a program CBP established at the Port of
Philadelphia, where the port’s customers pay the cost of overtime for inspectors
to work nights and weekends to expedite the clearance of perishable shipments
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