Other Potential GTM Vendors

Since many importing/exporting manufacturers rely on the shipper to handle the hassle compliance and regulation, logistics service providers, like airfreight leaders FedEx and DHL, are providing similar services and are providing the broader market access to technology and trade experts. FedEx, for example, has recognized that many customers simply wanted to rid themselves of the burdensome compliance chore, and in 2002 it formed a specialized division, FedEx Trade Networks, to do just that, thus becoming possibly the largest customs brokerage in the US. Some of its compliance services are free, or more accurately, are available from its Web site as part of its overall shipping service. Other services, such as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), is available electronically for a fee. The company also offers the services of its consultants, which are trained in dealing with trade and compliance ambiguities, to categorize a manufacturer's entire inventory. To that end, FedEx acquired former content provider WorldTariff a few years ago, which covers the tariffs, taxes, duties, and preferential trade programs of nearly 120 countries.

Even smaller shippers can now leverage import/export software through third parties. Specialized software and managed service providers are now working behind the scenes make it possible for carriers and freight forwarders to offer selected services to their customers, such as landed-cost calculators, product classification, and document preparation, often on a fee-per-transaction basis. To that end, DHL has in the past partnered with Open Harbor, and FedEx Trade Networks has partnered with NextLinx, whose database carries nearly 20,000 HTS product classifications and more than 40 landed cost components for 100 countries and accounts for about 95 percent of the entire world's trade.

In addition to FedEx and DHL, other companies offer compliance services. For example, the sea freight company APL, and the global logistics software specialist G-Log offer such services. In the trade compliance space, there may even be a distinction between content-specific vendors and process-specific vendors, whereby FedEx and G-Log are examples of process-centric vendors, while content-specific vendors, which compile, maintain, and sell access to the data on tariffs, embargoes, and denied parties, include the likes of Vastera, NextLinx, and Open Harbor.

Also entering the global trade realm is the enterprise applications giant SAP. In February, SAP introduced an updated global trade solution that should help companies more easily conduct business under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and EU trade agreements with lower costs and easier regulatory compliance. Important new trade preference processing capabilities have been added to the latest version of SAP Global Trade Services (SAP GTS), a packaged composite application that enables businesses to standardize and streamline import and export processes to speed their global supply chains. Over 125 companies, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a leading designer and producer of innovative microprocessors; ASML, a semiconductor manufacturer; and Teekanne Group, a tea trading company, are reportedly achieving new trade efficiencies and legislative compliance with SAP GTS.