Schneider Logistics is reporting a 20 percent increase in the market for freight audit and payment services in Europe, a business sector that Schneider pioneered and in which it is a key European player. Schneider services its freight audit and payment customers from its facilities in Venlo, Netherlands, and Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Customers are drawn from across the business spectrum, but industry verticals especially interested in freight audit and payment include FMCG, automotive, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing, according to Schneider. “Take-up of the freight audit and payment service has been strong, with blue-chip companies such as Philips Consumer Electronics and Visteon among the adopters,” says Peter Janssen, Schneider Logistics’ director responsible for freight audit and payment services.
Schneider’s experience reflects the findings of the latest annual third-party logistics report published by professor Dr. John Langley of the Georgia Institute of Technology in cooperation with Capgemini, DHL and SAP. This year’s survey of third-party logistics users shows that, in Europe, the number outsourcing their freight audit and payment functions has risen to 22 percent from last year’s figure of 10 percent.
“By adopting an outsourced freight audit solution which involves proven technology and substantial experience, customers gain two key benefits,” says Jason Denne, director of business development at Schneider Logistics. “First, the solution eliminates carrier invoice errors which account for between two and seven percent of their existing annual freight cost. Second, a single database for all transportation modes and geographies quickly identifies new opportunities to further optimize supply chain operations which normally translates into an additional six to eight percent reduction in an organization’s existing freight spend.”
Schneider points out that reliable data is the foundation of supply chain and financial management, and information developed through the freight audit and payment process permits the comprehensive analysis of logistics operations and transport related costs.
