Kuehne & Nagel Promoting Visibility And Efficiency Through INTTRA's Global E-Commerce Platform

When a hurricane, tsunami, or port strike affects shipping in any of its 620 locations in 98 countries worldwide, the effects ripple throughout Kuehne + Nagel's vast sea freight enterprise.

But Kuehne + Nagel, which ships over 1.6 billion containers annually, has received a huge operational boost from its membership in INTTRA, the first multi-carrier ocean freight e-commerce platform. Not only was Kuehne + Nagel one of the first to join INTTRA in August 2000, but the sea freight logistics giant has increased its use of INTTRA with the expansion of INTTRA's e-commerce tools and is an early adopter of INTTRA's many online services.

Five years later, Kuehne + Nagel officials like Joachim Wohlers, Vice President of Global Sea Freight Systems, find INTTRA to be an extraordinary tool for streamlining internal processes and improving data quality - all of which leads to on-time shipments and satisfied customers.

"When we started with INTTRA, our goal was to help set a standard in the ocean shipping industry that created "one point of electronic entry for all ocean-freight transactions," said Wohlers. "In the past, we had multiple points of entry, with different connections to each individual carrier. This meant we had different processes and different data standards between the various parties, all of which led to errors and enormous inefficiencies. "

"Kuehne + Nagel officials continually work hard to promote customer satisfaction by providing shipping data visibility throughout the course of a shipment. Their adoption of INTTRA's e-commerce tools and services follows the logical progression of a shipment through the supply chain," says Wohlers.

"Kuehne + Nagel started with INTTRA's electronic sailing schedule. The next phase was electronic booking - INTTRA's eBooking tool - followed by electronic shipping instructions and Bills of Lading (Bs/L). And finally, of course, you want to know what's going to happen to your cargo, so we deployed INTTRA's electronic Track & Trace Information tool," Wohlers said.

Along with streamlining internal processes, Wohlers said the other key benefit of working through INTTRA, the largest multi-carrier network "is that now we have set standards for electronic entry with a number of carriers and other users participating in the INTTRA network. And our data quality is growing, which is a major competitive benefit for us. Quality and communication is always a challenge when managing with 24,000 employees and thousands of customers."

Wohlers envisions moving beyond the current INTTRA e-commerce tools now available to close the supply chain loop with the electronic payment of freight charges between container lines, the shipper and freight forwarders.

Michael Schutt Nielsen, INTTRA's Senior Vice President for Global Commercial Sales, finds that major logistics providers such as Kuehne + Nagel particularly benefit from INTTRA's "integrated and standardized solutions, which promote data accuracy and offer our customers the benefit of rapid information exchange."

And INTTRA managers are working hard to meet their needs. For example, INTTRA has expanded its Bill of Lading (B/L) product suite. In addition to INTTRA's web-based Bill of Lading product, BL-Act, customers can now download B/L images electronically via INTTRA-Link, which is INTTRA's EDI-based, system-to-system connection.

"With BL-Link, Kuehne + Nagel loads B/L images directly into their global system. This feature accelerates the B/L review process, eliminates delivery delays and makes documents instantly accessible to all Kuehne + Nagel employees worldwide," according to David Burns, INTTRA's Bill of Lading Product Manager.

"For customers with no in-house document-management system, INTTRA BL-Act standardizes the B/L review process via a common, multi-carrier inbox to review, print, request changes, approve and print Bills of Lading," Burns also noted. Although many customers take advantage of INTTRA's Bill of Lading product suite, Burns said "Kuehne + Nagel is leading the way - the first to adopt INTTRA's B/L product suite on a global basis."

INTTRA's ability to reduce time and expenses by boosting standard processes and data accuracy makes it a particularly important tool in today's global market. "With rising fuel prices, it is now more important than ever before to avoid expensive mistakes and re-work," Nielsen said.

INTTRA also brings a local presence and expertise, offering integration management and customer support "around the world," according to Nielsen. "We deploy our integration experts locally in order to meet customer's specific market needs and logistic processes. This makes it easy for customers to implement INTTRA as a global solution," he said.

"Integrating systems to build an effective supply chain is as much about having the business knowledge and partner relationships as it is about having the right technology to automate the transactions." He added, " INTTRA offers expertise in all these areas."

About INTTRA
INTTRA, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., is a leading global provider of e-commerce solutions to ocean carriers and their customers. INTTRA professionals work with customers to streamline and standardize their shipping processes, applying their e-commerce knowledge of the shipping industry for customers in markets worldwide.

INTTRA's e-commerce platform offers a comprehensive range of e-commerce tools, including: Tender, Sailing Schedules, Booking, Shipping Instructions, Bill of Lading, Track & Trace, and Reports. Accessing the INTTRA platform is simple, using any combination of their channel solutions: INTTRA-Link (EDI-based, system-to-system connection), INTTRA-Desktop (off-line PC application), or INTTRA-Act (web-based application).

INTTRA's carrier network includes, Aliança, ANL, CMA CGM, DAL Deutsche Afrika-Linien, FESCO, Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd, "K" Line, Maersk Sealand, MCC Transport Pte Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., NYK Line, P&O Nedlloyd, Safmarine, Senator Lines and United Arab Shipping Company. The INTTRA carrier network represents over 55% of the world's ocean container capacity.

For further information visit www.inttra.com. Or contact Andy Barrons, INTTRA Vice President of Marketing, at 973-263-5100 or email him at andy.barrons@inttra.com.

About Kuehne + Nagel
With around 24,000 employees at 620 locations in 98 countries, the Kuehne +Nagel Group is one of the world's leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in the sea freight, air freight and contract logistics businesses with a clear focus on providing IT-based supply chain management services and comprehensive lead logistics solutions. For more information, please visit www.kuehne-nagel.com