Series Introduction: Shipping System Profiles

A batch of orders arrives, and employees work quickly to get those packages out the door. Other tasks are moved to the back burner until these orders are shipped. Those customers will be happy customers when they receive their packages on time and (hopefully!) this process is repeated regularly. When you ship enough, it’s easy to see that the only items changing on each package are the name, address, and weight. Multi-carrier shipping software helps organize this repetitive process plus offer the BEST rate for each package that goes out. This allows carrier competition to work for shippers.

There are three goals of all business software:

1. Increase Productivity
2. Reduce Costs
3. Simplify Organizational Processes

All three of these goals are achieved in the shipping department by using multi carrier shipping software. Increased productivity comes from reducing the workload required for each package. Reduced costs come from rate shopping between parcel carriers for every package. Simplified organizational processes are realized when you connect the shipping system with other business applications, making data portable and easily available to all functions of the organization.

Using dedicated shipping software will achieve these goals for all types and sizes of companies. For a small online vendor or local crafter, every employee wears multiple hats. You want the shipping process to be quick for each package so that you can spend your time on other work. For a large online vendor, you want to be able to utilize barcode order entry and ship each package with one or two keystrokes or mouse clicks. For a food vendor, you want to be able to choose from multiple express services at a glance to get the products from “fresh” to table as quickly as possible. For a fulfillment company, you want to be able to ship using multiple customer account numbers with multiple carriers and lower the charge per package to the minimal amount necessary. All of these specific needs relate directly to the three main goals above. Every feature of a shipping system should reach back to those goals and make work easier for the company using the system.

All of the above company profiles have differing volumes and shipping needs, but believe it or not, all can benefit by using the right shipping system. Harvey Software’s CPS shipping software is the versatile solution that covers all of the bases. CPS features are customizable to allow a shipper to create the order entry process they need, increasing the productivity of every employee involved in shipping. Rate optimization features and up to date carrier communication allows carrier competition to keep shipping costs as low as possible. Customer data can be read from and completed information written to any ODBC compliant accounting or order management system, allowing customer service to have visibility into shipping services used, tracking numbers, and shipping costs.

Over the next ten weeks, we’re going to profile different types of businesses that can take advantage of a multi-carrier shipping system. As we highlight each of those shipping profiles, you will learn why a multi-carrier shipping system can improve the shipping process in almost any type or size of business. Look for specific ways that shipping software like Harvey Software’s CPS can accomplish those three goals that every business desires. To see more information now, visit our website at www.HarveySoft.com or call us at 1-800-231-0296.