How customs brokers can scale their operations without increasing overheads

Customs brokers have a data problem

Every day, customs brokers are dealing with a massive influx of data, 90% of which is still processed and entered manually.

For customs brokers looking to scale their operations, this poses a difficult challenge -- as the business grows, the amount of data that needs to be processed grows proportionally, and so does the resource requirement needed to carry out that processing. In this way, scaling a customs brokerage that still relies on manual data management is increasingly difficult to achieve without hitting an operational or revenue ceiling.

The cost of unstructured data - a daily reality for customs brokers

Productivity, performance and revenue: these are the three areas in which unstructured data is costing customs brokers the most.

From packing lists to certificates of origin, spreadsheets to invoices, a constant stream of unstructured data arrives via various sources and in multiple languages and formats, including Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, free-text emails, attachments, and other paper customs documentation.

Organizing, processing and entering the information contained in these documents and spreadsheets is repetitive and time-consuming, taking hours out of the working day. Handling the sheer volume of unstructured data from commercial invoices alone amounts to days' worth of time spent every month -- days that eat into potential revenue growth.

The resource-intensiveness of manual data management means customs brokers have little time left to focus on other critical revenue-generating core business functions, such as customer service, acquisition and support. And if they do want to free themselves up to focus on more urgent and strategically vital aspects of their business, they need to hire additional employees to manage manual data entry -- driving up overhead costs.

Manual data entry and processing also open up the possibility for costly human error that can slowly eat into your bottom line. According to recent findings, 67% of the supply chain is still run almost entirely on spreadsheets, manually populated and then emailed across the system. Errors, omissions, inconsistencies and typos during manual data entry and processing can cause a host of problems, delays and visibility issues down the line.

How can customs brokers overcome these challenges to scale?

Unstructured data is a major pain point for customs brokers -- particularly those looking to scale -- but it's one that's easily overcome with the right automated data management solution.

By structuring unstructured data to deliver cleansed, enriched data that is accurate, verified, and free of inconsistencies, errors and omissions, automation can drastically streamline and optimize key daily processes at every level of a customs brokerage operation.

Not only does it cut manual processing time to almost zero, increasing productivity across the board, but it also removes the potential for human error entirely, while delivering deep business intelligence insights to help inform better strategic decision-making.

Enhanced data means customs brokers are able to deliver a better, faster service to shippers by mitigating the chances of error-induced clearance delays. Brokers are freed up to focus on more important business functions, and there is no need to hire additional employees to process data as the business grows.

Investing in a digitally-driven solution

For customs brokers looking to scale, investing in a digitally-driven data management solution is mission-critical. Here are some things to look out for when choosing the right solution for your business.

AI-enabled is better

AI-enabled data management platforms are the best performers when it comes to automating data management. Their speed, accuracy and ability to monitor a vast network of granular, dynamic data points throughout the complex supply chain system make them an invaluable tool for customs brokers.

AI-enabled platforms are able to extract, cleanse and enrich huge volumes of data from all formats and multiple sources in seconds, filling in missing or incorrect information from historical data, and delivering deep business intelligence insights to optimize operations.

Choose a solution that's fully integratable with your current systems

The data automation solution you choose should seamlessly integrate with your existing data management systems, including your ERP/financial management software.

Choose a solution that scales with you

If your objective is to scale, choose a solution that has an architecture flexible enough to support and facilitate rapid, agile growth, making scaling as easy as possible.

Accuracy is key

Your data automation solution should deliver 100% data accuracy, with no exceptions.

For flawless data automation, choose Stargo

If you're looking for a data automation solution that will help you scale your business without increasing overheads, choose Stargo.

Our powerful AI-enabled platform, StarDox, helps customs brokers overcome the serious pain points associated with unstructured data by automating time- and resource-intensive data processes, freeing up your team to direct their focus where it counts, streamlining operations at all levels, and helping you avoid costly errors and delays.

By extracting, cleansing and logically enriching unstructured data with 100% accuracy in seconds, Stargo improves productivity by 27%, while removing the risk of human error entirely. With an automation solution like Stargo, customs brokers can scale their operations faster and more easily than ever before, while keeping their overheads firmly under control.

Find out why Stargo is the tool you need to seamlessly scale your customs brokerage operation by booking a demo today.