To arrange for the shipment Salesperson must have the below completed:
1) Shipping instructions received from Customer and saved in according folder
2) Final produced quantities have been confirmed by Vendor and Purchasing Dept., SO has been updated with the final quantities.
Note: If the final produced quantities are different from the signed Sales Contract, the quantities have to be confirmed with Customer and an Appendix to the Sales Contract must be issued. (Refer to ‘Handling Appendix to Sales Contract’ SOP).
3) CBM Excel file consists of the final information based on the produced products and their quantities
4) Final payment has been handled as per the Sales Contract payment terms (unless other has been agreed upon)
From shipping Instructions Salesperson can see if the shipment is going to be arranged by AdvaCare or it will be done by Customer’s freight forwarder. Depending on this, there are different steps to take in order to handle the shipment which will be described below.
Important:
The local charges for FCL shipment in standard dry containers is AdvaCare’s responsibility, however, Seller is only responsible for the local charges based on the total CBM of AdvaCare goods of a standard container. Any additional fees for a refrigerator container will be paid by the Buyer.
* If full container is required but less than half of the container is full, Seller is only responsible for the local charges of the Seller’s goods.
* For air shipments it is mandatory to check not only the CBM volume, but also the weight of the shipment
Shipment arranged by AdvaCare Logistics Department
In order to arrange for the shipment on our side, Salesperson has to check if all necessary steps described above have been followed and completed.
1. First of all, AdvaCare does not have any relationships with any shipping lines and arranges for the shipment through freight forwarders that provide with shipping rates. In order to receive an estimated shipping cost, the following information has to be given in a task to Logistics Dept.:
• Port of Discharge / Port of Loading (if not specified, Shanghai Port will be chosen automatically)
• Total order CBM
• If any promotional materials will be included
• Final Destination (if different from Port of Discharge)
• Any specific requests that Logistics Dept. must be aware of (pallets, additional shipping documents that have not been mentioned in the shipping documents, container type and size, preferable shipping line)
2. After the quotes from Logistics Dept. have been received and added in SO, the estimated shipping cost has to be confirmed with Sales Manager via task in SO chatter (Refer to ‘Updating SO with SCO Costs’ SOP).
3. The estimated shipping cost with the following information has to be confirmed with Customer:
Note: if any other related to the shipping costs are being charged, they have to be confirmed together with the shipping cost in order to send a payment request altogether (For example, insurance cost, Telex BL, ECTN).
4. After the estimated shipping cost has been confirmed by Customer, Salesperson is to inform Logistics Dept. of the confirmation, generate Accounting Invoice and send a task to Accounting Dept. to send the payment request for the shipping and related to the shipment costs. (Refer to ‘Generating Accounting Invoices’ SOP). Normally, Customers prefer to pay shipping costs together with the final payment of the order to avoid extra bank fees. If the shipment has different from the SO products and their quantities which obviously was confirmed by Customer, Salesperson has to inform Purchasing and Logistics Dept. to proceed accordingly, as well as the payment request for the final payment has to include only the products that are actually being shipped. (Refer to ‘Generating Accounting Invoices’ SOP)
5. Following the process, Salesperson has to prepare necessary shipping documents requested by Customer for import purposes. The full list of the documents is stated in ‘Shipping Instructions’ file. Salesperson sends a task to Logistics Dept. to prepare draft shipping documents which depend on each Customer, however, the following set will be always prepared by Logistics Dept.:
• Commercial Invoice (automatically generated from SO and saved by Logistics Dept. in the relevant folder, therefore it is important to have SO filled with correct quantities/prices).
*The buyer’s information will be automatically pulled from the Distributor Contact card;
*Unit Price/Quantity/Total Amount has to be correct
• Packing List (automatically generated from SO and saved by Logistics Dept. in the relevant folder, however, Salesperson has to check if the batch information is correct. The information can be found in QC photos/physical QC samples/finished products pictures provided by Vendor)
The highlighted information has to be checked by Salesperson before providing to Customer
• Draft Bill of Lading (BL) (a legal document issued by a carrier to a shipper that details shipment information and allows Customer to clear the delivered goods at the Port of Destination). There are 2 types of BL to be distinguished: standard BL which hard copy is required at the Port of Destination for the clearance and Telex BL which allows to clear the goods when only a soft copy is provided. IMPORTANT! ALL INDIA SHIPMENTS REQUIRE TELEX BL.
Note: Telex BL incur an additional cost of $100 per BL for Customer. The cost must be included in SO and payment request. (Refer to ‘Additional Fees in SO’ SOP). If Telex BL is required, the total value of the order must be paid prior to providing Customer with Telex BL.
The following should be checked in the draft BL:
- Shipper’s contact information
- Consignee’s and Notifying party’s information
- Port of Loading and Port of Discharge
- Goods Description (name, weight, CBM, container’s type and size)
• Certificate of Origin (COO) – a document certifying the exported goods are obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country.
The following should be checked in the draft COO:
- Exporter’s contact information
- Consignee’s information
- Country of destination
- Goods Description (name, HS Code, quantity, Commercial Invoice number and date)
As mentioned, depending on each Customer’s requirements the set of needed for import shipping documents will vary.
6. After checking on the draft shipping documents, Salesperson has to prepare the remaining shipping documents requested (Undervalued or Overvalued Invoices, COA, MSDS, Notarized/Legalized Documents* and etc.)
*All documents required to be notarized/legalized have to through Registration Department and sent to the agent as soon as the document is received, as it can take weeks to completed the process. The cost for AdvaCare can be clarified with Registration Dept., and the cost for the client can be known from Business Development Dept.). Make sure these costs are included in the SO and charged.
7. Salesperson provides draft shipping documents to the Customer by email. After the Customer’s confirmation and shipping costs are received, Logistics Dept. has to be informed in a task to proceed with the shipment booking.
8. After the shipment has been booked, Logistics Dept. will provide with a confirmation of the ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) and final shipping cost.
9. The shipping cost has to be updated from estimated to final in SO (Refer to ‘Updating SO with SCO Costs’ SOP). If the final shipping cost is higher than the estimated, Salesperson is to inform Customer and charge the difference by having Accounting Dept. send a payment request.
10. After the departure of the vessel, Logistics Dept. has to update the relevant milestones and inform Salesperson of ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
11. The original shipping documents will be prepared by Logistics Dept. and provided to Salesperson to check.
Salesperson has to go through every document and make sure the set is full and correct.
After the set of original shipping documents has been checked, Salesperson signs the documents where needed and hands back to Logistics Dept., which scans the original shipping documents and saves the scanned documents in one .pdf file in the same folder where the drafts have been stored.
For example: Z:\Shared drives\AdvaCare Cloud Server\Orders\Shipping Documents\SO923 - PER\FOR CLIENT
12. Salesperson has to check the scanned document and send to Customer by email to confirm.
13. After the confirmation of the scanned original shipping documents has been received from Customer, Salesperson has to inform Logistics Dept. to send the originals by courier.
14. Logistics Dept. arranges pick up delivery of the original shipping documents in the office and provides with the tracking number in the task:
15. Salesperson has to check the tracking number before providing Customer with it. For this purpose, access the website: https://www.track-trace.com/.
Insert the provided tracking number to the according field specified for a designated courier service. Click ‘Track!’ to access detailed information where the destination and the shipment status can be found.
16. After checking on the tracking number, it can be sent to Customer by email.
Shipment arranged by Customer’s Freight Forwarder
1. In order to handle the shipment which is arranged from the Customer’s side, Salesperson has to have the following completed:
• Final payment is received
• Shipping Instructions file has been filled by Customer and received
• The freight forwarder’s contact information has been provided to Logistics Dept.
2. The communication mostly is happening between AdvaCare Logistics Dept. and Customer’s Freight Forwarder. The shipping cost in this case will be paid by Customer directly to Freight Forwarder. However, associated to the shipping costs such as Telex BL, Legalization/Notarization of the documents has to be paid to AdvaCare as it is being done on our side. (Refer to ‘Additional Fees in SO’ SOP)
3. A set of the standard shipping documents is being prepared and provided by Logistics Dept. as described in Chapter 1. Salesperson is responsible to check the documents and confirm them with Customer.
The most important for the shipments handled by Customer’s Freight Forwarders:
• The final payment has to be received prior to the shipment as we have no leverage in comparison when AdvaCare arranges the shipment, in which case the main document allowing to clear the goods at the port of destination (BL) can be held on our side until the order is fully paid off.
• The export declaration has to be done by AdvaCare for the reasons of completing a legal process of export, setting at what prices the goods are getting exported.
Handling shipments from India
Unlike shipments arranged from China, we do not have a local Logistics Dept. set up in AdvaCare India office. The arrangements are being processes by Salesperson and Purchasing Dept. Although the same algorithm applies to handling shipments coming form India, there are noticeable differences which will be described below.
1. To start with, Salesperson has to make sure the below is completed:
• Final payment has been received according to the final products quantities produced
• Shipping Instructions have been provided by Customer
2. Salesperson sends a task to Purchasing Dept. to get estimated shipping cost. Note, the cost may vary depending on freight forwarders. The estimated shipping cost has to be confirmed by Sales Manager and provided to Customer for confirmation. Note, the Telex BL fee will be always applied.
3. After receiving the confirmation on the estimated shipping cost, Salesperson sends a task to Purchasing Dept. to proceed with the goods dispatching. It is important to pay attention to the dates. In case the goods are stored at the port for over 7 days, storage fees apply. Therefore, the goods’ delivery to the port has to be as close as possible to the shipment’s ETD.
4. The additional fee that will be always applicable to shipments coming from India is switching the BL fee. This fee is fully covered by AdvaCare and Customer is not supposed to be informed about it. The purpose of switching the BL is to protect AdvaCare from exposure of the information Customers must not know, such as Vendor’s information and prices. Also, according to India Customs regulations it is requested to switch BL in case Customer is the importer.
5. If Customer has a requirement of providing with export declaration, the declaration has to be revised to match SO prices.
6. Logistics Dept. from Shanghai office is still involved in preparation of the draft and original shipping documents. Refer to the table below where the responsibilities are determined:
Document’s Name
Salesperson (AM)
Purchasing Dept. (India)
Logistics Dept (China)
Packing List; Commercial Invoice
Checking; Confirming with Customer
Providing to Freight Forwarder for Shipment’s booking
Preparing drafts
Draft BL (switch BL); Draft COO;
Checking; Confirming with Customer
Getting Draft from Freight Forwarder; Confirming Draft to Freight Forwarder after receiving confirmation from Salesperson
Preparing drafts
Commercial Invoice UV/OV
Preparing; Confirming with Customer
Providing to Freight Forwarder for Shipment’s booking
Preparing drafts
COA
Checking; Revising (if needed); Confirming with Customer
Providing from Vendors
-
Insurance
Checking; Confirming with Customer
Getting Draft from Agent; Confirming Draft to Agent after receiving confirmation from Salesperson
Preparing drafts
Final BL
Checking; Confirming with Customer
Getting Draft from Freight Forwarder; Confirming Draft to Freight Forwarder after receiving confirmation from Salesperson
Printing and including a copy in a set of original shipping documents
Final Shipping Documents (scanned)
Checking; Confirming with Customer
-
Combining all confirmed Drafts to one .pdf file and saving in ‘Shipping Documents’ folder
Final Shipping Documents (original)
Checking; Signing; Confirming to send
-
Arranging courier delivery to Customer; Providing Salesperson with tracking No.
