Operational Excellence for Freight Forwarders

Category: Working Capital

  • Revenue Leakage

    Post 3/3: ✅ A Smart Way to Stop Revenue Leakage

    The solution is to check every single job? Or automate the checking processes? FALSE. This is likely to flag too many jobs creating a very long list of false positives, overload the system, the user, and alert fatigue would set in.

    Forget rule-based automation that fails due to inconsistent charge codes. We took a different route: filter by gross margin outliers.

    📊 Step-by-step:

    1. Track job-level revenue, cost, and gross margin %. Create a list of averages by service and tradelane.
    2. Flag jobs with margins far below (or above) average (outliers)
    3. Deep-dive review only for flagged jobs
    4. Investigate unbilled services like customs inspection, port storage, etc.
    5. Tag root causes for recurring process gaps
    6. Perform period spot checks, especially for vendor rebates and recent cost renegotiations.

    This approach works – it’s scalable, data-driven, and minimizes false positives.

    Want to tighten your billing accuracy? Start with your margin outliers.

    And BTW, a list of averages will help operations with monthly forecasting.

    #RevenueLeakage #FreightERP #OperationalExcellence #BillingControl #MarginManagement #WorkingCapital #LogisticsFinance #FreightForwarding #Profitability #BillingErrors #SupplyChain #ProcessImprovement #mmlogistix

  • Revenue Leakage

    Post 2/3: ⚠️ Why Solving Revenue Leakage is Hard

    The biggest challenge? Inconsistency.


    Even with systems like CargoWise, when different people use different charge codes for the same service — e.g., “Trucking” vs. “Haulage” — it becomes impossible for the system to detect what’s missing.

    Add to that:

    • Manual workarounds
    • Unstructured exception handling
    • No reliable alert mechanism
    • Disjointed cost vs. billing visibility

    The result? Charges go unbilled. Margin erodes. Finance gets blindsided.

    #RevenueLeakage #FreightERP #OperationalExcellence #BillingControl #MarginManagement #WorkingCapital #LogisticsFinance #FreightForwarding #Profitability #BillingErrors #SupplyChain #ProcessImprovement #mmlogistix

  • Revenue Leakage

    Post 1/3: What is Revenue Leakage?

    Revenue leakage is the silent killer of profitability. It’s the revenue your company earns but never collects – often due to operational oversights, billing errors, or inconsistent processes.

    In freight forwarding and logistics, this can include:

    • Unbilled customs inspection fees
    • Missed detention/demurrage pass-through
    • Inconsistent documentation charges
    • Services rendered but not invoiced
    • Vendor rebates not applied

    It adds up – and it directly impacts cash flow, working capital, and bottom-line performance.

    🧩 Are you tracking your leaks?

    #RevenueLeakage #FreightERP #OperationalExcellence #BillingControl #MarginManagement #WorkingCapital #LogisticsFinance #FreightForwarding #Profitability #BillingErrors #SupplyChain #ProcessImprovement #mmlogistix

  • “Why Working Capital is Everyone’s Problem — and How to Fix It”

    Part 3: How Technology Can Fix Working Capital Problems

    The root of working capital problems often lies in manual processes, departmental silos, and rushed decisions. Thankfully, modern digital tools offer practical, scalable solutions to reduce errors and improve cash conversion cycles.

    ✅ Solutions by Technology:

    Problem AreaTechnologySolutionImpact
    Incorrect/ Late InvoicingOCR + RPAAuto-generate invoices from job recordsMore accurate, timely billing
    Poor AR Follow-upAI-driven workflowsIntelligent reminders based on payment behaviorFewer overdue accounts
    SOP Non-ComplianceRPA botsAuto-trigger actions when SOP steps are skippedEnforces standard processes
    Credit Note ChaosAI Anomaly DetectionFlag invoice irregularities earlyFewer adjustments, cleaner SOA
    Bank Reconciliation ErrorsRPA + APIsMatch transactions daily with system entriesFaster, error-free reconciliation
    No Cash Flow VisibilityDigital DashboardsReal-time KPIs by dept. & customerCross-functional accountability

    #WorkingCapital #CashFlow #Digitization #AIinFinance #OCR #RPA #FinanceTransformation #BusinessEfficiency #DigitalOperations #mmlogistix

  • “Why Working Capital is Everyone’s Problem — and How to Fix It”

    Part 2 – Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

    When companies run into working capital problems, fingers usually point at Finance.

    But most issues start upstream—in Sales and Operations.

    🔸 Sales gives generous credit terms
    🔸 Operations invoices late
    🔸 Finance is left reconciling a mess

    Common problems:

    • Incorrect or late invoicing
    • No follow-up on AR
    • Sales chasing revenue, not cash
    • Finance issuing too many credit notes due to rushed billing
    • Operations skipping SOPs or waiting till month-end

    Truth is: Working capital is a shared responsibility.
    Sales, Ops, and Finance must be aligned—or your SOA becomes a mess, and cash stops flowing.

    In Part 3, I’ll show how digital tools, automation, and AI can clean up the chaos and get cash flowing again.

    #WorkingCapital #CashFlow #Digitization #AIinFinance #OCR #RPA #FinanceTransformation #BusinessEfficiency #DigitalOperations #mmlogistix

  • “Why Working Capital is Everyone’s Problem — and How to Fix It”

    Part 1 – What Is Working Capital, Really?

    Working capital isn’t just a finance metric—it’s the lifeblood of your daily operations.

    You need it to:

    • Pay fixed costs like salaries, rent, transport
    • Cover variable costs like vendor payments, port charges, taxes
    • Handle the unexpected—like booking a charter or paying urgent duties

    What it’s not for:
    🚫 Buying trucks
    🚫 Hiring new staff
    🚫 Building warehouses

    Those are investments—and should be funded through excess cash or loans, not your daily working capital.

    Bottom line: If you don’t manage it properly, even profitable companies can struggle to pay their bills.

    👉 In Part 2, I’ll cover why working capital problems happen more often than you think—and whose fault it really is.

    #WorkingCapital #CashFlow #Digitization #AIinFinance #OCR #RPA #FinanceTransformation #BusinessEfficiency #DigitalOperations #mmlogistix

  • “Why Working Capital is Everyone’s Problem — and How to Fix It”

    Intro to the 3-Part Series:

    Working capital isn’t just a finance issue. It’s a company-wide discipline that involves sales, operations, and finance working together to ensure cash flows smoothly through the business. In this 3-part series, we explore:

    1. What working capital really is
    2. Why companies struggle with it
    3. How digital tools and automation can fix it

    #WorkingCapital #CashFlow #Digitization #AIinFinance #OCR #RPA #FinanceTransformation #BusinessEfficiency #DigitalOperations #mmlogistix