Freight logistics operation group 9 report

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY Institute of International Economics and Business - - FREIGHT LOGISTICS OPERATIONS MID-TERM REPORT U&I Logistics Company Submitted by : Group 09 Lecturer : Ms Hoàng Thị Đoan Trang & Dr Bùi Duy Linh Class : FLO201 Hanoi, May 2021 LIST OF GROUP MEMEBERS No Student’s ID Full Name Class 1915530803 Đoàn Ngọc Minh K58-LOG-ANH 02 1915530542 Trần Thị Hà Vi K58-LOG-ANH 02 1915530702 Lê Thị Khánh Trang K58-LOG-ANH 01 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER INTRODUCTION OF U&I LOGISTICS 1.1 History of formation and development: 1.2 Vision 1.3 Organizational Structure of U&I Logistics: CHAPTER 2: BUSINESS ACTIVITIES OF U&I 12 2.1 Logistics services provided by U&I 12 2.2 Main customers 16 2.3 Competitors 16 CHAPTER 3: CURRENT SITUATION OF GOODS DELIVERY PROCESS MANAGEMENT EXPORTING BY CONTAINER AT U & I LOGISTICS COMPANY 17 3.1 Planning process 17 3.2 Process of exporting goods 18 CHAPTER 4: SHORTCOMINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 25 Shortcomings 25 4.1.1 In each stage of the process 25 4.1.2 With process management activities in general 25 4.2 Recommendations 26 4.2.1 Improve management of customs procedures 26 4.2.2 Improve process management activities in general 26 REFERENCES 28 INTRODUCTION Vietnam has joined many international trade agreements, which creates more opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to expand their markets and seek more customers and partners However, there are also many challenges Enterprises must innovate themselves to come up with strategies and strategies suitable to the international environment, to improve their competitiveness Therefore, analyzing business activities of the business can predetermine the profitability of the activity, thereby analyzing and forecasting the success of the business results Through properly assessing the business performance, enterprises can make appropriate economic decisions, determine the right direction As a business operating in the field of logistics, U&I Logistics is considered one of the major enterprises in the Vietnamese market operating in this field However, the market is expanding and the competition from enterprises is getting more and more fierce In general development conditions, besides the advantages for development, the company also faces many difficulties and challenges Therefore, I conducted the topic "Research on the current situation of freight logistics operations in U&I Logistics Northern JSC" to learn more about the company's business operations, the problems that the company still faces from there Export a number of solutions to improve the company's operational efficiency Research objectives and missions: ● Analyze achievements and limitations in the freight logistics operation of U&I Logistics – Northern JSC ● Give some recommendations Research object and scope: ● Research object: Logistics management process of the company from 20202021 ● Research scope: The subject is done at U&I Logistics – JSC Throughout the internship, we have learnt many things about the operation of a logistics company We would also like to express my gratitude to my instructor, Mr Bui Duy Linh for your instructions During the research and completion process, due to many limitations in knowledge, the essay cannot avoid its shortcomings, so our team is looking forward to receiving the comments of teachers on the research topic in order that we are more complete We sincerely thank you CHAPTER INTRODUCTION OF U&I LOGISTICS 1.1 History of formation and development: U&I Investment Corporation (Unigroup) is the parent company of many subsidiaries and affiliates, working in many business areas including Logistics, Real Estate, Construction, Financial Services, Auditing, Retailing, Farming and Manufacturing U&I is an abbreviation of “You and I” U&I Logistics is the leading member of Unigroup regarding logistics services Being operated by highly experienced Vietnamese entrepreneurs, U&I Logistics is proud to be one of the leading companies in Vietnam specializing in Customs Broker Agent, Freight Forwarding Service, Warehouse Operations, Inland Waterways, Coastal and Rail Transport In order to survive and develop, U&I Logistics always keeps improving itself day by day to provide the best services to its customers The companies includes the following members: The subsidiaries: ● U&I Transport Corporation (Unitrans) – Binh Duong ● U&I Logistics – Northern Joint Stock Company ● U&I Warehousing Corporation (U&I Warehouse) – Binh Duong ● U&I Freight Solutions Corporation (Uni Freight) – Binh Duong The affiliates: ● Rubber Goods Services And Transport – Warehouse Joint Stock Company (Rusco) – Ho Chi Minh ● An Thoi Investment In Maritime & Postal Exploitation Corporation (An Thoi Port) – Phu Quoc Regarding the history of the company: April 1998: the company was established under the name of limited company U&I (Unico Ltd), working in the field of investment consultancy, customs clearance and freight forwarding with members and the total initial capital of 200 million VND U&I's original head office was in Thu Dau Mot town, Binh Duong province March 2003: The ownership of the company was transformed into a joint stock company with the new name called U&I Transport and Forwarding Corporation The company also set up a trucking by container service January 2007: It inaugurated and put into operation phase of a warehouse with a total area of 36200 m2 October 2008: U&I Transportation Joint Stock Company (UNITRANS) was established August 2010: Established U&I Freight Forwarding Joint Stock Company (U&I FREIGHT) - Ho Chi Minh City February 2014: Established U&I Cargo Service Joint Stock Company (U&I CARGO) - Hanoi June 2014: The establishment of Vietnam Shipping Joint Stock Company (VIETNAM TRUCKING - VTruck) August 2014: Completed and put into operation phase of the warehouse with a total area of 10428 m2 and established U&I Warehouse Joint Stock Company (U&I WAREHOUSE) May 2015: Renamed to U&I Logistics Joint Stock Company (U&I LOGISTICS) with a charter capital of VND 215 billion March 2017: Established U&I Freight Solutions Joint Stock Company September 2017: Completed and put the warehouse of U&I Logistics at VSIP I (First phase) into operation with a total area of 13500 m2 December 2017: Established U&I Logistics - Long Thanh Corporation February 2018: Established U&I Logistics - Northern Joint Stock Company July 2019: The establishment of Northern U&I Transport Joint Stock Company The chart below shows the structure of Unigroup: Figure Structure of Unigroup Source: Báo cáo tình hình nhân sự, phòng tổ chức nhân sự, U&I Logistics 1.2 Vision Vision: To become a strong logistics brand in Vietnam that can be seen not only as a pure partner but also as a reliable friend Mission: Every product of U&I Logistics should represent quality and trust Slogan: Clients’ Interests First Core value: Leadership is shown in every position and every job Culture: Everyone is respected and treated equally U&I highly appreciates the personal expertise, the smooth and clever coordination, and the ability to work scientifically 1.3 Organizational Structure of U&I Logistics: U&I Logistics is one of the members of U&I Investment Corporation (Unigroup) that has operated in many fields U&I Logistics is the leading member of Unigroup regarding logistics service As the characteristics of Logistics that includes many tasks and activities, U&I Logistics allege to divide into the member companies Each company that belongs to the U&I Logistics focuses on providing only an activity (a service) in the Logistics systems U&I Logistics’ organizational structure should be seen as the divisional structure GENERAL DIRECTOR MANAGE DIRECTOR Accounting Department Logistics Department Administrative Department Sales Department Figure Organizational structure of U&I Logistics Source: Phịng hành cơng ty U&I Logistics Operations Department * Functions of each department + General Director: is the highest commander in the enterprise, has the task of comprehensive management, operating the company's activities in accordance with the set goals and strategies of the company, taking responsibility on behalf of the company the state for all its activities + Manage Director: The person who is responsible to the director for the assigned work contents, and actively handles the work authorized by the general director Assist the director in many fields such as production, sales, marketing The manage director is also responsible for assisting the director in technical terms, directing and monitoring the activities of the departments, and helping the director directly direct the signing and implementation of business contracts + Accounting Department: Responsible for management, financial organization, economic accounting, evaluation of the company's production and business results according to the plan, well performing financial accounting for the company to ensure not be stuck in production and business, monitor and pay economic contracts to direct on debt and debt recovery, not let customers owe, settle with superior agencies and relevant agencies authority of the State + Administrative Department: Department is the unit that directly performs the management of records, archives, management of housing and labor equipment of the Company Second, the department has the function of managing human and labor resources + Sales Department: In charge of production and business of the company, in charge of purchasing materials and selling products In addition, the department advises the Director on production direction, import-export business goals in the following fields: Market, products, customers Strengthening marketing, expanding domestic and foreign markets as: transportation of project goods, super-long, super-heavy goods, inland waterway transport, coastal sea and railway Vietnam Transport Exchange (VTruck) Vtruck was established in May 2014 This is a development plan of U&I Logistics to create a premise for the strategy of combining e-commerce and traditional logistics Vtruck is an application platform operating online in the form of e-commerce, where shippers and vehicle owners meet, connect, negotiate and conduct transactions The difference compared to conventional transportation is that, Vtruck removes the geographical distance, connecting shippers and car owners throughout Vietnam They only need a device with an internet connection to be able to meet to exchange services without paying for the system International sea and air transportation As part of the strategy of diversifying services and creating more choices for customers, U&I Freight Solutions and U&I Logistics - North were born as an affirmation of U&I Logistics' correct and sustainable development strategy U&I Freight Solutions and U&I Logistics - Northern were established with the core of operators and managers with more than 20 years of experience in the international freight industry U&I Freight Solutions is in charge of and provides services for the Southern market and U&I Logistics - the North is in charge of and provides services for the North and Central markets U&I’s partners are multinational companies with a worldwide dealer network Their international freight operations are proving step by step proving that they are one of the strong Vietnamese brands in this field With an output of more than 2,000 tons of air freight each year, U&I has committed to meeting all of our customers' freight needs at the most reasonable prices Types of goods delivered The company has cargo handling equipment such as a modern fleet of trucks, forklifts, a fairly large and safe warehouse system, very convenient for cargo handling, and has its own fleet of ships or containers to serve customers sea freight forwarding This is an advantage of the company compared to other forwarding businesses In the field of sea: U&I is providing a wide range of forwarding services to meet the needs of the domestic and international market From there, customers can be assured about the import and export of goods: ● Delivery of import and export goods ● Collecting retail goods to export to countries around the world ● Delivery service to the place ● Cargo insurance service The company's vehicles are very diverse, from ton payload to 15 ton payload, container tractors of all kinds to some other specialized vehicles, with an extensive warehouse system Moreover, these devices are also fully exploited with high efficiency In addition, the care and maintenance of equipment is done carefully FCL is a specific form of sea freight forwarding, accounting for a large proportion Types of delivery are: ● Departmental containers: Used to transport dry goods, general goods Includes 20 feet, 40 feet DC/HC types ● Insulation containers: Used to transport items that require a stable temperature ● Ground container: Used to transport super-long and super-heavy items such as iron, steel ● Tank Container: Used to transport liquid goods such as oil, chemicals, gas, alcohol ● Bulk container: Used to transport bulk goods: cement, grain, ore ● Specialized containers: Used to transport specific items such as cars, livestock ● Open-roof container: Used to transport goods such as machinery and equipment 2.2 Main customers U&I has over 1000 customers, both large and small, around the country U&I is proud to be the leading company in Vietnam specializing in providing logistics services for both domestic and international markets, from small businesses to huge corporations U&I Logistics – Northern JSC serves a wide range of import-export firms and industrial zone enterprises The firm always retains a lot of loyal consumers who use its services due to high service quality,steady and cheap costs Customers of U&I include well-known Vietnamese companies such as TH True Milk, VinEco, and Minh Long, … U&I Logistics customers gave excellent feedback on the quality of the service and the company's price Customers are usually actively contacted to collaborate in the following shipments, so that the firms have a quite stable order quantity over months and years 2.3 Competitors U&I Logistics - Northern JSC does not consider any one firm to be a true competition in this logistics service industry Companies in this industry, they believe, should be viewed as partners rather than rivals Through outsourcing activities, the firm is always in need of engagement and help from other enterprises As a result, the corporation has always established that there is no competition in this area and that the most important problem is client satisfaction CHAPTER 3: CURRENT SITUATION OF GOODS DELIVERY PROCESS MANAGEMENT EXPORTING BY CONTAINER AT U & I LOGISTICS COMPANY 3.1 Planning process Planning is the first and most important step of freight forwarding process management A good plan, complete, suitable for resources and circumstances will make that process more convenient, faster and more efficient At U&I Logistics, the leadership team has a good vision and can create the optimal plan The planning manager has a good planning method to lead all members to the same goal That is professional business planning with PROBIZ PLAN software The plan of the head of the department has met the following factors: Set objectives, mission, success factors Select the form of business operation Clearly define the products and services intended to provide Identify the target market of the business to have a specific view 5.Identify your competitors and re-evaluate your competitiveness Develop sales strategy, pricing, promotion, sales revenue forecast Develop Marketing strategy (Determining competitive advantage, positioning, marketing strategy, distribution strategy, ) Building and organizing human resources and personnel costs Forecast of management costs, advertising costs, asset depreciation Calculation of investment capital for the project 10 Calculate the time needed to borrow capital or call for more investment capital 11 Calculate the payback period or key financial metrics to decide whether to invest or deposit money in the bank 12 Financial analysis (Reasonable investment costs, profit and loss analysis, breakeven analysis, cash flow, balance sheet ) based on input data 13 Output the plan via Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Web to serve presentations or business project reports When applying this software to the management of the freight forwarding process, the team leader was able to orient the departments with many different options to anticipate business situations: bad, average, good to have a treatment plan appropriate Moreover, use the business plan to call for investment capital or bank loans Develop a reasonable debt policy to avoid bankruptcy due to insolvency This has helped the U & I company keep its customers Information search can be done in three ways: The first way, through the company's data warehouse This is the company's available data warehouse about customers Sales staff can get business information here and start the negotiation process The second way, through the relationship Relationships are a great way, this makes it easier for businesses to trust the company and makes the negotiation process faster The third way is through searching the internet This is quite difficult, because the information of businesses online is general, quite vague and unclear This makes it difficult for Sales staff to fully and accurately capture business information After having contact with the customer, the sales staff sends a service quotation to exchange, the successful negotiation will lead to the signing of the contract 3.2 Process of exporting goods Delivery organization is a very important step that determines the quality of the company's service To organize the delivery of export goods, take the following steps: Pic 3.2: Process of exporting goods Finding clients, negotiating and signing contracts Make a booking and get an empty container Packing goods and preparing documents Export customs clearance Issue bill of lading Make financial paper, keep records Source: Báo cáo tổng hợp công ty CP dịch vụ hàng hóa U&I Firstly, the sales staff of the forwarding company will look for customers to negotiate and sign contracts The content of a foreign trade contract includes the following information: Contract scope, Contract value, Delivery conditions, Payment method, Goods warranty conditions, Insurance purchase Thus, operation staff will be the person on behalf of the client to the procedures such as: export clearance, organize the safe transportation of goods, deliver the goods to the ship, make other procedures if required Second, make a booking and get an empty container The forwarding company contacts the shipping company to find the best price for transporting the shipment Booking helps shippers confirm information about shipper, consignee, weight, type of container, place of packing, port of unloading container for export clearance, port of destination, date of departure, etc Based on the request of the client, the forwarding company will balance to book the most suitable ship to ensure that the packing and shipping will take place smoothly The staff of the forwarding company will send a Booking request to the shipping line After a booking is made, the company's staff will have to exchange it for a booking confirmation at the port authority The booking confirmation is to confirm with the shipping company that you have agreed to take the container and seal Third, pack the goods and prepare documents In addition to contacting the shipping company to book the ship, the forwarder is responsible for contacting the transport firm to book the truck to transport that shipment from the warehouse to the port Based on the quantity of goods, the type of goods that the company will choose the appropriate type of container After that, when there is an agreement on the date of packing, number of containers, type of container, the forwarder will book trucks and send the packing plan information to the carrier including: Place of packing, Time of packing, contact person, number of containers so that the carrier can understand the favorable situation for the arrangement and coordination of vehicles In this step, the forwarder will the following tasks: + Packing at the warehouse: The company's staff will coordinate with the technical team and workers at the factory to pack the goods It is important to choose the appropriate packing according to the packing regulations contained in the foreign trade contract The information must be fully and accurately recorded on the shipment such as: Name of goods, country of manufacture, net weight, tare weight, shipping instructions … + Packing at the port: The process of packing goods at the port is similar to packing goods at the warehouse, but here requires accompanying paperwork Enterprises need to have someone to check and inspect the packing of goods so that the packing is guaranteed Firms need to provide a complete set of certificates including: Commercial Invoice, Packing list, Bill of lading, Certificate of Origin, Phytosanitary Certificate and Fumigation Certificate If the enterprise pays by L/C for that shipment, it is necessary to submit a set of documents to the notifying guarantor bank Fourth, customs clearance for export goods When having all the documents provided by the customer about the outbound shipment, the forwarder uses the electronic customs declaration software to transmit data about the shipment to the online declaration The transmission of declarations helps to classify goods into channels: green channel, red channel and yellow channel After that, the ops staff at the forwarding company is responsible for bringing relevant documents such as: Invoice, Packing list and documents of the shipment to the customs for customs clearance of the shipment Customs officers base on the information on the declaration to enter information and submit to the customs leader to sign for the shipment to be cleared Finish the customs clearance process for the export shipment at the port Cargo will be arranged on the ship according to the shipping company's plan The opening of a customs declaration requires sufficient documents such as a letter of introduction to the forwarder, a receipt of documents issued by the customs, a customs declaration, a foreign trade contract, an invoice and a packing list Fifth, issue bill of lading The forwarding company makes Bill at the request of the exporter The bill of lading can be the MBL of the shipping company or the HBL made by the forwarding company itself This work will be done by the document department at the forwarding companies to issue the bill of lading to the customer The issue of the bill of lading will depend on the customer's request, if the customer does not use the international service, the document officer will transfer a copy of the documents to the customer so that they can send the information to the relevant shipping line to request a bill of lading Sixth, make financial paper and keep records When the original set of documents is completed, the forwarding company sends the documents to the customer and makes a file for record keeping The export delivery process at the company takes place in four basic steps Step 1: Understand the situation of preparing goods and means of transport In this step, the sales staff will coordinate with the documentation staff based on the shipment information provided by the shipper to hire the appropriate carrier, prepare the necessary documents for the shipment to serve the purpose of the shipment delivery and customs clearance assistance The department head will supervise this activity by checking the shipment information and export documents in accordance with the type of goods Step 2: Deliver the goods at the Port Field staff and customs declarants will take on the main tasks of this delivery process They combine to get shipment information and documents from sales staff to transport goods, declare to Customs at Hai Phong port, and deliver goods on board The company provides FCL/FCL, LCL/LCL and bulk cargo Each type of goods will have a different process, each task is directly undertaken by different individuals and the head of the Import-Export Department will manage according to the implementation steps of each process and each type of goods - For FCL/FCL shipment + Confirmation of booking by shipping lines + Field staff receive orders to issue empty containers + Field staff receive empty containers from the port and transfer them to the owner's warehouse for packing + Customs operation staff prepare necessary documents for customs clearance + Procedures with the Hai Phong Port Trade Office lift off before the cut off date + Operation staff cooperate with document staff to contact shipping lines to get B/L + Send Pre-alert to agents - For LCL/LCL shipment + Confirmation of booking by shipping lines + Bring the LCL shipment to the CFS retail delivery station + Customs operation staff prepare necessary documents for customs clearance + Consolidators gather LCL shipments, pack them in sealed containers, and take them to the CY yard at Hai Phong port + Operation staff cooperate with document staff to contact shipping lines to get B/L + Send Pre-alert to agents - For bulk goods + Sales staff and documentary staff support each other in understanding the situation of the goods owner making a declaration of goods for transportation + Documentary staff prepare S/O (Shipping order) and plan to load the ship on board + The forwarder cooperates with the goods owner's representative (if any) to monitor the loading process on the ship + The port and ship will make a record of finalizing the delivery of goods, making a diagram of the goods loaded on the ship and sending it to the owner Step 3: Prepare and hand over transport documents - Sales staff ask customers to provide shipment details to make a bill of lading - Document officer sends draft HBL bill of lading for customer to check and send to carrier for MBL - When confirming the vehicle has departed, the forwarder sends the original HBL and invoice to the customer Step Final settlement of expenses Sales staff settle costs with suppliers and customers, report the process to the head of the import-export department The four steps of U&I Logistics' container shipping process are carried out by many different departments and the head of the department is the person who supervises the activities of each individual in the process U&I company always try to create good relationships with customers, implement the most preferential policies for big customers and stick with the company For the staff, the company always ensures clear reward and discipline policies to encourage employees CHAPTER 4: SHORTCOMINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Shortcomings 4.1.1 In each stage of the process - When making export documents Despite having a high level of expertise, in the process of documenting, sometimes employees still allow errors such as wrong bill of lading, wrong quantity, volume goods stated on the voucher, etc., affecting the general process - When customs clearance for export goods Online customs software is a step forward to help businesses shorten time and cost of customs declaration However, since this is a newly applied software in the company's customs declaration, so many errors still occur in the operation data entry Common mistakes are wrong product code, contract code, wrong invoice trade, etc This makes the customs clearance process may be delayed and cost a lot of money 4.1.2 With process management activities in general Process management activities are also influenced by external influences enterprises over which the enterprise cannot fully control: customers, shipping lines, insurance companies, customs authorities, … Delivery time is sometimes delayed due to linkages with shipping lines and shipping lines, other shipping units are still loose, not matching the delivery plan encountered many difficulties Especially for shipments that have to be transited through many ships, others are prone to problems such as loss or damage of goods, late boarding, missing import declaration 4.2 Recommendations 4.2.1 Improve management of customs procedures For a service business, improving service quality is very necessary The service is increasingly fast, accurate, ensures the needs of customers, makes customers satisfied, then the service is considered to be of good quality, quantity Completing every step in the freight forwarding process is a necessary requirement, especially the process of completing customs procedures Specifically for those who are directly involved in this process are customs clearance officers, document employees The company needs to carry out the following work steps: - Join from the beginning with buyers and sellers in negotiations, signing contract of sale, then proceed to transport - The transportation begins with the design of the transportation route, packaging, handling goods, clearing customs, providing shipping information to interested parties are important The work steps are performed sequentially until the goods are delivered to the recipient - The types of transport that can be used in the process are by sea, air, road, or a combination of these types, such as multimodal transport method This requires companies to apply specialized informatics technologies in addition to prior knowledge and experience Thus, logistics activities not only provide integrated services, but also help customers improve business management 4.2.2 Improve process management activities in general Domestic companies not have enough financial capacity to buy means of transport for foreign trade to carry out multimodal transport by themselves Having done this, the new company can create a reputation with customers, ensure the goods will be transported well and create a large source of revenue for the company To this, the U & I company needs to the following things well: - Create relationships with many shipping lines, forwarding companies in many countries around the world - Design the route in accordance with the needs of the freight forwarder such as: transit time, cargo size, shipping location, infrastructure of each world point Only in this way can the new company actively cooperate with shipping lines to import goods from all over the world for transshipment The company will design a route that both satisfies customers' requirements and ensures the safety of goods and transportation time - There is regular information monitoring during the transportation of goods through the shipping line to inform the customer so that the company has a plan to prepare to receive the goods REFERENCES Website U&I Logistics Available at: http://www.unilogistics.vn/ Công ty Cổ phần dịch vụ hàng hóa U&I, 2021 Phịng hành cơng ty U&I Logistics, 2021 Phịng tổ chức nhân công ty U&I Logistis, 2021 ... of U&I Logistics: U&I Logistics is one of the members of U&I Investment Corporation (Unigroup) that has operated in many fields U&I Logistics is the leading member of Unigroup regarding logistics. .. solutions to improve the company's operational efficiency Research objectives and missions: ● Analyze achievements and limitations in the freight logistics operation of U&I Logistics – Northern JSC ●... topic "Research on the current situation of freight logistics operations in U&I Logistics Northern JSC" to learn more about the company's business operations, the problems that the company still