Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at dong tai global logistics and trading co ,ltd

- MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY STUDENT NAME: LA THI MINH DUYEN DISSERTATION GLOBAL STUDIES AND MARITIME AFFAIRS RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND TRADING CO.,LTD HAI PHONG – 2015 MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY STUDENT NAME: LA THI MINH DUYEN CLASS: GMA02 DISSERTATION GLOBAL STUDIES AND MARITIME AFFAIRS RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND TRADING CO.,LTD Supervisor: Doan Trong Hieu Division: Economics of International Trade Faculty: Economics HAI PHONG – 2015 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd PREFACE This Dissertation is a description of my 2-month- internship which occur in September and October in 2015 During months, I have chance to witness the real work of a logistic company named Dong Tai Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd My topic “Recommendations to improve freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd” is really useful for me because it helps me to enhance my knowledge about freight forwarding service in general and importing service for FCL cargoes in particular Further, this is an opportunity for me to take part in professional working condition In Global Studies and Maritime Affairs curriculum, the students are supposed to study International Logistics subject which is closely related to this topic, therefore, this knowledge in practices is extremely important to monitor the topic This dissertation includes three chapters:  Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW OF FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICE  Chapter 2: THE CURRENT STATUS OF FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI LOGISTICS AND TRADING CO.,LTD  Chapter 3: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI GLOBAL TRADING COM.,LTD I declare that this report is my own unaided work It has not been submitted before If violated, I am solely responsible for and bear the punishments of the Institution and University Student Name and Signature La Thi Minh Duyen i Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd ACKNOWLEGEMENT Firstly, I would like to thank all lecturers at VietNam Maritime University for teaching me during the time I study at university Secondly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor M.S Doan Trong Hieu for the continuous support of my dissertation and related research, for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledge His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my study Thirdly, I deeply thank Director - Mr Do Viet Thanh and the help of all staffs in Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co., Ltd who have created best conditions for me to complete this topic Above all, I thank my family and friends for all the encouragements they gave to me during this study Special thanks to all respondents for giving me answers to my questionnaires and to those who gave extra supports in making my work have a better quality ii Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE i ACKNOWLEGEMENT ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii INTRODUCTION DISSERTATION METHODOLOGY DISSERTATION SCOPE TIME DURATION RESEARCH RESULT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW OF FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICE 1.1 Theoretical basis of freight forwarding service 1.1.1 Definition of freight forwarding service and freight forwarder 1.1.2 Commercial role of freight forwarder 1.1.3 Freight forwarder obligations and rights 1.1.4 Related documents in freight forwarding services for importing FCL cargoes 1.1.5 Relationship of freight forwarder with other parties 1.2 Legal basis framework 1.2.1 National law 1.2.2 International law 1.3 Assessment theory of forwarding services for importing FCL cargoes 1.3.1 Full container loaded cargoes 1.3.2 General freight forwarding process for importing cargoes by ocean 10 1.3.3 Service quality assessment framework 11 1.3.4 Relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction 14 CHAPTER 2: THE CURRENT STATUS OF FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI CO.,LTD 15 2.1 General information about Dong Tai Co.,Ltd 15 2.1.1 Company background 15 2.1.2 Brief development history 16 iii Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd 2.1.3 Organizational structure 17 2.1.4 Main services 19 2.1.5 Company Infrastructure and equipment 23 2.1.6 Company workforce 23 2.1.7 Company performance 24 2.2 2.2.1 Forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes of Dong Tai Global 27 Sales process 27 2.2.2 Freight forwarding order of steps for importing FCL cargoes 29 2.3 Assessing forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global 35 2.3.1 Reliability 37 2.3.2 Assurance 38 2.3.3 Tangibles 40 2.3.4 Empathy 41 2.3.5 Responsiveness 42 2.3.6 Price 43 2.3.7 General assessment of freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global 44 CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI GLOBAL TRADING COM.,LTD 46 3.1 Create a standard and detail process for importing FCL freight forwarding service 46 3.1.1 Adding step for “Checking documents received from importer” 46 3.1.2 Adding “Arrange Transportation Agencies” after “Prepare Documents” step 46 3.1.3 Adding “Complete daily report” step into the forwarding process 47 3.2 Improving quality of facilities and the application of information technology 49 3.2.1 Ensuring basic requirements in warehouse system 49 3.2.2 Applying information technology in freight forwarding activities 49 3.3 Paying attention at the quality of human resources 50 3.3.1 Focusing in recruitment 50 3.3.2 Investing in training course for staff 50 3.3.3 Creating motivation for staffs 51 iv Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd 3.4 Specializing in customer service and market expansion to optimize Empathy and Responsiveness level 51 3.4.1 Establishing a specialized Marketing Department 51 3.4.2 Promoting marketing activities strategy 52 CONCLUSION 54 APPENDICES 55 Bibliography 56 v Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS Meaning FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations INCOTERMS International Commercial Terms LCL Less Container Load FCL Full Container Load B/L Bill of Lading CO Certificate of Origin D/O Delivery Order NVOCC Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier VNACCS Vietnam Automated Cargo Clearance System CFS Container Freight Station TEU Twenty Equivalent Unit EIR Equipment Interchange Receipt vi Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Factors Of Rater Model – Service Quality Dimensions 13 Table 2: Quantity And Qualification Of Officers In Dong Tai Global 24 Table 3: Business Result Of Dong Tai Global Logistics From 2010 To 2014 26 Table 4: Dividing Work Tasks Of Dong Tai Global Staffs In FCL Import Shipment 39 Table 5: Price Quotes To Customer With Minimum Profit Of FCL Shipment And Inland Service Of Dong Tai Global 44 Table 6: Summary Of Strengths And Weaknesses Of Freight Forwarding Service For Importing FCL Cargoes At Dong Tai Global Based On Dimensions 45 Table 7: Estimated Time For Each Step Of Recommended Process 47 vii Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Relationship Among Freight Forwarder With Other Parties Figure 2: Organizational Structure Of Dong Tai Global 17 Figure 3: Revenue, Cost And Profit Before Tax Of Dong Tai Global 27 Figure 4: Sales Process At Dong Tai Global 27 Figure 5: Detailed Forwarding Order Of Steps For Importing FCL Cargoes 30 Figure 6: Customer Satisfaction Toward Import Forwarding Service For FCL Shipment At Dong Tai Global (On Scale From To 5) 36 Figure 7: Clients Satisfaction Level Toward Reliability‟s Criteria 37 Figure 8: Clients Satisfaction Level Toward Tangibles‟ Criteria 40 Figure 9: Clients Satisfaction Level Toward Empathy‟s Criteria 41 Figure 10: Criteria For Selecting Freight Forwarder Service Supplier 43 Figure 11: Completed Recommend Import Forwarding Process For FCL Shipments 48 viii Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd The ability to assess useful information is only 2,67 The graph shows that Dong Tai‟s marketing activities and customer care has been carried out but still lack of efficiency There are several respondents saying that they not get much information through Dong Tai staffs For example, giving advice to customers about optimal mode of transport, documentation procedures required for importing FCL cargoes, responsibilities of parties involved in the Incoterms, notice about import regulations from partner country The majority customers of Dong Tai Global are acquaintances, only use one or a few single freight forwarding service Customers often subsidize service and use external parties to provide services for them The main reason for that common phenomenon is marketing activities of company are not properly invested, accompanied with the lack of specialization in freight forwarding service Finding new customers and taking care existing clients is also one of the weak points of the company Up to now, Dong Tai Global still does not establish Marketing Department with staffs specialized on sales, marketing or customer service Officers from other departments regularly in charge of marketing and customer care 2.3.5 Responsiveness This is one of the critical factors that make up good quality of a service It proves the quality of service after offering to customer That is the ability to deal with customer complaints quickly and the willingness to meet the expectations of customers Importing business in international trade takes place in many stages, its process contains a lot of procedures and risk Therefore the company must resolve many issues Since the cargoes are loaded onboard at export point until unloaded at import destination, customers always want updates actual situation of their shipment, progress, about the status of quality, the procedures need to be resolved, other concerns However, as concerned before, customers cannot track ship voyage and cargo condition once cargoes loaded onboard They are only informed when the goods arrive at destination port The good point is Dong Tai always timely feedback arising issues Customers agree that they receive timely response, donot-disclaim-liability attitude from Dong Tai staff and their level of satisfaction based on the results feedback is 42 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd “normal" - 3,08 points (with specific average score for Willingness to help is 3,06 and Complaint handling is 2,78) 2.3.6 Price Service is invisible product which is difficult to assess Price is one of the factors that affect customer satisfaction of the service they receive Clients tend to demand good service quality but with reasonable rates Therefore, assessing the quality of service cannot ignore this vital factor According to the research results carried out by Research Division of Company SCM in 2008, there are main criteria that clients would consider when select freight forwarding service providers, ranked on scale to according to degree of importance with being less important and is the most important factor Noticeably, quality of service and price rank 1st and 2nd place respectively Figure 10: Criteria For Selecting Freight Forwarder Service Supplier Source: Research Division, Company SCM,2008 Clients feedback agree that Dong Tai offer reasonable rates with average fairly score 3,08 Dong Tai have the advantage of well understanding the market, a good relationship with transportation companies, therefore, Dong Tai can offer reasonable rates to customers On the other hand, the transportation companies generally consider Dong Tai as an agent, leading to special priority in terms of price The difference in price when buying and selling service is the source of Dong Tai profits Moreover, the organizational structure of the company is quite simple, contributing a large part to reduce cost and offer reasonable price 43 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd Table 5: Price Quotes To Customer With Minimum Profit Of F CL Shipment And Inland Service Of Dong Tai Global Service Main Routes FCL shipment Korea China Europe US $20/20 $25/50 $100/120 Min Profit (Dollar) Inland Service Min Profit $100/120 Inland trucking Customs declaration (per trip) 400.000 ( per form) Quarantine (per shipment) Fumigation (per shipment) (per CO) 200.000 200.000 200.000 200.000 CO Stuffing / Unstuffing (per cont) 200.000 (VND) Source: Sales Department – Dong Tai Global 2.3.7 General assessment of freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global In general, clients rates the service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global 3,33 out of total 5, an upper-medium score Below is the table summarizing presented strengths and weaknesses of freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global 44 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd Table 6: Summary Of Strengths And Weaknesses Of Freight Forwarding Service For Importing FCL Cargoes At Dong Tai Global Based On Dimensions Dimension Reliability Assurance Tangibles Strengths Weaknesses Dong Tai Global does not create a standard process for importing FCL cargoes which is documented, leading to lengthen delivery time of goods Dong Tai Global always supervise its employees and contacts partners regularly to The network of forwarding agents around the world has not been invested help the company control the quality of goods and expanded, mainly concentrates in narrow and familiar markets, mostly in Asia Dong Tai operators mainly graduated with degree not related to working Leaders and managers of Dong Tai have many years experienced field Majority of officers in the company have bachelor degree with major related to Outsourced workforce including security guards and stevedore workers are working fields such as logistics, maritime economic, foreign trade economic… low qualified and lack of skill In FCL importing process, there is clearly division of work tasks among Dong Tai‟s staffs Infrastructure & equipment serving freight forwarding service in general is limited and not up-to-date Application of information technology in import forwarding service has not been properly invested Order is via traditional way, such as phone, fax or mail, without utilizing online booking or documentation execution system Dong Tai Global does not establish Marketing Department with staffs specialized on sales, marketing or customer service Empathy Clients not get much information through staffs Lack of investing in finding new customers and taking care existing clients Responsiveness Timely feedback arising issues Customers receive timely response, don‟t-disclaimliability attitude from Dong Tai staff Price Dong Tai has the advantage of well understanding the market, a good relationship with transportation companies => Dong Tai can offer reasonable rates to customers 45 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI GLOBAL TRADING COM.,LTD 3.1 Create a standard and detail process for importing FCL freight forwarding service A good quality service is considered as satisfying all the needs of customers In the freight forwarding service, the criteria for evaluating the quality is the trust of customer to have the goods transported safely and arrived at final destination on time In order to achieve that, first and foremost, import freight forwarding activities of the company need to meet fundamental requirements: providing fast, efficient, accurate, safe service with most competitive price as possible In doing so, the company should themselves build some quantitative assessment criteria such as the time is done properly, as well as qualitative indicators to keep track with service performance and evaluate customer satisfaction But first, company need to create a standard process for freight forwarding activities in general and for importing FCL cargoes in particular as a framework for all employees to follow instead based on experience before 3.1.1 Adding step for “Checking documents received from importer” In order to lessen actual time required to complete each step, I recommend that Dong Tai Global should add a minor step in Prepare Documents – not only receiving but also checking documents from importer side This action may extend the time added to Prepare Documents up to one or two hours but finally, the total benefit it may bring back is considerable This minor step can lessen delay time in Customs Clearance if there is any error from Prepare Documents 3.1.2 Adding “Arrange Transportation Agencies” after “Prepare Documents” step I recommend that Dong Tai Global should add “Arrange Transportation Agencies” right after “Prepare Documents” step The sooner trucking plan is made, the lessen time for transporting Delay time in this step would be under control and eliminated Below is the recommended time table with total estimated time is 56 hours if two minor steps is added 46 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd Table 7: Estimated Time For Each Step Of Recommended Process Step Estimate consumed time ( hrs ) Prepare and check document Arrange transportation agency 0.5 Take D/O 1.5 Get Customs Inspection 16 Customs Clearance Get EIR Transporting goods to customers 24 Take back empty container borrow receipt and finalize accounting 3.1.3 Adding “Complete daily report” step into the forwarding process After a work shift, I recommend each staff of Dong Tai Global has to fill in this Daily Report about their work of a day, including specific information related to: Name of staff, Time, Name of forwarding activities, Purpose, Result, Note… By this way, the company can control the efficiency as well as the problems arising daily for timely settlement plans Below is my complete recommend detailed process for importing FCL cargoes: 47 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd Miss or Error Check Receive documents from exporter‟s forwarder Arrange Transportation Agency Receive documents from importer (clients) Prepare Document Take Delivery Order Register Health and Sanitary or Physical Inspection in Customs Department Register Inspection in Port Error Checking Custom Clearance Get EIR Deliver cargoes to clients‟ warehouse and track transporting Return empty container to deport Take back empty container borrow receipt and finish accounting Fill in Daily Report Form Figure 11: Completed Recommend Import Forwarding Process For FCL Shipments 48 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd 3.2 Improving quality of facilities and the application of information technology 3.2.1 Ensuring basic requirements in warehouse system To make recommendations in term of infrastructure and facilities needs specific consideration about the company's capital However, for this kind of import FCL freight forwarding service, quality is sometimes reflected in the attention to the smallest details For example, for goods imposed strict technical requirements in transportation, loading or unloading, packaging, preservation, Dong Tai Global should invest more in special equipment Operator not only have to understand the characteristics of goods, standard of warehouse or road condition but also need to directly supply concrete guidance and pay more effort to the process In term of warehousing systems, company needs to ensure the basic requirements such as antimold, convenience for transportation, ensure hygiene, and equip fire prevention systems 3.2.2 Applying information technology in freight forwarding activities First and foremost, in order to apply new information technology for freight forwarding in general and for importing FCL in particular, Dong Tai Global should invest more in office facilities and equipment for staff After that, Dong Tai Global should also pay attention in software which is consistent with current condition of Vietnam in forwarding service In these days, the utility of using internet in forwarding activities poses great influence on company performance Therefore, investing to utilize company's website in the most effective way is one of the task for company to perform as soon as possible because it is not out of the reach, it is because of lacking strategic investment Company's website should provide more utilities such as track and trace, ship schedules, e-booking, documents visibility… For import freight forwarding service, Dong Tai Global should update information from Tracing and Tracking Container of Shipping Lines into company‟s database when cargoes are loaded on board, then transfer to update information from forwarding agency‟s website and end the whole process until the goods are delivered to importer These are priority elements interest customers when they come to choose their service provider In general, Dong Tai Global can choose to build a separate IT Department inside company or cooperate with a software company in Vietnam 49 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd 3.3 Paying attention at the quality of human resources 3.3.1 Focusing in recruitment Humans are direct factors and decided to create the quality of service Therefore, the formation and development of human resources to meet the requirements for implementing quality objectives are extremely important To obtain high-quality human resources, right from recruitment process the company have to choose their own staff with certain quality In term of recruitment subjects, it can be divided into two main group, those are experienced and inexperienced Depending on the positions, the company can consider the choice of each group For those who have not gained experienced such as new graduated students or working in unrelated industry, despite of time-consuming and establishment of new training course but in return, the company can guide them at the beginning according to their goals On the other hand, for those who have experienced, the Company may take advantage of the valuable experience plus their relationship which save both time and training costs However, they will be influenced more by habit, old working style to conform to target of company 3.3.2 Investing in training course for staff Office staff The training of personnel in generally needs to maintain the orient express: following the objective to diversify the types of training, the motivation select the appropriate training facilities, ordering training requirements, distribution additional training funds for those in a reasonable manner Hence, an important task of the company is to increase demand, maintaining motivation training for everyone Companies should design training programs on their own, ensuring quality human resources as what planned before Training course does not need to be in a large scale but the relevant documents should be designed basically and professionally Teachers besides expertise knowledge related to industry strategy and policies, he/she should have pedagogical skill to convey the idea clearly With IT, documentation departments, the professional skill is on top priority mean while other positions such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Service staffs… general 50 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd knowledge, professional skills and soft skill play an important role Or Dong Tai may choose to send its staffs to repute college or university in Hai Phong such as Vietnam Maritime University or Hai Phong University to learn and update new knowledge The course they take may allow them to study in the evening, after working time Outsourced workforce: security guards, stevedore workers… As concerned before, outsourced workforce including security guards and loading/unloading workers have not been noticed, leading to sometimes mistakes happen and slow down the whole freight forwarding for importing process In my opinion, to solve this problem, there are main ways: First, the company should raise the awareness and improve qualifications of this outsourced labor force The Company may arrange training course, held by key manager of the company with lessons related to: characteristics of each commodity, how to pick the right packaging, how to identify symbol….to ensure the safety of goods Reduce costs and increase efficiency in the process of loading/unloading cargo Second, Dong Tai can choose or other prestigious stevedore firms to enhance competitiveness 3.3.3 Creating motivation for staffs In order to improve the quality of human resources in the company, they must give them the motivation to work Motivation may from salaries, bonuses, social benefits, working conditions, promotion possibilities The company had regulations on salaries, commissions and wage increases To motivate people to work hard, the company should also construct quarterly wage for each department Every quarter there are rewards for employees who achieve high performance 3.4 Specializing in customer service and market expansion to optimize Empathy and Responsiveness level 3.4.1 Establishing a specialized Marketing Department Dong Tai still not have Marketing Department specialized in caring current customers, seeking new clients or expanding markets Remedy to overcome 51 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd this is the company should establish a independent and professional marketing department with highly qualified staff In order to that, Dong Tai need to invest budgets and to rearrange staff in the most logical way Regarding to personnel, the company can transfer staff from the sales department or recruiting new staffs who has bachelor degree related to this field Customer service plays such important role that Dong Tai Global should rise great concentration on customer service Offering excellent service is to advise customers about the competitive situation in the current market, foreign trade activities, international trade law… Dong Tai Global should also provide customers information about terms in import contracts, or explains in detail complex terms to help clients understand more and avoid conflicts may happen 3.4.2 Promoting marketing activities strategy Commercial promotion strategy In the fierce competition market, marketing activities must be considered as the top priority Marketing is an important activity in order to maintain the image of the company, highlight the services provided and offer price program or customer service For FCL import freight forwarding service, currently, the most popular marketing method is Dong Tai‟s staff goes to potential importer‟s location to persuade and build relationship by providing competitive quotes This activity is considered as customer caring Not only regular schedule appointments to find out the needs of customers for individual services, direct conversations also help the company and customers build up mutual trust According to my opinion, Dong Tai Global can apply several another ways such as giving commission to customers as they introduce new clients, or charging big & long-standing customers with stable volumes a preferred rate Market expansion strategy In the intense competition with rivals in the same sector related to import freight forwarding service, for survival and sustainable development, Dong tai Global need to consider to expand its market This is an effective measure to reinforce, strengthen company position and profitability, especially when the majority source of its profit is from import freight forwarding As the market 52 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd expanded, if there is a certain market undergoing crisis, it will not cause serious impact to the operation of the entire company However, this is not an easy task to perform because each market has its typical socio-economic characteristics, legal systems, culture and customs Therefore, in order to expand the market, Dong Tai Global has to detailed market research on every aspect to find out what is different with markets that company is currently operating The fact shows that company forwarding service mainly concentrates in narrow and familiar markets in Asia like Singapore, China, Korea, Hongkong… meanwhile largest import market of Vietnam including Japan, EU or USA… Dong Tai has not planned to exploit Firstly, Dong Tai Global can expand its business activities according to geographical space With strategy like advertising on magazine & website specialized in import and export, building official website with up-to-date database that will be effective solution On the other hand, Dong Tai Global need to develop intensive its current market comprising of Singapore, China, Korea, Hongkong… to attract new clients, reinforce and establish long-term relationship with current customers by excellent quality and competitive pricing service 53 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd CONCLUSION Freight forwarded services have an important role in developing national economy It leverages maximum local resources and involves proactively in the process of specialization and the international labour division The development of enterprises contributes to promote the process of the industrialization as well as modernization in Vietnam and the integration progress among Vietnam and other countries in region and all over the world Dong Tai Global Co.,Ltd has expanded not only in scale but also in business performance The annual revenue is expected to continue rising in years to come Although there are still many difficulties comprising of limited capital, strong competitors in the market , Dong Tai Global Co., Ltd board of directors is seeking new direction with better vision to overcome and supply the best service to customers Dong Tai Global constantly improves business operations The company has achieved certain success in performance and employee‟s improvement in standard of living This has been contributing to budget revenues of government, partially contributing to the innovation of country Until now, Dong Tai Global Co.,Ltd has established and operated for years, this enterprise has successfully demonstrated its business abilities and step by step met market needs Dong Tai Global., Ltd has gradually reoriented and strengthened services and business strategies to consits with the situation of country and the world 54 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd APPENDICES Arrival Notice Delivery Order Bill of Lading Empty Container Borrow Receipt Original Certificate Custom Declaration Commercial Invoice Packing List Commercial contract 10 Sample of Daily Report Form 11 Survey on satisfaction level of customer about FCL import forwarding service at Dong Tai Global 55 Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd BIBLIOGRAPHY FIATA Freight Forwarding and Logistics Services General Freight Forwarder's condition Vietnam Commercial Law, article 233, http://moj.gov.vn Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd, http://dongtaiglobal.com/gioithieu.html The forwarder obligations and right General Freight Forwarder's conditions of Association of Logistics and Freight Forwarding of the Slovak republic in version with the changes approved by ALFF SR member convention on 12th May 2005 Parasuraman, SERVQUAL: A multi Item Scale for measuring customer perception of service quality Herrmann, Xia, Monroe & Huber, on Consumer Satisfaction 2007, The Influence of Price Fairness 56 ... freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd CHAPTER 2: THE CURRENT STATUS OF FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICES FOR IMPORTING FCL CARGOES AT DONG TAI. .. staff There are main sources of Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd data aggregated: from customer... role, Recommendations to improve the freight forwarding service for importing FCL cargoes at Dong Tai Global Logistics and Trading Co.,Ltd freight forwarder will then arrange carriage contracts and