JOC Staff | Feb 21, 2013 2:54PM EST
More than 80 percent of ocean shippers are looking to cut costs through e-invoicing in 2013, according to a survey of high-volume shippers and freight forwarders by INTTRA.
The study by the ocean shipping network also found that 77 percent of the shippers rated “managing disputes” as their greatest invoicing challenge, with reducing the “time and cost to process invoices” as a close second at 68 percent.
The top 10 country e-invoicing launch preferences for shippers included the U.K., China, the Netherlands, the U.S., Germany, Singapore, Australia, France, Hong Kong and Italy.
“Invoicing, dispute resolution and payment processes are highly fragmented across the industry and represent a significant area of cost and inefficiency,” said Otto Schacht, executive vice president of sea logistics at Kuehne + Nagel, in a written statement. “Logistics providers and their ocean carriers can benefit from standardizing the process, improving visibility to their cash liabilities and providing a more transparent invoicing process, all of which save time and resources.”
