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The resource magazine for cargo professionals

Summer 2014Vol. 22, Issue 1

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RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHTLynden masters the game in Mexico

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he child’s game Red Light, Green Light isn’t a game in Mexico; it’s the inspec- tion system used by Mexican customs. Customs clearance can either go smoothly (green light) or result in an inspection, fines, delays and possible confiscation of goods (red light). Finding a freight forwarder and logistics partner that knows how to play the game well is essential for custom-ers importing and exporting goods to Mexico.

With so much at risk, many companies trust Lynden International to ‘green light’ their ship-ments and keep them moving whether they arrive by rail, air, truck or sea. On average, one of out every 10 imported shipments is inspected by Mexican customs officers.

“Customs inspectors check to make sure your declaration is precise and that every physical prod-uct, whether T-shirts or lawnmowers, corresponds exactly to what has been declared,” explains Luis Varela, Lynden’s Regional Vice President of Latin America and the Caribbean. “Quantities, descrip-tions, marks and origins must match on the pedi-mento (customs entry). Missing tags or other dis-crepancies may result in a hefty fine – sometimes as high as 200 percent of the valued goods.”

Despite its close proximity to the U.S., doing business in Mexico can be confusing and the complexities of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border continue to challenge shippers. “We do it all in

Mexico – warehousing and distribution, transpor-tation management, retail delivery, but brokerage is an extremely important and delicate part of our service offering,” Varela says. Lynden provides document auditing to give customers a competi-tive edge. “We have shipping documents sent to us before the freight arrives at the airport, dock or border so we can make sure everything is in order. This allows us to clear up any discrepan-cies ahead of time to prevent delays and fines at point of entry. This is a specialized service not all forwarders provide.”

Trucks entering the U.S. from Mexico may be lined up at the border for hours waiting to clear customs. The wait is even longer for drivers re-ceiving a red light, indicating a required inspection of goods. In some cases, the driver is forced to park the truck and come back the next day. When one of Lynden’s customers encountered this road-block, the team went to work on the problem.

“We created customized routing options for this particular customer,” says Lynden’s Mexico Operations Manager Francisco Rosales. “De-pending on security requirements, congestion at the border and the customers’ time and tran-sit needs, we can move shipments Less-than-Truckload (LTL) or via dedicated routing. Creative thinking and proactive coordination with customs

Cars waiting for customs clearance at the U.S. – Mexico border.

Executive Perspective AW

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GIVING VOICE TO THE CUSTOMER

s part of our ongoing commitment to make Lynden the highest standard of service, we combined Lynden Inter-national’s business performance and domestic operations departments this spring. The change allows us to better focus on core activities to drive long-term growth, but more important, reflects our efforts to create a more flexible, responsive organization.

These strategic changes mark a significant shift in our operating model. We are always look-ing for ways to work smarter and more efficiently while improving the service we provide to our cus-tomers. Changes in a company’s operations can quickly and dramatically impact performance, cus-tomer service and, of course, the bottom line.

Although operational improvements can re-duce costs and improve processes, it takes vision and hard work to identify the necessary changes, implement them and make them stick. An opera-tional audit is a good starting point. It will help re-veal obstacles to success, such as down time, lost

time, IT system glitches and other areas that may warrant a closer look.

Creating lasting change goes beyond set-ting goals and identifying priorities. Organiza-tional change must include a close examination of people, processes and procedures. It must be carefully planned and executed with the buy-in of management and employees. Restructuring is often prompted by lagging sales or a change in executive management. In our case, the changes were spurred by a desire to improve efficiencies and customer service as part of a larger corporate goal and focus.

Our recent changes are already making the operational side of our business ‘sing.’ And when we are all in concert, so to speak, we can offer the sweetest song possible to our customers.

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their perspective.”Over the past year, the marketing team talked

to 400 customers through Plus One calls, sur-veyed another 300 online and invited 53 others to participate in panels in Seattle, Tacoma, Port-land, Anchorage, Honolulu and Maui. “The results were enlightening and are helping us to expand, improve and develop new service solutions for our customers,” Rosenzweig says. “We asked them to comment and share experiences about billing, freight tracking, equipment, rate quotes and rela-tionships they have with our sales team and oth-ers throughout the Lynden companies.” Customer panels are planned for Houston, Southeast Alaska and Los Angeles this year.

One new tool developed as a result of cus-tomer feedback is a mobile app for Android, Win-dows and Apple smart phones. It allows customers to track shipments, request quotes and provides a streamlined view of the claims process with a simple way to contact Lynden. The app should be introduced later this year.

wenty years ago, Lynden introduced the Plus One Program. It was designed as a way to check in with top customers to gauge their satisfaction with Lynden’s service. This program is still in place and was strength-ened in 2011 with the addition of the Customer Experience (CX) Initiative. “The CX Initiative was created to improve upon the exceptional experi-ence Lynden customers already receive,” ex-plains Vice President of Marketing & Media David Rosenzweig. “Our goal is to meet with customers and start the conversation about how to improve upon the things that are working well and to make sure we understand transportation needs from

Randy Jackson

Vice President

Customers rank Lynden services at a panel in Hawaii.

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In the 10 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted, Mexico has become the third largest trading partner of the U.S. and the second largest export market for U.S. products and services. Automotive, electron-ics and aerospace manufacturing is already tran-sitioning from Asia to Mexico. Currently, Mexico is the No. 1 auto manufacturer in the world. Mexican factories, or maquillas, are set up for product as-sembly and export to the U.S. and other countries.

The oil and gas industry is set for explosive growth as well. For the first time in 76 years, pri-vate companies are allowed to tap Mexico’s oil fields as part of the sweeping energy changes introduced by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. State-owned PEMEX no longer has a mo-nopoly. Twelve years ago, Lynden moved equip-ment and materials to Ciudad Del Carmen for engineering and construction firm KBR’s work on the PEMEX oil fields. Today, Lynden continues to support the oil and gas industry with air, ground and sea transportation from its Houston Service Center to Cuidad Del Carmen for customers like Zadok Technologies and OSM Maritime Group, as well as providing other transportation and logistics services.

“We take care of the international and domes-tic shipping to, from and within Mexico so custom-ers can take advantage of the many business op-portunities now available,” Varela says. “We know the local culture and customs and our long-term relationships create a worry-free experience. As we say in Mexico, choosing Lynden is un buen negocio!”

Continued from page 1and the shipper gets the freight cleared and to the destination on time.”

For almost 20 years, customers doing busi-ness in Mexico have turned to Lynden’s creative, bi-lingual team to get their shipments in and out of Mexico. The services Lynden offers in Mexico are as varied as the clients it serves.

For customers importing or exporting high-value products, Lynden’s Security Manager Ser-gio Barbosa designs transportation plans to en-sure safe delivery via ground, sea or air. Lynden moves DVDs and video games via truck from Memphis, TN to Mexico City for America’s second largest media and entertainment company. Each truck is followed by a security escort service from the border to the warehouse. Barbosa’s routes are known for minimum risk and maximum safety, and he monitors the route via GPS from the Lynden office in Mexico City. “Even the gas stations and rest stops are predetermined along the route,” Varela explains. “Not many companies have this security expertise in-house. Barbosa is a Certified Protection Officer (CPO) and considered a loss prevention guru in the industry. We are proud to offer this additional and very important service to our customers.”

Lynden also provides transportation from Los Angeles to Mexico City for a major U.S. sports-wear company, using the same special security measures to protect the product from pick-up to final delivery. Imported freight from Asia and Hon-duras gets the same escort service as it is moved to company facilities throughout Mexico.

“For almost 20 years, customers doing business in Mexico have turned to Lynden’s team…”

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he dream of every retailer is to go from production to point of sale as quickly as possible. Streamlining the process is just what Adisa Brennan President Michael Robles has been doing this spring. Days before sitting down to a phone interview from Mexico City where his company is headquartered, he spent two weeks in China finalizing a new service to make customs clearance quicker and easier for Adisa Brennan and Lynden International customers.

It is a value-added service that will be a game-changer for customers and Robles is eager to share details. “We have basically added a customs clearance service to the quality control inspections we do for customers with factories in China ship-ping products to Mexico,” he explains. “This pre-emptive, preclearance service can save customers money, time, headaches… it is the only way to go.”

In the 100 years that Adisa Brennan has been operating, it is these cutting edge ideas and ser-vice offerings that have kept the company at the top among customs brokers. Brennan & Company was founded by Hal Brennan in Laredo, Texas, in 1913 as a freight forwarder. Over the years it opened offices in Mexico’s main customs entry

ports and became expert at handling cross-bor-der freight. Michael Robles’ grandfather, Jesus Robles, became involved with the company in the 1920s when the Mexican President began issuing brokerage licenses.

“We are proud to hold one of the first licenses ever issued in Mexico,” Robles says. In the 1960s, Michael’s father, Jose headed the company and, today, Michael runs the firm, which includes an of-fice in the Mexico City International Airport with an operations office inside the Mexican customs of-fice for expedited service. Other locations include the Port of Veracruz, Nuevo Laredo, Manzanillo, the Port of Lazaro Cardenas and Laredo, Texas.

Adisa Brennan offers same-day customs clearance and after-hours clearance at airports and operates under three Mexican brokerage licenses.

“We have such a good track record that less than 2 percent of the shipments we handle are checked by customs,” Robles says. “The advan-tages we offer are unsurpassed by any other bro-ker, such as dedicated racks for customer freight inside the customs warehouse allowing for imme-diate inspection.”

That special new service Robles is so excited about is taking shape in Shanghai. “Companies manufacturing goods must submit to a shipment inspection of goods before and after the prod-ucts arrive in Mexico,” he explains. “It can be a lengthy process and potentially very costly for the customer.”

Adisa Brennan’s new service starts the pro-cess early – at the factory in Asia. “Customers have to perform a shipment inspection and quality control check prior to shipment anyway,” Robles explains. “We are adding on a Mexican customs compliance inspection at point of origin so we en-sure goods comply with Mexican customs regula-tions before being loaded onto the ship or plane bound for Mexico. This avoids the routine inspec-tion we would normally handle inside the customs facilities prior to clearance.”

Robles predicts that the simplicity and speed of the pre-inspection process will revolution-ize how newly manufactured goods come into Mexico. “Every day that freight sits at the port waiting to be cleared is money and time lost for our customers,” he explains. “This new service

A Century of Experience ADISA

BRENNAN

TAdisa Brennan’s original office in Laredo, TX.

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completely bypasses all that. The merchandise has been open-counted, inspected and what is declared exactly matches the documentation filed. We also check that all product labeling re-quirements are met.” Once the product inspection process is finished the goods are loaded into a container for shipping into Mexico. Upon arrival at a Mexican port, the container seal is checked for compliance and the container is loaded directly onto a truck, train or airplane for delivery to the retail location. At this point, only one other broker is attempting this in Mexico.

Pre-clearing at the factory or consolidation center may be expanded from China to other lo-cations such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. “The scope of service is customs-based, but we can also perform Quality Control services such as monitoring production before customers send the final check to a factory or check on a potential site to make sure it is reputable, well-established and meets a customer’s standards. We can also go further and monitor production, check serial num-bers, or perform other services.”

Part of the customs service Adisa Brennan provides is furnishing a complete report to the im-porter including photos of serial numbers, labels – even the packing box itself – and full documen-tation of the product being loaded into the contain-er and then loaded onto the ship or aircraft. The detailed report is often 25 pages long.

This level of detail is necessary to comply with Mexican customs, a system that can be so problematic, some call it the “Black Hole.” As little

as a 10 percent discrepancy of counted freight can land a broker in jail for moving contraband. “The broker has a lot of responsibility and risk and we are taking on even more with this new service of pre-clearing freight at origin,” Robles says. “Everyone we work with is a professional and can be trusted to handle customer freight both in pack-aging and in customs clearance. We take away the worry for the customers.”

Adisa Brennan’s customer service even goes as far as allowing customers to use the company’s own business license to try out their products in the Mexican market. “We offer a commercial license so they can sell their products and services sea-sonally or to see if Mexico is a good fit. If it doesn’t work out, no money is lost,” Robles explains. It can take three months to register a business, so this perk is especially useful for temporary imports, to move machinery into Mexico for projects or re-pairs, or for special events or trade shows.

“When we were looking for a customs partner in Mexico, we were attracted to Brennan’s similari-ties to Lynden. It’s a well-established, family owned company with a history of integrity and customer service,” says Luis Varela, Lynden International’s Regional Vice President of Latin America and the Caribbean.

As Michael Robles explains, “We consider ourselves an extension of the customer and that carries over into everything we do in our company.” It comes as no surprise that, when surveyed, 94 percent of Adisa Brennan customers report a high level of satisfaction with the company.

Michael Robles

Employees check shipments at Adisa Brennan’s Mexico City Airport facility.

“We consider ourselves an extension of the customer…”

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t was the late 1870s and Harley Proctor wasstuck. His company had invented a white,floating soap, but Proctor couldn’t think of a

name good enough for this new product. He con-sulted Roget’s Thesaurus. No luck. He pored over lists of soaps manufactured in foreign markets but still nothing came to him. Then one Sunday sitting in church, Proctor listened as the minister read the verse:

“All their garments smell of myrrh and aloes, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad.”

Proctor had his name: Ivory. One would ex-pect inspiration to strike in a house of worship, though not quite in that manner.

The story of Ivory soap illustrates how when a single, unexpected element is introduced into the thinking process, suddenly everything clicks. Cre-ativity Consultant Doug Hall calls this the “Eureka Stimulus Response.”

“When familiar people try to solve familiar problems they tend to develop familiar solutions,” he says in his book, Jump Start Your Brain.

Often this happens during brainstorming, that freewheeling activity where people bounce ideas off one another. But just as often, these exercises can lead nowhere.

“Typically, these sessions revolve around a dozen or so humans seated around a table in a locked room, each of them trying to squeeze, suck, and otherwise siphon ideas from their heads. It’s a

draining experience. The result is often they’re so close to the roots, they can’t see the tree,” Hall says.

Hall helps people see the tree through a sort of creativity boot camp at his Eureka! Man-sion located outside of Cincinnati. There he hosts executives from top companies including Nike, Compaq, Coors and Walt Dis-ney, who spend up to $120,000 to spend a weekend thinking big. When guests arrive, they’re greeted by the sound of blaring banjos and a carnival. Hall him-

self is on the scene, perhaps barefoot and firing a Nerf gun as he leads the groups through a series of exercises designed to help them have a break-through. It was from one of these weekends that the idea for Lipton’s flavored iced teas was first thought up.

What Hall has found is that brainstorming is easier and more effective when external stimuli is introduced to help stimulate thinking. For exam-ple, say you want to go on a vacation but don’t know where. The normal brainstorming approach would be to sit around a table with family or friends to talk about the different places where you could travel. Hall’s approach would be to bring in maps, globes, brochures and other items. These get the mind thinking in what Hall terms, a “lateral” rather than “sequential” way. Lateral thinking generates more possibilities than sequential, which is basi-cally moving from idea number one to idea num-ber two, and so on.

In the world of creativity, diversity is a huge benefit. When you have a dilemma, enlist the help of people who think differently than you do. And bring in anything that can spark a thought because when external stimuli enter your senses, they set off a chain reaction so that one thought provokes new thoughts.

In today’s economy where intellectual capi-tal has become the currency of choice, feeding your creative mind is the surest way to fuel your dreams.

www.laf.lynden.com

BRAIN STORM

Nancy Michaels, of Impression Impact, works with companies that want to reach the small business community and with small business owners who want to sell more products and services. Copyright© 2005, Nancy Michaels. All rights reserved. For information, contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email Susiefrogpond.com; http://www.frogpond.com

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“Lateral thinking generates more possibilities than sequential.”

InsideInformationNews briefs fromaround the LyndenInternational system

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Moves, upgrades and expansion of facilities

Meeting and anticipating customer needs was the impetus behind a relocation of Lynden Inter-national’s Puerto Rico Service Center. The new facility, at Sabana Garden Industrial Park in Caro-lina, is almost three miles closer to the airport with a covered loading platform to protect cargo from weather. It includes options for more warehouse space on either side to accommodate growth and is open outside of regular business hours to meet any after-hours shipping or forwarding requests.

Lynden’s Nashville team also moved into a new office and warehouse facility this spring. “We now have 6,600 square feet of dock space with three dock doors and 1,500 square feet of office space,” explains District Manager Todd Browner. In Dallas, Lynden International combined offices with Lynden Transport to allow the two companies to more efficiently meet customers’ transportation, forwarding and logistics needs.

Renovations at Lynden’s Chicago Service Center were completed this winter. According to Charlie McCarthy, Northeast Regional Manager, the Chicago Certified Cargo Screening Facility (CCSF) footprint was expanded by 30 percent and now includes six dock doors. “The newly renovat-ed space will provide for operations flexibility and growth as Lynden continues to expand its pres-ence in Midwest markets,” he says.

Lynden supports subsea industry in Texas

Lynden International’s Houston team joined more than 200 exhibitors at the Subsea Tieback Forum this spring in San Antonio, TX. The event is held each year for businesses in the subsea

The Inside ScoopWhat customers are sayingabout Lynden International

“You get our product there on time. That helps us be successful.”

Phillip HonoraShipping and Receiving Coordinator

NDT GlobalHouston, TX

engineering industry and, this year, the gather-ing set an attendance record of 3,000 partici-pants. Pictured from left (below, right) are Me-gan Parmer, District Manager; Paulette Shatara, Business Development Director-Global Oil & Gas; Eugene Ortiz, Account Executive; and Candis Klesel, Account Executive.

Keeping it cool in Ontario Packaging and shipping cold chain phar-

maceuticals is a specialty at Lynden Internation-al Logistics Co. (LILCO) in Vaughan, Ontario.

LILCO is working with Ashfield Healthcare, a provider of spe-cialized medical products, to deliver packages directly to doc-tor’s offices. The sensitive cargo requires complex packaging configurations to ensure safe de-livery. LILCO’s Ki Boreland is pic-tured (bottom right photo) with a shipment rolling off the line for de-livery. The LILCO team also built

and commissioned a high-security drug vault for customer Hospira. The temperature-controlled device was designed to store and monitor a pain control drug new to the Canadian market. It maintains the product at a steady 5 degrees Cel-sius and features security motion sensors and temperature sensors. It also helps Hospira pass inspection by the Canadian Office of Controlled Substances.

Puerto Rico Service Center

Worldwide HeadquartersP.O. Box 84167

Seattle, WA 98124 USA

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Lynden in the Spotlight

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TOP PERFORMERS RECOGNIZED AT SYSTEM MEETING

‘P hoenix was the location of our annual System Meeting this spring, and some say it was one of our best ever. We use the meeting each year not only to recognize our top performing individuals and Service Centers but to focus on achieving our objectives and goals for the coming year,” says Lynden International Presi-dent Dave Richardson.

For 2013, the Stanley Cup for most valuable Service Center went to Seattle for the highest rev-enue growth, customer satisfaction and system operations requirements for 2013. Houston was named the top international Service Center based

on profitability, total international gross profit and operations conformance. The Nashville and An-chorage Service Centers were each recognized for Operational Excellence, and the Lynden inter-national Logistics Co. (LILCO) Operational Excel-lence Award was presented to Calgary.

A new award for Customer Experience Excel-lence went to Lynden Canada Co. in Toronto and the Seattle Service Center. Lynden also recogniz-es its ‘Top Gun’ Service Centers for outstanding sales performance. This year’s Top Guns included Seattle, Houston, Phoenix, Chicago and Lynden Canada Co. in Toronto.

Seattle District Manager Sheri Coluccio took home the Rainmaker Award for a manager or owner that meets growth goals, was profitable and delights customers. Sulaisa Rejo, International Manager in Miami, was awarded the Hall of Fame Award for a manager providing long-term suc-cess within Lynden or the industry. She started her career as an export clerk when there were only two people in the Miami office. “After working for Lynden for 20 years, I was honored to receive this award,” Rejo says. “I love my job, as challenging as it may be at times. I’ve had the pleasure of see-ing this office grow from a two-person operation handling a few air exports to an international Ser-vice Center for Latin America.”

Lynden International Manager Sulaisa Rejo of Miami with the Hall of Fame Award (left) and District Opera-tions Manager Kirk Schweikart with the Seattle Service Center’s Stanley Cup Award.