Neiman Marcus thrives on selling trendy merchandise that can't be found in too many places -- except maybe in the little boutique next door. That's why it's using a new web-based global logistics system that expedites the movement of imported goods through U.S. Customs, Jimmy Howell, vice president of transportation and logistics, tells Internet Retailer.
"We went through an audit with U.S. Customs and found that we needed to speed up our pre-classifying system," he says. "We needed to tighten this up."
Like all importers, Neiman must classify the ingredients of its inbound goods to meet Customs rules on what's permitted to arrive from certain markets. To expedite the Customs process, retailers try to get advance details on products from suppliers in order to pre-classify products.
But slowdowns in receiving product information from foreign suppliers often prevented Neiman from being able to pre-classify its products, resulting in a longer route through Customs--and the chance that smaller, more nimble boutiques will get the products first.
With its new web-based Qiva Global Logistics Control System version 3.1 from San Francisco-based Qiva, Neiman is now able to get supplier information soon enough to smooth out its Customs requirements, Howell says.
And that keeps its merchandisers happy, he adds. "All of our fashion merchandise is extremely time-sensitive," he says. "We need to get it in the stores before our competition."
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