Logistics Consulting
Geared up for the future with costs in focus
Our consulting approach focuses on realisable cost reductions and process improvements in logistics operations. We evaluate all your logistics costs and analyse your processes. With the help of our European logistics cost database, we create a benchmark against your current costs and determine the savings potential – without the need for a prior tender. As part of our analysis, we give you specific recommendations for action and, subsequently, support you in implementing the identified potential. We can also carry out tenders on your behalf or negotiate, with you, with current or new service providers.
We do not want to be judged by what is in our report, but by what is actually successfully implemented together.
Market and Industry Benchmark
- Benchmark, taking into account the special features of the shipment, quality level, delivery times and consignee structure
- Evaluation and benchmarking of ancillary costs such as tolls, diesel floaters and express surcharges
- Simulations with alternative tariff models
Tender Management
- Compiling the data for the call for tenders
- Drawing up a list of requirements for the logistics service providers
- Definition of the service level and operational requirements
- Market overview and communication
- Feedback, evaluation and recommended action
- Implementation support
Deviation and weak point analysis
- Analysis of shipment structures for disadvantageous tariff classifications, such as excessive weight differentiation, unfavourable allocations for pallet prices, postcode areas, etc.
- Insufficiently measured degression in the tariffs with an increase in the output quantity
- Lack of consolidation benefits in the daily weight summary
- Inappropriate indices in the area of diesel cost surcharge
- Incorrect toll calculation bases due to application of non-causative cost allocation
Location analysis
- Analysis and evaluation of the initial situation
- Preparation of the base data
- Calculation of the location with the optimal transport costs
- Implementation support and, if required, interim project management
- Reduction of transport costs
- Improvement in transport times and competitiveness
Invoice control and statistics
- Detailed audit of all billing data
- Claims handling
- Assertion of false billing
- Creation of logistics key figures
- Reporting in periodic comparison
Our approach
The HDS Consulting approach
Analysis
Identification of individual
potential savings
-
Information collection
if applicable, per location -
investigation and evaluation
structures, tariffs, costs, digitisation approaches - Scenario calculations
-
Analysis presentation
Presentation of the savings potential - strategic recommendations
- prioritisation of the next steps
Implementation
Reduction of logistics costs while factoring in quality requirements
-
Adaptation of processes and
structural changes - Discussions with current service providers
-
Request for tender from suitable service providers
Requirements, consignment data, condition model. Evaluation of the results - Negotiations with service providers
- Presentation of results and implementation recommendations
- Decisions
-
Documentation of the agreements
Rates, services, quality -
Implementation control & cost transparency
Calculation of the realised savings, project report
- project manager HDS
- project manager customer
optional
Auditing: Securing cost certainty and transparency
-
Data transfer:
billing information
Track & Trace data
transport data -
Examination:
transport costs
ancillary costs
Performance - claims management
- Audit reports and analyses
- Key figure reports Dashboard
- project manager HDS
- project manager customer
Advantages
- Creating transparency and comparability of processes, costs and services
- Presentation of the savings potential and the realisation possibilities
- Support in realising the identified potential
- identifying and eliminating inefficient processes and unnecessary costs
- Continuous monitoring of success and provision of meaningful key figures
- Transfer of know-how and load reduction for the customer's operational staff in every phase
- Sustainable and measurable reduction in logistics costs
At Lean and Green
HDS has been successfully accepted into the circle of Lean and Green Tool Coaches and Tool Providers. We are happy to support you in transparently presenting your CO2 emissions in logistics and, in a second step, in reducing them. As part of the Lean and Green programme, companies can receive an award for their success in reducing CO2 emissions in logistics. The initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the logistics processes of participating companies by 20 per cent within five years.
Would you like to find out more? You can find more information on our blog and please feel free to contact us.
Freight Audit
Your partner for outsourcing logistics business processes
Our portfolio includes the following services: automated and manual invoice verification, performance and quality monitoring, product and service comparisons, digitisation of your invoices and effective cost allocation
Audit
Despite the fact that digital processing of shipments is common, we recover an average of 3% of logistics costs for our customers through complaints. It is always worth checking invoices – especially when it comes to logistics costs!
We take over the complete invoice verification for all incoming logistics invoices for you: land transport, parcels, sea freight, air freight, multi-modal transport, rail transport, warehouse logistics and fulfilment.
We verify your invoices, whether in digital or in paper form:
- we digitise paper invoices as part of the checking process.
- The audit is carried out against your agreements per invoice line
- HDS deals with the entire claims process for any errors that are detected and recovers the overpaid amount for the customer.
- If required, the verified (digital) invoice can be transferred directly back into the customer's ERP (e.g. SAP).
- HDS also offers an account allocation service according to customer specifications. Alternatively, the account allocation can also be carried out directly in the customer's ERP system.
For each audit, our customer receives a monthly report with all the key figures and the claims submitted, as well as the credit notes received.
Credit Note Procedure
Do you have logistics costs in high seven or eight figures?
In this case, the HDS credit note procedure is the ideal way to settle accounts with service providers. The HDS credit note procedure is an alternative to creating your own credit notes (e.g. via SAP) and is significantly more flexible in terms of pricing and considerably cheaper than an in-house solution.
What is special about the HDS credit note procedure is that the credit notes are digitally reconciled with the service providers’ pro forma invoices before they are created. This means that the HDS credit notes no longer need to be checked by your service providers, as they have already been reconciled in advance. Differences are resolved before credit note creation and transferred to a separate complaints process. HDS handles the claims process with the service providers and settles the disputed amounts only after verification of the corrected values.
This procedure has huge advantages over the in-house credit memo procedure in the shipper’s TMS, e.g. via SAP:
- All the advantages of an in-house credit note solution
- HDS credit notes are also ‘defence-free’, i.e. all credited amounts no longer have to be checked by either party.
- No subsequent claims processing of the credit note
- Considerable load reduction in commercial processing, no complaints processing, no tariff maintenance and no restrictions in billing complexity (HDS can process all tariffs that a logistics service provider can also process automatically)
- No licences or maintenance costs for additional software
- Optional: monthly accruals and automatic account allocation of the individual credit items
HDS works with all common TMS systems and logistics service providers in the HDS self-billing procedure.
Advantages
- No internal resource commitment for inspection and complaints
- No software license and maintenance fees
- Fixed processing and turnaround times with a cut-off at the specified month-end closing
- HDS takes over the claims management completely until the differences are reimbursed.
- Verified transport data available in digital form at the individual item level
- Transparency of costs through monthly logistics controlling
- Cost savings through contract-compliant billing
Do you have any questions about our services or would you like to work with us?
Professional logistics controlling
With HDS Visualization & Analytics Reports, you can analyse and control your logistics processes. Whether for manufacturing or retail companies – our reports bring transparency to complex logistics structures and help to identify changes at an early stage and react quickly.
The central challenge here is to define the right KPIs and planned values for the company. The logistics processes in companies differ massively between different companies and sectors, not only in their design but also in their importance
Thanks to our decades of experience in defining individual KPIs, we are your partner for setting up or developing a customized logistics controlling system.
support
Powerful business process task management
We support you in all process and digitalization topics. Our team not only takes on tasks such as data entry or master data maintenance, but also works in your company’s own ERP system (e.g. SAP) on request and supports you in your day-to-day business. Whether recurring tasks such as invoice verification, keeping statistics or project-related work. As a scalable remote solution, we provide you with the right experts for every task. We help you professionally and in a solution-oriented manner.
use hds support
- Reducing the workload of our own employeesEliminating staff shortages
- Time and cost benefitsHigh availability of resources and reduction in non-wage labor costs (e.g. vacation, sickness and severance payments)
- Increased transparencythrough comprehensive and more consistent data records
- Increased efficiencyOwn staff can concentrate on core tasks
- ScalabilityThe unique HDS training concept for internal employees means that additional staff can be trained quickly and flexibly
- Know-how transfer HDS takes on the tasks with its own specialist staff
Do you have any questions about our services or would you like to work with us?
Our solution
The HDS Support Portfolio
Audit PLUS
Invoice verification of all vendors: workflow-based in your system.
Digitization
Digitization of complex documents, e.g. delivery bills,
AWBs, customs documents and historical databases.
Controlling
(Partial) takeover of the collection, processing and evaluation
of data from various internal and external sources.
Remote Back-Office Support
Take over individual tasks or complete workflows of your back-office processes.