Are you an ImportGenius or Should You Go Straight to the Source?
ImportGenius (hat-tip Ryder Daniels) has caused quite a stir in the past week. The web-based information service claims to provide "timely, detailed shipment data for every container that enters the United States" to provide information to "importers, exporters, entrepreneurs, freight forwarders, bankers, private investigators, foreign factories" and others. The site suggests that some might use it to "keep tabs on competitors by “gaining access to records on nearly every container that entered the United States from 2006 to the present". This information can provide "access to lists of all of your competitors' suppliers and all of your suppliers' U.S. customers." Companies also might use the data to detect if their suppliers are shipping counterfeit or grey market products into the US.
But how ingenious is this really? The site appears to be aggregating information that is already somewhat publicly available or can become available if a company follows the procedures outlined here. On the other hand, ImportGenius also appears to have a very easy to use interface (which is something we can’t always say about applications made available to the public by the government). They're also very good at marketing it, we’ll give them that.
Techcrunch -- in its typical fawning analysis -- suggested in a recent post that that it is a "disruptive shipping database". But there is nothing about the database that contains proprietary information! They appear to have an excellent query capability to a database which most companies have the right to access free of charge via the ABI (Automated Broker Interface). Still maybe it will prove an ingenious business model for a couple of reasons. First, those that tend to access this information traditionally are not sitting in the sourcing organization. They are sitting in an international trade/compliance function or are outsourced completely altogether. This application is relatively low-cost and allows other interested parties to glean access to information that typically the international trade/compliance function doesn’t care about.
Second, working the "free" option to make it useable and elegant will take time. ImportGenius has done the work already. But the brilliance is, without question, their marketing genius. As Techcrunch highlights, ImportGenius recently used their information to post a blog on a recent round of Apple's import activities into the US. Indeed, to analyze "Apple's current shipping records to deduce that unusually large shipments of 'electronic computers' (a classification that Apple has never used) have been arriving this spring," is quite clever, especially with the rumored introduction of a new MacBook and iPhone this June. What might these electronic computers be? ImportGenius suggests they very well might be the new 3G iPhone.
But how useful is this type of data, really? Companies often name a different consignee specifically for these reasons. The database would not necessarily reveal transshipped cargo to an intermediary location or use a different export company (or create one) to manage the overseas logistics and trade finance. Most companies we know in the import/export trade tend to provide as few details as possible on the bill of lading and commercial invoice. The descriptions may or may not tell a good story. Many consumer packaged goods come from trading companies or export companies which would not reveal the manufacturer's name. But anyone who imports any significant volume of goods would be silly not to check out this company. At the right price, this might make a lot of sense.
- Jason Busch and Lisa Reisman from MetalMiner also contributed to this post.
Regarding classification, I expect that the data is by Harmonized Tariff number. They must be doing some "HTS to plain English" translating because the HTS doesn't have "computers" in it at all. They are "automatic data processing machines."
Still it might work for some applications.
Can you send us a link or explain how to get information from us customs website? This will help us and others a lot. Thanks in advance.
"I work for an organization which has little connection to our customs/trade people. Are there any technologies that anyone knows of that help bridge the gap between these functions?"
I'm a former customs/trade person and answer is "shoe leather". I had worldwide responsibility for customs and trade at Compaq back during its glory days and I put a big emphasis on developing relationships with all the functions that impacted customs/trade. This included Procurement, Engineering, Distribution, Traffic, Legal, Inventory Management, Service, Tax, Planning and Manufacturing just to name a few. I did a lot of walking around Compaq's beautiful campus in Houston and logged a lot of time in the air on my way to Compaq's manufacturing, distribution, and sales subsidiaries around the world.
We had a few crude and low-budget technology tools that helped us get the job done but at the end of the day, people - not technologies - make the decisions that impact trade and customs.
An effective trade and customs group not only keeps your executives out of jail but can be a competitive weapon as well.
Having said that, the best technology to "help bridge the gap between these functions" is one that has the ability to collect data from a wide variety of transactional source systems and present it in a coherent and organized manner to a wide variety of information consumers for analysis and decision making.
Also- Import Genius has started to mess up the industry as Apple has now gone underground with their shipments and company name, shipper etc. So anyone hoping to get information on that company is now, thanks to Import Genius, not getting anything worth their money. They can see nothing on them now.
If they keep on doing things this way, they will push everyone underground and have to try and resurrect their other import company- Faculty Imports.
While there are the competitive intelligence uses for this information, thousands of companies rely on this information as a daily business tool. Transportation service providers find new customers and educate themselves on their customers’ supply chains. Sourcing departments research suppliers and monitor exclusive distribution agreements. Brand owners proactively protect their trademarks and copyrights by looking at the counterfeiters’ Bills of Lading. Finally, economists and business analysts derive valuable forecasts and market assessments.
Check out a sample of the information that is provided at http://www.zepol.com/CASE-STUDY/Zepol-Bill-of-Lading-Sample.pdf
Import Genius is a new provider; several other companies have been providing this data for years and have built advanced databases to meet their customers’ specific needs. Our company, Zepol Corporation, has provided U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for more than 5 years. We have hundreds of customers ranging from the Fortune 500 to small and midsized importers. Visit http://www.zepol.com to try our free trial.