HSCM Solutions

36% saving on a single freight shipment.

Same route. Same lead time. Same shipping line.

Yet a competitive freight RFQ identified a 36% difference in cost, representing thousands of dollars on just one shipment.

Across recurring shipments and multiple freight lanes, differences like this can quickly translate into tens of thousands of dollars.

That's why periodically testing the freight market matters.

Freight benchmarking isn't necessarily about changing providers or simply choosing the cheapest quote.

It's about having the market visibility to understand whether your current freight arrangements are still competitive.

That's what I do through HSCM's Freight Benchmarking Review, using a structured RFQ process to test key freight lanes against the market.

Not sure where your freight setup currently stands?

Try the free Freight Health Check. 15 questions, around 2–3 minutes, with no email required to see your results.

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/freight-health-check

Free Freight Health Check — HSCM Solutions How healthy is your freight programme? Get your Freight Health Score and estimated commercial improvement opportunity in 3 minutes.

How healthy is your freight setup?

Freight can run reasonably well for years without being properly reviewed.

Rates change. Volumes change. Lanes change. Service requirements change. And the freight model that made sense a few years ago may not be the right one today.

I’ve created a free Freight Health Check to help NZ businesses quickly assess their current setup across freight spend, procurement, cost visibility, service, risk and overall freight model.

15 questions. Around 2–3 minutes. No email required to see your results.

Give it a try:

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/freight-health-check

Free Freight Health Check — HSCM Solutions How healthy is your freight programme? Get your Freight Health Score and estimated commercial improvement opportunity in 3 minutes.

Good news for NZ supply chains this week.

Kaitaki is back on Cook Strait, improving freight frequency and network resilience after the temporary one-ship winter schedule.

But offshore, the pressure continues. The NZ dollar weakened another 1.1% and intra-Asia container rates rose 6%.

What does this mean for NZ importers, distributors and manufacturers?

Read Issue #19 of the NZ Supply Chain Intelligence Brief:

Resilience Improves. Landed-Cost Pressure Remains. The domestic network is less fragile than it was a week ago. The offshore cost stack is not. The priority is shifting toward landed-cost control and booking discipline.

Good purchasing control doesn't mean chasing every PO.

It means knowing which ones need attention.

A confirmed order progressing to plan may need no action.

A missed ready date, missing document or overdue next step does.

The goal isn't more administration.

It's better visibility so your team can manage by exception.

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/insights/procurement-suppliers/purchase-order-isnt-under-control-simply-because-its-raised

A Purchase Order Isn't Under Control Just Because It's Been Raised A PO number, a supplier and a value don't mean the purchase is under control. What matters is visibility from approval through confirmation, freight, receipt and closure.

The latest expected date tells you where the order is now.

The original expected date tells you how reliable the process was.

If you simply overwrite one with the other, you lose valuable information.

Expected vs actual dates help you understand supplier reliability, real lead times and where delays are occurring.

Better purchasing data doesn't just help you manage today's PO.

It helps you plan the next one better.

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/insights/procurement-suppliers/purchase-order-isnt-under-control-simply-because-its-raised

A Purchase Order Isn't Under Control Just Because It's Been Raised A PO number, a supplier and a value don't mean the purchase is under control. What matters is visibility from approval through confirmation, freight, receipt and closure.

A PO shouldn't simply be open or closed.

Between raising the order and receiving the goods, there are several important stages.

At each one, you should know:

Where is it? Who owns the next action? What date are we working to?

Simple visibility can make a big difference to purchasing control.

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A Purchase Order Isn't Under Control Just Because It's Been Raised A PO number, a supplier and a value don't mean the purchase is under control. What matters is visibility from approval through confirmation, freight, receipt and closure.

The purchase order has been approved.

It's been sent to the supplier.

So is the purchase under control?

Not necessarily.

It's something I see in many NZ businesses. The PO is raised, but visibility can gradually disappear between placing the order and receiving the goods.

This week's article looks at what happens after the PO is raised, and the simple controls that can make a big difference.

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/insights/procurement-suppliers/purchase-order-isnt-under-control-simply-because-its-raised

A Purchase Order Isn't Under Control Just Because It's Been Raised A PO number, a supplier and a value don't mean the purchase is under control. What matters is visibility from approval through confirmation, freight, receipt and closure.

The economy is growing again. But what does that mean for NZ businesses when the cost of serving that growth is also rising?

Fuel, FX, freight and working capital are all putting pressure on margins.

This week’s NZ Supply Chain Intelligence Brief looks beyond the headline GDP number at what is changing for NZ importers, distributors and manufacturers.

Growth Is Returning. Margin Is the Next Test.

Read Issue #18:

Growth Is Returning. Margin Is the Next Test. Manufacturing and services new orders are strengthening, but a weaker NZD, higher fuel costs and tighter freight capacity are hitting importers at the same time.

Being busy doesn't always mean you need more people.

Making the work visible helps identify where time is going, where bottlenecks sit and what consistently isn't getting completed.

Sometimes the answer is more capacity. Sometimes it's a better process.

The important thing is knowing which.

🔎 https://hscmsolutions.com/insights/operations-strategy/busy-isnt-the-same-as-under-control

Before improving a process, understand how it actually works today.

Procedures and systems can show how the work is supposed to happen. The people doing it can show you what really happens, including the workarounds and interruptions that have become part of the routine.

That gap often contains some of the best improvement opportunities.

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Busy Isn't the Same as Under Control Everyone can be busy and the operation can still lack control. Before adding headcount, ask whether there's enough structure around the work already being done.