Optimised Everywhere Except the Border: The Unmanaged Cost Slowing Retail Down and Draining Margin

Optimised Everywhere Except the Border: The Unmanaged Cost Slowing Retail Down and Draining Margin
Modern supply chains are optimised down to the smallest detail. Procurement negotiates purchase prices, logistics improves delivery performance, and customs ensures regulatory compliance. Yet despite these individual efforts, businesses can still lose significant margin when goods cross borders.
 
Each department may be meeting its targets, but is the business achieving the best overall result?
The challenge often lies in three interconnected areas: people, data and processes. Responsibilities are fragmented across departments, product and customs data are not always reliable, and processes are designed around individual functions rather than the total cost of moving goods.
Drawing on practical experience in customs compliance, governance and cross-functional supply chain projects, this session explores why optimising individual activities does not necessarily lead to lower overall costs.
We will examine how customs considerations influence commercial decisions long before goods reach the border, and why customs should be involved in sourcing and supply chain planning rather than simply managing the consequences afterwards.
 
In this session, you will discover:
Why reducing customs clearance fees may have little impact on the total landed cost.
How classification, origin, customs valuation and available customs procedures can influence sourcing decisions and profitability.
Why reliable product data, clear ownership and consistent processes are essential for identifying and controlling hidden costs.
How procurement, logistics and customs can work together to optimise total landed cost rather than individual departmental targets.
Where technology and automation can improve visibility and efficiency, and why they cannot compensate for weak underlying processes.
 
Designed for procurement, supply chain, logistics and customs leaders, this session connects everyday operational decisions to their wider financial consequences, from unexpected duties and border delays to unnecessary costs and lost margin.
Participants will leave with a practical five-minute diagnostic to identify where their organisation may be losing visibility and control over landed costs, and where improvements can deliver the greatest value.
Because customs should not simply calculate the cost of decisions already made. It should help shape those decisions in the first place.