Logistics & Shipping & Warehousing & Just-In-Time Shipment at AGS-Electronics

Just-In-Time (JIT) shipment is without doubt the preferred and least expensive, most efficient option. Details of this shipping option can be found on our page for Computer Integrated Manufacturing at AGS-Electronics.

 

However some of our customers do need warehousing or other types of logistics services. We are able to offer you whatever logistics, shipping and warehousing service you need. In case you have a preferred shipping forwarder or an account with UPS, FEDEX, DHL or TNT we can use it too.

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Let us summarize our logistics, shipping, warehousing and just-in-time (JIT) services:

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JUST-IN-TIME (JIT) SHIPMENT: As an option, we do provide Just-In-Time (JIT) shipment to our customers. Please note that this is only an option we do offer you in case you want or need it. Computer integrated JIT eliminates waste of materials, machines, capital, manpower and inventory throughout the manufacturing system. In our computer integrated JIT we produce parts to order while matching production with demand. No stockpiles are kept, and no effort retrieving them from storage. Parts are inspected in real time as they are being manufactured and are used almost immediately. This enables continuous control and immediate identification of defective parts or process variations. Just-in-time shipment eliminates undesirably high inventory levels that mask quality and production problems. Just-in-time shipment offers our customers the option of eliminating the need for warehousing and its associated costs. Computer integrated JIT shipment results in high-quality parts and products at lower cost.

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WAREHOUSING: Under some circumstances, warehousing can be considered to be the best option. For example some blanket orders are more easily manufactured at one time, warehoused / stocked and then shipped to customer at predetermined dates. AGS-Electronics has a network of warehouses with environmental control at strategic locations throughout the World and can minimize your logistics and shipping costs. Some components have long shelf-lives and are better manufactured at one time and warehoused. For example, some special components or assemblies cannot tolerate the smallest differences from lot-to-lot, so they are produced all at once and warehoused. Or some products that have very high machine set-up costs may need to be manufactured all at once and stocked to avoid multiple expensive machine set ups and adjustments. Always feel free to ask AGS-Electronics for opinion and we will gladly provide you our feedback about the best logistics for you.

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AIR FREIGHT: For orders that need fast shipment, standard air shipping as well as shipment by one of the couriers such as UPS, FEDEX, DHL or TNT are popular. Standard air shipment is offered by post office such as the USPS in the United States and costs much less than the others. However USPS can take up to 10 days to ship depending on global location. Another disadvantage of USPS shipment is that at some locations and some countries, recipient may need to go and pick up the goods from the post office when they arrive. On the other hand UPS, FEDEX, DHL and TNT are more expensive but shipment is either overnight or within a few days (generally less than 5 days) to almost any location on earth. Shipment by these couriers is also easier as they handle most of the customs work as well and bring the goods to your door. These courier services even pick up the goods or samples from the address given to them so clients do not have to drive to their nearest offices. Some of our customers have an account with one of these shipping companies and provide us their account number. Then we ship their products using their account on collect basis. On the other hand some of our customers do not have an account or do prefer us to use our account. In that case we inform our customer about the shipping fee and add it to their invoice. Using our UPS or FEDEX shipping account generally saves our customers cash as we have special global rates based on our high daily shipment volumes.

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SEA FREIGHT: This shipment method is best suitable for heavy and large volume loads. For a partial container load from China all the way to a US port, the cost associated may be as low as a couple hundred dollars. If you live close to the arrival port of the shipment, it is easy for us to bring it to your door. However if you live far away inland, there will be additional shipping fees for inland shipment. Either way, sea shipment is inexpensive. The disadvantage of sea shipment is however that it takes more time, generally about 30 days from China to your door. This longer shipment time is partly due to waiting times at ports, loading and unloading, customs clearance. Some of our customer ask us to quote them the sea freight while others have their own shipping forwarder. When you ask us to handle the shipment we get quotes from our preferred carriers and let you know the best rates. You can then make your decision.

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GROUND FREIGHT: As the name implies this is the type of shipment on land by mainly trucks and trains. Many times when a customer’s shipment arrives at a seaport, it needs further transportation to final destination. The inland portion is generally done by ground freight, because it is more economical that air shipping. Also, shipping within continental US is often by ground freight that delivers the products by train or truck from one of our warehouses to customer’s door. Our customers tell us how quickly they need the products and we inform them about the various shipment options, number of days each option takes along with shipping fees.

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PARTIAL AIR + PARTIAL SEA FREIGHT SHIPMENT: This is a smart option we have been using in case our customer needs some components very fast while waiting for the larger portion of their shipment to be shipped by sea freight. Shipping the larger portion by sea freight saves our customer cash while he gets a smaller portion of the shipment by air via air freight or one of UPS, FEDEX, DHL or TNT quickly. This way, our customer has enough parts in stock to work with while waiting for his sea freight to arrive.

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PARTIAL AIR + PARTIAL GROUND FREIGHT SHIPMENT: Similar to partial air / partial sea freight shipment, this is a smart option in case you need some components or products quickly while waiting for the larger portion of the shipment to be shipped by ground freight. Shipping the larger portion by ground freight saves you cash while you get a smaller portion of the shipment by air via air freight or one of UPS, FEDEX, DHL or TNT quickly. This way, you have enough parts in stock to work with while waiting for your ground freight to arrive.

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DROP SHIPPING: This is an arrangement between a business and the manufacturer or distributor of a product the business wishes to sell in which the manufacturer or distributor, and not the business, ships the product to the business's customers. As a logistics service we offer drop shipment. After manufacturing, we can package, label and mark your products as you wish with your logo, brand name…etc. and ship directly to your customer. This can save you on shipping cost, because you will not need to receive, repackage and reship. Drop shipping also eliminates your inventory costs.

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CUSTOMS CLEARANCE: Some of our customers do have their own broker to clear shipped goods through customs. However, many customers prefer us to handle this task. Either way is acceptable. Just let us know how you want your shipment to be handled at the port of entry and we will take care of you. We have many years of experience with the customs procedures and have brokers we can refer you to. For most unfinished products or components such as metal castings, machined parts, metal stampings and injection molded components, import fees are minimal or none in most developed countries such as the US. There are legal ways to reduce or eliminate import duties by properly assigning the HS code to the products in your shipment. We are here to assist you and reduce your shipping and customs fees.

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CONSOLIDATION / ASSEMBLY / KITTING / PACKAGING / LABELING: These are valuable logistics services we provide. Some products have several different types of components that must be manufactured at different plants. These components need to be assembled together. The assembly may take place at customer’s place, or if desired, we can assemble the finished product, package, put it together into kits, label, perform quality control and ship as desired. This is a good option of logistics for customers that do have limited space and resources. These additional services added will very likely be less expensive than shipping the components from multiple locations to you, because unless you have the resources, tools and space, it will take you more time and more shipment fees to send to third parties back and forth for packaging, labeling…etc. We can them either ship the finished and packaged products to you or you can take advantage of our warehousing and drop shipping services. However, sometimes our customers ask us to ship them all the components of their kits and they only need to assemble, open up their printed and folded carton packages, label and ship to their customers a finished product. In this case they source all these components from us including custom printed boxes, labels, packaging materials….etc. This can be justified in some cases as we can fold and fit unassembled boxes and labels and materials into a smaller and denser package and save you on overall shipping cost.

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Once again, we do take care of our customer's international shipments and customs work in case you want us to do this. For those who are interested in knowing some of the most basic terms related to international shipment, we have a brochure you can download by clicking here.