How ISO 9001-2015 Has Helped Our Customs Clearance Process

Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) is part of JMR’s DNA and culture. We are constantly trying to better understand our customers’ needs and how we can become better for our customers today and in the future. We believe implementing Six Sigma tools to achieve internal operational goals creates a unique approach to how we handle customs brokerage services. The results lead to greater customer satisfaction and an overall more efficient way of handling the entry process from A to Z.

Brokerage Operations

For years, JMR has been perfecting our brokerage process to create a more efficient, compliant, and frictionless customer experience. In our effort to provide superior customer service, we made a deliberate decision to move away from “cradle to grave” account management in favor of separate “Areas of Expertise” within the brokerage process.

– Opening Team
– Compliance/Rating
– Data Entry
– Traffic
– Billing
– Back-end Compliance

This internal process improvement allows JMR to place employees into areas of the process where they can best succeed by creating standard work within each group. This also allows us to create SOPs specific to customers’ needs along with staff that can “plug and play” by following the SOP instructions in the event of turnover, vacation, extended leave situations etc.

Data Is King

At JMR, we’re committed to Six Sigma because it’s a data-driven process. We are a data center—a hub for large amounts of information that’s being entered into our ERP system and shared with US Customs on every transaction.

But if your broker doesn’t have the ability to use that data to make themselves or you the customer better, then it’s all just sitting in their system not working. At JMR, we want to help you put your data to work!

Internal Audit Process

What if you could use data to constantly monitor your processes and hold yourself accountable?

That’s what Six Sigma teaches us! 

At JMR, we believe in the power of data.  We know that it’s the best way to track how well our processes are working—and where they’re not. That’s why we conduct monthly internal audits, giving us a chance to look at our performance from every angle and make sure that everything is running smoothly.

By using data in this way, we’re able to keep the focus on what really matters: making sure that our customers get the best possible experience from us!  Below are some of the monthly audits JMR completes on a monthly basis.

Monthly Audits

• Recordkeeping. 100 random -An example of the audit requires to audit, ISF docs, BLs, comm invoices, 7501, DO, invoice and compliance docs (if any) 
• Opened and not released: 100 random opened files in the system.  
• Released and no DO. 100 random opened files where the DO was created. 
• DO done but file not billed out. 100 random opened files. 
• Billed but not scanned: 100 random opened files 
• HTS Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of HTS error. 
• C/O Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of C/O error. 
• Valuation Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of Valuation error.
• Part # Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of Part Number error. 
• PO # Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of P.O. Number error.
• Port of discharge or entry Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of Port of Discharge OR Port of Entry error
• Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of OGA or PGA error. 
• Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of HIGH DUTY error. 
• Compliance Audit: 100 random files looking for any type of Quantity/NDC error. 
• Check/Wire/ACH – Payment transaction: 50 random monthly checks are verified that are being ultimately billed out to the client.
• ACH statements: 2 statements are checked to make sure that the duties and fees listed are the duties and fees paid. 

KPI’s

KPIs are a common tool in the modern supply chain. They provide targets for teams to shoot for, milestones to gauge progress, and insights that help people across the organization make better decisions.

Incorporating KPIs within your quarterly business review helps identify issues before they become major problems. As your brokerage/forwarding partner, JMR has a wealth of data at our fingertips.  Let us show you how we can use this data and customize standard KPIs within your supply chain process.