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Case Study | Cost: | Customs Holding: |
C-TPAT Auditing Optimization | Undercut market rate by 50-60% | Cut customs exams by 90% for the following yeat |
The Challenge
A leading U.S. based uniform & sports apparel producer required C-TPAT implementation as a way to improve their standing with U.S. Customs. The producers supply chain included a facility in North Carolina, a wholly-owned factory in Nicaragua, and vendors in China and Malaysia for whom they were the final recipient, but not the importer of record.
The Solution
SPARX assisted with the C-TPAT application process, including gathering background data, consulting with their upper management and involving key contacts throughout various departments.
In addition to these overhead objectives, SPARX's Corporate Broker visited the facilities in the U.S and Nicaragua, personally, and made noted recommendations for improvement. This ran in parallel to Asia as SPARX engaged an audit team in Asia to assist in facilities audits in China and Malaysia.
Results
As a result of these efforts, the client was successfully accepted into the C-TPAT program (Tier 1) and received successful validation by U.S. Customs for the facilities in the U.S. and Nicaragua for C-TPAT Tier II. This positions the company to additionally pursue Tier III validation, if the client so chooses.
Moreover, in receiving its C-TAPT validation, the client's supply chain drastically increased due to a significant fall in customs exams from 20 exams per year to 2; including on routings via Honduras (a heavily examined trade lane)
In regards to industry standards, SPARX effectively delivered service for 50-60% below the market rate, when comparing with traditional compliance auditing firms.
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