Omnitrans

Source: Exec Digital Canada

Date :8/6/2007 2:33:03 PM

Omnitrans set out to serve the most complicated industry in terms of customs brokerage from the beginning, which impelled it to quickly build a topnotch company

Written and produced by James Buchanan & Michael Townsend

From humble beginnings, Omnitrans has built a reputation as being among the best at handling the most complicated of cross border shipping interactions for some of Canada’s most demanding industries.

“We started with four people and a second-hand electric typewriter,”

says Martin Goldenberg, founder and president of Montreal-based Omnitrans, describing the company’s start in 1976 as a Canadian customs broker. “At the time, all of the importers already had associations with brokers so we needed to carve out our niche.”

The niche that he and his handful of associates managed to carve was discovered when Goldenberg noticed a rather glaring hole in the apparel industry; an industry that requires a very high level of service.

With so much apparel being imported, merchants cannot afford to have shipments held up due to snags at the border or wait endlessly in warehouses for transport. The process needs to move in a timely and seamless manner so that store shelves are stocked with the right apparel at the right time — fall lines at the beginning of fall, etc.

Around the time Goldenberg was starting his business the government imposed new import quotas, making the already complex import/export dynamic for this industry even more complicated. An industry that already required a high level of service now needed brokers with a particular expertise to facilitate the needs of these companies.

Goldenberg and his fledgling company quickly adapted by developing the necessary expertise in this area. That in turn led to the company becoming the broker of choice for the commercial fashion industry, and garnering a large segment of the Canadian apparel market, he says.

“We quickly became known as being able to provide a very high level of service and expertise in this market,” says Stephen Segal, executive vice president of Omnitrans.

He goes on to add, “Because we set our standards to that one industry at the beginning, which is the most demanding in our field, we were able to exceed the standards of every other industry and the expectations of customers that came to us.”

Today, the company has grown to become one of Canada’s leading customs brokers and international freight forwarders, with offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company also has U.S. offices in Champlain, N.Y.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Blaine, Wash.

With this growth have come heavy investments in state-of-the-art technology and people, Segal says.

The company has expanded into four major business units: Canadian customs brokerage, U.S. customs brokerage, international freight forwarding, and cross border and domestic truck freight. Freight forwarding relies on contractual relationships with major shipping and air lines that provide the company with preferential pricing and space allocation. Truck freight relies on strategic contracts with carriers in Canada and the U.S.

As a result of growth and a high level of cross border service demanded by its clients, the company established offices in the U.S.

“The result”, says Segal, “is that we are uniquely positioned with expertise in both Canadian and United States regulations.” This knowledge enables Omnitrans to adapt to government programs of both countries that are advantageous to their clients’ bottom line, he says.

The company’s trucking operation, combined with its Canadian and U.S. brokerage divisions, enables Omnitrans to provide its clients a fully integrated supply chain solution, adds Segal.

For example, when their Canadian clients need to send shipments to a number of different consignees throughout the U.S., rather than ship them individually, Omnitrans will transport one consolidated shipment across the border to one of its strategically located warehouses. Once there, the shipment will be broken down by consignee and handed off to local carriers.

“This enables our clients to take advantage of bulk freight rates to the border, a single customs clearance, and lower domestic carrier prices,”

says Segal. “This is a seamless and painless fulfillment of our clients’

shipping needs, which puts them on equal footing with their U.S.

competitors.”

Brian Schwenger, VP of operations for Omnitrans, says the company is constantly challenged to maintain its productivity and efficiency while also complying with ever-changing customs regulations in both Canada and the U.S.

Not surprisingly, as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, both the U.S. and Canada made a number of security-related changes, and continue to evolve their regulations to strengthen and protect their borders.

According to Schwenger, the company’s certifications in C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) and PIP (Partners In Protection) are important not only to the respective customs agencies, but also to importers and exporters who require a streamlined customs release process.

Staying up on a dynamic regulatory environment requires Omnitrans to constantly review each country’s relative customs blueprints in order to keep up with changes, and then communicate those changes to its clientele.

“We have to balance the industry’s challenges and the practicality of the business and government compliance through the use of state-of-the-art technology,” says Schwenger.

As an example of this point, he says there are often times when a government agency requires a form to be filled out and submitted with particular information relative to the goods being shipped. Previously, this would have to be done via hardcopy, but now the company has integrated electronic information-sharing with its tech-savvy clients.

Essentially, Omnitrans links electronically to its clients’ systems, extracts and processes the necessary data, and then similarly forwards this information to the relevant government agencies to ensure seamless and timely customs releases.

“Supply chain service is measured in hours and minutes, making it important to guarantee a smooth and transparent flow of goods,” he says.

Obviously, the seamlessness of its operations depends on working with vendors that can match the company’s capabilities and needs.

Asked if this means the company relies solely on long-term vendor relationships as opposed to year-to-year contracts, Blair Katz, vice president of finance for Omnitrans, says the company uses both, depending on whether it is for operations or administration.

“On the operations side, typically, we look to forge long-term strategic business relationships with vendors who supplement our service offerings to our clients,” says Katz. “Keeping in mind that this type of vendor will be visible to our customer base, we want to be sure that our selection process enables us to determine whether or not the vendor shares values and business practices common and consistent with those found in our own organization.”

He also points out that changing suppliers could bring additional costs to the company’s clients. It is important, therefore, to seek out long-term relationships that foster stability as well as finding vendors with e-Commerce capabilities and the capacity for growth.

On the administration side, Katz says, a slightly different set of criteria governs the vendor selection process.

“Stability is an important factor, but less emphasis is placed on the term of the relationship,” he says. “The evaluation is geared to determine which vendor offers the best combination of price and service.

Year-to-year contracts are more prevalent with these types of service providers.”

Looking back to when he founded the business, Goldenberg says one of the keys to success was making sure that he always employed the best and most talented people.

“We set very high standards and can be very demanding of our employees, but we are very supportive of our people, both professionally and personally,” he says. “I am very proud to say that we have people who have been with this company for 15, 20 and even 30 years.”

He adds, “You can never neglect the human side of things because that is what keeps the business moving.”

As a result of the company’s attention to detail, expertise and experienced staff, Goldenberg says Omnitrans “has long-term relationships with many clients that are in very demanding industries from a customs brokerage and logistics standpoint.”

Segal adds that the company has approx-imately 175 employees, who are recognized for their high level of professionalism.

Finding the best possible employees is something the company puts a lot of effort into, says Schwenger.

“We have an intense screening and hiring process, which begins with a series of personal interviews and includes aptitude and psychological testing,” he says.

New employees must already be, or be able to become, C.C.S. (certified customs specialists.) “They must be certifiable to work here,” he jokes.

Looking to the future of the business, Goldenberg notes that North America is evolving into a service-dominated business climate, with much of the manufacturing being performed overseas. To address that trend, he says Omnitrans has built its relationships overseas and staff capabilities internally.

“When this business was started we had clients that maintained most of their manufacturing here in Canada,” he says. “Then that turned into a 60/40 split, with 60 percent overseas and 40 percent in Canada. But now, many of these same businesses are importing all of their goods. We have to recognize that shift and the changing needs of these companies.”

“Omnitrans understands and delivers,” he adds.

Segal says that Omnitrans plans to continue evolving into a more significant presence within its three Canadian marketplaces of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. This includes growing and improving on its current products and service options to meet its existing clients’ expanding needs.

This likely will involve adding facilities in overseas ports where the company will handle the preparation of shipments such as consolidation, labeling, and packaging. This will enable the client to save on overall transit time and labor costs.

“We have built our business by under-standing our clients’ needs and delivering beyond their expectations,” says Goldenberg.