Supply chain audit
and import logistics costs
A supply chain audit starts not with a questionnaire but with your invoices and shipments. We consolidate 6–12 months of data per container or lot, calculate the full landed cost to the warehouse and show what it is made of: freight, D&D, duties, bonded storage, the inland leg, capital tied up in transit.
A logistics audit pays off before switching forwarders, when volumes grow, after a sharp rise in delivery costs, or when cost lines appear that nobody can explain.
Specification
Specification · Supply chain audit. Standard terms · audit scope and timing are confirmed after the kick-off meeting
Service
- Type
- supply chain and import cost audit
- Coverage
- sea, rail, road, air; port, bonded storage, warehouse
- Options
- contract review, HS code check
Terms
- Timing
- 3–5 weeks, depending on data volume
- Data
- 6–12 months, under NDA
- Currency
- USD / RUB
Stages
- Stage 1
- data collection and reconciliation
- Stage 2
- landed cost and stage lead times
- Stage 3
- report and action plan
Price
- Base
- by scope of work, after kick-off
- Extras
- implementation support — on request
Service flow
- 01
Kick-off and data request
We agree the goal (lower cost, shorter lead time, fewer delays), the lanes and the period, and list the data and access we need.
1–3 days - 02
Data consolidation and reconciliation
We merge shipments, invoices and declarations into one table per container or lot and reconcile charges against contract rates and free time.
1–2 weeks - 03
Landed cost and lead times
We calculate landed cost by lane and mode and break the lead time into stages: waiting for booking, sea or rail, port and bonded storage, clearance, delivery.
1 week - 04
Losses and bottlenecks
We find where money and days are lost: D&D, charges outside the contract, duplicate invoicing, customs value adjustments, repeated inspections, long dwell in bonded storage.
3–5 days - 05
Report and plan
We hand over the report and walk your team through it: what to change right away (contract terms, free time, document routine) and what calls for a new route or contractor.
1–2 days
Problems
Freight rates get compared, while local charges, D&D and bonded storage arrive on separate invoices and never make it into the total cost.
We collect every charge per container and calculate landed cost — you see which lane is actually cheaper.
Containers regularly overrun free time: documents are prepared after arrival and pick-up is planned at the last minute.
We break idle time down by stage, show where days are lost and propose a routine: pre-arrival document checks and extended free time in the carrier contract.
Contractor invoices contain charges not covered by the contract, and they are paid without reconciliation.
We reconcile charges against contract rates, flag disputed amounts and give you a reconciliation template to keep doing it in-house.
Documents
What the audit needs. The Incoterms rule decides which links of the chain you pay for directly and which are hidden in the goods price — so we compare lanes only on full landed cost to the warehouse.
Incoterms
- EXW / FCA
- the whole chain is on the buyer — landed cost includes the origin leg in China
- FOB
- freight on the buyer: the true cost of the ocean leg is visible
- CIF / CFR
- freight is in the goods price, but local charges at destination are often inflated
- DAP
- the seller delivers — we check what remains on you: unloading, customs, idle time
Documents
- Shipment register
- for 6–12 months: lane, mode, volume, weight, dates by stage
- Contractor invoices
- freight, rail and road, terminal, bonded storage, D&D, agency fees — itemised
- Customs declarations (DT)
- customs value, HS codes, duties paid, adjustments
- Contracts and rates
- with forwarders, carriers and warehouses; free time terms
- Sales contracts
- delivery term and supplier payment terms
FAQ
Reconciling actual costs and lead times per shipment, calculating full landed cost by lane and finding losses: idle time, charges outside the contract, inspections, long storage. The result is a report with amounts and a prioritised change plan.
A 6–12 month shipment register, itemised forwarder and carrier invoices, customs declarations and current contracts with rates. If there is no register, we build it from invoices and declarations — it takes longer but works.
Landed cost is the full cost of getting goods to your warehouse: freight and local charges, D&D, customs duties, VAT and fees, bonded storage, the inland leg and the cost of capital frozen in transit. Calculate it per unit — container, m³ or kg — to compare lanes.
Usually 3–5 weeks, more than half of which goes into collecting and reconciling data. The timing depends on the number of lanes and how completely the data is already held in your accounting system.
No. The recommendations are based on your numbers and are not tied to our services: if it pays to keep your current contractor and change the contract terms, that is what we will say. The decision to implement stays with you.
You can start with a quick assessment of one or two key lanes: we take the last 10–20 containers and calculate their landed cost. This quickly shows whether a full audit is worthwhile.