Hi, it’s Maya from Do-Business and Be-Event team. In my last post, I shared about how we dealt with the client, found the logistic company, shared with you a bit about the packing for fermented cacao and whole goods.
As I also mentioned in my last blog, I will share with you the documents that you need to prepare and explain the step in detail on how to ask/communicate with the logistic company.
Documents and the process
*thanks to Pak Kusuma (TLS logistic staff member) who made that export process for us
It was my first time managing export and as you can see in the pictures above, there were several terms that I have never heard before. Those terms will always be mentioned in the conversation with the logistic company until export the end of the journey. We were so lucky to have Pak Agung, Pak Kusuma, and, all TLS team members who helped us with these export terms-questions and for the lecture about exporting process. They also were very responsive, even outside working hours, thank you so much once again, the TLS team!
Let’s jump into the explanation of the terms, I’ll explain based on my experiences and how you can have a smooth export! Because there is a lot I will split this into two parts to avoid a long blog of just logistics terms. I will make it in a numbered list:
1. Detail information from you and the client (receiver)
This was the same as any usual shipping process. To start the process, the logistic company will ask for the sender’s and receiver’s name, address, phone number, invoice of the product, information about the goods (what is it, where and from whom you get the products), NPWP (Tax Identification Number) for both parties.
2. Goods (fermented cacao beans and cashew nuts)
All the goods have to be shipped to the logistic company’s warehouse, to do several tests (phytho test), and to pack before the stuffing process. Cashew nuts were from our client and at that time, the cashew nuts’ producer sent them directly to the warehouse. The fermented cacao was still at our farmer’s place in Jembrana, Bali, so, the logistic company offered us a pick-up service (IT’S FREE). In this case, we needed to inform them of the detailed address of the farmer, the street, and the sack quantity of the cacao, so, they can prepare for the accommodation (truck).
3. The warehouse
The warehouse is a very sensitive and important part of our export process. From the beginning, you have to make sure that the logistic company has a good warehouse to keep all your goods until they depart because it will affect the quality of the goods itself. Don’t forget to send your staff to check the quality of the goods directly to the warehouse at least a week before the departure in case unexpected things happen, you still have time to prepare the replacement.
4. Phytochemical screening
As I mentioned above, we have to stock everything at the warehouse of the logistic company. It is written in the export document that the goods’ quality has to be in a good condition. Few weeks (2-3weeks) before the shipment, the department of agriculture will come to the warehouse, check the condition and temperature of the warehouse, and all the goods. They also picked some cashew nuts and cacao samples to check and prepare for the phyto test or phytochemical screening. The result was taken around 3-5 days and the logistic company sent the result after that. In this process, you really need to check the detailed information about the receiver, the goods, etc before it sends to custom-clearance. So, the final document of the phytochemical test has to be finished before the stuffing process (stuff all goods into the container).
5. The invoice and the invoice packing list (IPL)
We needed to prepare the invoice for the logistic company, in this case, we sent them the detailed invoice of the cashew nuts and fermented cacao beans. Remember that the invoice has to be written clearly in detail to prepare the invoice packing list. The invoice packing list (IPL) will be provided by the logistic company. They usually draft it first in an excel file, so you can check if there are still mistakes in the documents, then if everything is ok, they will prepare the final documents in a printed paper and scanned file to be checked by the import company and custom clearance. In our case, there were so many revisions needed, so be sure you are not checking the documents alone!
6. The insurance
Of course, the logistic company will provide the shipping insurance BUT our client wanted to apply for other insurance (Japan insurance). In this process, you have to ask the client/receiver if they have a request for double insurance. Our client wanted to apply for another insurance and they needed only an invoice packing list (IPL), but at that time, the final document had not finished yet. If you find this case in your exporting process, the draft of the IPL is enough to give it to the insurance company. BUT still, once it’s finished, don’t forget to send the final IPL to the insurance company too.
That is all for now as I don’t want to continue this blog with more terms. But I think by now you can imagine how detailed and tedious is. Looking back, I learned a lot, and yesterday I got an update that the cacao managed to arrive safely to the clients. I’m so relieved and so I hope you don’t get discouraged by the process because the end is very rewarding <3 .
See you next week for part three! ^^