Systems

Overview

Expeditors views technology and systems development as a core business strategy and strength. We centrally develop and maintain our systems rather than purchasing or out sourcing these vital functions. We feel that our global, balanced and integrated systems provide us with a competitive advantage within our industry. Our senior management has been instrumental in the development and direction of our systems strategy and strives to ensure that our systems add value to both our employees and our customers.

Expeditors has one of the largest and most sophisticated international communications and data collection systems in our industry. Expeditors deploys a distributed computing environment. Expeditors' offices around the world are connected to each other and to a central database located in Seattle via our global wide area network.

Expeditors maintains a highly trained staff of people in our Information Services group. Additionally, each branch office throughout the world has their own on-site systems personnel to maintain our hardware and software systems. The personnel, located at our corporate headquarters in Seattle, provide support to local Expeditors staff as well as front-line customer support.

Electronic Data Interchange

Expeditors recognizes the value and importance of EDI to increase productivity and to further the development of an electronic commerce environment between our customers and all of their service providers. Toward that end, we have made a substantial investment to be on the leading edge of this technology.

Governmental Interfaces

Expeditors continues to work with relevant governmental agencies, as they seek to gain efficiencies, by communicating with our industry electronically. Expeditors is an active participant in AES and began transmitting to AES in 1997 on the US southern border, using a third party software system. We became certified to use our own operational software and currently, export data is being reported to AES by all US offices.

Expeditors is one of the largest US Customs brokers in terms of entries filed and entered value. We support all features of the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) and communicate with Customs via dedicated, high-speed data circuits. Continuity of communications with ABI is provided through redundant data circuits.

Document Imaging

Document imaging is an evolving technology with tremendous potential to change the way that Expeditors and our clients transact business. Despite the efforts of the trade to reduce the amount of paper in international commerce, our industry remains heavily dependent on paper-based processes. Document imaging technology offers the potential to reduce costly paper handling and add value in new ways to the services we provide to our many customers.

Global Consistency

All of our offices operate the same suite of hardware and software systems. This standardization drives global consistency in data, processes and execution. Our offices and systems are tied together via dedicated data circuits. Our core transportation management system, e.tms, is integrated to permit the flow of data between the origin and destination locations. The result is reduced data entry and enhanced data quality and efficiency.

Web Services

Strategically, Expeditors will continue to invest in technology to maintain our leadership position within the international logistics industry. We will capitalize on the broad reach of the Internet to deploy our customer applications for maximum convenience and accessibility. Expeditors is well positioned to take advantage of developing electronic commerce tools and applications.