Established in 1989, America II Electronics, Inc. ranks as one of the world's largest independent distributors of semiconductors and passive components. From its St. Petersburg, Florida headquarters, the distributor delivers commodity product as well as allocated, obsolete, and hard-to-find parts.

The Challenge: Providing same day shipping regardless of destination.
America II has a commitment to total customer satisfaction which has resulted in one of the largest semiconductor inventories in the world. But having the inventory also means needing to be responsive with delivery times in order to maintain a competitive edge in the electronics distribution industry. In addition, the company’s continued growth into overseas markets highlighted the “domestic nature” of their existing shipping solution and the manually intensive compliance and customs processes that were needed for export shipments. According to Dan Bisaillon, CIO and VP of Operations at America II, “Our business objectives require the need to make same-day shipments whether or not the shipment is domestic or foreign....there is no room for errors based on manual processes.” America II needed a global transportation solution that could be seamlessly integrated into their business and would systemically manage all shipments regardless of their destination.

The Solution: A single multi-carrier and global trade management system.
America II chose Precision Software for its unique global offering that combines transportation, trade and compliance in one solution. The flexibility of the solution from a configuration and deployment standpoint, the ease of integration to the existing ERP system and a global presence for support were driving factors in the decision. The solution is implemented in a black box deployment, meaning there is no day-to-day data entry by logistics personnel. Shipments are passed to PRECISION from the ERP system, allowing logistics to perform a quick “scan and print” process that produces labels, documents and handles the carrier manifesting for UPS, FedEx and DHL in the background. Additionally America II’s restricted party compliance checks and electronic customs filing with the US Automated Export System (AES) are now processed within the PRECISION solution, providing America II the automated and repeatable risk mitigation it needs to promote the efficient and safe movement of product around the globe.

The Benefits: An increase in shipment volumes. A decrease in labor costs.
America II saw an immediate benefit after one month with just its domestic shipments being transacted through the system. “Within one month, we were able to increase shipment volumes within a defined time-frame, with no additional labor or headcount additions,” says Bisaillon. And with export shipment transactions added during the following month, all of the manual work done for documentation, compliance checking and customs paperwork, became a thing of the past.
By automating key transportation, trade and compliance processes, America II also improves their flexibility in managing changes in shipment volumes. With PRECISION, logistics personnel have a simple to use system which eliminates extensive training on time-intensive data entry and manual-based processes. This makes the justification of hiring temporary or part-time employees much easier during peaks in business. Bisaillon also believes that additional cost-related savings will be realized during annual audit processes. He says “all documents are kept online in a viewable format and are easily retrieved.” This can bring significant time savings over the previous manual and labor-intensive activities of locating files and copies of paperwork.

The Future: Best practice in a diverse compliance landscape.
Precision Software provides America II with the ability to expand the solution usage globally while being confident that local shipment, compliance and other regulatory needs are met. As America II rolls out the solution to their international offices, Bisaillon says “we anticipate continual changes in the compliance arena and PRECISION will help us stay on top of those changes, ensuring we are utilizing best practices in any market.”