Warehousing racking showing out of gauge goods storage

At AJF we often can asked what kind of products we can handle and if this includes unusually shaped items or those which are not boxed. The answer is we can take both standard pallets and non palletised oversized items in our warehouse. Our pick and pack order fulfilment services are available not just for boxed items but for oversized products including those which cylinder shaped, circular or irregular shaped.  Our warehousing has handle goods for many different industry sectors. These have included after market car parts, specialised building construction materials, and AJF have specific handling skills for order fulfilment in furniture sector. We have handled both the dispatch of furniture and returns.

We can handle non palletised items with individual weights of up to 75kilos by hand. If you have items above this weight then they need supplied so they can be moved and stored by using a forklift. These items should be packed in a way that that the lifting points are clearly marked and have additional packaging around these areas to prevent the blades from marking the product. Pre-sale checks can be undertaken of any product if a client has concerns over the quality of a product or it is not as expected. This can include photographing or videoing the product in question.

The reverse logistics (returns) services AJF offer apply to non palletised or oversized items. These processes include the ability to fully assess an item for any damage / wear and tear while it was with the customer.  We can arrange products to be photographed before repacking the product if required for  resale. The photographs are not just suitable to assess the status of the product but can be used directly on e-commence sites so potential buyers understand exactly what they are buying and reduces the risk of further returns.

The technology we have managing our warehousing operations allows us to mix our human picking with an accurate order barcoding check system which ensure the correct pick rate is 100% as opposed to a manual only system which has a high risk of misidentification. We can help clients with how to mark up their products such as using colour identification labels and where to place their product labels where barcoding is not possible.

For distribution of goods and oversize items we can use one of our pallet network agents which offer coverage across all of the UK, Ireland and Europe. Where two man delivery service is required AJF has worked with two man delivery services such as ArrowXL. When working with these service providers we can work directly with them for collections from our warehouse or we can delivery to their local distribution point.

We have flexible storage charges from charges per pick location to long term contracts where clients can rent part of our warehousing which is dedicated solely to their products. If you are looking for storage either short term or long term, use our contact form to get in touch with ourselves to find out how we can assist.

The logistics industry is like a lot of  established industries is very slowly being dragged into the digital world.  AJF introduced its own API over 12 years ago the first small freight forwarder in the UK for its clients, when  no other small forwarder had one and larger shippers were using EDI.  Even today most shipping lines are only now creating customer portals and none of the have any form of API’s available for there clients.

AJF online facilities have continued to grow over the this period.  The role out of our customs clearance api and additions to the clients portal of a dedicated customs brokerage area will allow the submission and management of clearances a lot easier.

Part of this push to increase digitisation is due to us expecting to move from the old HM Customs Chief system to the new HM Customs Customs Declaration System(CDS). The new CDS requires more information from shippers and consignees and by having it submitted to us electronically helps reduce errors and speeds up the submission. Through the API and the port  clients will have the ability to do the following:

• Calculation of Duty / VAT immediately
• Check if commodity code is correct
• Check if licences  or port health required
• Advise if reduced rate of duty available
• Download copies of C88’s and other documents for previous entries

There will be four ways to be able to send us the customs clearance information:

1. By use of our API
2. Using the bulk upload manifest tool in the client portal
3. Entering manifest data by hand into the information into the client portal
4. Sending us a spreadsheet in our required format by email of the manifest data

Options 1,2 and 3 will be a our preferred option with lower customs clearance charges being applied. Currently being tested by several of our clients. We will have available a spreadsheet to download which can be used in our bulk upload tool or you can create your own based on it. We plan to make these customs clearance improvements available to all of our clients by the end of June.

We have changed from October 2019 to using 2017 BIFA Conditions. The new trading conditions reflect the changes which have incurred in the logistic industry since 2005. All quotations offered through this website and our company are under these 2017 terms. While most of the clauses have just had minor updates applied to them. Three clauses shippers need particular to pay attention to are:

1. The extensions of Clause 17 which deals with SOLAS and the requirement to supply a verified gross mass(VGM) for all container shipments
2. The jurisdiction of any claim which is covered in Clause 28 has been changed allowing a member to choose arbitration rather than litigation to deal with a dispute.
3. There is a new clause to deal with issues when a client does not pay for the freight service.

Two other areas of change are more clearly defining the role of the a direct representative and the wording has been updated on Union Customs Codes reflecting the changed EU regulations .

We have formal joined up to British Freight Forwarders Association (BIFA) this month. This is the leading UK british group for all freight forwarders. Giving all freight forwarders a voice in various goverment and business interests. Additionally it gives increased confidence to all out existing and new customers that we follow standard set of conditions.

As of 28th of July for all new shipments and any other trade under taken after this date will be now under the standard BIFA 2005A published trading terms and conditions.

We have updated our website with a more modern look and easier to navigate on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

If you find a link not working use our search box to locate the resource you are trying to find. If you still cannot find the item you are looking for feel free to email us and we will try and help as quickly as possible.

At the end of March 2011 we will be moving into a new warehouse. As well as giving us more room, this will allow not only allow us better control our services but improve them. This includes both our LCL service and “Deliveristics” our fulfilment service. The warehouse 24hours a day including Saturday and Sunday if needed.

We will post more details over the next couple of months

One of the directors of Andrew James Forwarding will be back in India for the last week in February and the first week in March. To continue our expansion and strengthen our ties. This time as well as being in Mumbai and Delhi we are also have a week in the Punjab region as part of a team going with the India East Midlands UK development board.  The entire event has been organised by them. We intend to use it to raise our profile in the region. We will be posting updates on on blog.

Our online online quotation and booking system is now operational. Currently a basic system, once you have logged on you can create a new quote, check existing ones, convert them to bookings and print out confirmations. (more…)