International Logistics Management
International Logistics is Pilotfisch Solutions' niche and forte.
Whether your goods are already held up, on their way, or yet to be shipped: Pilotfisch is ready to help!
Ocean
Air
Truck / Overland
Rail / Overland
Handcarry/ Self Crossing
Pilotfisch Solutions Handles All Shipment Types
Select the following section headings or icons to jump into that section, else scroll downward.
Every importation is handled or moved by many different supply chain intermediaries, and each one will want their pound of flesh.
Pilotfisch Solutions' combination of access and authority let us arrange and manage your shipment so that intermediaries are paid fairly, and you keep more money.
Foreign markets across the globe each have their own quirks, needs and pitfalls.
Pilotfisch may be able to help you make arrangements in your foreign source country, whether that be documentation, product compliance preparation or physical movement.
Communication has always been the key to unlock high value returns in logistics, and international supply chains are the most demanding.
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Pilotfisch is well experienced in cross-cultural work practices, uses active listening, and leverages our logistics knowledge to align everyone to shipment or project goals.
Pilotfisch is a big fan of the Do-It-Yourself spirit. These DIY folk are pioneers of the modern age, but even the pioneers on the frontier had support and guidance. Pilotfisch can be your support.
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We feed you information and insights so that you can manage your logistics directly, and are ready to step in should an intermediary deny your interest, money or authority.
Pilotfisch Solutions does not forward freight, we manage it.
Pilotfisch does not operate any trucks, planes, trains or boats, nor do we physically accept your freight into our office location. We are your freight's monitor and manager, ensuring physical progress using quality, trusted, agents.
Every importation is handled or moved by many different supply chain intermediaries, and each one will want their pound of flesh.
Pilotfisch Solutions' combination of access and authority let us arrange and manage your shipment so that intermediaries are paid fairly, and you keep more money.
Importation Logistics
Terminals and their Handling
Every shipment cannot avoid being sent through several different cargo terminals and being handled by each. These are the same people that are ensuring that your freight is processed and progressing toward you or your final customers. Rightfully so, each of these intermediaries deserve compensation for their contribution, but responsibility for their costs depends on the terms of your shipment when you struck the deal. Frequently people misunderstand or are ignorant of these terms, and responsibility falls upon them to keep their shipment progressing forward.
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Knowing your responsibilities can be hard, but knowing all the different facilities and their operational quirks is even more difficult. Pilotfisch Solutions starts by verifying the details and status of your freight within its respective location, and then acts on your behalf (aligned with your logistics management instructions.) Rather than being drawn into each and every link of your supply chain to orchestrate payments or release stipulations, use Pilotfisch and enjoy the streamlined serenity of a single point of contact and control. That; plus we get it all done before free time expires!
Types of Terminals and Handling:
Cargo Terminals & Standard Handling
They're all the same: each is different
Every facility charges your shipment for moving through their facility. That cost is usually a function of density (size and weight) of your shipment as well as the port location. Most cargo terminals and freighting facilities are focused on keeping shipments moving, so their fee structures are organized to punish shipments which disrupt the normal flow. This is where folks run into trouble and start running up costs.
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Pilotfisch will help ensure that these facilities have not already been paid, are paid appropriately and in the proper methods, and are paid so that your shipment doesn't disrupt flow beyond the allotted free time.
Exams & Exam Sites
Including:
Permits to Transfer (PTTs)
Bonded Cartage / Drayage
Exam Handling & Costs
Examinations are a normal occurrence when importing, but surprisingly it is not CBP who operates the exam facilities. A CBP officer is doing your inspection, but a third party company hosts them within their specialty premises - the exam site. Satisfying the exam site is not always as straightforward as it ought to be!
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Pilotfisch is experienced with exam sites and operators in ports across the United States. We know who to work with, and how they need things prepared for their onsite exam officers. We also know what logistics questions matter once the exam is complete, because good news does not always come without caveat.
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Pilotfisch Solutions will always be monitoring and advising you regarding all examinations, but when you've instructed Pilotfisch to manage your exam logistics: Pilotfisch is able to act with even greater swiftness in delay and cost mitigation.
Refrigerated & Specialty Facilities
Sometimes your cargo will need special considerations like temperature and atmospheric control, or special handling like fumigation or manipulation. In these cases, it is vital to maintain the cold chain or conditions throughout the entire journey.
In addition to the insights Pilotfisch Solutions can provide in the planning phases of your special importation scheme, Pilotfisch maintains a network of vetted specialists who may be able to substitute in support when issues or capacity otherwise bind up your delicate plans.
Pilotfisch will also keep track of your shipment's special requirements in management plans so that your valuables aren't compromised by ignorant handling or sloppy stewardship after all the other hard work.
About:
Payments & Invoicing
Pilotfisch Solutions is willing to organize a few different methods for managing your logistics, but it always comes down to your preference. Pilotfisch can advance payments to third parties on your behalf, always supported by evidence documenting why.
The idea is for your importing experience to be simplified with only one cumulative invoice for all of the different charges incurred, and the effect of time savings benefit you greater than the sum effort and delay costs. The related mechanisms for information, approval, instructions and exceptions can be adapted to suit your preferences: all so that you have the knowledge and power to manage your logistics without the depth of hassle.
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Cartage and Drayage
As shipments work their way through the supply chain, they occasionally need to move in between facilities. Cartage and drayage are terms specific to the road movement of cargo, and Pilotfisch is ready to help broker or manage either one with equal prowess.
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Drayage refers to when shipments are still within the shipping container, and the whole container is transported without manipulating the contents inside.
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Cartage refers to when shipments have already been stripped from shipping containers, and some or all of the contents are transported - whether together or separately.
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Semantics aside, sometimes a trip within a port complex proves to be more daunting than making your deal in the first place. Pilotfisch Solutions works to vet our truckers so that your cartage or drayage is completed safely, securely, timely and at a competitive price.
Capabilities in Cartage & Drayage
Bonded Drayage or Cartage
Movement in CBP Control
When import goods have yet to be cleared by CBP, the conditions of CBP custody set higher demands upon the truckers who are able to make those movements. This is much more common for when shipments are still containerized, but does regularly occur with smaller shipments arranged for inland customs clearance.
Only certain companies seek out the bonding and credentials to handle these movements, and finding one with availability may prove harder than expected. Pilotfisch regularly uses bonded draymen and cartmen, and may even have preferential rates which we can pass onto our clients.
Damaged Container Drayage
Damaged to containers seems to be an increasing trend, and can cause serious disruption to your shipment's progress. Depending on how your shipment was arranged, that container may be your responsibility to fix; but it is certainly your responsibility to accommodate.
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Pilotfisch is experienced, and has relationships with specialty draymen who are able to move damaged containers to approved interchange locations or terminals which can help with repairs or whatever remedies are available.
Nationwide Cartage Network
Sometimes your best laid may plans prove fruitless, and your freight becomes stranded en-route. Whatever the cause, Pilotfisch Solutions can help with those critical next steps. Similarly, sometimes your goods' port of entry is nowhere near your final destination.
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Pilotfisch's established network of cartmen and nationwide trucking companies will help you make the arrangements to get your goods where they need to go. In cases where truckers are at capacity and reject your order - Pilotfisch likely has backup options for you.
Project & Crane Support
The movement of project or oversized cargo can be especially daunting for standard cartmen or draymen, but not so with Pilotfisch Solutions. Not only have we made connections with movement specialists, we also have the experience and relationships with crane or loader operators.
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Pilotfisch is able and ready to help coordinate your complex movement, ensuring that every supporting role is synchronized to act as one, for you.
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Warehousing and Storage
Although "storage" has a very negative stigma for most folks in freighting, storage does not always mean that your shipment is incurring unwelcome charges and hemorrhaging cash. Warehousing and storage plans can be a legitimate component in supply chains: if you are thoughtful and intentional in their use.
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Pilotfisch Solutions is generally going to help you avoid warehousing or storage charges, but we are equally ready to facilitate our client's warehousing or storage needs. The storage facilities and warehouses which Pilotfisch engage are vetted to be reliable and secure so that when it is finally time for you to use or move those goods - you don't have any loss or damage.
Warehousing and Storage Solutions
Bonded Warehousing
Uncleared or Quota
In instances where imported goods are unfit or unable to enter the U.S. commerce, but are not required to be exported or destroyed, Bonded Warehousing may be a temporary solution to bide time until correction, admittance, or entry to the commerce.
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Bonded warehouses are rather expensive due to the highest levels of security and care which is dictated by CBP, and Pilotfisch Solutions only suggests this service in special circumstances.
Storage Solutions
In instances where goods have been imported or are part of the U.S. commerce, storage warehouses or storage yards may prove useful to help bide time until you are ready for their utility. Pilotfisch strives to help you organize your shipments to avoid this need, but we are ready.
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Inventories will forever need to be accessible; so whether you store them in your business, a fulfillment warehouse or some other storage facility: Pilotfisch will work with you to compliment your operations.
Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs)
Not free!
Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) are sometimes called "free trade zones" but that is far from how they work. FTZs are similar to bonded warehouses and storage facilities, except that FTZs have specialized to focus on transforming goods within their walls. Not only should shippers plan to pay for the space their freight uses, but also the labor used to manipulate or transform. If used efficiently, high dutiable goods can go in, and different goods with no duties can come out (thus: "free trade zones".)
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Pilotfisch Solutions will work with you to evaluate if FTZs are viable or attractive for your logistics schema. It is not very common, but in the instances where they are helpful; wow, are they really helpful!
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Pickup and Delivery Services
Whether your shipment is just getting started or just needs that last mile movement, Pilotfisch can help make the arrangements to make sure your goods get where they need to go; safe and sound.
Common Examples:
Pickup Coordination
Foreign Logistics
Depending on the terms of purchase, you or your supplier may need help with the freighting in the country of export.
Although Pilotfisch is primarily focused on the U.S. side of things, we are able to reach out to global partners and partnering trade organizations for assistance with foreign movements at slightly preferential rates.
Nationwide or Last-Mile Delivery
Including Alaska & Hawaii
Whether you need your goods delivered across town, city limits, state lines, or even across regions: Pilotfisch Solutions has options for you.
We have built and maintain a large portfolio of vetted delivery companies, all so that we may provide options and solutions as you need them. All of our agents are properly insured, secured, documented and safely operated.
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We prioritize local agents with preferential rates, but also emphasize the quality of communication. Let ambiguous delivery expectations and "2 week" estimates be a thing of the past!
Delivery Options
Do you need indoor, white glove, or multi-party delivery coordination?
Does your shipment need refrigeration or environmental control?
Does your shipment need crane loading or oversized escort?
Is your shipment sensitive, hazmat, or alcohol crossing state lines?
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Pilotfisch can help you determine the right delivery option for your circumstance, and help coordinate the right agent to get it done.
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Foreign markets across the globe each have their own quirks, needs and pitfalls.
Pilotfisch may be able to help you make arrangements in your foreign source country, whether that be documentation, product compliance preparation or physical movement.
Global Logistics
Documentation Support Services
Having the proper certifications and supporting documentation is increasingly critical for international trade, and recent changes global trade politics have made their significance even greater. Pilotfisch Solutions is likely not able to generate these documents for you, but we are able to help validate or instruct your foreign agents so that they can generate quality documentation for you and your goods.
Some examples include:
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Certificate(s) of Origin (CoOs or COOs)
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Testing Certificate(s)
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Product Licenses or Certificate of License Approvals (COLAs)
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Marking and Labeling Documentation
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Documentation of Due Dilligence
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PGA Supporting Documentation or Certification
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Shipper's Letter of Instruction (SLI)
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Regardless of which country your goods are destined, solid documentation will always position your shipments for success.
Pilotfisch Document Services:
Declarations & Certificates Review
U.S. focus
Global applicability
Certificates of Origin are one of the best pieces of documentary evidence you and your shipment can have, and they are increasingly becoming a requirement across broad governmental control structures. Beyond CoOs, your shipment may have or require additional declarations or certifications.
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Pilotfisch Solutions can help you determine what evidence will be required, as well as if the quality of your evidence is sufficient for compliance. We can also help organize how those documents work in conjunction with your shipments so that blanket or specific organization saves you time and effort whenever possible.
Proforma or Customs Invoices
Although each country has different standards for local invoicing practices, Pilotfisch can help you generate or amend proforma or invoices for customs purposes.
This may be caused by insufficient information, proprietary information, or perhaps may represent a verbal contract. In whatever case, we will take the care required to ensure all parties are respectfully satisfied.
Facility Registrations
Similar to certification requirements for your goods, the people and facilities used to create your goods may also be subject to reporting requirements.
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Pilotfisch Solutions not only helps guide you to or through these registration processes, but we can also help guide your foreign counterparts.
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Freight Brokerage Services
Pilotfisch is primarily focused on Customs Brokerage, but we are equipped to help support your freight movements through freight brokerage services - should you need them. Our international partners and network contacts may be able to help bridge the gaps in your supply chain plans.
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Rather than repeat services already detailed within the Import Logistics section, the following are offerings in addition to, or not already covered.
Note that Pilotfisch Solutions will only offer these services to existing customer relationships in excellent standing.
(In Addition to Import Services and Import Logistics)
Foreign Freighting
In certain circumstances where your shipments are not leaving their foreign country of origin, Pilotfisch Solutions may be able to arrange or broker the freight.
We admit that it is difficult to be as competitive as foreign freight fowarders, but in a pinch we may be able to help you and your foreign business interests realize their freighting needs.
International Freighting
In circumstances where your shipment is leaving the country of origin, whether or not bound for the United States, Pilotfisch Solutions may help arrange or broker your international freight movements.
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Again, this is not Pilotfisch's primary focus, but rather a supporting service for when you or your foreign counterparts are coming up short, or don't know where to turn.
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Supply Chain
Collaboration
Communication has always been the key to unlock high value returns in logistics, and international supply chains are the most demanding.
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Pilotfisch is well experienced in cross-cultural work practices, uses active listening, and leverages our logistics knowledge to align everyone to shipment or project goals.
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Advanced Intermediary Coordination
Traditionally in supply chains, the links don't really come into contact with each other unless they are directly adjacent or interconnected. For their part, these intermediaries are focused on fulfilling their niche function and are likely ignorant or ambivalent to any considerations outside their specific frame of focus. As the freighting industry has gotten more complex and more intermediary types or roles have been introduced to emulate an assembly line division of labor, each singular shipment is subjected to a higher degree of treatment, but at a higher risk for inter-party miscommunication.
It is out of this nebulous network that communication has similarly muddled, resulting in generalizations and unhelpful information like the dreaded "2 weeks" for every and anything.
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Pilotfisch Solutions may be another intermediary (customs broker) within your supply chain, but our supervision and shipment awareness extend well beyond ourselves. Part of our monitoring activities are to cover ourselves and you in extension, but those activities position us to be even more helpful and impactful should you choose Pilotfisch to communicate or coordinate on your behalf. We know the right questions to ask, the jargon to understand, and the experience to translate your freight's situation into actionable steps. This can be much harder than common sense would suggest, yet Pilotfisch is ready to go above and beyond our regular coordination levels, per your preference.
Examples (Beyond Standard Import Service):
Manufacturers & Suppliers
Most customs brokerages only contact your manufacturer or supplier when they have no other alternative. Unfortunately and too often, their perspective biases those interactions so that the communication serves to alienate the two rather than bring them together. Pilotfisch Solutions is a master of carefully navigating cross-cultural communication so that your relationships are strengthened rather than strained.
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After communication has been established, Pilotfisch positions itself to be a liaison alongside you both rather than between. We may end up taking the lead in conversations on your behalf; but it is always as a steward of your relationship, never in usurpation or subversion. Often times these foreign entities will disclose information in confidence that would otherwise go unnoticed or unaddressed.
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The result will look different for each relationship and circumstance, but every case should result in a tangible improvement in the quality of information and understanding for your active shipment and any to follow.
Specialist Arrangements
Pilotfisch Solutions will take an active role for customs business-related activities which are incidental to your importations, but there are many more specialist intermediaries who may be involved outside that purview. Those specialist arrangements are no less significant, yet may be excluded or limited by other supply chain intermediaries who are reluctant to engage.
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Pilotfisch takes the time and effort to understand your business and shipment needs, along with why these specialists are so critical. When others may talk with cross purpose or confusing terms, Pilotfisch sidesteps those barriers and align stakeholders with the details that matter and the materials that will get your shipment handled appropriately.
Highly Sensitive Circumstances
Dangerous Goods
Perishable Goods
Confidentiality Concerns
Security Concerns
Shipment sensitivity is hard to articulate because it comes in so many different forms and circumstances, but confidentiality is usually the primary driving concern. This may also refer to the goods themselves, whether they be sensitive to handling or sensitive to to dangerous use in the wrong hands. Your goods need not be seemingly special to necessitate highly specialized care.
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Pilotfisch Solutions is prepared to help you and your sensitive situation maintain elevated standards throughout the process, and especially in cases of emergency.
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Incoterms and Routing Support
Understanding the methods and pathways available to your shipment is vital to ensuring that you use international logistics to match how your business operates. Some of the most effective ways to control your shipments are through the Incoterms or by selecting the route and mode of transportation that balance cost and time.
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Pilotfisch Solutions can help you evaluate the hidden quirks and risks of each method, giving you higher resolution before you make your selection as well as higher confidence in your negotiations or preparation.
Examples of Logistics Collaboration:
Incoterm Assistance
2020 Convention
(or as detailed in your contract negotiations)
Incoterms are a set of defined rules created and updated every ten years by the International Chamber of Commerce. Incoterms2024 include 11 individual terms, spanning responsibility limitations from exclusively on the selling party to exclusively on the buyer.
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Incoterms can seem tricky to understand at first, but Pilotfisch will help you master their meaning so that you can command your trade deals with protections appropriate to your need. Similarly, you and your business will have the awareness not to double-cover freighting concerns which have been specified within your choice of Incoterm.
Route Evaluation
Most folks in the freighting business are focused on either the cheapest route, or the route which most rapidly concludes. Depending on the nature of your company, deal or products; the chief concerns may dictate a different priority.
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Pilotfisch Solutions has experience with a cornucopia of different goods and industries as well as routing. We can help evaluate additional risk sensitivities for your shipment first, so that appropriate security or care can be taken on the front or back end of your route. Sometimes, it is as simple as: "Yes, your existing plans look great!"
Route Contingency Planning
Sometimes there are "acts of god" in the shipping process which can really ruin your experience. When a vessel sinks for example, there isn't much you can do to salvage your shipment in the short term. (Just one more reason for insurance on your freight.)
In many other cases though, we are able to design routing plans with contingency opportunities to help keep your freight accessible in adversity.
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Depending on your industry and business operating model, Pilotfisch can identify opportunities and create robust routing options so that a union strike, rail washout, road closure, or capacity failure doesn't necessarily condemn your shipment.
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Sustainability, Visibility, and Ethical Governance within Supply Chain Activities
To cut directly through all the buzz words and awareness pageantry:
Pilotfisch Solutions wants you and your business' interests to be as operationally healthy and productive as possible, with the lowest holistic cost possible. Pilotfisch will promote the good, not whenever possible, but whenever feasible and reasonable.
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Most of the ideas behind Environmental Social Governance (ESG), responsible sourcing, ethical business practices, and sustainability in supply are founded on good practices regardless of who is brandishing the tool. Rather than trying to tune your business with a single metaphorical hammer, let Pilotfisch help or help guide you toward the tools that fit your task; incrementally tinkering and aligning your business to become even better attenuated to your mission and long-term success.
Beyond all the positive reasons to engage, let's not forget the contra-positive: irresponsible activities are coming at an increasing cost - both from governmental penalties as well as stakeholder disengagement. If the carrots are not incentive enough, don't forget that looming big stick!
[Some] Ways to Engage:
United Nations'
Sustainable Development Goals
Did you know that the United Nations created a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) codifying 17 different dimensions of activity and how they can be realigned for humanity's benefit?
These were originally designed for nation-level entities, but they are equally effective in aligning business-level activities too!
Pilotfisch Solutions likes to start with the SDGs because you don't even have to change any of your behaviors to begin. It isn't "green-washing" but rather an articulation of aspects with which you are already aligned. It is then your discretion as to how that information is used, and your discretion on how those considerations affect your own mission planning and goal setting.
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It doesn't require a lot of effort to evaluate the SDGs in relation to your business, but it is not insignificant for those considerations to become part of how you think about and execute your business' mission. It's about calculus: each tiny sliver of improvement and betterment may seem insignificant when looking at the singular event; but those incremental improvements can integrate to really significant sums when evaluated together and over time.
Pilotfisch Solutions aligns with goals 16, 8, 9 and 10 the most, respectively, with ancillary considerations for the other goals in varying degrees. We are trying to increase our efforts within goals 17 and 12.
(We're trying to be brief here, but we are happy to talk more!)
Visibility and Accountability
People have forgotten that knowledge is not power; but rather knowledge is the first and most critical component, prerequisite for the power to effectuate change. Supply chains are the perfect venue to appraise the full extent of activities going on to make your shipment a reality. The information required in the supply chain not only covers your first and second degree stakeholder relationships, but also insights into the relationships and business practices which they engaged to participate.
Governments have recognized this information choke point, and are doing their best to exploit that data for their own agendas.
Why should they be the only ones to benefit?
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Pilotfisch will work with you and your agenda so that you have the resolution to clearly identify what is going on, but also identify what activities are most sensitive to your control without undue burden or alienation. Perhaps awareness will be its own reward, or perhaps you are well positioned to do some beneficial good!
Responsible Governance
Once you've equipped yourself with the knowledge to power change, the effective and reasonable use of that power is the next step. What is reasonable and prudent for you is what matters most because anything taken to excess or extrema is problematic in the grand scheme. Whether it is your stakeholders, your conscience or your"triple bottom line" which motivates you toward improvement; Pilotfisch wants to help you realize your goals in ways that will raise the net good as well as your positional & operational strength.
Pilotfisch Solutions can only succeed when you succeed, so making your company more sustainable or resilient against parasitic actors is a no-brainer win-win! Hopefully it's additional wins for humanity and ecosystem too, but we'll do what we can with what we can.
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Do-It-Yourself
with Pilotfisch
Pilotfisch is a big fan of the Do-It-Yourself spirit. These DIY folk are pioneers of the modern age, but even the pioneers on the frontier had support and guidance. Pilotfisch can be your support.
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We feed you information and insights so that you can manage your logistics directly, and are ready to step in should an intermediary deny your interest, money or authority.
Do-It-Yourself (with our help)
Okay, so strictly speaking it isn't totally DIY because some of the customs business and logistics activities require outside help. So what? It's the spirit that counts!
Pilotfisch Solutions admires your DIY initiative, and we want to help you realize success!
Use us for those required barriers and impasses.
Use us for those tricky parts where you can't seem to get it right.
Use us to clean up a mess or foul-up.
Use us as a reference or quality checkpoint.
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The point is that Pilotfisch is ready to engage with you, however you want us to align.
Ways Pilotfisch Can Help:
Understand What to Expect
Whether it is a standard consultation or an in-depth educational project, Pilotfisch is prepared to help you understand the milestones and pitfalls when planning your logistics scheme. There are some very specific cases where you can claim exemptions or special programs, but the industry is designed to be navigated by industry insiders rather than individual consumers engaged in arbitrage.
We aren't going to make you into an industry insider, but we can equip you with the inside info to help you discern the scammers from the legitimate and normal from the unusual.
Customize Preferences
In most cases, a licensed customs brokerage will be required to facilitate international transactions. Although the customs business portions aren't up for debate, nearly all of the remaining activities are subject to your discretion.
Pilotfisch will take special care to help build a communication and shipment plan together with you, letting you dictate how you want to be helped, and to what extent your DIY is truly by yourself.
Whatever you'd like is just fine with us - provided it is legal and legitimate.
On-Demand Assistance
Just because you planned to do certain activities without assistance, that doesn't mean that you are stuck without assistance should you need it!
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Pilotfisch isn't going to proselytize or judge you based on your planning or execution, but we will be monitoring critical and semi-critical activities anyway. Sometimes you may come to an impasse, and other times you may inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot.
Pilotfisch Solutions is all about fixing you up, getting you back into shape, and then keeping you that way; so: no worries, no pressure, and no judgement.
Pilotfisch is here to help you, however you need it!
