Many supply chain technology providers face a positioning challenge. They may have strong capabilities, credible customers, and a meaningful market opportunity, but the market does not always understand where they fit.

This is especially common in crowded or evolving categories. Providers may be entering a new segment, expanding into adjacent markets, scaling after early traction, or trying to differentiate in a space where many competitors sound similar.

In these situations, visibility alone is not enough. The company needs a clearer market narrative.

Why Positioning Matters

Buyers do not evaluate solutions in isolation. They compare providers against existing systems, competing vendors, internal initiatives, budget constraints, operational priorities, and strategic goals.

If a company’s positioning is unclear, buyers may misunderstand the offering, place it in the wrong category, or fail to see why it matters. This can be especially challenging for providers whose capabilities span multiple areas, such as visibility and execution, planning and decision support, warehouse management and automation, or transportation and network optimization.

Clear positioning helps the market understand the company’s role. It explains what problem the provider addresses, why the problem matters, and how the company fits into the broader industry landscape.

What a Supplier Spotlight Can Do

The Logistics Viewpoints Supplier Spotlight Program is designed to provide analyst-framed visibility around company strategy, market positioning, operational differentiation, and direction.

The goal is not short-term promotion. It is structured examination. A Supplier Spotlight can help frame a company within the context of the market it serves, highlighting how its strategy, capabilities, and direction relate to broader supply chain and logistics trends.

This can be valuable for both emerging and established providers. Emerging companies may need credibility and category context. Established companies may need to clarify how their strategy is evolving or how they are differentiated in a crowded market.

When Supplier Spotlights Are Most Useful

A Supplier Spotlight can be especially useful when a company is entering a new market segment, expanding into adjacent categories, seeking validation during a scaling phase, clarifying differentiation in a crowded market, or supporting enterprise sales conversations with a third-party perspective.

These are moments when a company’s story needs more than a standard product description. It needs market framing.

For example, a provider expanding from a point solution into a broader platform may need to explain why that evolution matters. A company entering the U.S. market may need to establish relevance with buyers who are not yet familiar with its brand. A supplier with strong technical capabilities may need help translating those capabilities into a market narrative that business executives can understand.

Analyst-Framed Visibility

The value of analyst-framed visibility is that it places the company in context. Rather than presenting a scripted promotional message, the Supplier Spotlight structure emphasizes market relevance, operational differentiation, and strategic direction.

This kind of framing can support enterprise sales conversations because it gives buyers a more substantive way to understand the company. It can also become a durable digital asset that sales, marketing, and executive teams can use over time.

For companies trying to build market credibility, that durability matters. The strongest positioning assets are not disposable campaign materials. They continue to support conversations after the initial publication window.

Supporting Sales and Market Education

A Supplier Spotlight can also support sales enablement. Enterprise sales teams often need credible content that helps prospects understand the company beyond a slide deck or product demo.

A well-framed article can help explain the company’s strategy, its market context, and the operational problems it is trying to solve. This can be especially useful in longer sales cycles where buyers need to build internal consensus.

It can also support market education. When a provider is working in a developing category, the company may need to educate the audience before the buyer is ready to evaluate a specific solution. A Supplier Spotlight can help start that conversation.

Positioning for Long-Term Credibility

The most effective Supplier Spotlights are not built around hype. They are built around clarity. They help the market understand what the company does, why it matters, and where it fits.

That makes them useful for companies that want to move beyond basic awareness and build a more credible market presence.

In supply chain technology markets, where buyers are often cautious and categories can be confusing, clarity is a strategic asset.

CTA: Download the Supplier Spotlight Program overview to learn how analyst-framed visibility can help clarify positioning and reinforce differentiation.

If you have questions about whether a Supplier Spotlight fits your company’s positioning or market visibility goals, reach out to me directly at jfrazer@arcweb.com. I’d be glad to discuss where your priorities align with the Logistics Viewpoints editorial and market engagement calendar.

The post How Supplier Spotlights Help Supply Chain Providers Clarify Positioning appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.

Part of the Comprehensive Incoterms Guide

What is DDP Shipping?

For DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) shipping, the seller arranges the entire shipment, including import customs.

DDP Incoterms Explained

Here are some important things importers need to know about shipping under the DDP incoterm.

Where Is The Named Place For Handing Over Responsibility From The Seller To The Buyer?

The seller is liable and responsible for the entire shipment. The buyer is only responsible for unloading the goods, including import clearance/payments. The named place of delivery is usually the buyer’s choice of warehouse.

What Does The ICC Say?

Recommended for containerized freight.

Is This A Good Choice?

This is probably not a convenient arrangement, as the seller is usually in a much poorer position than the buyer for arranging tasks in the import country. This can lead to several problems (refer tips and tricks). Less experienced importers should probably avoid this incoterm, and consider DAP instead.

DDP Shipping Terms & Services

Some countries, including the US, do not permit forwarders to complete customs clearance. Therefore, the supplier must be registered as an importer, or else they will not be able to complete import clearance.
Suppliers should also be experienced acting as an importer. Import clearance is complicated, and if the process is not followed to the letter, the shipment is likely to be held up in Customs.
Therefore, the seller should insist on a copy of the entry documentation from the clearance agent to be provided soon after submission, to check for errors. In some countries, Customs accepts timely corrections.
Domestics sales tax can only be paid by locally-registered businesses. If the seller isn’t registered, the buyer will probably become liable for sales tax. There is a workaround by qualifying the rule, e.g. Delivered Duty Paid (Sales Tax unpaid).
DDP does not specifically require the seller to undertake import clearance. The buyer and seller may agree that the buyer manages this task instead.
If the buyer offers to clear the goods for the seller, they should insist on using their own clearance agent. Otherwise, they risk losing control of the shipment’s whereabouts. They could end up being responsible for unnecessary costs, especially demurrage and storage. This can be overcome by specifying elsewhere in the sales contract that the buyer is not liable for any additional costs caused by clearance agent error, and is not liable for any costs beyond a short period (2-3 days) after carrier release.
A sales quotation from the supplier based on this incoterm is effectively the landed cost and can be used to decide whether to source domestically or import.

How To Calculate DDP Cost & Price

You can use our freight rate calculator to help you decide how different incoterms will impact your freight cost. For example, when shipping EXW, you’ll be responsible for the added cost of getting your goods from your supplier to the seaport or airport. Simply choose container, box, or pallet shipping, enter your dimensions and weight, and you’ll get an instant estimate of freight shipping costs.

Other Incoterms

EXW | FCA | FAS | FOB | CPT | CIP | CFR | CIF | DPU | DAP

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Chargeable & Volumetric Weight Calculator

In the realm of freight shipping, it’s important to recognize that the weight for which you are charged may not always align with the actual physical weight of your goods. This divergence arises from the logistical constraints of vessels, which must consider both weight and space limitations. Consequently, goods that possess the same weight but occupy varying amounts of space cannot reasonably be charged at identical rates.

To ensure transparency and cost predictability in your shipping endeavors, we offer a convenient and complimentary universal chargeable and volumetric weight calculator. This tool empowers you to determine your goods’ chargeable weight accurately, taking into account both their actual weight and the volume of space they occupy. By doing so, you can prevent unwelcome surprises in the form of unexpected shipping fees.

Our calculator is designed to be versatile, accommodating a wide range of dim factors or volumetric ratios used by various freight carriers across different modes of transport and countries. Whether you are shipping by air, sea, or land, and regardless of which freight carrier you choose, our calculator provides a reliable means of calculating chargeable weight (also known as billable weight). It ensures that you are well-prepared to navigate the intricacies of freight shipping while making informed decisions that align with your budget and logistics needs.

How To Calculate Chargeable Weight

Input shipment volume and weight (lbs/kgs)When using the calculator, slide the switch to the right if you know the shipment volume and weight in total, or slide left if you know them by unit. You must select ‘Total Volume’ if your shipment includes boxes of different volumes or weights.

Input dim factor. The standard dim factors are suitable for most ocean (1:000 vol ratio), EU trucking (1:3000), express freight/courier (1:500) and air freight (1:600) shipments. For less common scenarios, input a custom ratio and UOM, e.g. “194” or “250” and “cu in/lb” for US trucking companies that don’t use freight class. If you select volume ratio, “1:” will be auto-populated.

Chargeable weight is highlighted in green.Chargeable weight is the heavier of: Dim weight (shipment volume divided by dim factor), or Total shipment weight (total weight or unit weight x qty).

You can also use this chargeable weight calculator with cylindrical packages. First, check with the carrier whether they square the circle (the diameter becomes width and height) or go Greek ( πr2). Then, multiply that number by the length to get volume.

What are Volumetric & Chargeable Weight?

Standard freight pricing is based on weight rather than volume. However, very light loads take up much more space than their share of weight load, and would otherwise be unprofitable to ship.

The industry gets around this by imposing a minimum weight based on shipment dimensions. That’s why it’s called dimensional weight: if it’s not being called DIM weight, volumetric weight, volume weight or cubed weight.

A shipment’s dimensional weight is calculated by dividing its volume (units × length × width × height) by a “dim factor.” The lower the dim factor, the greater the dimensional weight.

Between actual weight and dimensional weight, the number that is higher becomes the shipment’s chargeable weight (aka billable weight). Typically, light loads are charged by dimensional weight, while heavier loads are charged by actual weight. The threshold depends on volume and the dim factor used.

To understand how volumetric weight affects shipping costs, check out this explanation by David Kadish, Director of Operations at Primorus Worldwide.

Volumetric Weight Saves Cost

Shipments that are light for their size may be charged at dimensional weight rather than actual weight.

When calculating volumetric weight, first ensure that the shipment has been carefully weighed. A small error may be the difference between your shipment being charged by dimensional weight rather than actual weight.

There are several ways you can save costs by reducing your shipment’s volume weight ratio:

Don’t over-package lightweight freight beyond the minimum required to protect your shipment.

Use the smallest carton size possible.

Minimize wasted space by compressing products that can be compressed.

Pack lightweight cartons together if possible.

Minimize and avoid cartons altogether on small shipments, especially for air freight. Their dimensions will balloon dimensions and therefore chargeable weight.

Express freight customers may also consider negotiating the dim factor (this is especially relevant for regular customers) or using couriers that don’t use dimensional weight.

Volumetric Weight Calculation for Air Freight

The 1:6000 vol ratio, 6000 ccm/kg, 166 cu in/lb, 366 cu in/kg is common for IATA shipments. Use our air freight chargeable weight calculator to get your estimate.

Express/Courier

International Express has used dimensional weight for parcels for many years, typically using a vol ratio of 1:5000, which is a dim factor of 139 cu in/lb. Recently some couriers, including DHL, FedEx, UPS, and USPS have started using dimensional weight for ground services.

Volumetric Weight Calculation for Sea Freight

Because LCL has a very low dim factor, a shipment going by LCL will have a higher volumetric weight than if it went by any other mode. This is why almost all LCL cost is dimensional (usually referred to as “per CBM”). Only very dense shipments, like a pallet of batteries, are charged by actual weight.

Paradoxically, LCL is usually the cheapest mode, but only because its lower charges per unit weight more than make up for its higher volumetric weight. Very light shipments are an exception. LCL’s low dim factor (along with a higher indirect cost ratio) usually means that air freight is cheaper.

Use our Ocean Freight Chargeable Calculator to get your estimate.

Truck LTL

Most US LTL freight shipment charging uses freight class rather than dimensional weight. Truckers using dimensional weight typically use a 194 or 250 dim factor.

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