Logic alone cannot move the front lines. Business improvement begins with relationship building × data analysis. — Challenges and lessons learned after moving from a foreign-affiliated forwarder to a startup —
1. The limits of manual processing felt at a large corporation
I am Natsumi Suzuki from the customs operations team at Shippio, Inc.
In my previous job, I was engaged in customs clearance work at a major foreign-affiliated forwarder. Because I jumped in without knowing anything about the logistics industry, I absorbed knowledge with a spirit of desperate determination.
I created over 200 declarations per month using internal systems, handled complex document preparation involving other laws and regulations, and worked on creating mechanisms for paperless operations within the department. It was four years of running recklessly as a "professional in customs practice" within the fast-paced environment of a large corporation.
While the work itself was very fulfilling, I hit a major wall at one point.
That was the "limit of manual processing by people."
As a mechanism unique to a large corporation, although we outsourced data entry and some customs tasks, the sheer volume of customs cases was something our own customs department could not handle alone. No matter how many new customers the internal sales team acquired, we had already reached our capacity limit, and customs departments across various regions were chasing overtime day after day.
“If I change jobs to another company as it is, I will just hit the same structural issues. If we don't fundamentally change the international logistics industry itself with the power of systems and AI, there is no future for this industry.” It was when I felt this keenly that I encountered Shippio.
Beyond just improving our own efficiency, I deeply resonated with the grand vision of “fundamentally evolving the way the international logistics industry works and transforming it into a data industry,” and I decided to take the plunge, wanting to commit to business creation in my late 20s.
2. The grittiness of a startup realized immediately after joining
Before joining, I had the image that “since it’s a digital forwarder, they must have a complete in-house system, all past records must be neatly digitized, and operations must be running smartly.”
However, when I actually jumped in, days of facing the “complex reality unique to the industry” were waiting for me.
Shippio’s in-house system is a wonderful product that realizes overwhelming visualization of logistics for customers. However, the “backside of the customs team” at the time I joined was in a transitional period accompanying the rapid growth of the business.
While the entire business was scaling through the system, there was the challenge of how to connect complex information arriving in disparate formats from various countries and companies into the system.
Therefore, at that time, the detailed status of cases handled by the customs team was not fully listed, and there were parts that had to be managed using proprietary spreadsheets as a “bridge” until real trade data could be incorporated into the system.
Also, the foundation for accurately linking vast amounts of past paper-based information digitally had not yet been completed, and it sometimes took about 20 minutes to check files one by one to accurately find the relevant past records.
It is not the case that “if you have a system, everything is solved like magic.” It is about creating, with our own hands, the foundation to move analog and complex trade data smoothly digitally in line with the growth speed of the business. That was the gritty yet passionate part of a startup.
While there were parts of my previous large company’s system that were “already completed,” when I learned this reality, instead of being disappointed, I felt my own challenging spirit ignited, thinking, “Because it is incomplete, there is room to create it with my own hands. Because it is difficult, it is interesting.”
3. “Building a house on an empty lot” — Gritty dialogue with the practical field —
For the customs team at the time, the man-hours spent on “answering inquiries” during daily operations were a very significant issue. This is because inquiries regarding document deficiencies or confirmation of items and prices cause cargo to stop at customs, leading to delays in delivery dates and the occurrence of demurrage.
In an environment like a startup where speed and maximum value are required for everything, and because I am in an operations department where mistakes are not allowed, I strongly felt, “I don’t want to make mistakes, I don’t want to do inefficient things, I want to seek perfection via the shortest route.”
Work at a large corporation is, if I were to use an analogy, thinking about how to spend time comfortably “inside a house that is already built.” It’s like buying high-performance furniture. However, work at a startup is like starting from choosing a location, “which land to build on,” and starting from thinking about what materials to use to build a house on an empty lot where nothing is built.
Because I sought perfection via the shortest route, I drew up goals that were too big, and at first, I was worried about how to proceed with my ideas.
What I had to face here was communication with everyone at the group company’s customs broker (Kyowa Kaiun) with whom we coordinate in practice.
At the beginning of joining the company, my desire to “solve issues quickly” took precedence, and I struggled with communication alignment because I could not sufficiently grasp the thinking and procedures of veteran employees who had built up reliable practical work over many years.
At that time, I received this advice from Mr. Matsumoto, the president of Kyowa Kaiun.
Don’t try to do big things all of a sudden. Start small.
Don’t try to advance things with just skills and knowledge; first, build a relationship of trust.
From here, my approach changed. I increased the time for dialogue little by little, such as by going out to eat with the employees of Kyowa Kaiun. As I did so, I felt that I was able to communicate smoothly and was able to consult on deeper business matters.
Only through this relationship building did the resolution of real practical work—such as “based on which past record (data) are the employees of Kyowa Kaiun asking questions?” and “what procedure are they using to create documents?”—increase, and we were able to align our steps toward unifying the achievements of both parties and creating a mechanism for advance checks.
4. Turning sensations into numbers. SQL acquisition and 50% reduction in inquiries
While dialogue with the field progressed, my own approach to business improvement also needed to evolve.
While being chased by vast daily tasks, I tended to rely on the sense-based value that “I feel like there are many inquiries like this.” However, the advice from my superior that “by clearly expressing it in numbers rather than sensations, you can steer in the direction you want to go correctly, and it becomes easier to gain the consensus of those around you” became the trigger for me to review my own approach.
From there, I made a fresh start and learned SQL myself to acquire and analyze the necessary data.
I thoroughly quantified the current state (As Is), such as “the total number of inquiries is XX, of which XX are document deficiencies. XX% decrease compared to the previous month.”
Furthermore, instead of improving the whole thing all at once, I narrowed the target to the “top 3 companies with many inquiries regarding document content” based on the extracted data and made a minimum start.
Specifically, I continued to rotate steady PDCA cycles that combined field hearings and data analysis, such as “performing a primary check (screening) at the time documents are uploaded to Shippio” and “listing and identifying inquiries regarding evaluation, price, and items from past history.”
In a startup where the impact of one’s own work output on customers is greater than in a large corporation, I always felt tension and anxiety, wondering, “Is this steady approach really correct?”
However, as a result of thorough advance screening with narrowed targets and alignment with Kyowa Kaiun, I was able to achieve the significant result of a “50% reduction in the number of inquiries from customs brokers.”
Building a house on an empty lot and verifying with numbers whether it is “a house that can really be lived in for a long time,” and producing results. This experience led to confidence in myself.
5. From a worker to a creator of mechanisms. Changed sense of fulfillment
Since joining Shippio, my sense of fulfillment in work has changed significantly.
During my time at a major foreign-affiliated forwarder, I felt personal achievement in “handling vast amounts of documents” in front of me and “completing difficult documents for other laws and regulations.”
However, now I rotate cycles to reduce the team’s pain based on data analysis, and I have come to feel a stronger sense of fulfillment than anything else when “the sense of achievement when results are actually produced” and “when I realize that work is definitely easier than before.”I realize that I have started to walk the path as a role that creates businesses and mechanisms, not just staying as a worker.
6. Conclusion
Operations are often thought of as a department that simply carries out prescribed tasks. However, at Shippio, the steady, practical challenges we face are the primary driving force for fundamentally updating the industry.
If you feel limited by the scope of what you can change with your own hands in your current environment,
If you want to experience the excitement of not just using a completed system, but building the mechanisms from the ground up,
If you are the type who gets fired up by difficult challenges,
If you share the same frustrations or ambitions I once had, why not come and build it with us?
Creating the future of international logistics with our own hands. We are waiting for colleagues who can enjoy such a challenge together!