Air & Parcel Audit Identifies CHF 600K in Annual Savings with CHF 179K Already Realized

Company Profile

Industry

Industrial Machinery & Equipment

Headquarters

Switzerland

Annual Revenue

Approx. CHF 800 Million / year

Annual Freight Spend

~CHF 20 Million / year

Focus Area

Spare Parts & Aftermarket Logistics

The Challenge

The company shipped thousands of spare parts globally via air freight and parcel carriers, but had no automated way to verify whether invoiced charges matched contracted rates. Spend and volume data was extremely difficult to retrieve from SAP, making cost analysis nearly impossible. Shipments were often sent using incorrect Incoterms, lightweight parcels were routed through expensive air freight carriers instead of cheaper parcel services, and carriers applied unfavourable foreign exchange rates — all invisible without line-item level invoice auditing. The true cost split was unknown: roughly 70% freight and 30% unforeseen surcharges.

Our Approach

Intellyse audited 568 invoices covering 3,375 shipments across 3 carriers (2 air freight, 1 express/parcel) over a 5-month period, analysing CHF 1.16M in freight spend. Every line item was validated against contracted rates, Incoterm guidelines, weight thresholds, and FX benchmarks to identify overpayments, misallocations, and optimization opportunities.

5 months

Pilot Duration

568

Invoices Audited

3,375 shipments

Line Items Checked

3

Carriers Audited

CHF 1.16M (CHF 2.78M/year)

Spend Analysed

Air Freight & Parcel/Express

Transport Mode

1

Month 1–2

Platform Launch

3 carriers onboarded, tariff ingestion

2

Month 3–4

Analysis & Findings

3,375 shipments processed

3

Month 5

Actions & Savings

CHF 179K/yr realized, credit notes claimed

Key Results

Savings identified across 3 carriers in a 5 months pilot

~CHF 600K

Yearly Savings Identified

CHF 179K/yr

Savings Already Realized

CHF 8K

Credit Notes Recovered

150+

Hours Saved per Year

~70% Freight + ~30% Surcharges

Cost Transparency

Under 1 year

ROI Timeline

CHF 179K/year already realized (weight threshold + credit notes). Remaining opportunities in active implementation.

What We Found

Deep-dive into the key saving opportunities uncovered during the audit

1

Lightweight Shipments via Wrong Carrier

459 shipments under 45 kg were routed through an expensive air freight carrier instead of a significantly cheaper parcel/express service. By applying a simple weight threshold rule, the optimal carrier mix reduced costs from CHF 118,600 to CHF 47,000 for the same shipments. This action has been implemented — the shipping department now uses the parcel carrier for all sub-45 kg shipments.

CHF 171K

Yearly saving

459 in 5 months

Affected shipments

60% on affected routes

Cost reduction

Realized

Status

Recommended Actions

→Weight threshold rule implemented — sub-45 kg shipments now routed to parcel carrier

2

Incorrect Incoterms (DDP instead of CIF/CPT)

209 shipments were sent using DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) instead of the company’s standard CIF/CPT terms. This meant the company was absorbing destination charges, overseas duties, taxes, and storage fees that should have been paid by the customer. Switching to the correct Incoterms eliminates these avoidable costs entirely.

CHF 370K

Yearly saving opportunity

209 in 5 months

DDP shipments found

Duties, taxes, storage

Avoidable surcharges

Recommended Actions

→Incoterm compliance enforced — duties and taxes now paid by customer where applicable

3

Unfavourable Foreign Exchange Rates

Rate cards were denominated in EUR, CNY, INR, and USD, but invoices were billed in CHF. The carrier applied its own FX rates instead of ECB reference rates, resulting in 5–8% higher costs on currency conversion. By paying carriers in local currency through the company’s own bank, these inflated FX margins are eliminated.

CHF 42K

Yearly saving opportunity

5–8% above ECB rates

FX markup

Recommended Actions

→Pay carriers in local currency via own bank to use favourable FX rates

4

Duplicate Handling & Pick-Up Surcharges

Every email pre-alert to the carrier triggered handling and pick-up surcharges — even when multiple alerts were for the same shipment. 77 shipments were affected by duplicate surcharges within the pilot period. Consolidating pre-alerts to a maximum of one per shipment eliminates these unnecessary fees.

CHF 15K

Yearly saving opportunity

77

Affected shipments

Recommended Actions

→Pre-alert process optimized — maximum one notification per shipment to avoid duplicate surcharges

Before & After

6 gaps identified. Intellyse closes every one.

Before

With Intellyse

Before

✕Spend and volume data extremely difficult to retrieve from SAP

With Intellyse

✓Immediate spend and volume analysis across all carriers and shipments

Before

✕Manual invoice checks consuming significant staff time

With Intellyse

✓Fully automated auditing — 150+ hours per year saved

Before

✕No visibility on true cost split between freight and surcharges

With Intellyse

✓Full transparency: ~70% freight + ~30% surcharges clearly separated

Before

✕Lightweight parcels routed through expensive air freight carriers

With Intellyse

✓Weight threshold optimization — CHF 171K/year realized by using the right carrier

Before

✕Incorrect Incoterms causing the company to absorb customer duties and taxes

With Intellyse

✓Incoterm compliance enforced — CHF 370K/year in avoidable costs identified

Before

✕No visibility on non-negotiated lanes or FX rate markups

With Intellyse

✓Full transparency on all lanes, surcharges, and carrier FX margins

Company Profile

The Challenge

Our Approach

Key Results

What We Found

Lightweight Shipments via Wrong Carrier

Incorrect Incoterms (DDP instead of CIF/CPT)

Unfavourable Foreign Exchange Rates

Duplicate Handling & Pick-Up Surcharges

Credit Note Recovery

Before & After

What the Team Says

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