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Universities all over the US are faced with the task and challenge of shipping important documents like the I-20 to international students all across the world. The I-20 form cannot be scanned or photocopied, which means universities must mail the form to the student. Here lies some challenges:
Cost
Universities normally use express mail or expedited mail when sending these forms. This can be expensive when sending documents internationally. Not all schools want to pay for the shipping and, therefore, require students to. To do that the school has to bill the student for the shipping cost by gathering credit card information or use another mean of getting the payment information.
Accuracy
In addition to having to collect the payment, universities have to gather the shipping information from the student. This can often result in errors in the shipping address.
Time
This is self-evident given the first two challenges. For the shipment of just one I-20, university staff needs to collect and write down payment and shipping information. They also must print out shipping labels, often one at a time. The entire process can be very time consuming.
UEMS, University Express Mail Service, by eShipGlobal helps simplify this process. It is an online solution that allows students to pay for shipping labels on requested documents. University staff can print labels in batch all through the UEMS system. Better yet, It does not cost the school or the student to sign-up/register for UEMS and students can save money with eShipGlobal’s discounted shipping rates. They can also choose which carrier available to them that they want to ship through and how fast they want the shipment.
For larger universities or universities with multiple departments, eShipGlobal has another solution which includes UEMS. Their Enterprise solution can provide more visibility and management of the shipping process across multiple departments or systems. It is a customizable solution that allows universities to manage their outbound shipping, connect and manage their own carrier accounts, and it consolidates invoicing.
The web-based solution integrates with financial, ERP or 3rd party legacy systems and allows universities to look at past orders and receive reports on shipping analytics. Anyone or any department connected to the system will be able to compare the carrier rates based on the universities carrier discounts, saving them more money.
Universities can also add-on to the Enterprise solution with packages like:
- The Export Control Package, which helps universities ship internationally in compliance with government regulations: ITAR, EAR, etc.
- The Inbound Package, which provides universities with more control over inbound shipping.
- Supply Chain Analysis Service, which is a more in-depth analysis of universities shipping data to provide meaningful insights into their shipping habits and spending.
Shipping should not be difficult, which is why eShipGlobal aims to simplify the process while saving their users money and time.
By Ashleigh Cue
