Rockville, Md. — Even for distributors, global trade is increasing. Many domestic companies have moved some of their manufacturing operations offshore which means that suppliers may provide certain products to foreign plants.

"It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies not specializing in global trade to purchase or sell goods internationally," said analyst Jerry McNerney of AMR Research, Inc., in Boston. "Even companies that do limited international trade need a certain level of capability."

This is difficult due to increasingly complicated regulations, he said. Companies that can't keep a bank of lawyers on staff often rely entirely on third party brokers.

"It makes sense to automate these processes," said McNerney. "Nextlinx offers automated global trade management solutions that simplify and automate the preparation and filing of the documents, licenses and permits required for international shipping."

AMR follows Rockville, Md.-based Nextlinx Corp., which provides content and Web services-based global trade applications. Nextlinx works with companies like FedEx Corp. to provide the content detailing documents, licenses and restrictions, he said.

"With increasing concerns about national security, better management of documentation is needed," said McNerney. "Companies like Nextlinx are an important component in assuring compliance."

"Nextlinx can optimize supply chain costs and streamline the process so products are not held up in customs," said Nextlinx COO Darren Maynard. "Companies can significantly reduce buffer stock levels when shipments are easily cleared through customs."

Tariffs and trade relationships like NAFTA are very complicated, but Nextlinx allows companies to manage landed costs, said Maynard. Certain common goods may require special certificates and documents. Nextlinx assures that shippers do not suffer penalties by inadvertently violating regulations.

Relying on third party brokers for international trade can be expensive. It costs 15 percent or more, said McNerney.

"Rather than replace relationships with brokers, automating the paperwork drives down the costs for customers and brokers," said Maynard. "It also means the distributor does not have to rely entirely on the broker. Nextlinx works with the existing backend systems and the customer retains all of the electronic documents and transaction information."