JAS Worldwide is pleased to be recognized by the Johnson Controls Company as its 2021 Freight Forwarder Carrier of the Year. Johnson Controls is the global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings and has partnered with JAS to reach its customers around the world.  

JAS’ global JCI team received this award in November 2021 on behalf of JAS Worldwide as well as the JAS USA offices, specifically Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, and Nashville branches. Johnson Controls recognized JAS for its unique solutions throughout 2021 and for helping to routinely meet revenue recognition goals.  

JAS looks forward to growing its partnership with Johnson Controls in the years to come.    

About JAS Worldwide

JAS was founded in 1978 in Milan, Italy. Over the last four decades, JAS has grown from regional roots to a global force in freight forwarding. Today, the company covers 100+ countries between JAS offices and official agents and has over 5,000 employees globally.

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The Panama Canal revolutionized shipping and world commerce over a 100 years ago. But in 2021, the bicoastal country of Panama is expanding its strategic location by becoming a regional logistics hub. Because it has plenty of competitive advantages for international corporations, it stands apart from other ports in Latin America.

Today, the goals for JAS Panama are clear: to develop its hub-related services in the Central, South American, and Caribbean regions as well as to exponentially grow operations by 2024. This will lead the way to increase the JAS presence in the near future.

The actions JAS Panama has taken over the last six years have been key in getting operations on the right path. JAS Panama has located a better and bigger warehouse at the Colón Free Zone on the Atlantic coast, attracting global accounts to set up their regional distribution hub. This is the case with companies like Ricoh, one of JAS Panama's top local clients. JAS is expanding its Panama cargo consolidation services as well, broadening the reach within the area, taking advantage of the reduced transit times for regional distribution, either from Europe or Asia.  

Over 80 major shipping lines connect Panama with all regional ports. The ports of Atlantic (4,454,902 TEU), and the Pacific (3,161,657 TEU), just an hour apart by land, are the top 2 most active port clusters in LATAM. Using Colón as the JAS Panama hub, the average transit times for inbound and outbound ocean freight cargo improve considerably which allows companies to experience a faster time to market. Panama City’s Tocumen Airport is also the best connected in the region, covering over 100 destinations and 132,000 annual flights.

Moving cargo through Panama’s Free Zone is duty-free for all imports and exports, with the added advantage that income tax is greatly reduced via government incentives. This has led many multinational companies to establish their regional headquarters in Panama, which in turn has created a positive impact for local shipping and logistics industries.

Colón is the second biggest free zone in the world after Hong Kong and its market share continues to grow at a steady pace. A few years ago, the Panama Canal expansion widened its route to accommodate post Panamax vessels. This has provided new avenues for global commerce.  

Following the JAS industry support philosophy, regional clients include companies from varied industries such as telecommunications, computer technology, business solutions, manufacturing, and food & beverage. JAS has also been able to grow within the e-commerce market, putting the company on the map and providing experience that will surely benefit JAS' global operations.

There is a great deal to say about Panama, a “hub of hubs”, as some experts call it, and all its benefits for JAS Worldwide and our ever-growing family of clients.

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JAS Laredo opened in 2015 as a sales office dedicated to increasing the JAS cross-border traffic. Laredo offers JAS Worldwide a solid strategic location where the company can grow and increase its presence on both sides of the U.S. - Mexican border. This branch also creates solutions and acts as additional support for the JAS Worldwide network.  

JAS Laredo started as part of the JAS Houston Branch before becoming a satellite office. The move was made in conjunction with JAS McAllen, where their significant efforts contributed to JAS McAllen receiving a nomination for branch of the year in 2019. JAS Laredo focuses on selling cross-border business. Their specialties include transportation and US-Mexico customs brokerage, with a strong footprint in distribution and warehousing services.  

With much operational growth in 2017, Customs Entry Specialist Laura “Rocio” Enriquez joined the team.  She brings with her more than 10 years of experience in US/MX customs brokerage. With the support of JAS Compliance and Enriquez’s natural drive, the team has excelled in this area, building valuable and trusting relationships.  

In February 2021, the Laredo team moved into a state-of-the-art facility with direct access to third-party warehouses. JAS Laredo has two warehouses at its disposal, each one with about 60,000 square feet with 1,000 pallet positions. Under the leadership of Antonio Pastrana, Branch Manager, the Laredo team adopted an admirable understanding of the market and the intricacies of dealing with the United States and Mexican governments. The boutique concept to selling along the southern border and the consultancy approach with JAS Laredo’s customers has brought on new business and a newfound demand for the products and services offered.  

The Laredo team has proven expertise and true skill in establishing cross-border solutions, which has enabled JAS to stand out against its competitors, particularly in this volatile market. The Laredo team currently operates a distribution model for two of its key global customers, utilizing the customers’ systems and acting as an extension of their operations.  

Monica Ortiz, the Operational Supervisor, brings more than 20 years of experience in freight forwarding to the team. She specializes in 4-wall distribution and logistics, which supports JAS Laredo’s efforts in providing these additional services in Laredo while maintaining an impressive 98.5 percent inventory accuracy.  

Tracy Garcia, Transportation Supervisor, was JAS Laredo’s first hire, with years of experience in trucking and ground transportation from the carrier and broker/forwarder side of the business. Tracy’s impact on the JAS Laredo operation became clear immediately. Her level of dedication and enthusiasm is commendable. Regularly going the extra mile to ensure that our internal and external customers are satisfied, she provides a level of contagious positivity. Garcia is a team member who makes a difference.  

The JAS Laredo team is incredibly pleased with the developments taking place within the branch. JAS Laredo handles a vast customer portfolio of locally controlled and developed businesses. JAS Laredo provides trucking services, together with US and MX customs brokerage via multiple border crossings.  Similarly, JAS Laredo provides ground transportation services from multiple pick-up points in Mexico.

Like JAS Miami, the Laredo team has access to an FTZ (Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc.). This activation also allows JAS Laredo to provide specialized services related to FTZ operations. For legal purposes, this space is outside the customs territory of the United States, which provides the opportunity to offer weekly entry services, duty deferral for import goods, and duty eliminations for some export goods while also providing cost-saving measures. These are major benefits when operating along the border.

The Laredo team has gained a unique perspective from our Mexican brokerage side, truly operating in a cohesive manner, which has certainly allowed for the development of detailed and targeted solutions for our clients. The Laredo team is expanding by exceeding the industry standard. I am grateful to the team for their efforts in continuously remaining innovative and committed to our customers.

Congratulations JAS Laredo, what an inspiring branch! At JAS People Make the Difference!" Eugenio Fumo, CEO JAS USA

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March 2020, Miami, and many of the surrounding counties in Florida (USA) faced new mandates and government regulations due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which posed a difficult challenge for JAS Miami. Like many JAS branches the work environment changed suddenly- as did the needs of customers. With some adjustments, endless enthusiasm and positive karma, JAS Miami was able to grow considerably in 2020, gaining more business through some major existing clients, as well as launching new projects and strengthening the JAS network into Latin America (LATAM). That network is important for JAS overall because JAS Miami is the main access point into LATAM and through this JAS USA Gateway almost 4.5 million kilos of cargo are moved from APAC (Asia Pacific) and Europe to LATAM and the Caribbean.

In October 2020, JAS announced additional weekly Flight Operations, Chicago – Atlanta & Miami. This new service is provided to further support customers in the Americas Region, which also includes mid-week departures to LATAM. JAS Miami operates diligently with JAS Chicago, as they are both official HUBS for JAS, receiving weekly trucks of consolidated freight destined for many LATAM locations. This process is rather complex and requires some of the finest positioning between all areas, requiring the customer service team to closely monitor freight through C1, where shipments are processed from origin. The warehouse team then receives, segregates, and repacks as needed in preparation for the destination country.

A long time JAS Miami customer approached JAS to handle the deployment & retrieval of all voting machines in Los Angeles County, this task was completed thanks to the support of JAS LAX; additionally, JAS Miami coordinated the logistics for two overseas elections in 2020. These projects were of great significance and importance for JAS USA, and JAS is proud to be a part of this process.

JAS Miami also coordinated the logistics of a major mobile phone launch for LATAM, supporting one of the largest distribution groups in the region. These are the same visionaries who made the Colon Free Zone a reality, the world’s second largest free trade zone.

JAS Miami’s dedication to our customers and capability to meet their growing needs, while operating meticulously to aggressively expand our network is remarkable and receives my utmost appreciation." Eugenio Fumo, CEO, JAS USA

The JAS Miami Branch has recently been activated as an FTZ (Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc.). This activation gives JAS Miami the opportunity to provide specialized services related to FTZ operations.  As an active FTZ, the JAS Miami facility has a section of floor space which is for legal purposes outside the customs territory of the United States, this allows JAS Miami to offer weekly entry services, duty deferral opportunities for import goods and duty eliminations for some export goods.  Weekly entry services may provide significant opportunities for clients to reduce costs and streamline their supply chain. FTZs offer the broadest flexibility for all bonded type facilities in the US.

During the last 3 years, under the guidance and leadership of Maria Emilia Davila (aka MED) JAS Miami continues to advance and evolve, often recognized, and valued by other JAS offices in LATAM as instrumental leaders they can rely on daily. JAS Miami’s collaboration and efforts within the region are exceptional, JAS envisions much success in 2021 from the Miami team!  

At JAS People Make the Difference! #JASTRONG

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JAS takes pride in going the extra mile and making a difference for our customers. This time, the JAS team was able to make a critical difference for an Automotive Tier1 customer by helping them prevent a plant shutdown and saving them thousands of dollars.

On Tuesday, December 8, at 10:54 AM the customer contacted JAS telling the team that it had moved some parts which were, unfortunately, misrouted by another Air Integrator, and the imminently needed part had end up in Honolulu. The customer needed to expedite another box from Florida to Texas and deliver it across the border to Tamaulipas, Mexico the same day in order to prevent a plant shut down for two of their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customer's production lines.

Within hours, the JAS team had proposed a solution, on-board courier service, with two routing options to pick-up and deliver the box within the required timeline. The customer approved and at 10:02 PM on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 the package was delivered to the customer and they were ready to take the parts to Mexico.

Having the right team of experts who can communicate and create solutions in time constrained situations is one of the many qualities that keeps customers coming back to JAS, because JAS people truly do make the difference.

Job well done and congratulations to the JAS team! We are proud to continue to make the difference for our customers!

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JAS Worldwide is pleased to announce that Parker Hannifin has awarded JAS Worldwide its coveted Forwarder of the Year award. Parker Hannifin, founded in 1917, supplies the globe with precision engineered solutions. They are a Fortune 250 global leader in industries ranging from aerospace and climate control to filtration and automation.

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In past years, this commendation has been awarded to various leaders in the forwarding industry including JAS in 2017; which makes this year's selection of JAS for the second time in 4 years, all that more significant. Parker scored JAS for its numerous attributes including operational KPIs, innovative solutions & continual improvements, compliance, and overall market competitiveness.

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As the recipient of the 2020 Forwarder of the Year award, JAS is proud to support Parker Hannifin by providing global multi-modal solutions.

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