Graeme Lazarus, joint MD of RAM Hand-to-Hand Couriers, says courier companies help to close off the last mile of the supply chain by delivering products quicker in a climate where the trend is to move products as fast as possible without carrying stock.
"The speed of courier services makes the supply chain more efficient."
He says the trend of purchasing goods on the internet has had a major influence on supply chain requirements.
Eddie Vosloo, CEO of Dawn Wing, says companies want more from a courier operator than pure delivery, including the ability to import goods from any country. This encompasses the collection and transportation of goods, custom clearance on arrival, customs bonded functionality, warehouse management and final distribution.
He says the ability to provide a bonded facility requires a supporting infrastructure and the courier company has to go through an accreditation process and put up guaranties.
Once items are cleared through customs, customers often expect their courier company to check them and distribute them to the end customers. Also, they might expect warehousing, stock control and insurance services.
"All the bigger courier companies have warehousing facilities," says Vosloo.
Andy van der Velde, MD of Berco Express, says to secure global accounts local courier companies need to be able to offer facilities such as warehousing, clearing and forwarding, and international shipping, and even have staff located at large customer sites.
They need IT systems that provide complete visibility of the supply chain to them and their customers and the ability to advise customers on how to improve their supply chain processes and reduce costs.
"We even help our customers to analyse the profitability of their customers," he says.
Van der Velde says Berco saved a company R250000 a month by helping to streamline its delivery process.
Gary Marshall, CEO and chairman of the SA Express Parcel Association, says more expensive warehousing has benefited the courier industry, giving rise to demand for more frequent product delivery.
Coupled with this, retailers now have the systems in place to track customer buying trends and predict demand more accurately. This enables them to hold less stock in their shops, which they need to do because buying trends are changing so fast, says Marshall.
"Stock obsolescence and redundancy requires products to be moved quickly."
Ken Light, executive head for SkyNet Worldwide Express, says the continual move from document delivery to product delivery has been challenging because companies have had to change how they operate.
"Delivering product is far more complex."
He says this trend has positioned courier companies at the end of the supply chain as the link between suppliers and retailers, and this requires flexibility and agility. In the past it was possible to forecast stock replenishment requirements well ahead, but this is no longer possible due to fast-changing consumer buying patterns.
As a result, courier companies need to have a constant view of the products as they move up and down the supply chain to enable them to react quickly to changing service requirements, according to Light.
Tim Steel, MD for SA at TNT Express, says today it is common practice for companies to get larger courier operators to deliver a consignment from a factory on the other side of the world directly to a customer in SA instead of involving many supply chain entities.
"China is our fastest growing trading partner," says Steel. Consignments are shipped from the factory in China through TNT's road network in the country to its gateway at a major airport.
From there it is shipped to Johannesburg and delivered to the end customer across SA using a combination of road and air transport.
"It takes longer by road, but it is about 15% cheaper than air," says Steel.
He says the goods are scanned at each touch point and the customer gets a guaranteed transit time and has the ability to monitor the progress of the particular goods as they move through the supply chain.
At the other end of the scale, emergency deliveries may be required, sometimes involving a member of staff travelling overseas, fetching the item and delivering it to the customer, says Steel.
Source: Business Day
For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.
We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.
Go to: http://www.inet.co.za
