ELSC offers two prestigious awards to Safexpress
The Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Conclave 2009, held on 17-18th September at Taj Lands End in Mumbai has honored Safexpress with two highly prestigious Awards for the ‘Best Supply Chain Company of the year’ and the ‘Best Logistics Provider of the year’.
These Awards were decided on the basis of a Research conducted by A.C. Nielsen and were put forth to the ELSC Advisory Council comprising luminaries from Top Supply Chain & Logistics companies across Asia, who eventually chose the winners from the nominated finalists on the basis of specific performance parameters.
This prestigious event of the Supply Chain & Logistics industry in India aims to bring together all the top Industry Leaders at a common meeting point so that they can share their knowledge about the emerging trends in the Asian Supply Chain, issues that are affecting the industry and understanding the Supply Chain opportunities and efficiencies at the time of Global Economic slowdown.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Vineet Kanaujia, GM – Marketing, Safexpress, who was also awarded with the ‘professional of the year award, said, “It’s a matter of immense pride and honor for us to have received these Awards. We are working very hard to provide the best Supply Chain practices to our esteemed customers who have shown their loyalty towards our services over the last decade. Our company has built and nurtured customers’ trust as well as loyalty through its customized solutions and dedicated services. The business model of the company and the way it operates is what distinguishes Safexpress from its competitors.”
Mr. Kanaujia explained the journey of the success of Safexpress saying, “Our strategy for growth revolves around adding maximum value to its customers at every level, right from providing world-class Warehousing support to managing Time-definite Express Deliveries. Over the years, Safexpress has been relentlessly working towards carving its own niche in the Supply Chain & Logistic space, which has made the company stand out in a league of its own”.
Subscribe to the comments for this postBuBuGao to deploy Manhattan Associates’ WMS to improve its SC efficiency
Acknowledged as one of China’s top 100 ChainGlobal supply, TBetter Life Commercial Chain Share Co Ltd (BuBuGao) is a leading operator of supermarkets and department stores in China operating more than 100 stores in Hunan and Jiangxi Province and employing over 30,000 staffs. Manhattan Associates(R) excels in providing global supply chain excellence to more than 1,200 customers worldwide that consider supply chain optimization core to their strategic market leadership.
Now Manhattan Associates, Inc. has announced that Hunan-based BuBuGao has chosen Manhattan Associates to improve supply chain efficiency and data integrity through the deployment of Manhattan Associates’ Warehouse Management Solution (WMS).
This solution will be implemented in BuBuGao’s warehouses across the Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces enabling the company to streamline operations, reduce costs and
most importantly ensure data integrity throughout its supply chain. Manhattan Associates will enable BuBuGao to optimize its entire replenishment process by automating time-consuming steps such as order preparation, stock checking and data analysis.
Peng Xiong, IT director of Better Life Commercial Chain Share Co Ltd said, “Data accuracy and integrity is essential and must not be compromised. Manhattan Associates’ system will give us centralized control over our operations and significantly improved data visibility and accuracy. With its complete inventory management capabilities, we will be able to track data on every unit and improve the accuracy of every order we fulfill. In addition, the rock-solid stability and rich functionality of the WMS will enable us to reduce the man-hours and costs associated with distribution planning, improve our retail operations and ultimately increase overall customer satisfaction levels.”
“We provide our customers with proven, value-added distribution management and warehouse optimization technologies that support mission-critical business needs,” said Jeff Baum, Manhattan Associates’ senior vice president, International (Asia Pacific). “With our WMS, BuBuGao will be able to replace its legacy systems with a centralized platform that enables warehouses to share information and allows workflows to be integrated across the company.”
The 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting will be held in Toronto
The U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) is holding its 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Toronto, Canada, from September 22 to 25. The meeting will deal in important issues relating to the quality of food and drugs, global supply chain management, the challenges of creating follow-on biologics and nanotechnology for drug delivery. With an involvement of more than 200 experts from all over the world, this scientific involvement will focus on such topics as the special challenges posed by biologic products, bioterrorism and advanced techniques for detecting protein, among many others.
“We have a strong international roster of top scientific and regulatory experts in pharmaceuticals, food, biotechnology and measurement,” said Roger L. Williams, M.D., chief executive officer of USP. “Navigating the complexities of global supply chain management, quality of food ingredients and understanding how measurement science can be utilized are key to ensuring the quality and safety of the world’s medicines and food ingredients. I’m looking forward to a rigorous and forward-moving discussion.”
Current economic times are facing a lot of challenges in quality of drugs and foods which need to be addressed urgently, viz. melamine in food products, adulterated heparin, and diethylene glycol in cough syrups and toothpaste –and so on. As such this year’s ASM is especially timely and critical.
A special pre-ASM session will be held on Tuesday on Adulteration and Contamination: Technologies of the Future. This will emphasize on the importance of emerging technologies in protecting the global supply of food and drugs. Speakers include Steve Choquette from the National Institute of Standards and Technology on spectral identification, which allow more precise identification of substandard materials; David Hale from the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine on advanced imaging/high resolution photography; and Anthony Zook from Merck & Company on advanced detection of suspected counterfeit drugs.
Boeing and Damco sign MOU for development of global SCM tools
Boeing, a unit of the US-based the Boeing Company, and Danish logistics company Damco, part of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, have joined hands for the development of industrial and technological logistics tools to assist global supply chain management.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and have released a joint statement saying that this MOU will help them improve efficiency and effectiveness in the multi-billion dollar supply chain optimisation market.
The statement said, “The two companies will explore opportunities to use the Boeing-developed Joint Logistics Command and Control Environment (JLC2E) modelling and simulation tool to expand into commercial markets and incorporate Damco’s expertise in supply chain management.”
It was also explained in the statement that Boeing’s state-of-the-art JLC2E tool allowed defence customers to “experiment and evaluate supply chain tactics, processes and technologies to support current and future complex defence missions”. Also that Damco could benefit from Boeing’s status as the largest exporter in the US through future freight forwarding opportunities as Boeing had shipped more than $350m in aerospace goods and services globally in 2008.
Advanced Supply Chain International completes its rebranding process
Advanced Supply Chain International (ASCI), originally founded as Alaska Supply Chain Integrators, has completed the total rebranding process of its company after a full year with its fully redesigned website, along with a new company name, logo, and corporate slogan. ASCI has shown a growth in its international clientele and expanded global presence getting the honor of being the leading global supply chain provider.
The newly made website of ASCI prides in extensive graphic and user-interface updates, and a number of features and content useful to current and potential customers, job seekers, and the media also featuring white papers, case studies, frequent job postings, and a newsroom.
ASCI VP of Business Development Mike Schwarz said, “While ASCI is extremely pleased with this new identity, our rebranding goes well beyond, signifying an entirely new way of doing business. ASCI is taking a proactive business approach by aggressively pursuing the managed services business sector. Our services exceed those currently offered in the industry, which justifies this highly-competitive approach.”
“We’re proud to launch this innovative site reflecting the new face of ASCI,” said ASCI President and COO, Scott Hawkins, adding, “We’re a cutting edge technology company, and needed a brand and web presence demonstrating such. Although we have adopted a sleeker look and a user-friendly format, our world-class performance and commitment to continuous improvement remain unchanged.”
Why do supply chains collapse?
With the world becoming a global village day by day, the supply chain serving international economies are becoming increasingly interlinked and interwoven with the effect that if one link is severed, then it causes a collapse of the entire chain. The causes for the collapse of the supply chain are many. Some of them cam be listed down as:
With the cut down in consumer spendings, the supply chains suffer due to deprivation of global economies of credit financing. Financial services industry continues to be impacted by the global economic crisis — impacting all aspects and areas of the business and supply management.
Another factor which can lead to the collapse of a supply chain is when a particular supplier decides to go out of business when it cannot weather the storm. Loss of key vendors in the supply chain disrupts the entire chain.
Geopolitical situations like collapse of a government, change in government policies or may be an attack by a terrorist organization to a major seaport, all could lead to the collapse of a supply chain.
If damage is caused to product reputation or a brand connected to a global supply chain, due to unlawful business practices (such as child labor, or poor labor and environmental practices) can lead to the disruption of a supply chain.
Natural disasters like a hurricane or earthquake can have a destabilizing impact on a manufacturer’s ability to procure vital raw materials and meet customer orders. This can lead to a collapse of a supply chain.
Collapse of supply chains can be prevented by taking steps such as quality control, reviewing current practices and identifying areas of potential exposure to risk, adhering to safety stocks of finished goods to minimize the impact of demand variability, managing available capacity within the manufacturing location, and the ability to standardize operations in any location where a manufacturing organization is sourcing the same parts from the same vendor or multiple vendors.
SAP AG honored with the 2009 F&S Global SCM Product Quality Leadership of the Year Award
SAP AG, the market leader in the SCM market, has been honored with the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Global Supply Chain Management (SCM) Product Quality Leadership of the Year Award for zeal in superior product quality and meeting the supply chain requirements of all types of businesses. Due to its commitment to customer satisfaction, its SCM customer base has increased by 8 percent from 2007 to 2008.
Be it the field of automotive, or aerospace and defense, chemicals, consumer products, hi-tech, telecommunications, logistics, or oil and gas, SAP(R) Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) application, provides the organizations with the unique ability to perform essential business processes with modular software that is designed to work with other SAP and non-SAP software.
Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Archana Rajagopalan.says, “With companies increasingly focusing on making their supply chain lean, SAP AG is found to reduce the inventory levels effectively by 10.0 to 70.0 percent. With a 30 percent increase in the forecasting accuracy observed by customers, SAP SCM is found to offer return on investment (ROI) within six months of its implementation even as SAP SCM implementation has been observed to enable 99 percent inventory accuracy.”
“SAP enables improved cash flow for its clients since lower inventory levels directly translate to reduced overall logistics cost,” adds Rajagopalan. “Its solutions also support higher margins for clients.”
Other outstanding services from SAP include SAP(R) Enterprise Support services, SAP(R) MaxAttention(TM) support, SAP(R) Safeguarding services, the SAP(R) Solution Manager application management solution and SAP(R) Test Data Migration Server software.
“SAP is honored to receive this award, and believes that it is a testament to our long history in the supply chain space and our continued effort to deliver innovation to our customers ever evolving supply networks,” says Lori Mitchell-Keller, Senior Vice President, Suite Solution Management at SAP. “As a core application solution of SAP Business Suite, we believe that SAP SCM enables companies with fluctuating demand or high product complexity to sense and respond faster and smarter to demand and supply dynamics across a diverse global network”.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards are awarded to companies in a variety of regional and global markets for their performance and achievement in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Performance are measured and compared through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.
Ocean carriers in for a rate hike
Depression has hit the ocean shipping industry hard and the companies have been forced to either downsize their rates below variable costs or take their vessels off-line.
However, after it became impossible for companies to run on lower rates, many carriers raised their prices modestly in July and then again at the beginning of August. After doing so they realized that they could now hold the new rates which are profitable as well as sustainable.
This has encouraged many carriers to introduce further rate hikes starting September 1, and then still more into October. For example, Maersk Line, which had hiked its rates in July, will raise freight rates for cargo moving from Northern Europe to the United States and Canada by $400 for a 20-foot equivalent unit, and $500 for 40-foot equivalent units and 45 foot boxes, effective September 1.
Announcing rate hikes on other routes effective October 1, Maersk will hike the rates for freight shipped from the Mediterranean and North Africa to the United States and Canada by $300 per container. The increases are for both dry and reefer cargo.
Overhead bridge cranes save cost and floor space
Among the various material handling solutions available in the market, one option is the ceiling mounted workstation cranes generically called “overhead bridge cranes”. Apart from managing and maximizing productivity, these cranes have an added advantage of being comparatively inexpensive.
Overhead crane systems are ideal for floors have limited work space as they can provide necessary coverage without the use of support columns. These can also be used by linking together many ceiling mounted systems with a monorail or another crane that uses interlock sections.
However, before you choose a crane system you need to consult a qualified architect or engineer to decide if building structure is able to support overhead crane systems. Secondly, you should consider the crane capacity. The higher the capacity, the more load weight. In comparison to manual cranes, motorized systems can be used effectively if the application requires moving heavier loads.
Also decide the height, width, and length before installing an overhead crane solution. Height is measured from the floor to the point from which a hoist is suspended, while the length of a crane runway is determined by the specific area requiring coverage. Width of an overhead crane is determined by the length of the bridge between the centers of two runways.
To conclude, overhead cranes are the best solutions when your business needs handling of materials at low costs but the crane solution you select should truly be the best fit for your business needs.
Emergence of SCI Group Inc. to provide SC solutions
A unified brand called SCI Group Inc. headquartered in Toronto has evolved from the Canadian supply chain company that began as Progistix Solutions by combining AMG Logistics, Assured Logistics and First Team Transport. Featuring blue and red as its corporate colors, the company has created its unique unified brand design.
Jim Eckler, president and CEO of SCI Group, says that this new, integrated brand reinforces the company’s market position as an end-to-end provider of supply chain solutions to business, retail and industrial customers.
“By uniting all of our operations under one solid brand and through our revamped web sites, we are letting our customers know that we are a strong, stable company with multiple capabilities across a wide range of supply chain management services,” he says. “As the SCI Group, we can offer the convenience of an integrated solution using technology and advanced supply chain practices resulting in cost savings and streamlining of logistics and administrative functions.”
The three supporting brands involved in the SCI Group include Progistix Solutions Inc., which offers highly specialized service parts logistics solutions for technology and industrial businesses, SCI Logistics Ltd. for supply chain services for manufacturers and retailers with direct-to-store, business-to-consumer and business-to-business fulfillment requirements and First Team Transport Inc., which provides contract and dedicated transportation services for high-value products as well as general transportation management solutions throughout Canada. SCI Logistics Ltd. has been formed after the merger of the AMG Logistics and Assured Logistics brands.
SCI Group is a member of the Canada Post Group of Companies and a leading provider of high value-add supply chain solutions offering business-to-consumer, business-to-business and field service logistics solutions to organizations in the retail, utilities, high-tech, health care and manufacturing sectors.