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The future of logistics goes into the second round

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

On August 6, the second round of DHL Fast Forward, the first worldwide logistics business simulation, will get underway.

Round one saw more than 8,500 participants from over 120 countries. Now it’s down to the best 100 teams, each with 5 players, to master the unique online strategy game.
While the players used the first round to build up their country’s leading express courier company, phase two will be about taking on the global market. At the same time, business models will be expanded to include other logistics services such as air travel and sea cargo.

At the start of 2009, the ten best teams of this competition will meet at Deutsche Post World Net’s headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and contend in the final round of DHL Fast Forward.

In mid-April, DHL launched its international Discover Logistics initiative under the patronage of German Secretary of State, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The aim of Discover Logistics is to open up the exciting and fast-growing logistics industry to as many talented newcomers as possible and give them a good idea of career perspectives available in the logistics industry.

On top of in-depth industry knowledge and business expertise, the second phase of DHL Fast Forward will require excellent communication skills and the ability to organize teamwork effectively across national borders and different cultural backgrounds. It will take seven weeks in total, and this time everyone who battled it out on their own in the first phase will have to show their ability to contribute to a team effort.

The winning team is in for EUR50,000 worth of prizes, including management training, travel vouchers and opportunities to make invaluable contacts from all corners of the world’s largest logistics employer.

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TNT successfully placed benchmark Eurobond of GBP 450million

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

TNT N.V. announces that it has successfully placed a benchmark Eurobond offering of GBP 450 million due August 2018. The bonds have been priced at an issue price of 99.33 per cent and a coupon of 7.500 per cent with settlement on the 14th August 2008. The GBP 450 million proceeds have been swapped into EUR 568 million with a coupon of 7.14 pct and a maturity of 14th August 2018.

BNP Paribas and HSBC acted as lead managers for this issue. The bonds will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext.

The proceeds of the transaction will be used for general business purposes.

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Gati opens new retail outlet in Bangalore

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

Indian express carrier Gati is continuing to expand its network of retail outlets with the opening of a new Gati Café Deliver in Bangalore.

At the beginning of 2007, the company announced plans to invest EUR 8.7 million over the next three years in a large string of retail outlets. Gati said it planned to open a total of 100 owned stores as well as franchises to 1,500 kiosks across the country in a bid to increase its domestic presence.

Bangalore is now the fourth Gati Café Deliver following the inaugural outlet in Hyderabad and two other stores in Pune and Kolkata.

Gati Café Deliver is described as a unique kind of outlet designed like a business lounge, where a customer can sit down in a relaxed atmosphere over a cup of coffee and tea and send his documents. The cafés act as express pick-up and delivery points, as well as offering fax, photocopying, telephone, printing and Internet browsing services.

In additional, the retail outlet is positioned as a single window solution, where a customer can choose from a portfolio of basic business solutions such as Gati Surface Express, Gati Air Express, Gati International, AI-Gati, Gati Desk to Desk Cargo, Gati Supply Chain Management and Gati Coast to Coast. Gati Café Deliver operates 24×7 enabling customers to send documents almost anywhere in India and abroad.

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Red Parcel Post reportedly set to build main German hub

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

Red Parcel Post, the prospective German parcel market entrant, is all set to start work on its EUR 130 million hub in eastern Germany, according to media reports. The launch of the start-up parcels carrier has been repeatedly announced and then postponed in recent years.

Regional radio station MDR reported that the company will start construction of a large logistics centre on an 860,000 sqm area of land in Stegelitz, between Leipzig and Magdeburg, within the next six weeks. The company already gained building permission one year ago but construction was delayed due to complex technical preparations for the logistics centre, MDR reported.

Red Parcel owner Walter Hellmich told the radio station that the company would make the logistics centre into its hub for distribution across Germany and to neighbouring European markets. Operations would start in mid-2009, creating about 260 jobs, he said.

In the past, Hellmich, head of the Hellmich construction group, has said that the start-up B2B parcels company would build about four logistics centres, operate a fleet of up to 800 delivery vans and aimed to carry about 35 million parcels a year. The company originally planned to launch in 2007 but has repeatedly postponed its market entry, leaving observers sceptical about its plans.

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DHL enhances express and logistics solutions for high-end automotive brands

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

DHL Express has underlined its commitment to the automotive sector by enhancing its express and logistics services offered to high-end automotive brands. As one example, DHL Express provides supply chain solutions for Al Zayani Trading Company in Kuwait, using the latest technologies and best industry practices.

DHL Express services for Al Zayani now include Just–in-Time (JIT) solutions, cost-effective air and road express, and 24/7 proactive tracing and monitoring of all shipments globally. Spare parts for cars that are off the road (VOR) and bulky goods are moved on a regular basis. DHL Express also provides insurance and customs clearance as well as moving cars across the region.

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DHL says China revenue growth slows

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

DHL has seen revenue growth at its China business slow to around 15 percent during the first seven months of the year from a recent average of over 20 percent, an executive said.

Dan McHugh, Chief Executive of DHL Express Asia Pacific, attributed the slowdown primarily to a decline in shipments abroad over the past 12 to 18 months as U.S. and European demand in particular has dwindled.

DHL has enjoyed 20-23 percent annual growth in China over the last five years.

China’s exports have been hit by a stronger currency and weaker overseas demand. Export growth slowed to 17.6 percent in June, compared with a year earlier, from 25.7 percent in all of 2007.

McHugh declined to comment on how much revenue DHL earned in China, but he said it accounted for a significant chunk of its Asia-Pacific business.

He said it was difficult to say whether the Olympics would be a net positive or negative for revenue.

The Chinese government has put in place a number of restrictions to ensure security at the Olympics and curb air pollution in Beijing, including banning some items from being shipped nationwide, more customs inspections and curbs on vehicles entering the capital.

That has created new hurdles for DHL and rivals such as FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc.

McHugh said the measures were not having a “material” impact on DHL’s China business.

But he said the company was spending about usd 2 million to deal with them, including increasing its fleet around Beijing and buying extra X-ray machines and hiring more staff to facilitate customs inspections.

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Arab countries agree to start money transfer exchanges

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

In Geneva to attend the 24th Universal Postal Congress, the postal leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen signed an agreement that will see them start exchanging money transfers electronically.
As with other regional projects, the money transfer service relies on the UPU’s IFS application and international financial network.

Launched by the Arab League and implemented by a regional steering committee chaired by Emirates Post, the project, also supported by the French Post, will allow the postal operators involved to exchange money orders on a multilateral basis from now on.

The new service furthers the UPU’s efforts to improve access to secure and reliable money transfer services through formal channels for rural populations, and especially for migrant workers.

Explains Emirate Post’s Nasser Fathi Sadiq Qaddoumi, Chairman of the steering committee: The multilateral agreement is giving the Arab region – with some countries in Asia and others in Africa – a push to provide better services to migrant workers. For example, more than 80 pct of the United Arab Emirates population of 5.8 million people consists of foreigners, and the situation in other Gulf countries is not much different, says Qaddoumi.

Other Arab countries said they would join the regional network by the end of this year.

A similar regional project is expected to start next week with countries from North Eastern Africa.

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Global monitoring system gets the green light

Posted by | Aug 5, 2008 | |

The UPU will focus its efforts on finalising a new global monitoring system for the quality of service, which is expected to become operational in 2010.
Member countries unanimously adopted a proposal to develop and implement a global monitoring system to evaluate the quality of service for incoming priority letter-post items and the quality of service link to terminal dues (what countries pay each other for processing each other’s incoming international mail). The system will also be used to evaluate how successful postal operators are in improving their quality of service through projects financed by the UPU’s Quality of Service Fund.

Independent external auditors will measure the quality of service by sending priority letter-post test items through the network of participating postal operators. Using RFID technology, the system will measure the time an operator takes to deliver test items from the time these items are handed over. The system will then compare the results with the designated UPU body’s delivery standards for incoming international letter post, which will be compatible with each designated postal operator’s published domestic delivery standards.

A pilot project to evaluate possible RFID technical solutions was conducted with three Gulf-region countries, namely Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, from March to June this year. The UPU has now launched a call for tender to identify the solution that will be used for the global monitoring system.

“The UPU has made great efforts over the years to improve the quality of service, but we must improve across the board,” said Carlos da Silva from Portugal, which fully supported the proposal. “The system will imply a great deal of investment but it is worth it, and I believe everyone should do their bit.”

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