Author: Archive

Liberalization process in India

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

After a long period of a command and control regime, we have started moving towards a market economy. But the reforms in that direction are still incomplete. Not only do controls survive in several areas, but surprisingly there are still policy and legislative initiatives emanating from ministries that would appear anachronistic in today’s policy environment.
At the heart of the market economy lays the principle of free and fair competition. Competition maximizes consumer surplus and offers wider choice and better prices. It improves efficiency, both allocative and productive efficiency, and in both the static and dynamic sense. It pushes enterprises into innovation and as, Schumpeter states; it creates gales of creative destruction.
Liberalization has contributed to India’s transition from dismal growth rates to the present rate of 9 pct, among the highest today in the world. After decades of being served sub-standard goods, the Indian consumer is experiencing the benefits of competition in sectors such as automobiles, consumer electronics and durables, telecommunications, insurance, and so on.
These can be prevented only through the enforcement of the Competition Act, which is awaiting certain amendments. India is amongst the very few economies today that do not have an active competition law. To enable the economy and the consumer to reap the full benefits of vigorous competition, it is imperative to make the Competition Commission fully functional as early as possible after the Act has been amended.

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Mexico plans to upgrade Postal Service

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

The Mexican government plans to upgrade the country’s much-criticized postal service and signed an agreement Tuesday with the U.S. Postal Service to help in the process.

Communications and Transport Minister Luis Tellez said the Mexican Postal Service, or Sepomex, has been neglected for years, while the USPS is “an example of modernity, efficiency and quality.”

Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Sepomex staff will visit U.S. facilities to analyze procedures and equipment, and the two will also cooperate to improve cross-border services.

The agreement also includes the development of a tracking and location system for the implementation in 2009 of a payment-by-performance agreement for packages.

The USPS will also support Mexico in setting up a postal inspection group, including selection, recruitment and training of inspectors.

U.S. chief postal inspector Alexander Lazaroff said at the signing event that the agreement will address security concerns in both countries with enhanced security procedures.

Tellez told reporters the government plans to make significant investments in the modernization and automation of the postal service.

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Canadian courier Purolator buys more hybrid electric vehicles

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

Purolator Courier, Canada’s largest courier company has increased its existing order for hybrid electric delivery vans, vehicle manufacturer Azure Dynamics Corp. has announced.

The amended purchase order was placed shortly after the August 8, 2007 funding announcement by the Ontario Government. Ontario is investing CDN$15 million over four years in a pilot project to encourage businesses to convert to more environmentally-friendly technologies, such as hybrid power. The project will help make medium-duty hybrid trucks more affordable for commercial fleet operators.

Over the last two years, Purolator has placed two orders with Azure for a total of 134 HEVs, of which 49 have been delivered and are in service. Under the amended purchase order of August 14, 2007, the courier company increased the order to include an additional 20 HEVs. The remaining 105 HEVs will be supplied on a parallel hybrid-electric Ford E- 450 platform and are due for delivery in the second half of 2008.

“Since introducing Azure’s hybrid-electric vehicles (“HEV”) to our fleet of curb-side delivery vehicles in 2005, we have logged more than 333, 000 kilometres, saving almost 60,000 litres of fuel and preventing the emission of over 150 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Robert Johnson, President and CEO of Purolator.

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PIN picks up Berlin city mail contract

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

prestigious mail contract from the Berlin city government.

PIN Mail, its Berlin-based subsidiary, has retained the Berlin contract following a tender, the company announced. The contract runs for 12 months with an option to extend it for a further year up to a maximum of three years.

PIN will deliver some 28 million letters a year covering all official documents up to a weight of 1kg. The contract is worth EUR 12.6 million in annual revenues.

“The renewed contract for PIN confirms the confidence of the state of Berlin in the quality of our service,” said Axel Stirl, managing director of PIN Mail. The company employs 1,000 staff in Berlin.

The news follows criticism by Deutsche Post chairman Klaus Zumwinkel of low wages at rival mail firms such as PIN Group and TNT Post. PIN Group chief executive Günter Thiel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview that he expected other German cities to follow the example of Berlin. In contrast, a Deutsche Post spokesman played down the importance of the Berlin contract, the newspaper added.

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DHL Hungary grows 25 pct in H1, 2007

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

DHL Express Hungary increased its revenues in the first six months of 2007 by 25.4 pct year-on-year to HUF 6 billion (EUR 24.4 million), according to a report from the Hungarian News Digest.

The company’s marketing manager, Joseph Borocz, was quoted as saying that DHL’s market share would rise over 50 pct within the next five years.

DHL is in the midst of investing in its Hungary operations. In September it is due to start operating its new EUR 18.3 million logistics base near Hungary’s second-largest airport FlyBalaton in Sarmellek on the shore of Lake Balaton, in western Hungary. The facility comprises 7,000 sq m of storage space and 1,400 sq m of offices.

In addition, DHL plans to build a 2,400 sqm, EUR 4.75 million air cargo cross-docking facilities at Sarmellek airport, the construction work of which will begin in September, as well as EUR 17.8 million logistics centre in Budapest that is also expected to be built this year.

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UPS names new Worldport manager

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. has named a new district manager for its Louisville, Ky., air and freight operations.

Steve Mockus, who has served as manager of UPS’ flight operations since last year, will fill the post being left by Brendan Canavan.

Canavan has been named district manager of North Europe. He will relocate to Brussels, Belgium, to oversee UPS operations in 28 countries.

In his new position, Mockus will be responsible for the management of Louisville’s Worldport hub, which is Atlanta-based UPS’ largest package-handling facility. Mockus began his career with UPS in Philadelphia as a part-time package handler in 1976. After college, he became a package driver and was promoted into management in 1982.

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Verastream helps automate package sorting for DHL

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

The company is smart about optimizing processes and using technology in innovative ways. Its latest feat: improving service and cutting costs for DHL Belgium, thanks to a new automated sorting system with integrated shipping information.

Unlocking vital Unix-based data, DHL Belgium has become the linchpin of DHL’s worldwide express and logistics activities. It has 10 modern sorting centers and nearly 3 700 employees.

At the Zaventem Airport alone, DHL handles an average of 900 tons of packages a night. Sorting that many packages by size and weight is an extremely slow, error-prone and expensive process. In an effort to ensure faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective delivery, DHL Belgium decided to implement an automated sorting system. The system would be able to automatically scan, weigh, and measure packages, and then ship them to their appropriate destinations.

For that to happen, DHL needed to somehow integrate the required shipping information with the new sorting system. The problem was that all shipping information was locked inside a home-grown, London-based UNIX application. The application did not have a programming interface, and there was no way to access the database directly. Rewriting all the business logic was not an option. The only alternative was to access the data through the application’s VT terminal interface.Using Verastream, Vanherck found he could capture selected application logic and data in the central shipping application and wrap them up as easy-to-integrate Web services. The Web services, which retain all the information about the host behavior, can then be consumed by the automated sorting system’s material flow controller software.

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New logistics player in European pharma

Posted by | Aug 14, 2007 | |

A new European logistics services provider has emerged on the pharma scene after NYK Logistics in Belgium was granted a certification for this industry

The firm now has a good distribution practice (GDP) license for its Antwerp warehouse and is now able to offer contract logistics, storage and distribution, as well as secondary repackaging services for pharmaceuticals.

The company said it can serve both the domestic and the European pharma industry (including the UK), via cooperation with its affiliate NYK Logistics UK, which has also three GDP licensed facilities, and contracts with drug makers including AstraZeneca, and has an already-established pan-European pharma-specific distribution channel.

“We are able to offer customers a ‘one stop shop’ under the same name instead of them having to use different companies for their supply chain needs,” a spokesperson from the Development department at NYK Belgium, Katrien Poppe, said.

“NYK [Belgium] is one of the few ‘one-stop-shop’ providers that are also in a neutral position in the market, meaning we are not linked to one particular manufacturer and can offer our services across a number of different brands.”

The European contract logistics market is currently flourishing, and recent research from Analytiqa revealed that spending on outsourced logistics services in the European pharma industry is likely to exceed USD 2 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) in 2011 as more and more opportunities arise for 3PL providers.

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