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NORTH EAST


container revolution on its head. The idea of the box, after all, is to minimise intermediate handling. But logistics thinking has changed, as have cargo flows. “In the old days, the flow of containerised goods was much more balanced. We’ve had to rethink the way we do things.” But the shipping lines themselves have also found it easy to find reloads for containers coming into the port, at least those that are not in a desperate hurry to return empties to the Far East for reloading. True, it’s mostly distinctly unglamorous cargo like waste paper, but it is nonetheless useful extra revenue. But how did a trust port


If you’ve bought a floor-cleaner in Asda or drunk a cup of Tetley tea, you are effectively a customer of the Port of Tyne – even if you live in the south of England. Both the tea maker and JML, which sells household goods through Asda and many other high street stores, are now doing their national distribution through the port, located to the east of the city of Newcastle at South Shields. JML in fact has just moved its distribution centre from Dartford, and as well as its main distribution hub also operates its internet and home shopping fulfilment operation from premises on the dock. It is big business for the


port – JML accounts for 18,000 containers a year from the Far East, most of them shipped to the Tyne via Rotterdam or Felixstowe. Similarly, Tetley imports all


its tea for the UK via Tyne from India, Africa and elsewhere, from where it is fed to their production plant at Eaglesclife. Pallets are called off according to the required blend. Other household names


using the port include fashion importer Visage, which supplies Tesco, BHS and others. But perhaps the best known customer, and the biggest, is Nissan, which uses the port for both finished vehicles in and out and for containerloads of components to keep the production lines at nearby Sunderland running. The port has done much to satisfy this demanding customer, for example tracking vessels and containers and feeding the information into Nissan’s own system. Even the block stack in the port is specially configured to ensure that if Nissan requires a container urgently, it can be


removed and delivered to the plant within an hour. The port will shortly begin importing components for Nissan’s new electric models and also for the new Juke


on the opposite side of the Tyne. Often, the vessel that has discharged a consignment of VWs can cross the river and reload with export Nissans. In a further car related development, specialist shipping line Hoegh is now building its own separate terminal. Having these big names using


John Tye: persuading shippers to look north


small off-roader. New models tend to be built with a much larger proportion of imported components than older ones, as it takes time to build up a supplier base – which is good news for the port, of course. Nissan has also recently signed


a deal for two new warehouses in the port, which will allow containers to be unloaded there and delivered direct to the plant by taut-liner rather than containers having to be transported to a warehouse at the Nissan plant for unstuffing and delivery to lineside. Nissan probably suffered


less in the recession than the two other global Japanese- owned car manufacturers and the scrappage scheme helped keep volumes at a reasonable level, says the port’s commercial director of logistics, John Tye. As well as Nissans, VW Audi also has a car import terminal


the port is excellent publicity and helps get the port noticed, explains John Tye. “Trying to persuade people to look north has been difficult in the past, but now they’re open to change,” says, John Tye – himself an import from Felixstowe. But how does nationwide distribution work from the North-East? “If you’re delivering to Leeds, Manchester, even Birmingham, you can do it a lot quicker than you can from Felixstowe or Southampton. There may not be much difference in mileage to Birmingham, but you cover the distance a lot quicker from the north east than you can from the south,” argues John Tye. But the Port of Tyne has been


clever in many other ways. “For instance, our transport fleet is running with 92% backload efficiency, something which you could never achieve if you were sending containers into an RDC because you can’t easily backload containers.” By unloading containers in port


and transferring the contents to road transport there, containers can also be stuffed beyond the legal road weight limit. For a major customer, it means that, effectively, every ninth container is free. Once the new Nissan facility is fully operational, 60% of boxes arriving in the port will be unstuffed there. In a way, it is turning some of the thinking behind the


better known for coal than anything else, end up offering an integrated logistics service? John Tye explains: “We saw the last coal cargo go out in 1998 and we were looking for a new role. We didn’t want the port to be mothballed and it could so easily have ended up being turned into waterfront housing - so we got involved in the supply chain industry. But we knew that, if we were to entice traffic away from the south-east ports, we would have to offer shippers more than just a port.” Uniquely, probably, for a UK


port, Tyne decided that it would offer the complete logistics package itself – stevedoring, warehousing, transport – the lot.


At the time, big changes


were happening in logistics. RDCs were migrating away from the Midlands to places where land was more affordable and, at the same time, a lot of UK manufacturers were shifting production to the Far East or Eastern Europe. “When we set up, there were still quite a number of manufacturers within a 50-mile radius of the port. Most of them have moved away.” The new concept of offering


a complete logistics service took some getting used to, not least on the part of the workforce. The Port of Tyne boasts some of the world’s most flexible workers – there are 16 individuals able to


Hoegh is building its own terminal at Tyne Port


track and trace full and part- pallets; stock check accuracy is 99.99% and order dispatch 99.92%. The truck fleet is 53-strong,


with 166 trailers. The reason for the disparity is that Tyne Logistics does a lot of drop-offs and pick-ups, to maximise its own efficiency and it also allows the customer to unload in their own time. “Some of our trucks do


eight jobs in a day – try that in Felixstowe or Southampton,” says John Tye. “And we achieved


port boundary but we haven’t decided to go down that road.” It might not be possible to offer the same level of security as the main port; on the other hand there are cargoes that might not need it. But whatever the future holds,


the Port of Tyne will continue to strive to offer the best possible service. “Most ports see the shipping lines as their customer; they don’t consider where the goods are going to. But we target the end user – and that will continue.”


work cranes, drive tugs, operate reachstackers and drive a 40- tonne lorry on the public road. “It means that if we need to handle a ship on a bank holiday, we don’t have to bring in two extra gangs to deal with the urgent boxes,” says John Tye. Likewise, the stevedores will


also work in the warehouse, which again saves on agency staff costs. “It was a tough demand on the workforce and the unions, but they realised we had to do it.” Many ports have warehousing,


but this is some of the latest very narrow aisle design. The port handles some very high- value cargoes and all cargoes benefit from the same very level of security – even the coal and waste paper. It can also carry out product reworking, repacking and all the other added-value logistics services. There is also an advanced warehouse management system, able to


ISSUE 2 2010 Tyne cleans up in retail distribution market


98.8% on time delivery last year.” The Logistics division is


also a member of the Pall-Ex nationwide pallet network. Where next for the Port of


Tyne? Unlike its neighbour 50 miles to the south, it has no ambition to become a deepsea hub. It is served by a comprehensive range of shipping services with links to and from Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Grangemouth and Immingham, though the Feederlink service to Southampton ended on 14 June. Virtually every major shipping line uses the port. The site is quite hemmed in by


the city of Newcastle and, to the east, the resort of South Shields, but there is space within the existing dock area for another large distribution warehouse. “But beyond that we would be struggling for space. We are looking at the possibility of developing land outside the


Tunnel vision for terminal


The port of Tyne is extending its container terminal by filling in a disused basin with spoil from the second Tyne Tunnel project. With space in the port at a premium, the trust port is looking to maximise usage of what it has, and filling in a berth capable of handling only small, outmoded ships was an opportunity too good to miss. Closing off the mouth of the basin will create much- needed extra quay space for the container terminal and, when the reclaimed land has settled, the infilled land will be used for yet more logistics activities.


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