IRELAND\\\ Trading its way out of trouble
Aſter the Celtic Tiger years, it’s time for a dose of reality in Ireland. The depths of a recession can be a good time to lay plans for the future. Many of the country’s major hubs and operators are dusting down long-cherished expansion plans; meanwhile, some have even recorded record volumes. Hauliers may be going to the wall every week and ro ro carriers and airlines struggling to fill space, but the harsh economic realities have forced Irish firms to redouble their export efforts.
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Dentressangle set to reshape Emerald Isle logistics market
Norbert Dentressangle is positioning itself for a major assault on the Irish distribution market aſter setting up a new subsidiary company there. The group has been established
in Ireland for several years, first taking over warehouses in Dublin and Belfast through its acquisition of Christian Salvesen and then adding a site in Johnstown, Co Kildare, within the last two years as it intergrated TDG’s operations. Johnstown is a 12,000sq
metre DC dedicated to ambient distribution for ADM Londis. Mark Boulton, business development director for Norbert Dentressangle Logistics Ireland, says more than 300 outlets are replenished weekly from the site, and larger stores twice a week. Although in Londis livery, the vehicles – and drivers – are Dentressangle’s. The first two ND- liveried vehicles entered service on Ireland’s roads only in February of this year. In addition to Londis,
Dentressangle currently works with clients such as Tesco, Mitsubishi and LPR in Ireland. It manages
recycling units for
Tesco in Belfast and at Santry, north Dublin, where green pallets and trays are washed, sorted and
The first Dentressangle- liveried vehicles are now appearing on Ireland’s roads
returned to the system. Cardboard and shrinkwrap is also brought back to the sites from Tesco’s stores and baled for recycling or disposal, while bakery waste is processed into animal feed. Under a former TDG contract,
LPR red pallets are likewise sorted and returned into the trade or go back to the UK for repair. Dentressangle also delivers
Mitsubishi air conditioning units, electrical equipment and spare parts
across Ireland, mainly
sourced from the UK. Despite a slowdown in the Irish construction industry following the boom years, Boulton reports an active refurbishment market as landlords upgrade vacant offices. In the UK, Dentressangle has
around 2.5 million sq metres of warehousing, operates 1,800 vehicles, and employs more than 12,800 people at 195 sites. Its services
include dedicated and
shared-user warehousing, transport to manufacturers and retailers, temperature-controlled food logistics, reverse logistics, environmental operations management and freight forwarding. Boulton says that historically,
Dentressangle would have subcontracted Irish business on the back of a UK offer, but he believes the new local entity can reshape the market by replicating aspects of the UK and international model. “We have identified a major
domestic opportunity. The logistics business on the ground is quite fragmented. There is no dominant player and someone needs to take hold of it. We’ve got the scale, expertise and ability to invest,” he says.
“Supply chains are in tatters
because of the downturn. Retail has shrunk, and with bigger, better ships operating on the Irish
Sea, larger international logistics
providers have realised they are less vulnerable to force eight gales. They can do day one dispatch from the UK for day two delivery, perhaps day three to remote outlying areas, and only have to cross-dock in Ireland. Stock-in business is less desired. “This has opened up huge
warehousing capacity and gives us a chance to expand in the market by consolidating the products we’re bringing in from the UK. “Our sites in Dublin and Belfast are scalable and a lot of additional turnkey warehousing is available that you can get opened up very quickly.” The company plans to expand its offer to Irish exporters over coming
months. “We are working with our colleagues in the UK and Europe on LCL and full-load business and developing this capability will make more sense of our transport arrangements,” Boulton says. He predicts “big changes
in the next 12 to 18 months” as supermarket groups centralise and convenience stores reassess their supply chains. Dentressangle looks set to accelerate this process by moving into temperature- controlled distribution in Ireland within that time frame. So will prices continue to spiral
downwards? Boulton is unsure, though he notes a number of casualties in domestic Irish haulage, including big players who have
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gone to the wall or are downsizing because the banks won’t extend finance. The extent of the collapse in the distribution market came home to him when he approached a previous major supplier of roll cages, only to find that it had gone out of business. Innovation and eventual
common sense on pricing comes out of these tough times, he believes. “Eighteen months ago we were still in a race to the bottom, but there’s an inherent risk that comes with the price consideration. If a haulage company goes down, the customer is stuck. Sustainability and full compliance are now seen as more important, not just the absolute lowest price,” Boulton says.
Issue 2 2012
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