36FullScreen View Dutch pact to sort out supply chain


Issue4 2013


The Dutch government is behind a project to develop a Neutral Logistics Information Platform that could well give the Netherlands the competitive edge as a logistics hub for several years. NLIP involves 16 organisations


that aim to create what is, in effect, a giant community system covering all modes of transport in the country. The 16 are: Air Cargo Netherlands, Schiphol Cargo, Cargonaut (the airfreight community system), Dutch customs EVO (the Dutch shippers’ council), Fenex (Dutch forwarders’ association), the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, VRTO (Port of Rotterdam Terminal Operators), KLM Cargo, TLN (Transport & Logistics, the Netherlands), and VRC (the port shipping agents’ organisation). “It all started a few years ago when


the government decided to focus on a few areas, including logistics, to try to create more efficiencies,” explains senior VP at Schiphol Cargo, Enno Osinga. “It identified the top ten logistics organisations in The Netherlands and highlighted several focus areas. The development of NLIP was one of these areas. “NLIP is a public/private


collection, supported by customs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Transport Ministry, ports, Schiphol, community systems at ports and airport and service providers. We plan to develop a state of the art portal of information, allowing all data to be shared by all relevant parties. In addition, it will allow a shipper to make one single data entry: that data will meet all requirements from any government body, as well as being available to ports, airports, forwarders or carriers.” Osinga believes the benefits will


be immense. “Participants will be able to plan better. Through greater transparency of data, they will know


By Marcia Macleod


what cargo is arriving when and where, so they can achieve better optimisation of vehicles and a more reliable, flexible and cheaper supply chain. “For example, at the moment,


inland barges come and go to and from the ports. Ten barges can be in port one day, none the next. With better information and therefore better planning, operators can ensure their barges are in port when the cargo arrives. “Longer term, parties in the


supply chain can look at when the shipper needs the goods. If it’s tomorrow, it can be put on a truck; if it can wait two weeks, it can go by barge. The same applies to airfreight. Although some airfreight is urgent and needs to be delivered as soon as possible after landing, a lot is not really needed for two weeks: it is moved by air because the consignee cannot wait the six weeks it may take by sea. If you know this in advance, the urgent cargo can be taken off first and put onto a waiting vehicle, while the non-urgent shipments can wait a few hours - or even be put on a rail wagon instead of a truck. Schiphol is very keen to develop rail links to the airport.” Better planning can also avoid


the usual Monday morning crush at the cargo terminal. Airlines and handlers will be able to identify when goods will be ready for collection and ensure trucks arrive at a suitable time, rather than get to the terminal too early and then sit around waiting. “We can even match consignments to the trailer,” says Osinga. “If we have consignments arriving at different times, even on


different airlines, but going to the same forwarder, rather than have two vehicles, we can consolidate them and put them on one.” NLIP will also help with security


compliance. Take flower imports as an example. Instead of holding up a very perishable product for customs and/or plant health inspection, the authorities can identify in advance which pallet(s) they want to inspect. That pallet can be taken out of the aircraft and put aside, while all the others literally roll from the apron direct onto a waiting vehicle for delivery within two hours. Better access to data and better


planning saves cost and reduces what is often a huge administrative burden. Staff resources can be allocated more efficiently, too, not just within the freight company, but in governmental organisations. Customs could, for example, have mobile officers who only go to the airport when they are expecting cargo they wish to inspect, instead of permanent teams at the terminal. It will be a while before NLIP


delivers its greatest benefits, but the wheels are starting to roll. Letters of Intent and Memorandums of Understanding have been signed and work has begun on a maritime single window entry and on obtaining data and establishing processes for handling plants and other perishable goods. And to support NLIP’s desire not


to re-invent the wheel, the MoUs all state that no new portal will be developed to run any of NLIP’s resulting systems: everything will be based on existing technology. That must be an industry first.


Rational!


Since choosing the ForwardOffice software package, and Forward Computers as IT partners, we have not looked back. The whole system has been the bedrock of our Company since 1999 and the advances, past, present and future, help us to stay at the forefront of our specialised fi eld of NVOC services.


Bob Andrews, Managing Director, Globelink-Fallow


Speak to the freight software experts today call +44 (0)115 938 0280 or email sales@forwardcomputers.co.uk


www.forwardcomputers.co.uk K10110_fbj 70x133-aw.indd 1 25/04/2012 11:44


///THE IT SECTION A private affair


Despite all the talk about ‘the Cloud’, putting your vital data in Cyberspace can create vulnerability


and risk of


unauthorised access. For those who wish to keep their data private, Globe Tracker International has launched a Smart Aut\onomous Asset Solution combining its Trade Data Exchange Network, Smart Autonomous Asset Network and Communications Unit to enable trading partners to communicate electronically. Users can choose what data to


share and who to share it with; all data remains behind their own security firewalls. Any partner can request data - that is, information on a parcel being shipped from Europe to North America, or China to Britain - through a secure web portal. GTI’s system then uses the internet to search for the data related to the parcel identification number held in the private databases connected to the portal. The system will find data for


the parcel through bar code or RFID readings at the warehouse,


3PL or carrier depot; on a groupage container, pallet, trailer or rail wagon, or even at the manufacturer’s factory via its part number (assuming, of course, the manufacturer has linked to the portal). A range of analytical tools


provide businesses with information such as location, load status, contract status, temperature profile (for temperature controlled goods), if the door is open or closed, and so on.


Beware of the risks from cyberspace


Your company could be only a Tweet away from an attack, IT security


expert Adrian Davis


told the inaugural meeting of the Supply Chain Risk and Resilience Club in London on 1 May. Davis, who is a principal research analyst at the non-profit-making Information Security Forum, said that firms oſten under-estimated the threats from Cyberspace, or ‘Malspace’ as the more criminal aspects of the IT world are known. Malware is increasingly sophisticated, he said. Companies that offer it give their customers guarantees and 24-hour helplines,


just like the legitimate end of the trade. Very oſten, the weak link was


the company’s suppliers, rather than the company itself. The Cloud also had implications


for data protection, as did outsourcing of IT functions to other countries and shared data, Davis told the Club. Sometimes, threats can


come from inside – for example, a disgruntled soon-to-be ex- employee tampering with data sheets; there have also been cases of complete blueprints of planes and cars being inadvertently


sent out as email attachments to suppliers. “The problem is that information


is incredibly valuable, but you have to share it, otherwise your supply chain doesn’t work,” Davis explained. “And in the information world, when things go wrong, they can go hideously wrong.” With suppliers oſten working


for more than one customer, companies needed to work out with them how to share their data safely. Cyber


resilience needs


to be an important part of any company’s risk management strategy.


New website for Forth Ports


Forth Ports has launched a new website, which the English and Scottish operator promises will be “customer-focused”. Described as a highly visual


site (www.forthports.co.uk) it takes customers on a journey through the diverse services of the group and the recent significant investments at its ports, such as the


investment in London Container Terminal which is the UK’s third largest container facility, and the development of the London Distribution Park at Tilbury.


Getting a handle on Big Data


Ever thought why weather forecasting have gone from being a bit of a joke to something you can reasonably rely on in the past few years? It’s all because of the data-crunching powers of modern computers and soſtware. Think of all the myriad little bits


of information that go to make up a weather prediction; a change in wind-speed here; a drop in atmospheric pressure there – none of it fundamentally complicated, but there’s an awful lot of it and you need to put it altogether and process it before you can venture a guess as to exactly when that Bank Holiday deluge will happen. It’s the same with the data


that transport providers, freight forwarders and shippers use to devise their revenue management strategies, says Anand Medepalli, vice president of industry strategy,


pricing and revenue management at soſtware house JDA. There are all sorts of factors that can affect freight rates and the likely demand for freight services. The airline and shipping lines’ published rates, of course, but also fuel and currency surcharges, government taxes and so on. Many people will also want to know what the effect of changes in rates will be – which shippers will be prompted to switch modes from sea to air for example, or change their source of supply. Again, it’s not rocket science, but there is a huge amount of information to process, and anyone trying to deal with it using paper and pencil or Excel spreadsheets is likely to be quickly overwhelmed by the task, says Medepalli. But good soſtware can very


quickly give companies a handle on what they should be paying – or


charging – for freight. Perhaps the biggest headache the industry has to deal with is volatility, and again soſtware can help companies keep a grip on fast-changing situations. And it can help people quickly deploy back-up plans if there is a major disruption to the supply chain like an ash cloud or a port strike. “It’s ironic,” he says. “Forwarders


oſten complain to me that they’re suffering from razor thin margins – but we could actually help them with that.” He is also rather bemused by


the industry’s slow take-up of electronic documents like the e-Airwaybill. “IATA is now saying that soon 20% of AWBs will be electronic – but that has taken seven years, while meanwhile the passenger transport industry has moved to close on 100%.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40