22 senior


Issue 6 2015 - Freight Business Journal


Data2Logistics covers all continents


The global marketplace is the fastest growing segment of


Data2Logistics, vice-president,


says global


corporate development, Harold Friedman. The company has been established in Europe for around a decade, having set up a global processing centre in the Netherlands in 2004, he says.


“When we established a


processing facility in Rotterdam more than 11 years ago we knew the marketplace had not been well penetrated and that growth would come with time. Well, it appears that the time has come as we are growing at over 17%.” The concept of freight audit


and pay is definitely becoming more accepted as more companies deal with ‘Big Data’, he adds. “When I started in the business 43 years ago in North America, we were selling the concept rather than the service. The same was true in the EMEA region 11 years ago – but again,


we’re now selling the service as people are already familiar with the concept of F&AP.” Data2Logistics has recently


picked up a major piece of business with a Continental European-based manufacturer of consumer goods, initially offering services such as auditing of freight bills or allocating freight charges but he hopes to soon add data analytics to this. The business is different in


Europe, partly because of the existence of VAT (the US has local sales taxes, but they do not apply to freight services) while road toll systems such as the German ‘Maut’ have added an extra dimension. “Carriers can be very creative in applying it,” says Friedman, somewhat cryptically. Growth in all aspects of FAP


has come about, Friedman states, because more and more companies are finding a growing need for visibility of their transportation expenses.


They are also seeking a single source for that visibility, for all modes of transportation on a global basis. At the same time, they are being pressured to better control transportation expenses as they continue to increase around the world. Friedman adds: “We have


recently begun processing invoices for Central and Latin America, completing the last major geographic region that we now service. This includes Europe Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, North America and now Central and Latin America. Our entire process is now web based so that regardless of where in the world operations are or freight invoices originate, you are dealing with one company, one system, and one organization committed to providing you with quality business analytics – and an organization that is familiar with local languages, currencies, local customs and taxes.”


geographically


///FREIGHT AUDIT & PAY The move into Central


and Latin America has been driven largely by “demand from clients” says Friedman. While


closest


to the FAP heartland of North America, it has been the last of the major trading regions to develop, partly because of the need to get a grip on local customs and regulations. Developing systems for Europe or Asia Pacific was in


some respects much easier. (The exception was Mexico, which Friedman regards as being essentially part of North America.) But now that Data2Logistics is established in Latin America, he expects business to develop rapidly.


Academics put supply chain finance under the microscope


There is growing interest in the concept of supply chain finance says Martijn Siebrand, program manager for supply chain finance at the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics, Dinalog. So much so in fact, that a group of five universities – Warwick in the UK, the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), Polytecnico (Italy) and Windesheim (Netherlands) – have applied to the Netherlands ministry of Infrastructure and Environment funding for a 2½ year research project. Dinalog is involved in setting


up the project, which is being led by Windesheim University professor of supply chain


finance, Michiel Steeman. Two students will be appointed to carry out initial research and devise solutions that they will then set up and implement. “The research aims to find


out what supply chain finance solutions are suitable and what the possibilities are for logistics service providers,” explains Martijn Siebrand. At the time of writing, the


partners were awaiting the Ministry’s approval for the funding, which was expected in early September, followed by final board approval. “We are optimistic, as we have many logistics service providers


(LSPs) on board and many more are interested.” Meanwhile, there is growing


interest in supply chain finance in Europe, says Martijn Siebrand, who has given numerous presentations on the subject. “As well as finance, LSPs are also interested in what they can do with the associated data. I also see a shiſt from banks financing goods that are in the warehouse to financing those that are in the wider supply chain.” Also some LSPs are already providing what


is in effect


supply chain finance though they may not call it by that name.


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