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DACHSER South Africa expands coastal cross-docking facilities
Cross-docking, where inbound cargo is unloaded from an incoming container, sorted and then loaded directly to outbound carriers, is an important logistics strategy that keeps supply chains moving in a productive, effective manner. Logistics leader, DACHSER South Africa, has recently expanded its Durban operations to a new 3600sqm warehouse in Pinetown, Durban.
“The new off-loading and loading bays have increased our capacity to handle a number of containers at a time, enabling us to offer excellent turn-around times,” says Detlev Duve, DACHSER South Africa, Managing Director, “The facility provides a dedicated central site for products to be sorted for delivery to multiple destinations in the most productive way, saving costs. Ultimately, our customers benefit from a more efficient supply chain.”
Deidre Smith, DACHSER Sea Freight Imports Manager, says, “We’re able to consolidate shipments, or even break down larger shipments into smaller loads, for easier delivery. Storage and handling costs can be reduced as products spend less time in the warehouse. Cargo also typically reaches its final destination faster, giving our customers a competitive edge.”
Further to a spacious, well-equipped warehouse, Smith says that experienced staff and effective planning are the foundations of a successful operation. “Skilled staff are vital to the operation and management of the warehouse. From expert inventory control using Warehouse Management Systems, through to our material handling equipment operators and cargo handling teams, we ensure that all our staff are well-trained and clear on the different goods and requirements of our customers.”
Smith explains that the goods that are most conducive to cross-docking are those that are in steady demand, usually higher volume, fast-moving products scheduled in regular dispatches to pre-planned destinations. DACHSER also has the experience to handle large or complex items. “Of course, the preferred cargo to handle is stackable, palletised cargo that fits neatly into racks can be easily transported, but we’ve become experts in handling the odd and awkward cargo too. Taking care of customers cargo and avoiding damages is our top priority, and our Durban handling team has the experience to load the trucks safely and correctly. We also ensure that the appropriate handling equipment is available when off-loading a container and manoeuvring the cargo around the warehouse.”
The DACHSER team handles both Pre-Distribution, where goods are unloaded and despatched according to set distribution instructions, and Post-Distribution processes, usually for retailers, which entails flexible picking and packing according to demand, based on in-store inventory, sales forecasts and trends.
Duve says it is also essential to partner with reputable transporters that offer a regular and reliable service to move the goods from warehouse to customer door.
“With all the right foundations in place, cross-docking has become part of the seamless supply chain solution DACHSER South Africa offers to our customers, which further includes contract logistics, value-added warehousing, customs clearance and customs warehousing services,” says Duve.
About DACHSER:
A family-owned company headquartered in Kempten, Germany, DACHSER is a leading supplier of logistics services worldwide.
DACHSER offers comprehensive transport logistics, warehousing, and customer-specific services in two business fields: DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics and DACHSER Road Logistics. The latter consists of two business lines: DACHSER European Logistics and DACHSER Food Logistics. Comprehensive contract-logistics services and industry-specific solutions round out the company’s offerings. A seamless shipping network—both in Europe and overseas—and fully integrated IT systems ensure intelligent logistics solutions worldwide.
Thanks to some 30,995 employees at 393 locations all over the globe, DACHSER generated revenue of 5.66 billion euros in 2019. That same year, the logistics provider handled a total of 80.6 million shipments weighing 41. million metric tons. Country organizations represent DACHSER in 44 countries.
Due to the ongoing disruption of the sea freight market, the after-effects (container shortages and frequent port congestion) continue to impact global supply chains. Below, we provide an update on all developments to minimize potential disruptions to your business.
US West Coast / San Pedro Bay / Port of Los Angeles
The situation in the US has improved over the last 6 weeks, but there are still several container ships queuing in San Pedro Bay to enter the port to be unloaded.
The impact can still be seen in the sea freight inland logistics chain. The constant and high volume of loaded containers flowing into the U.S. continues to make it difficult to relieve the existing backlog.
Suez Canal
Although this incident occurred more than 10 weeks ago, sea freight traffic is still out of balance due to the so-called "ripple effects."
After the unblocking of the Suez Canal, European ports were first congested due to the sudden and high inbound volume. This was followed by the Asian ports, especially the Chinese ports.
Ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven / Rotterdam
Due to the blockade of the Suez Canal and the aforementioned "ripple effects", operations at the ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven were also out of balance.
Due to this congestion, shipping companies were induced to re-route ships to Wil-helmshaven or to Rotterdam.
Within the Rotterdam operation, delays are now also expected, possibly leading to disruptions in port operations.
Ports of Yantian / Shekou / Nansha
Delays are occurring in the South China region (Yantian / Shekou / Nansha, etc.) due to restricted port operations. It is expected that the resumption of regular operations will have to be done gradually and that full capacity cannot be reached in the foreseeable future.
We are in close contact with carriers and service providers on a daily basis and do our best to make your supply chain as smooth as possible. For individual advice, please contact your local representative of DACHSER so that we can implement the best logistics solution for you.
Camso specializes in off-road tires, wheels, rubber tracks, and track systems for commercial and powersport vehicles. To reach its customers in Europe as quickly and efficiently as possible, the company entrusted its logistics management to DACHSER as Lead Logistics Provider—a solution with a future.
Camso supplies tires for massive jobs.
When things get really slippery, muddy, gravelly, or slick, that’s when thick pneumatic rollers, rubber tracks, and hard rubber tires prove their mettle. They’re indispensable for the high-performance equipment used in material handling, on construction sites, in agriculture and quarries, and even in outdoor powersports. The message is very clear: the more demanding the terrain, the better.
And that’s precisely what Camso, a Michelin Group brand, specializes in. A global leader in the development, manufacture, and distribution of industrial tires, wheels, and rubber tracks, Camso has more than 8,000 employees in 26 countries across the globe, primarily in Asia, Europe, and North America. It also operates four research and development centers, 23 manufacturing facilities, and an international distribution network in more than 100 countries.
This setup puts as many demands on Camso’s logistics operations as the areas of application put on its products. To keep the company on track for growth and to tap the full potential of digitalization, Camso began reviewing its global and European logistics network some time ago. “Having ten local distribution centers in Europe, each of them independently managed, was no longer in keeping with the times,” says Pierrick Bouf, Supply Chain and Logistics Director EMEA at Camso. “As a result, we reorganized our network around three main distribution centers: one in the UK, one in Germany to cover northern Europe, and one in France to serve southern Europe.”
A reliable partner
The French distribution center in Grans, located near the Mediterranean port of Fos-sur-Mer northwest of Marseille, is operated by DACHSER. “Its location, logistics capacities, and groupage network made it a good fit with our plans to be able to deliver goods to the French market within 24 or 48 hours,” Bouf says. This cooperation would prove successful and resulted in DACHSER being included in the discussion about handing over responsibility for all logistics services to a Lead Logistics Provider (LLP).
"The close collaboration with DACHSER as LLP has made our processes significantly easier and increased our responsiveness in extremely turbulent times", says Pierrick Bouf, Supply Chain and Logistics Director EMEA at Camso.
The LLP would be tasked with orchestrating twelve different transport service providers and ensuring that they deliver an average of 170 shipments per day from the three central shipping warehouses to the target customers in Europe with maximum efficiency and transparency. “In parallel with this new logistics organization, we wanted to improve our services by centralizing and standardizing them and having a knowledgeable point of contact for all logistics-related questions,” Bouf says.
But first, an explanation of the term and the underlying concept is in order: a Lead Logistics Provider is a logistics company that acts as a neutral party in organizing all or at least the essential logistics processes for its customers, regardless of which service provider carries out the operational activity. LLPs are deeply integrated in their customers’ (logistics) processes. After all, this comprehensive service approach isn’t restricted to conducting transports or performing terminal handling or warehousing services; it also involves designing, implementing, and organizing supply chains, optimizing transport and warehouse planning, coordinating suppliers, and integrating the latest (communication) technologies. Customer-specific services such as customs clearance, packaging management, and value-added services also fall under the range of LLP responsibilities.
Delivering tires to customers throughout Europe.
The “premiere league of logistics”
That’s why Stefan Hohm, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at DACHSER, considers LLPs to represent the “premiere league of logistics”: “The LLP concept requires a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the customer’s supply chain and all associated processes. Using the network and IT expertise that we have acquired and grown over the years, we continue to develop and refine this system to create sustainable complete solutions that our customers need for their business model. In addition to the shipments transported by DACHSER, our portfolio will also incorporate the transparency and management of other logistics providers.”
This made Dachser an obvious choice as Camso’s LLP. “In our collaboration to date, Dachser has proven that it’s capable of organizing and allocating transports exactly the way we want. Following our shared experience with the Dachser-operated Camso distribution center in France, we then began working to expand the LLP solution to the other two distribution centers in the UK and Germany,” Bouf says. “Dachser is very familiar with our products and how we work, and it understands our special service-level requirements when shipping to another country.”
On the DACHSER end, the various strands of the Camso LLP project all converge in the hands of Martin Poost, Department Head Lead Logistics Provider. “All supply chain information flows into the DACHSER LLP Control Tower,” Poost says. “That’s the center where all data, independent of company and location, is pooled and monitored. To do this, we transform the physical supply chain processes and the specific customer requirements into an appropriate IT logic. We then display all relevant data in a transparent and traceable format on the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform, where it can be accessed at any time.”
For this to work, the Camso and DACHSER systems have to be able to “talk” to each other and allow data to be shared in real time without losing information. According to Poost, this is a demanding challenge that, together with Camso, DACHSERsucceeded in transforming into a practical solution. Paving the way for this success was a working group with IT teams from Camso, DACHSER, and technology partner Siemens. “Working closely together, we were able to design the interfaces and the data structure in a way that ensures that communication between our ERP system and the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform functions securely,” Bouf says.
An integrated overall concept
Camso had formulated clear expectations for DACHSER as LLP. It wanted an integrated concept for warehousing, distribution, and management of the various transport providers handling the groupage shipments, partial and full loads, and package deliveries. To this end, DACHSER was tasked with managing and controlling all transports and service providers, including transmitting shipment data to everyone involved, printing barcode labels, and managing proofs of delivery. And last but not least, the LLP is responsible for validating invoices. In other words, it was entrusted with the entire portfolio of highly developed and practical supply chain management processes.
For the Dachser LLP team led by Martin Poost, and for their partners at Camso, working together to draw up the detailed requirements and specifications once again showed very clearly that DACHSER could provide the orchestration of all required logistics services far more efficiently and reliably than if Camso had to create a suitable structure itself.
A glance at the Control Tower and the functionalities of DACHSER’s Supply Chain Visibility platform shows just why that is: “Here, all transport-related data, independent of company and location, is pooled together in one system and presented graphically, making it practical for use in different media,” Poost says. “This enables us and customers, regardless of location, to see where any shipment is at any given time and to intervene if necessary.” Thanks to DACHSER’s proprietary Supply Chain Visibility platform, everyone involved in the transport has access to the latest information and can contact other parties directly if desired, regardless of which type of transport is used. “We cover full and partial loads as well as groupage and parcel services. And it’s all part of a single solution for procurement and distribution logistics,” Poost says.
Easy to use
As the logistics experts know, digitalized and automated processes are only as good and worthwhile as their level of acceptance in day-to-day operations. “That’s why we pay particular attention to user acceptance of all the tools we use,” Poost says. It’s crucial that solutions be easy to use, for example via smartphone, app, and special web services.
If, for example, a rubber track needs to be sent from Germany to France, the Camso systems transmit the shipment data via an EDI to the Supply Chain Visibility platform, which Camso uses to control and release the shipment. The platform then transmits the data to the selected transport provider, who ultimately accepts the shipment. This system is used in transport scheduling, in the transit terminal, and by the drivers. “This means everyone can always see where the track is on its journey through Europe,” Poost says. That’s more than conventional tracking and tracing. “The major advantage of consolidating all shipment data in a single system is that it enables us to work for and with customers from an early stage to plan all transport services. For example, to arrange delivery in accordance with the recipient’s available time slots.” After the rubber track is delivered in France, the proof of delivery is transmitted, enabling the immediate final review of the transport costs indicated on the transport provider’s EDI invoice. “This carrier management,” Poost says, “is a well-oiled process and everyone has their part to play in it.”
The Control Tower and the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform also provide tangible benefits when it comes to analysis, for instance when creating reports or Excel tables and forecasts for such things as order planning and timely provision of container and transport capacities. And last but not least, Poost says, another key aspect of the Control Tower is quality assurance. “When evaluating the services agreed with suppliers and transport providers, an appropriately qualified LLP partner has the professional and technological edge over customers when this evaluation can be explicitly ‘based on daily practice, for daily practice’.”
Poost’s and Bouf’s preliminary verdict on the Camso-DACHSER LLP partnership is thus a positive one. “Especially during the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, the close collaboration with DACHSER made our processes significantly easier and increased our responsiveness in these extremely turbulent times,” Bouf notes with satisfaction. This also includes the parties having long since established a trusting and mutually appreciative connection on a personal level. “Since the start of our collaboration more than five years ago, we have had weekly operations meetings where we can discuss the events of the previous week and plans for the coming week, and where many potential problems can be anticipated and addressed proactively,” Poost says. “For all the technology it uses and all the progress it is making toward digitalization, logistics is still and will remain a ‘people business’—even, and especially, for a Lead Logistics Provider.”
Kempten, September 10, 2020 – Dachser’s Rheine logistics center is creating more space for storage and value-added services. Construction is underway close to the company's site on a new distribution center, which will go into operation in October 2020. The heart of the facility on Sandkampstrasse is a 20,800 m2 logistics terminal with 26 loading gates for trucks and up to 36,800 pallet spaces. In addition, there is some 1,200 m2 of office space.
Dachser Rheine will use this modern new facility to consolidate existing warehouse locations in the surrounding area while ensuring additional capacity for future growth. This enables the logistics provider to optimize transport flows and operating conditions. The new distribution center will be operated for customers in various sectors, including the manufacturing industry, healthcare, DIY, and the textile trade. In addition to warehousing, picking, and shipping goods, the employees will provide additional services such as display building, repackaging, special labeling, assembly work, and returns handling, depending on customer requirements.
“In the warehousing segment, we’re seeing continued growth and increasing demand in the region,” says Markus Dodt, General Manager of Dachser’s Rheine logistics center. “A strong local economy, good availability of qualified workers, and favorable transport connections make Rheine and the Münsterland region an ideal location for integrated logistics services.”
Dachser has been present in Rheine since 1990 and currently employs 390 people there. Of these, 60 employees will be transferring to the new location, and a further 60 jobs will be created there in the medium term.
Supporting Africa’s logistics needs with bulk ocean freight
Before sea freight containers took over sixty years ago, break bulk was the main form of moving cargo. Roughly 90% of all goods worldwide are still shipped by sea, of which 70% is now containerised cargo. Break bulk sea freight however still makes up a significant segment of transportation and has several advantages for clients, whether by air or sea freight, says Detlev Duve, managing director of Dachser South Africa.
Globally, logistics leader Dachser has undertaken many complex break bulk shipments. Due to Africa’s economic reliance on the extraction of natural resources, logistics operators in Africa will often be required to facilitate the movement of large machinery and parts.
Break bulk is where items are not transported in containers, but carried in units such as pallets, bags, drums or crates, or as larger non-unitised cargo. Cargo can be moved in smaller units, and it allows goods to enter less developed ports that are not set up for loading and unloading containers. Break bulk would also be used for hazardous materials, as they have to stay separate.
