Land, Sea & Air Issue 149 October 2017

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Land,Sea Air

Incorporating Shipping & Marine

The magazine for transport and logistics

October 2017 • issue 149 www.landseaairmagazine.com

Connecting the

dots

Already one of Europe’s largest road feeder services operators, Wallenborn has plans for further expansion

News

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Warehousing Using a strong WMS will help to manage all processes and drive out hidden costs

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Blockchain set to revolutionise the logistics industry HMS Queen Elizabeth is fitted with Dellner Brakes’ systems Plans for a mid-mass logistics drone are underway

Ports update The need to look for more environmentally-friendly power options in port

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LS A contents Chairman Andrew Schofield

Features

Managing Director Joe Woolsgrove

4 News

Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Assistant Editor Will Daynes Production Manager Fleur Daniels Art Editor/Design David Howard Advertising Design Fiona Jolliffe Profiles Editor Jo Cooper Production dhoward@schofieldpublishing.co.uk studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

Announcements and developments from the logistics, materials handling, maritime and aviation markets

6 Heathrow Expansion The Freight Transport Association is firmly behind plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. Alex Veitch explains why

8 Power in Port

19 Warehousing Warehousing done well can make your business thrive and give you a competitive edge

22 Regional Airports The importance of regional airports and flight routes – their potential is huge

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Vessel operators are looking for more environmentally-friendly power options in ports

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Advertisement Administrator Tracy Chynoweth studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Editorial Administrator Emma Crane

24 Efficient Distribution

Operations Director Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Ben Richell Jo-Ann Jeffery Jeff Goldenberg Ian Shaw Advertising Sales Mark Cawston Tim Eakins Darren Jolliffe Jonas Junca Dave King Rob Wagner Theresa McDonald Web Sales James Whiteley jwhiteley@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Subscriptions ikidd@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

Why businesses must ensure their distribution process is as accurate as possible

26 Market Transformation 12 Industry 4.0 Preparing the supply chain for Industry 4.0 represents the next frontier in the battle for competitive edge. Trevor Hoyle gives more details

14 Supply Chain The complex nature of tax laws has obstructed many businesses from including taxes and duties in supply chain practices. Jon Nicholas reports

16 Drop Shipping

@Land,Sea&Air

Why drop shipping is increasingly becoming an essential competency for virtually all retailers. By Richard Jones

Schofield Publishing

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Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. Tel: 044 (0)1603 274130 www.landseaairmagazine.com ©2017 Schofield Publishing Ltd

Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The marine sector is going through substantial changes. Adversity is forcing innovation and this is opening up opportunities as Tim Schweikert highlights

28 Logistics A logistics provider with the agility to meet manufacturers’ fluctuating needs will be in a strong position. Rob Cockcroft offers an opinion

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30 Women in Logistics How one company is leading the way for diversity and equality in a sector traditionally dominated by men

34 Drew Marine Signal and Safety How the right equipment can maintain health and safety at sea. Keith Bradford reports www.landseaairmagazine.com - 1

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LS A contents

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Land

35 Wallenborn 46 Culina Group 54 White & Company 57 Fowler Welch

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63 Bulk Logistics Group 66 Bรถrjes Logistik & Spedition 68 Hellmann Worldwide Logistics 70 Palletways

Air

112 Liege Airport S.A. 115 Cranfield Aerospace

Solutions Limited

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122 Gibraltar Airport 126 Turkish Aerospace Industries 128 Munich Airport

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72 Visbeen 78 H.P. Therkelsen A/S

Sea

81 Gestion Maritime 84 Sunseeker

86 Bogerd Martin NV 88 Nordic Hamburg Group 91 Port of Gibraltar 96 Orkney Ferries 100 MPC Container Ships 103 Snijtechniek-Brabant BV 106 Sea2Cradle

132 Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited

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109 Williams Jet Tenders

109 140 European Maintenance

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Electric dreams

Logistics specialist Menzies Distribution has acquired London-based Gnewt Cargo, the all-electric delivery provider, for an undisclosed sum. Gnewt, which was founded in 2008, provides final-mile delivery services in central London for retailers, e-tailers and parcel carriers such as Hermes and TNT. Last year, it made over three million deliveries in London using the UK’s largest all-electric fleet of commercial vehicles. The deal supports Menzies Distribution’s diversification strategy and progresses the company’s plans to extend its neutral parcel consolidation services across the UK and Ireland.

Greg Michael, Managing Director, said: “Acquiring Gnewt was an exciting opportunity for us to advance our sustainability agenda offer and gives us a stronger, cleaner presence in the London market.”

Lorry technology trials Thanks to £8.1m government funding for trials announced on Friday 25 August 2017, lorries on motorways are a step closer to accelerating, braking and steering in sync through wireless technology. The ‘platooning’ trials will see up to three heavy goods vehicles, travelling in convoy, with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle. All lorries in the platoon will always have a driver ready to take control at any time.

If successful, this technology could have major benefits for motorists and businesses in the UK. A row of lorries driving closer together could see the front truck pushing the air out of the way, making the vehicles in the convoy more efficient, lowering emissions and improving air quality.

Transport Minister Paul Maynard said: “Advances such as lorry platooning could benefit businesses and other road users. But first we must make sure the technology is safe and works well on our roads, and that’s why we are investing in these trials.”

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Blockchain to revolutionise the logistics industry A successful pilot programme delivered by logistics technology company Marine Transport International (MTI) has demonstrated that the logistics industry will see improved connectivity, efficiency and security thanks to blockchain. MTI, in conjunction with Agility Sciences, has released a whitepaper detailing the deployment of their Container Streams system in a supply chain environment. The results of the pilot have been verified by scientists at the University of Copenhagen and maritime technology leads at Blockchain Labs for Open Collaboration (BLOC).

Jody Cleworth, CEO of Marine Transport International, noted: “The blockchain has proven to be an excellent way of connecting the different parties involved in any supply chain environment due to the transparency and security-by-design of the technology. In recent months, the shipping industry has fallen victim to industrial-scale cyberattacks which have left large shipping lines, such as Maersk, completely paralyzed and unable to serve clients.

“A blockchain-enabled supply chain is highly resilient to cyberattack – a copy of the essential shipping data is stored on each node on a decentralised network, meaning that even if one node is compromised, the data is safe nevertheless.

“The business case for connecting supply chains using blockchain is very strong. As the interface is easily adaptable to existing systems there is a very low barrier to entry. Any type of supply chain business, be it marine-, air-, or land-based, can take advantage of such a system – the cost savings that we envisage are as high as 90 per cent, as a result of substantially streamlined processes.”

Setting sail The mighty HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is fitted with two Dellner Brakes ‘stopping, turning, locking’ (STL) systems that, weighing in at 11,000 kg each, are the biggest STL systems that Dellner Brakes has ever built.

Each of the carrier’s two propeller shafts is fitted with a custom-designed Dellner Brakes STL system that allows operators to stop, hold and securely lock each shaft independently, and to individually turn the shafts and giant 33 tonne propellers for maintenance and blade assembly. The STL system is operated from a push button control panel that integrates fully with other on-board systems.

Powering transport innovation The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) announced the launch of the Intelligent Mobility Data Hub (IMDH) at the recent Cenex-LCV event. Paul Campion, CEO at the TSC explained further: “Data is the key which unlocks the door to transport innovation, but too often transport data is locked within commercial and technical siloes, inhibiting collaboration and innovation. Utilising the TSC’s position as a neutral trusted broker, the new Intelligent Mobility Data Hub allows the UK transport industry to take a major step toward resolving this issue by enabling the analysis and combining of large data sets in a secure platform.

This new facility will allow UK companies to grow by offering new services to travellers, unlocking the door to innovations which were not possible before.”

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LS A news Pushing the envelope

Getting ready for the carrier

A group of entrepreneurial UK engineers has plans to build a mid-mass logistics drone for global markets. The system will be aimed initially at remote and isolated communities, but is planned to be fully capable of near urban operations in due course.

The Sky Hopper team brings together aeronautical engineers, certification and design specialists, electric machine designers, and advanced battery developers. Its promotors stress that the project will follow a carefully managed step-by-step approach. “Taking a step upwards to an industrial vehicle demands that we innovate across all our disciplines,” says Dr Richard Brown, the project’s aerodynamicist.

“We plan to build a series of demonstrators, resolving structural, power and flight control needs. We have some of the best skills available, and we are a small agile team.”

The UAV system, called Sky Hopper, is an electrically powered tri fan design to be constructed at Prestwick in the West of Scotland. Its avionics are being developed in Hampshire in South Central England.

Cargo mass load is 100 kilograms.

ESG, a SOCOTEC company and the UK’s leading provider of testing, inspection and compliance services, has carried out an 18-month contract with VolkerStevin and VolkerLaser in support of the new Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carrier berth construction.

Elements of the existing Princess Royal Jetty at Her Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth date back 90 years and required extensive updating and repair ahead of the QEC carrier’s arrival on 16th August 2017.

Since commencing the works, ESG’s structural investigation team has tested over 7,000m2 of concrete deck and inspected 150 tubular steel piles. Following ESG’s testing and inspection services, the client has installed an ‘Impressed Current Cathodic Protection’ (ICCP) system to protect the embedded concrete reinforcement, from further corrosion.

Runways re-open The two main runways at Goodwood Aerodrome have been fully re-opened following extensive groundworks, which began in January 2017. Covering an area equal to 60 rugby pitches, phase one of the Aerodrome Drainage Project has seen eight km of drainage installed and the runway surfaces regraded with a 1.5 per cent cross-fall.

The project has been designed by Jacobs, one of the world’s leading airport civil engineering companies and it is hoped will enable the success and sustainability of the Aerodrome for many years to come.

Over 266,000m² of turf and topsoil was removed from runways 06/24 and 14/32. A matrix of drainage was installed across the manoeuvring area and at the perimeter of the runways to drain water away from the surface, down to the free draining soil below. Very precise grading technology and machinery has been used to deliver the design which managed the movement of water away from key areas and runway surfaces. Every resource available has been used to re-establish the disturbed areas quickly and robustly.

This special seed treatment meant that the new turf began to grow quicker, reducing the time that the runways were out of action. Since the works were completed in May, the turf has been cultivated to a level where all tests have been carried out and the runways have re-opened to full and usual traffic.

Extra involvement at Hinkley Hanson UK has extended its involvement with EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C project, securing a roads construction contract for the Kier Bam Joint Venture through its contracting division. The contract includes supplying 40,000 tonnes of cement bound granular material (CBGM) and 100,000 tonnes of asphalt over the next two years. The materials will be used to build access roads on site.

Hanson Contracting has also secured contracts with Laing O’Rourke, to support new accommodation campuses which are being built to house up to 1500 construction workers. In addition, the company is supplying the temporary access roads for the Kier Bam JV and other packages for the Bylor JV of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke, which is responsible for the construction of the reactor buildings at the site.

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Heathrow

expansion According to Alex Veitch, the case for enlarging Heathrow Airport is clear

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he Freight Transport Association (FTA) is firmly behind plans for a third runway at Heathrow to boost air cargo capacity in the south east.

Demand has already been well established and, as confirmed by the Government’s independent Airport Commissions report, Heathrow is by far the better option for air freight than Gatwick.

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Air freight is a significant driver for the UK economy. In 2010, Steer Davies Gleave (SDG), as part of its work for Department for Transport (DfT) on air freight in the UK, estimated the total economic footprint of the sector (direct, indirect and induced effects) to be around £7.3 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 135,300 jobs. The impact of the sector on the wider economy is difficult to quantify effectively. However, SDG estimated that the total value of air freight services including wider impacts to the UK economy was around £14.3 billion and 282,400 jobs.

A York Aviation Ltd report jointly commissioned by FTA and Transport for London in 2015 made long-term demand forecasts for air freight and assessed the economic impacts of failing to expand capacity to meet this demand. The analysis clearly demonstrates the importance of the provision of additional concentrated airport hub capacity in London by 2050. Without this capacity, the air freight industry will suffer as, ultimately, will the end users in the UK economy.

Air freight is carried in both the cargo hold of passenger aircraft and in dedicated freighter aircraft, but most air freight to and from the UK is carried by the former. This helps to explain the dominance of Heathrow in the air freight sector. There is a mutually-beneficial relationship between passenger and cargo

AIRPORTS

centres clustered around the airport, benefiting from excellent transport links across the country and to the Channel ports. This in turn provides vital global connections for UK businesses trading internationally.

But the failure to expand means Heathrow is falling behind its international competitors…Airports Council International rank Heathrow at number 19 in the list of the world’s busiest cargo airports, behind our European competitors Frankfurt at number ten and Paris Charles de Gaulle at nine and Schiphol at 17.

Expansion and growth of both the passenger and freight markets is vital to enable Heathrow to compete on a global level, and to continue to attract international businesses to the UK. The Airports Commission concluded that Heathrow rather than Gatwick should expand because of the economic benefits for the whole country, which included £147 billion in economic growth over the next 60 years and the creation on 70,000 new jobs by 2050.

And the York Aviation report commissioned by FTA and TfL concluded “of the three options, the Heathrow expansion provides the most significant economic benefits, in terms of cost reduction, job creation and minimisation of extra costs associated with increased freight transit times”.

So, what does FTA want from expansion?

connections, as cargo carried in the belly hold often dictates whether a proposed route is commercially viable.

Heathrow has the best connectivity to global markets of any UK airport, currently serving 185 destinations in 84 countries.

As a global hub airport, it offers by far the largest range of long haul destinations of the southeast airports and by far the biggest aircraft capacity. Almost all the 1.4 million tonnes of freight handled at Heathrow in 2013 was carried in the belly hold of passenger aircraft. Increasingly, pure freighter operations have moved out of Heathrow as higher yielding passenger services have taken over their slots. The same is true of air freight operations at Gatwick. The other airports, without Heathrow’s long haul connections, simply do not provide an alternative.

DfT statistics show that in 2015 Heathrow accounted fully for 67 per cent of total air freight tonnage in the UK, while Gatwick accounted for just three per cent. Heathrow has also nurtured its air freight market; increasing its tonnage by 15 per cent between 2005 and 2015. Over the same period, Gatwick’s air freight tonnage fell by two-thirds As the Airports Commission’s report clearly demonstrates, Heathrow has become a crucial nerve centre for UK logistics, with forwarders, specialist air cargo handlers and distribution

FTA is fully engaged as a key stakeholder in the development of the expansion plan at Heathrow. We recently submitted a formal response to the Government consultation on Heathrow expansion.

The key points are: l FTA supports the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, in preference to Gatwick, as this delivers greater economic benefits to the UK and is the key logistics hub for the whole country l FTA is keen to support Heathrow as it develop its application for permission to expand. This should include excellent surface access for freight operators l Air quality limits for Heathrow should be aligned with London road emissions standards (ULEZ) l Early morning arrivals into an expanded Heathrow should be maintained as far as possible due to the economic benefits of these flights. FTA presents clear evidence based on our new economic research on this issue Following the General Election there will be a Parliamentary vote on the Heathrow proposal and FTA will be fully engaged with MPs. l Alex Veitch is the FTA’s Head of Global Policy. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is one of Britain’s largest trade associations, and uniquely provides a voice for the entirety of the UK’s logistics sector.

Its role, on behalf of over 16,000 members, is to enhance the safety, efficiency and sustainability of freight movement across the supply chain, regardless of transport mode. FTA members consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and over 70 per cent of sea and air freight. In addition, they operate over 200,000 goods vehicles - over half the UK fleet - and some 700,000 liveried vans. http://www.fta.co.uk/policy_and_compliance/air/air_freight.html www.landseaairmagazine.com - 7

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power in port

up Power

Maurizio Bragagni discusses how changes in the maritime sector are driving vessel owners and operators to look for more environmentally-friendly power options in port

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he expression ‘sea change’ is one that those in politics and business are fond of using when talking about significant shifts in strategy, and the things that prompt them. The seas have always presented challenge and change to business and politicians working internationally. Change it seems is the one constant in maritime business, and that much-used phrase certainly describes new developments in one of the world’s biggest industries.

With clear signs that globalisation is slowing, new and better ways of working within the maritime and ports sector are becoming a bigger imperative. As active member of the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) we at Tratos are part of this expert stakeholder body that is mapping this change as globalisation slows – largely because of market maturity.

While there is an uncertain climate for trade across the UK, Europe and in the US and the demand for container shipping has currently plateaued – it doesn’t mean that there is no work to do.

The questions that shifts in the usual patterns raise have to be answered, and quickly – and there is a feeling in the industry that a new era of investment is approaching as new trade agreements are forged and the shape of shipping changes beyond all recognition.

Going larger Change always makes ripples – sometimes it makes waves, big ones. The rise of mega ships has put a strain on ports and resulted

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in environmental impact. With this new breed of gargantuan ship comes a tide of challenges and we are working within the industry to find solutions to minimise the impact of these great ships, contributing to the progressive development of alternative maritime power (AMP) systems.

Supplying cables for use in AMP systems to minimise emissions from ships in port is one of these solutions where better ways of working are being found. A heritage of working with the delivery of clean, alternative power and manufacturing cables for wind farms and solar installations throughout Europe positions us for the next step.

Connecting ships in port to the electrical grid enables crew to power on board services, systems and equipment. As the ship’s power dependency is switched there are advantages – a reduction in noise and emissions. It’s in demand and the most effective means of reducing pollution from ships in port.

An increase in marine transportation – ships continue to get bigger and more of these mega ships are on the way – invariably means greater air pollution unless workable solutions can be found. This is of paramount importance for port cities where residential communities sit alongside the fringes of the waterfront.

Port infrastructure must respond. Making available the electric installation necessary for ships’ supply has to be designed ahead of time to realise the benefits for a range of different ship types. It is complicated, one size doesn’t fit all - ships from different

power in port

countries are equipped with different electric systems. To succeed the solution must cater for visiting ships and their estimated power demands.

Marine transportation plays a significant role in world transport.

Some 90 per cent of goods traded internationally is transported by sea. Ships are important contributors to exhaust gas emissions and, consequently, pollution. It’s estimated that in the European Union the emission of NOx and SOx by ships will have exceeded the land-based source emission by 2020. This prediction has taken the focus on cleaner marine energy in ports significantly higher up the agenda.

The responsibility for prevention of air pollution by ships in port and for enforcing the adoption of introduced solutions rests with port authorities and sea administration offices. They may be subject to national policies on environmental protection which may differ significantly from those within the EU. Shore power supply, apart from minimising negative impact on the environment, has economic benefits. In short, it’s cheaper as well as better.

The time to unravel the problems of connections that don’t connect - and standardise for the benefit of all - is now and we

relatively rare. And problems are not merely posed by the inability to provide the correct connection. As a ship switches power source, there is a short black-out. There are obvious health and safety arguments to support keeping the power supply uninterrupted.

So, while there is pain, there is considerable gain if these sea changes can be not only accommodated but used to drive efficiencies and environmental benefit. We are among the businesses within the sector that believe that there is no room for failure. It’s a stimulating and motivating thought for those in the industry charged with making the change - and one that will, ultimately, calm troubled waters and clear the air. l

believe technology will find the answer if co-operation opens the door.

Electric incompatibility is the main obstacle, therefore supplying the vessel electric system by means of a land electric grid is

environmentally friendly solutions to their challenges, and as a result it helps drive better, cleaner performance.

Maurizio Bragagni is CEO of innovative cable manufacturer Tratos and Vice Chairman of PEMA (Port Equipment Manufacturers Association).

An active cable innovator for well over two decades, Tratos develops specialist cables for maritime – from cables that manage harsh environments to reeling cables for moving applications in ports. It does this best by working closely with customers to find better, more

www.tratosgroup.com

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The next

frontier Why supply chain integration is crucial in the Industry 4.0 Era. By Trevor Hoyle

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aguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest car manufacturer. In addition to producing over 500,000 cars each year, the company is also at the cutting edge of 3D printing – using the innovative technology to print 55,000 parts ranging from bodywork to switchgear annually with significant time and cost savings.

This is a great example of the revolution that is sweeping the world of manufacturing. Not since the ‘lean revolution’ of the 1970s, often dubbed the ‘third industrial revolution’, have such radical changes been made to the way production is designed, monitored and executed, and the repercussions of this seachange are being felt all the way down the value chain right into the hands of the end-customer. Today’s always-on, e-commercedriven global economy is creating a brave new world known as the fourth industrial revolution, or ‘Industry 4.0’ – and businesses need to rapidly adapt to avoid being left behind.

Industry 4.0 is shorthand for applying new, digitally-driven capabilities to manufacturing and at each subsequent stage in the value chain. At its simplest, it can mean applying technology to a single stage in the chain – a gold mine in Africa leveraged big data from its sensors to discover an irregularity at a particular point in its production process, for example. Fixing this irregularity increased yield by 3.7 per cent – or £15.6m – each year.

However, to realise the full potential of Industry 4.0, companies are looking more holistically at their value chains. With four decades of experience in supporting customers’ supply chains,

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our business is uniquely positioned to observe how these changes are impacting supply chains everywhere. I believe that a rethink of supply chain management is needed if manufacturers and retailers are to successfully harness the possibilities of Industry 4.0.

Making supply chains customer-centric Once viewed purely in terms of its potential to yield cost efficiencies, supply chain management has evolved. Thanks to big data analytics and changing customer expectations, demand forecasting is more sophisticated. This means that modern supply chains now have a vital additional role in ensuring customer satisfaction and retention.

To achieve this goal, logistics now needs to work across the company from the front-end to the back-end, seamlessly integrating production, inventory, marketing, sales, payments, distribution and product returns to optimise the supply chain model that balances cost efficiencies with keeping customers happy.

Embracing innovation Achieving this degree of integration is complex – in a recent research study, only seven per cent of business executives believed they had created fully-integrated businesses that could be regarded as Industry 4.0-ready. Access to the right technology is only one part of the puzzle; businesses also need a culture that embraces innovation and a workforce – from c-suites to general staff – that is willing to innovate to drive change.

industry 4.0

However, when weighing these barriers to implementing an Industry 4.0-ready supply chain against the potential benefits, an almost unassailable business case emerges in favour of making the leap for businesses large and small. Consider the aircraft maker Airbus. The company has invested significantly in creating a ‘Factory of the Future’ by building aircraft in virtual reality, with production lines that include computer-suited personnel and robots working side by side. As a result of these changes, which the company dubs 'smart production', Airbus is able to keep pace with increased demand, and also now manufactures its products in a more sustainable way.

The benefits of Industry 4.0 are certainly not confined to large multinational corporations. China-based furniture retailer Markor realised that it could innovate its supply chain to identify trends in customer purchasing behaviour. The company created a smartphone app that uses big data to identify these trends, then makes personalised recommendations to customers on product designs. Using mobile devices, sales staff can show products demos and 3D images of custom furniture. When sales are made, customer preferences and purchase details are saved automatically, and the company uses the information to drive future business

The next frontier for competition Of course, these are just some examples of technology overhauling the supply chain. Touch-screens, robotics and augmented reality can all be orchestrated to achieve value-creating

supply chains capable of responding automatically to changes in end-demand. The central question is not what technology is harnessed, but whether you work with the right manufacturing, technology or logistics providers to enable your supply chain to be truly integrated and demand-driven.

Get it right, and you’ll be on the way to achieving efficiencies, reduced time-to-market, cost savings, improved productivity and revenue gains. Despite the substantial investment involved, more than half of the respondents in a recent Industry 4.0 global survey anticipated return on investment in just two years.

In a world where business is increasingly transacted digitally, preparing your supply chain for Industry 4.0 represents the next frontier in the battle for competitive edge. l

Trevor Hoyle is Senior Vice President Operations, Northern Europe, at FedEx Express. FedEx Corp. provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $60 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. www.fedex.com

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Taxing

times

Effective integration of taxes and duties will enable businesses to obtain the best possible decisions in supply chain design. By Jon Nicholas

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he supply chain is essential to how a business is run, affecting its costs, profitability and growth. With the increasing globalisation of business, the varying taxes and duties across trading borders have a huge impact on overall cost, supplier-sourcing, manufacturing strategies and distribution network structure.

However, the inherently complex nature of tax laws, particularly in countries such as Brazil, has obstructed many businesses from including taxes and duties in supply chain design practices. With a global average tax rate above 20 per cent, the ramifications could be staggering, causing millions of pounds a year may to be wasted.

To counter this, however, it is possible to optimise taxes and duties so that total costs are driven right down and competitive advantage elevated.

It is fundamentally a question of successful businesses finding the right balance between supply chain costs on the one hand and tax and duty obligations on the other.

It is first worth considering the risks of doing nothing. The failure to consider regional customs regimes or trade concessions, for example, puts an organisation at risk of missing out on potential savings. If free trade agreements are not included and used it is in danger of reducing its price and cost-competitiveness.

There are also potentially dramatic financial and operational consequences if the business does not react fast enough to complicated and dynamic rules and regulations. Identifying the impact of taxes and duties in future strategic moves, such as mergers and acquisitions and supply chain capacity planning, can be a vital component in building competitive advantage and global positioning.

With this in mind, the clear communication of tax and dutyrelated challenges and opportunities internally is imperative in order to drive the most effective changes in the supply chain. While locally-focused tax calculations may currently be taking place, global optimisation with both tax and logistics considerations, aligned with P&L standards, is also likely to be a more compelling proposal for stakeholders.

How to use modelling technology for tax optimisation By including tax costs and tax credits as well as operational/logistics costs in supply chain design, global businesses can minimise total costs. Modelling technology can be used to optimise the supply

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chain by providing a holistic view of duties and taxes, with the ability to perform what-if scenario testing on regulation changes, transfer prices and so forth. The supply chain strategy can be re-designed around regulation changes, quantifying the benefits from free trade zones and regional trade concessions. The impact of various taxes, such as the various Brazilian levies, VAT or corporation tax, can be measured.

Both India and Brazil, for instance, have complex tax structures that levy imposts on movements of goods between states while remitting credits to companies for movements into a given facility.

These systems of credits and debits create significant incentives that should be considered in supply chain design. Design without tax and duty considerations can lead to inefficiencies and lost cost savings opportunities.

Companies often form multiple corporate entities in countries with complex tax structures in order to minimise their tax burden.

In these situations, technology will optimise not only the logistics but also tax and duty implications, providing a complete picture of how to run a network.

An understanding of all international markets is also essential.

For example, India’s planned shift from VAT and CST (Central Sales Tax) to a more consistent regime of Good and Services Tax (GST) means that supply chains need to be designed to best manage the transition. The new system should be easier for companies to track and manage but may lead to higher costs. Given that the existing tax structure incentivises the creation of distributed corporate entities for tax avoidance, the new system should allow for more centralisation of facilities. Effective transition plans will be needed to determine where consolidation should occur and how aggressive the timing of such changes should be.

Setting out on the optimisation of taxes and duties In order to be successful and establish quick wins, companies should start on a small scale and build up to more complex modelling to answer wider-scope supply chain questions. As the project develops they should evaluate the resulting benefits and refine their approach with different technologies and approaches that are best-suited to the business strategy.

Optimising complex tax and duties within supply chain design practice requires tight alignment across several areas of the business. The fiscal team may not typically be involved in supply

supply chain

chain modelling. Yet when incorporating complex tax and duties calculations with annual regulatory changes, it is imperative to involve the financial team from the outset. This team may also review and approve site selection, along with open/close and capital expenditure proposals recommended by the models.

When evaluating supply chain changes on a more long-term planning basis, trade-off analysis should also be aligned with corporate planning and strategy. This enables a company to capture all the pieces of information required for supply chain designs which are accurate and which can feasibly be implemented within the business. A task team that includes fiscal, finance, supply chain and design capabilities can be a recipe for success when moving to supply chain design, providing comprehensive inclusion of tax modelling for more robust agility and competitiveness. v

Jon Nicholas is Professional Services Director at LLamasoft. LLamasoft software helps organisations worldwide design and improve their supply chain operations. LLamasoft solutions enable companies across a wide range of industries to model, optimise and simulate their supply chain network, leading to major improvements in cost, service, sustainability and risk mitigation. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, LLamasoft is a leader in supply chain excellence and innovation, advancing technology focused on continuous improvement of enterprise supply chains for the world’s largest organisations. www.llamasoft.com

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The common

denominator How drop shipping evolved from a tactic to a core competency. By Richard Jones

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-commerce sites are but a modern version of catalogue providers, with drop shipping as the common denominator. The tactic allows retailers to sell large assortments of items they do not independently own, stock or fulfil by having a supplier send the item directly to the end customer. When done right, drop shipped items are fulfilled with the same branding, shipping performance and customer experience as if they had come from the retailer’s own warehouse, while allowing the retailer to take no inventory risk and enjoy wholesale margins.

Previously a tactic reserved for bulk replenishment or catalogue providers, the rise of the internet led to industry-wide adoption in many countries over the past two decades, and its progress shows no sign of slowing. Drop shipping will soon become a core competency for the retailer and drop ship supplier alike.

Prior to rushing to the market, however, organisations may benefit from a brief history outlining the trends and key events leading to the tactic’s popularisation.

Early days Absent of the internet, wholesale fulfilment in the latter 20th century was overwhelmingly concerned with bulk replenishment. Items were shipped in large volumes from a manufacturer or supplier’s distribution centre (DC) to a retailer’s store or cross-dock facility – think forklifts and pallets.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) fulfilment was largely nonwholesale. Cataloguers were fulfilling from their own inventory in specialised warehouses that could pick and pack single items – think small boxes and UPS at your door.

At the time, there were also catalogue-only retailers and premium incentives vendors. These companies built their businesses by being the sales channel for the products held by other D2C cataloguers. They took top line revenue and marked up the cost of the goods, plus delivery and handling.

It was primitive: allowing four to six weeks for delivery was standard and orders were communicated on paper or via fax.

But it was what we now consider to be true drop shipping. And though SKU assortments were typically small, volumes could be very large.

Meanwhile, a class of distributors existed who specialised in replenishment for small businesses. They would buy products in bulk from manufacturers and pick relatively small shipments for many stores. When early drop shipping retailers came calling, it was these distributors who found themselves well prepared to start shipping in high volumes directly to end customers in a completely transparent way.

The rise of e-commerce One of the earliest killer apps for the early internet was the online shop front. Once people learned to trust their credit card to a website, it was clear that e-commerce would be the huge wave of the future. Established retailers dabbled with e-commerce as side projects and they would set up experimental teams that were usually separate from the main organisation, build a primitive shop front, put up a handful of products, and ship out of some corner of a DC. Fuelled by the ‘irrational exuberance’ of dot-com funding, many pure-play retailers also exploded into existence. These were to be a new brand of retailer who were purely digital,

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DROP SHiPPING

owning no stores, warehouses, or stock. They would focus on branding, merchandising, and customer support.

They would rely on drop ship distributors to fulfil products at wholesale. Another famous example of a pure-play from this time was Amazon.com, a small online bookstore.

Yet, as the number of suppliers who could drop ship grew, drop shipping as a fulfilment option began to attract the attention of traditional retailers.

Their online experiments were starting to turn into real businesses. Online, there was no lack of shelf space.

With drop shipping, there was no need to restrict assortment because of inventory risk. Retailers did not need to stock large items like play sets, fringe items like perishables, or custom items like blinds. The endless aisle was born.

Meanwhile, customer expectations for their online experience were low. Consumers were still learning how to shop online. They were delighted to get an email saying their product had shipped. They were happy when it came in only ten days. At the same time, retailers were still learning how to sell online – whether they fulfilled out of their own DCs or from drop shippers.

From experiment to business strategy From getting products up on a site with images and descriptions, to taking returns, retailers were scrambling to invent their e-commerce story as they rode rocketing sales.

Those retailers who aggressively pursued drop shipping saw their sales grow even faster. It was clear that increasing assortment size correlated to higher sales growth, and drop

ship provided just that. A savvy retailer constantly sought out new products and might be connected to thousands of drop ship suppliers to fulfil them.

However, operating drop ship networks at scale was a challenge.

Gone were the days of paper and fax order communication.

Real-time visibility into order status was required for great customer service. Knowing that a drop shipped item was out of stock meant the difference between a happy customer and a lost customer. High volumes required electronic integration, and drop ship suppliers ranged in IT competence from big companies like Dell to small boutique sellers operating out of their garages.

For their part, drop shippers themselves saw huge growth as they found more and more retailers to whom they could sell. Their challenges included satisfying retailers’ integration and programme requirements, managing product content like images and descriptions, keeping products in stock, and meeting fulfilment performance expectations. As time passed, retailers would learn to raise their expectations dramatically.

Amazon changed everything Retailers who aggressively embraced drop shipping continued to outpace aggregate e-commerce growth as they learned to tighten their operations and improve their control.

Efforts to optimise operations over the past six to seven

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drop shipping

years have focused on supplier onboarding, visibility, expedited order capabilities, and perfecting the art of exception management, among others. For their part, drop ship suppliers continued to build out their integration capabilities, installing solutions that integrated drop ship orders from their sales channels directly into their ERP systems.

Very slowly at first – and then suddenly – that little bookstore we previously mentioned became the Amazon we all know: the driving force in online retail.

Thanks to Amazon, customers have come to expect more and more from their online buying experience. Today, the average consumer expects to see a large assortment of items and to find the item they are looking for, all the while demand fasting shipping, free shipping, or both.

Amazon raised the bar by building warehouses everywhere.

It was their goal to have millions of SKUs within one-day ground shipping to 99 per cent of the population, and the company is an expert at load balancing, consolidating shipments, and maximising inventory turns.

shipping. Unlike drop shipping, however, with marketplaces retailers recognise only sales commissions as revenue, not top line merchandise value.

Brands themselves are now moving into the drop shipping game. Where they were once happy to sell in bulk to single pick/ pack distributors, brands now recognise that controlling the direct-to-consumer distribution of their goods themselves is critical to combating grey market sales and keeping control of their brand.

Both brands and distributors are answering the need for fast, efficient delivery by dispersing their inventories across the country. By building warehouses near every major metropolitan area, Amazon has upped the ante and made shipping a given product nationally from a single warehouse location unacceptable. Third party logistics warehouses (3PLs) are coming to the rescue of brands and drop shippers by helping them load balance their inventory geographically and deliver their products quickly and cheaply.

Drop shipping is an increasingly essential competency for virtually all retailers and brands, who will only see increasing pressure to provide larger assortments and faster, cheaper shipping. At the same time, they’ll also need to balance those pressures against the need to control their own identity and maintain their own customer relationships outside of the Amazon ecosystem. In any event, retailers cannot build enough warehouses or invest in enough inventory to sustain the kinds of growth necessary to ensure their survival. Drop shipping is here to stay. l

What’s next for drop shipping?

Retailers are now focused on faster turnaround among their drop ship suppliers and optimised shipping rates. The pressure to offer expanded assortments is as relentless as ever, but retailers must pay attention to the productivity of each SKU. Many SKUs offered on a retailer’s site never sell a single unit, with no offset to the cost of setting up that item in the first place. Insight into SKU velocity by brand, category and margin has never been more important.

Marketplaces that sell products from third-party sellers have also emerged as an alternative way for retailers to expand their directly-fulfilled assortment and reach a large, concentrated audience. This model is in direct competition with drop

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Richard Jones is Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer and EVP of Operations at CommerceHub. For more than 16 years, CommerceHub has been providing cloud-based technologies and services that enable retailers to radically expand their product offering without inventory risk. Richard is responsible for engineering and product management, computing infrastructure and operations, supplier onboarding, and customer support. He has over 16 years of experience in delivering cloud-based supply chain and merchandising solutions to top North American retailers. He is the primary architect of the CommerceHub platform. www.commercehub.com

Warehousing

Get

organised The hidden cost of warehousing. By Steve Adams

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n the face of it, warehousing products should be a relatively simple process. The product is received, stored, then picked and shipped – with an occasional inventory to make sure everything is in order.

However, the consequences of an inefficient and ineffective warehouse can be disastrous. Products that are built to exacting specifications in your pristine manufacturing operation that then disappear in a warehouse ‘black hole’ are never going to get the opportunity to impress your potential customers.

The bottom line is, if you can’t find the product, you can’t ship it; or if it takes longer in labour costs to find it than the customer paid for it, then your chance of building a long-term profitable business are very slim. Your business is the sum of all its parts and unfortunately the lowest common denominator usually thrives.

If it’s done well though, warehousing can make your business thrive and give you a competitive advantage in your industry.

An efficient warehouse The key question is: what makes one warehouse more efficient than any other? There are many answers, but some of the most immediately identifiable are: people, process, storage and material handling equipment and systems.

Nowadays, many companies have a Warehouse Management System (WMS) to help them manage all the people and processes within a warehouse facility. While a WMS can help control the movement and storage of materials, and process associated transactions – such as receiving, picking and shipping; even when used well, there are still many hidden costs that can have a major impact on your bottom line, customer satisfaction and overall business success. www.landseaairmagazine.com - 19

Three hidden costs that can be addressed with proper use of a WMS are time, inventory and organisation.

Time travelled After labour costs, travel time is the second most expensive variable. It is virtually invisible and extremely expensive if allowed to go unchecked. Just as a manager would not want to see employees wandering around with nothing to do, so equipment should not be crossing the floor unloaded. It also should not be travelling to the far corners of the warehouse to pick products when the same product is available within eyesight. Three solutions available with WMS can resolve this issue.

Slotting Slotting is the placement of products within a warehouse facility to maximise the use of a warehouse’s available cube space.

This is achieved by improved storage and picking efficiency, and reductions in warehouse handling cost; through optimising product location and balancing workload. This strategy takes a number of factors into consideration, such as; location, dimensions, and weight to profile and sequence items down the pick path. Proper slotting leads to reduced picker travel, more stable loads, fewer accidents, and less product breakage.

Interleaving Interleaving is a practice that uses WMS to assign tasks to workers in ways that make use of each trip that they, and the equipment they use, make during their work shifts. This practice can typically eliminate 25-30 per cent of the machine travel associated with pallet moves.

Picking strategies Picking strategies are one of the easiest and more cost-effective ways to maximise productivity and improve order accuracy.

Picking is also an operation that has a direct connection to customer satisfaction, as quickly and accurately processing orders is essential to the bottom line.

Batch picking involves picking more than one order at a time.

Using the WMS to help batch orders together in different ways, allows the workers to optimise their tasks and increase pick density. The benefit from this is a reduction in the number of times a picker has to travel through any aisle.

Zone picking divides the warehouse into multiple zones and assigns workers to pick only within one zone, thereby reducing travel time. Orders are either picked and passed from zone to zone for fulfillment, or consolidated at one point before shipping.

Order picking is often the most preferred method of picking, but may not be the most effective. An order picker picks one order at a time, following a route up and down each aisle until the entire order is picked. This method may work well in an operation with a low number of orders, and a high number of picks per order; however, using this method in a warehouse with a large number of smaller orders would lead to excessive travel time.

Inventory management Inventory management is a balancing act. You can’t have too much, as this could lead to shelves filled with expired

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or obsolete products, or result in holding an excessive and expensive inventory. It also might necessitate having a larger facility than is really needed. But then again, you also don’t want too little. This can result in product shortages, unfulfilled orders, and unhappy customers. You need just the right amount of stock. You can increase profitability 20-50 per cent through careful inventory management.

Tracking inventory is essential. Products should be tracked and recorded during initial receipt, as bad practices at this stage will only have a worse impact later on in the process. Whether it is through the use of bar codes or radio frequency identification (RFID), a detailed transaction history of inventory flowing in and out of the warehouse can improve visibility and reduce errors.

Real-time data in WMS means the system and the warehouse are never out of sync, ensuring better checks and balances with audits and cycle counts.

Shelf life Shelf life and stock rotation can also have a major hidden cost implication. Not every company has to worry about this, but for when they do – SKU accuracy by location is not enough. Warehouses need to know where each lot is stored, and when and if, the product is set to expire. Most Warehouse Management Systems offer various controls to help determine the shipping of these products, such as LIFO,

Warehousing

FEFO and FIFO. Without these controls, products will expire without ever being picked. The costs associated with this can be outstanding. There is the obvious cost of the manufacturing of these obsolete products but also the expensive warehouse space that has been used to house them. Costly labour to receive and put away the product can also be incurred with no financial gain.

Organisation The final area of hidden costs is the organisation of the warehouse itself. Cost savings in travel time and inventory control can be lost if the warehouse is an incomprehensible maze. The first step is to determine how the facility will operate and develop a master strategy.

Decide how space is used and think in three dimensions: rather than expanding the footprint, perhaps there can be better use of vertical space? Examine potential traffic patterns and storage locations. Consider how items will be picked, how they will be put away, and how the stock will be replenished. Group products into families based on the results of this analysis, and configure the WMS to support this plan, building in exception protocols. Last of all, plan to work - and work the plan. Without regular upkeep, a well organised warehouse can quickly become disorganised and difficult to navigate.

Surviving or thriving?

Remember, warehouses should never be rocket science.

Having a strong WMS will help reduce costs, increase inventory accuracy and storage capacity, and improve customer satisfaction. This will at least allow you to survive against your competitors. Using a strong WMS effectively to manage all processes will help you drive out these additional hidden costs, giving you a tangible advantage.

The current economy is very challenging and the difference between surviving and thriving, means knowing about every part of your business and operations in close detail. Many of the most successful companies aren’t successful because they make better and more innovative products. What stands out about them is the ability to just bring other companies’ products to the market in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.

They understand that an extra ten seconds on every pick can cost millions when repeated many thousand times a day. If they haven’t resolved all of their hidden costs, they at least know where most of them are and have a plan to fix them. l Steve Adams is Director, Catalyst at Aptean. Aptean is a leading global provider of mission critical enterprise software solutions. It builds, acquires, and integrates industry-focused solutions to support the evolving operational needs of customers, enabling them to increase operational efficiencies and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. www.aptean.com www.landseaairmagazine.com - 21

Recognising

opportunities

Jochen Schnadt, Chief Commercial Officer at bmi regional highlights the importance of regional airports and flight routes

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maller, regional airports are crucial engines for local economies, essential for connecting the UK and opening up economic opportunities both within Europe and globally. Whilst the UK government has been working on important developments to the country’s transport infrastructure, much of what is planned is many years away from completion. The delivery of a new or expanded runway at Heathrow is not expected for another ten to 15 years, and HS2 is not scheduled to launch until 2026; it is therefore vital that the UK government also maintains focus on effecting increased capacity now, by helping the regions to maximise the available potential of their airports.

Improved air connectivity is essential for many regions of the UK and is a wellproven mechanism to facilitate and induce a growth in FDI and jobs, enhanced productivity and a boost in innovation - none of which will be created by the Heathrow expansion alone. What has been proven in virtually any market around the globe is that the key ingredient for any major and successful hub is high-quality regional connectivity to its immediate hinterland.

At bmi regional, we pride ourselves on spotting and instigating

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REGIONAL AIRPORTS

air routes that connect key business regions throughout Europe.

Rather than competing on large-scale hub services, we work on identifying essential routes between key European cities with unique business or industry links. For example, the exceptional demand for connectivity that we saw amongst the thriving West Midlands business community led us to introduce a new hub at Birmingham Airport, with three new routes to Graz (Austria), Gothenburg (Sweden) and Nuremberg (Germany) already launched in the first half of 2017.

Connecting economies bmi regional is uniquely positioned to offer bespoke solutions to businesses and, as such, we are working directly with industry leaders and businesses across all regions of the UK and Europe to develop new routes as a direct result of business requirements. We aim to fill important network gaps across Europe to connect and fuel regional economies. With Brexit looming, we are finding that businesses in the UK are attaching increasing importance to developing links in Europe. As we all know, business is built on relationships – people ultimately do business with people they like. It is a foundation that we at bmi regional have built our business upon. However, we are finding that many of our customers are prioritising the creation of and strengthening of face to face relationships with partners in Europe, to ensure that, whatever form Brexit may take, it does not leave them out of pocket.

We also have the advantage of operating a private charter service, allowing businesses across the UK and Europe to hire a bmi regional aircraft exclusively and pick their own schedule, departure and destination airports. Offering businesses a tailored solution to the issue of air connectivity by avoiding large commercial airports, security queues and delays, the private charter often provides a cost effective means of travel for larger groups of employees, with bmi regional’s Embraer jets seating either 37 or 49 passengers.

In addition to the three new services from Birmingham, 2017 has also seen the launch of new flights between London Stansted and Derry, as well as routes from our hub in Munich to Lublin (Poland) and

Saarbrücken (west Germany) – all of which have seen immediate success in terms of passenger demand. At bmi regional, we pride ourselves on convenience - with speedy 30 minute check-ins, complimentary in flight drinks and snacks, 23kg of hold luggage and allocated seating – and, in the current economic climate, this level of quality, service and professionalism appears to be something that the corporate market is responding to more and more.

Whilst our business at bmi regional is primarily built on passenger services, it would be remiss not to stress that air freight should also be an important consideration when discussing regional connectivity. London airports currently account for over three quarters of the market but they are bursting at the seams; meaning that, as we wait for Heathrow expansion, more needs to be done to promote freight options in other regions. For example, airports such as East Midlands and Birmingham already offer the facilities and capacity for freight opportunities – indeed, we at bmi regional make use of them for cargo on our East Midlands to Brussels and Birmingham to Graz routes. However, for these regional airports to better compete with their London counterparts, more air links must be put in place to important air hubs on the Continent.

Enormous potential Whether passenger or freight, it is hugely important that more airlines recognise, anticipate and act upon the enormous potential of regional markets across Europe, particularly as we move closer to Brexit. It is only by doing so that we will continue to propel global business forwards in the UK and ensure that we remain a powerhouse of industry and business for many years to come. l Jochen Schnadt, is Chief Commercial Officer at bmi. www.flybmi.com

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Innovation is the

answer

Justine Clark discusses how rising customer demand creates the opportunity to introduce innovative business systems

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s businesses experience a huge increase in online sales, a company’s supply chain infrastructure must evolve along with it. The need for efficient delivery services has never been so high with 253 million European consumers shopping online in 2016, making ecommerce worth £133bn in the UK alone. As the rate of ecommerce sales continues to rise, so do customer expectations. Even with a user friendly and overall easy online order process, the part of the transaction the customer will remember is the delivery, as it’s the tangible return on the money they’ve paid out. Of course, customer demands can vary extensively - be it knowing the exact delivery window, or having the opportunity to make in-flight changes if necessary. The reoccurring factor for retaining customer loyalty is in ensuring that the delivery process runs smoothly with no room for errors.

For this reason, businesses must ensure that their distribution process is as accurate and efficient as possible to meet rising customer demands.

Efficiency should be first priority It’s a universal truth across business that time is money and time wasted is a loss of revenue. For many businesses, the supply chain can cause great anxiety as with so many details to

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manage it can often be prone to mistakes. However, this does not need to be the case. Companies now have the opportunity to invest in new solutions that increase efficiency, customer service and, ultimately, revenue.

For example, no longer do employees have to manually input data for each order, resulting in wasted time, and an unnecessarily longer process. With the latest technology in scanning and mobile computers, as well as voice technology, businesses can be confident that information being inputted and received by employees is accurate. As well as this, it can lead to an increase in revenue, as mobile devices mean that faster scanning and order processing is possible. During peak periods and holidays, this is essential as an extra ten seconds manually inputting information will significantly impact the overall process.

Facts mean accuracy Space within distribution centres (DCs) during peak times is at a premium, meaning that it needs to be effectively managed so that businesses can utilise it fully, and have the widest range of stock for customers. However, when it comes to forecasting how much space is needed, companies cannot often predict their figures accurately. Even when trying to calculate the packaging

EFFICIENT DISTRIBUTION

sizes needed and the spaces in the trucks themselves, businesses aren’t always able to provide the volumetric data that will help streamline the process. Therefore, it is necessary for businesses to explore and adopt new technology that will allow them to develop their logistics solutions, enabling then meet customer expectations.

Volumetrics have been used by many shippers as a way of overcoming these obstacles within the distribution process.

However, not all shippers are using them, and furthermore, relying on customer information can create obstacles as more often than not, this is wrong or is even guessed. If couriers then receive the wrong information, this can cause significant chargebacks which can prolong the process even further.

Businesses that use the most up to date technology, in combination with volumetric data, will significantly help solve the problem. 3D depth sensing technology that is now automated enables the quick and accurate capture of dimensions for each new stock keeping units (SKU) which then can be used to optimise storage space within a DC, allowing shippers to avoid dimension errors and avoid shipping chargebacks from courier companies. As a result, multiple workflows will also be improved within the DC itself, such as picking, pallet building, put away and packing.

Increasing customer demand does not need to cause businesses to be stretched, threatening accuracy as a priority.

Indeed, such pressures can lead to a negative impact on a company’s brand and reputation. Using technology solutions throughout the supply chain, from picking straight through to delivery, means that every process is accurate and efficient.

With the right processes in place, market drivers such as rapid ecommerce sales and fasting shipping expectations in reality can present a really great opportunity for operators to innovate their solutions, differentiate themselves from competitors and ultimately, drive growth. l Justine Clark is Transport and Logistics Marketing Manager at Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions. Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS) provides products, software and connected solutions that improve productivity, workplace safety and asset performance for customers across the globe. It deliverd on this promise through industryleading mobile devices, software, cloud technology and automation solutions, the broadest range of personal protective equipment and gas detection technology, and custom-engineered sensors, switches and controls. www.honeywell.com www.landseaairmagazine.com - 25

Journey for

change Tim Schweikert discusses the trends that are set to transform the marine ecosystem

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ike many other industry sectors, the marine space is undergoing substantial change today. There are three major transformations driving this change: Cleaner fuels – There is a significant shift to achieve lower emissions through the adoption of clean technologies. It’s driven by environmental regulations, new designs and natural technology refresh in aging vessels. We are seeing the more widespread introduction of gas as a clean fuel for future shipping.

Electrification – As electrical technology grows ever-more efficient and capable, we are seeing a shift from mechanical, fuel-based technologies towards integrated electrical power and propulsion.

Digitalisation – Like every industry, digitalisation is catalysing a substantial shift in the way physical assets are managed. We are seeing a rapid shift towards using software analytics to increase productivity, reduce unplanned downtime and enable predictive maintenance. This is helping to address global skill shortages by allowing a smaller engineering base to support a larger fleet, and it is bringing to life the vision of autonomous ships.

But why change now? Well, as has been the case so often throughout history, adversity is forcing innovation, and the marine industry has been through a number of challenges over the past few years. A convergence of forces—including market volatility, an aging workforce, increased regulation and the complexity inherent in the sector—have hit different parts of the marine industry in different ways.

The offshore sector, with its capital-intensive assets, is struggling to lessen the impact of downtime while operating in remote environments with a shrinking workforce beset by chronic skill concerns and labour shortages. The challenge of attracting a new generation of talent to this area is a longstanding one, and it is a challenge that automation will have to play a part in addressing.

In contrast, the cruise sector is faced with soaring demand in new markets, like China, but also with new environmental regulations. This is challenging operators to cut fuel and reduce their emissions’ footprint as they fight to keep utilisation high to maintain their margins.

In the naval sector, the need to be mission-ready with zero tolerance for system failure is as high as ever. Given that, in some cases, fleet sizes are shrinking, the requirement for total operational confidence is particularly critical.

In cargo shipping, falling rates (in both containers and bulk) have been offset to a degree by low fuel prices. However, this hasn’t masked the overall challenge; oversupply of vessels and aging fleets

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market transformation

will continue to unbalance supply and demand, forcing operators and owners to scrap millions of dollars’ worth of investment.

The need for holistic change across the ecosystem It is vital that the industry embraces the opportunity that transformative technologies unlock to drive wholesale change, by looking at the marine industry as an ecosystem rather than dealing with individual vessels as isolated assets. As such, understanding that everything you do, every decision you make, is interconnected and will affect something else, is key to identifying opportunities for efficiency.

For example, data derived from asset management tools can be fed into ship designs to build more optimised vessels, contributing to lower fuel usage, bringing down emissions, saving costs and keeping compliant with environmental regulations. In a parallel way, data fed back to marine society and regulatory bodies can help identify macro behaviour patterns for better governance and to improve policies for the sector’s long-term sustainability.

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Activating intelligent asset strategies such as using fleet intelligence and digitalisation to unlock the potential for greater efficiency in the marine industry and to enable more automated or autonomous vessels.

Three key opportunities for marine transformation

Delivering this transformation is happening in the marine sector today. We expect to see greater collaboration across the marine industry - operators, technology experts and ship builders, designers and owners all working together to accelerate innovation across the ecosystem.

Change needs to be permanent, sustainable and industry-wide - in both machines and people. We are seeing a wider cultural change as organisations adapt themselves to the new market reality. At GE, we too are on a journey; to transform the company into a digital industrial business. It’s a journey we are taking with our customers and partners, as we work towards a better, more sustainable future for the sector.

In the coming months, GE is going to look more closely at each transformation - cleaner fuels, electrification, digitalisation - to assess how they link together to make up the marine ecosystem and how GE is proactively working with marine industry operators to embrace this new way of working. l

What, therefore, are the broader opportunities that emerge when you start to consider the industry as a larger, connected ecosystem? There are key opportunities for change: l Driving compliance with environmental regulation, and using it as a catalyst for change across fleets by using cleaner fuels and more energy-efficient technologies. l Using electrification to enhance reliability and energy efficiency, ensuring fleet readiness and operational flexibility as well as improving performance to control costs.

Tim Schweikert is president & CEO, GE’s Marine Solutions.

GE’s Marine Solutions is a dedicated team focused on providing customers with the excellent products and service they expect. It works relentlessly to continually expand its capacities with the most innovative efficient and digitally rich marine propulsion solutions. Energy efficiency coupled with smart engineering is the key value that is delivered to customers. www.gemarinesolutions.com

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Bright

future

Rob Cockroft explains how implementing a cost-effective, flexible and established supply chain can help manufacturers maximise profits

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espite persisting uncertainty over the UK economy, manufacturers and logistics providers alike remain bullish over the future. Manufacturing companies are continuing to grow, with the UK currently the ninth biggest global producer and the industry employing around 2.7 million people. And where there is industry, there will inevitably be a requirement for a robust and flexible supply chain to allow manufacturers to deliver their products. The current macro-economic circumstances aside, one thing that is unlikely to change is an expectation for fast, efficient and costeffective transportation of goods.

Growing alongside industry Over the last decade or so, logistics providers such as Redhead International have enjoyed growth alongside their partners in industry. To successfully meet the needs of clients in the manufacturing sector, logistics providers need to be both flexible

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and reliable. The capacity to swiftly scale up and down to meet customers’ exact requirements is therefore key.

Third party logistics providers have noted an increase in the demand to move for smaller batches of goods, with many manufacturers choosing to downsize consignments and take advantage of freight groupage services, a development which reflects current leaner manufacturing processes. A company compiles a variety of small-batch consignments which are delivered swiftly to a disparate customer base, helping manufacturers scale back on warehousing and storage.

Excellent standards set by companies offering such services have helped allay concerns over reliability and sharing space with competing products. Technology, too, has played its part in increasing visibility, with the evolution of capabilities such as track and trace helping to augment customer confidence.

Smaller, part-load consignments of between 35kg and 2500kg are an ideal choice for SMEs or those who only require a handful

logistics

of deliveries per week, while customers who require larger, daily transportation solutions can take advantage of the full load option.

Another attraction of this system is the potential to reduce a company’s carbon footprint. A major cost to all logistics providers is fuel. Nobody wants to invest in a modern, fuel-efficient fleet only to have to trunk around empty trailers. Consolidating part-load consignments is, by nature, an eco-friendly way to manage logistics which helps maximise the profit margins of all concerned.

This multi-user approach can see manufacturers in a range of sectors, from textiles and paper to electronics delivered to customers in the required quantities, to a ‘just-in-time’ framework which fits with today’s leaner operations.

costs. Companies with customers and suppliers in a number of different countries can also benefit by eliminating the need for goods to be imported back into the UK, for them simply to be reexported back to desired locations across Europe.

Following a reverse integration with the UK land division of DB Schenker early last year, Redhead International, for example, boasts an impressive daily reach into more than 40 countries across Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa.

DB Schenker acquired a 75 per cent stake in Redhead, and as a result, the experienced Redhead management team has been able to tap into the German giant’s considerable resources – including some 21,000 land staff operating from 430 depots, 15,000 Collection and Delivery vehicles, 9000 tractor units and more than 19,000 trailers – and established routes across Europe in order to offer an enhanced service.

This partnership has delivered something of a win-win situation for customers. Redhead is able to continue doing what it does best – providing reliable, affordable and flexible services to its customers in the manufacturing sector – with the added benefit of accessing DB Schenker’s extensive resources and routes across Europe and beyond.

Regardless of current economic uncertainty, a logistics provider with the agility to meet manufacturers’ fluctuating needs – and a comprehensive and established network of routes – will be in a strong position. l

A market for the world As the global marketplace looks set to grow, finding a logistics provider with a proven track record in exploring new markets is key.

Networks to export to such as Scandinavia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Baltic States do exist, and manufacturers may wish to make the most of these channels.

Working with long established international logistics providers can ensure deliveries to multiple locations across many territories, enabling significant savings to be made in terms of both time and

Rob Cockroft is sales director of Redhead International. Redhead International was founded in 1978 and became part of the DB Schenker group in 2016. Based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, the company employs more than 350 people and handles in excess over 50,000 consignments each month from 11 UK and Ireland locations, to destinations throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa. http://redhead-int.com/ www.landseaairmagazine.com - 29

The end of the

Old Boy’s Club?

Dionne Redpath and Maria Torrent-March discuss why and how Europa Logistics is leading the way for diversity and equality in a sector historically dominated by men

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ess than a quarter of the 1.5 million people working in the logistics industry in the UK are women, according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)1 – but at Europa Worldwide Group, almost 40 per cent of the workforce is female, including two of its eight directors.

Having worked in logistics since the age of 18, Europa’s Branch Network and Sales Director Dionne Redpath is a passionate advocate that women can have a successful career in management and bring up a family at the same time, but acknowledges that her industry is not known for promoting, encouraging and welcoming women in to the board room.

Dionne, who has worked with MD of Europa Andrew Baxter for around 20 years, previosuly at RH Freight and now at Europa, said: “My professional experience in the logistics sector has been a wholly positive one, but I’m aware that a lot of work needs to be done to tackle the gender stereotypes associated with our sector. It is shocking that globally less than two per cent of employees in logistics are female2. That figure needs to change.

“Europa certainly feels very different to many other logistics businesses. More than a third of our staff are female, which shows how we actively promote the view that anyone who works hard, demonstrates a passion for our business and is committed to our ambitious targets can succeed and develop at Europa, regardless of gender.

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“I love my job, the attitude of the business and the mix of personalities and backgrounds that Andrew has combined to build his board of directors. It is inspiring to be part of a team which is so diverse and energetic and I believe that our continued success – for example, we are now running at 25-35 per cent consignment growth across the business – is down to the well-balanced make-up of our team.”

Dionne began her career in the steel industry in Sheffield as a transport buyer, progressing from a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) which provided further education opportunities alongside working, much like a modern day apprenticeship.

By the age of 21, she was in charge of an £8m budget and had expanded her skills signficantly, having been given further education opportunities including professional qualifications associated with export and import business activities.

“I went straight into work at 18 and worked my socks off, so that by my early 20s I was well-qualified and had solid work experience. That’s when I was first approached by Andrew Baxter, who was looking for a capable and passionate Account Manager for RH Freight – part of the Baxter family owned international freight and logistics provider RH Group - before it was sold to Kuehne+Nagel in 2013. This was a big step for me at the time, because I’d only done buying roles to date and Andrew was offering me a selling role. But I took the opportunity and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!” said Dionne.

WOMEN IN LOGISTICS

Dionne Redpath (left) and Maria Torrent-March Dionne worked for RH Freight in its Sheffield branch, visiting customers and winning new business around the South Yorkshire region for a year until she was promoted to Branch Manager at just 24-years-old. She held this role for three years until she moved on to a new role in Liverpool where she jointly managed the business’s logistics facility.

She added: “The move to managing the Liverpool warehouse was a huge challenge for me as I’d not been exposed to the logistics arm of the business before. I worked some very long hours but learnt tonnes, so despite the gruelling commute and the steep learning curve, it was another key milestone in my career. I believe you need to do things that scare you so that you can develop, irrespective of gender or age - it is the only way to fulfill your potential.”

After she had her first child, Dionne returned to work as General Manager for International Operations in Nottingham which she says was her toughest challenge for both professional and personal reasons, but after five years in that role was given a new opportunity to take control of the domestic network operation of RH Freight which she did for six years. She remained with many of the team she’d worked with for well over a decade when Andrew sold RH Freight and subsequently acquired Europa. She was appointed as Branch Network and Sales Director for Europa Road following Andrew’s restructuring of the business.

Dionne added: “I believe the success in my career to date is down to working for a company which promotes progression and development from within and doesn’t limit opportunities by making you stick only to the things that you know, even if that means making tough sacrifices along the way or stepping into the unknown.”

Logistics Director of Europa Warehouse Maria TorrentMarch, who is originally from Barcelona, has also spent her whole career working in the industry, and last year at the age of 36 was promoted to the role of Director. Maria, who has worked for the business for more than 11 years, joined as an export clerk after completing a degree in Business Studies at the University of Valencia in Spain, with a year abroad on the Erasmus programme at the University of Hertfordshire.

She said: “Europa is certainly leading the way for the logistics sector in giving opportunities to employees who show promise – gender doesn’t come into it and never has. What I love about the business is that every time I want a challenge, I’ve been given it, hence why I have stayed here for more than a decade.

“After a year of working as an export clerk I wanted to expand my skill set, so the business put me on a customised management programme which was tailored just to me.

I rotated around the different divisions of the business, including imports, transport, sales, air, sea, logistics and accounts, learning the ropes and gaining experience at every turn. It was a turning point in my career as it gave me the opportunity to discover what I enjoyed the most and to map out a path into management.

“Europa also supported me through further qualifications, such as a post graduate diploma in Change Management, allowing me the flexibility to adapt my hours to complete my studies and contributing towards the fees.

“Logistics appealed to me the most because it is such a diverse business area – it is about providing a specific solution for the customer for their whole supply chain, not just one service element. I quickly gained the experience in the logistics team to become a Business Development Manager and I loved being able to apply all the knowledge learnt from the management programme.”

Maria worked in this role for a year before being promoted to Logistics Administration Manager at Europa’s Northampton warehouse facility, which provides a multitude of warehousing and logistics services for market-leading trade sector brands and blue chip customers. In this position she was in responsible for £5m worth of contracts and was in charge of HMRC bond and excise regulatory compliance, MHRA and Home Office processes and customer service, again developing her skill set and broadening her horizons.

“When Andrew bought the business I was keen to see what vision he had for the future and thrilled when I heard his ambitious plans. He encourged me to leave operations and to gain further commercial experience.

“I took the Head of Sales role for the logistics division and after some time off when I had my first child I returned to work and a year later was offered a promotion to Logistics Director.

I’m a very vocal advocate of promoting logistics as a rewarding, challenging and exciting career path for women and men of diverse backgrounds and I’m proud to work for a business which makes that a priority too!” Maria added. l Established in 1966 Europa Worldwide Group is a growing privately owned operator offering specialist air, ocean and logistics services, plus an unrivalled land service to the whole of Europe. The company has a strong presence in 100 countries across six continents and is wholly committed to creating a balanced and happy workforce. In an industry known for being male-dominated, more than a third of the team at Europa is made up of women – a breakdown of 220 women and 387 men, which is a split of 36.25 per cent to 63.75 per cent. www.europa-worldwide.com 1 http://www.bis-hendersonrecruitment.com/expansion-femaleworkforce-brings-real-benefits-logistics-sector/ 2 http://www.morethanshipping.com/women-in-logistics/

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Sending the signal The most universally recognised visual signal indicating distress offshore, the sight of a pyrotechnic flare illuminating the sky, has been saving lives at sea for more than 100 years. Speaking to Keith Bradford, Product Manager at Drew Marine Signal and Safety – manufacturer of Pains Wessex and Comet products – we discuss the importance of pyrotechnic marine distress signals in today’s market

Q: How do pyrotechnic flares work?

Q: Are there different types of flares?

A: Once ignited, pyrotechnic flares produce an extremely bright light. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures, and red flares are especially recognisable when people are in distress at seas.

Parachute Rocket flares reach altitudes of more than 300 metres, burn brightly for up to 40 seconds once launched, and are designed to withstand exceptional environmental exposure and perform reliably even after immersion in water.

A: There are a wide variety of flares available, from hand flares to orange smokes and rocket flares. The type of flare you select will depend on the emergency situation and time of day. For example, an orange hand smoke is ideal for day-time rescues, whereas a red parachute rocket can be used by day or night, offering visibility over a longer range.

Q: How safe are flares?

A: Flares are built to rigorous specifications and contain energetic materials, so should always be used according to the maker’s instructions. Flares should always be stored in the correct way and disposed of safely and responsibly. The training and education of how and when to activate flares is vital, as it is essential that flares are used quickly, correctly and safely in an emergency situation at sea. Crews should always be given an initial briefing on board about the safety protocol in the event of an emergency and should be shown the location of marine distress signals. Official training courses can also be attended about how, when and where to launch flares. Drew Marine Signal & Safety has also prepared a selection of videos, which illustrate how its flares work: www.painswessex.com/media/videos.

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Q: What flares do I need for my boat?

A: There are minimum recommendations for the carriage of flares depending on the type of vessel. See below for the SOLAS requirements: l Bridge requirement: 12x Red Parachute Rocket onboard, with 4x Linethrowing units and 2x MOB units – mounted on the bridge wings and attached to the lifebuoy. l Liferaft / lifeboat requirement: 6x Handflares, 4x Parachute Rockets, 2x3-minute floating Orange Smoke Signals.

Carriage of flares is mandatory on commercial vessels, which must follow the specific requirements of the relevant code under which they operate. If you are unsure, you can clarify the legal requirements with the Coastguard Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre or the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, or your country’s local maritime authority.

Q: What is the best way to store pyrotechnics and what conditions must be avoided?

A: All pyrotechnic marine distress signals should be stored in a dry, easy to reach location and everyone on board should know where they are and how to use them – every signal has instructions. It is not enough to simply keep the pyrotechnics warm, dry and protected, it is also essential to ensure that everyone is able to reach them quickly, if and when the time for action comes.

Pyrotechnic flares are designed to withstand extremes of temperature, operating from -30 degrees C to + 65 degrees C, so storage temperature is not too much of a concern.

However, once pyrotechnics have passed their specified expiry date, the harsh, damp and rugged marine environment can cause the pyrotechnic compound to degrade if exposed to poor conditions for a sustained period of time – this could result in the flare not performing to its intended specification, so it is important to ensure that each flare is not only stored correctly, but is well within its listed lifespan.

One way to ensure your flares are kept in the correct environment is to use a Polybottle. The Polybottle is a waterproof bottle-shaped container that can be used to store pyrotechnics inside to protect them from the elements – ensuring they are always in top condition and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

Q: How do I dispose of out of date or damaged flares?

A: Flares have expiry dates so that the user can be confident that the flares will work at sea. Out of date flares, or Time Expired Pyrotechnics (TEP), are the responsibility of boaters’ and there are a variety of options available. Flares should not be dumped at sea or in household waste as they contain explosives and because of this, once they are past their expiry

date it is essential that they are disposed of carefully and properly. You can contact your local Coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre or your country’s local maritime authority, which will advise you when to take your flares in for disposal, alternatively contact your local chandlery, which may have a return/replace scheme in place. For example, Pains Wessex, in collaboration with UK distributor, Aquafax (a subsidiary brand of Drew Marine Signal & Safety) launched its Flare Disposal Scheme in 2014, whereby out of date of Pains Wessex flares are gathered by participating chandleries and safely disposed of by Aquafax for a small fee.

Q: Are there other distress signals that can be used in an emergency?

A: There are a variety of products available which can be used to aid rescues at sea, such as EPIRBS (Emergency Position Radio Indicting Beacons), AIS (Automatic Identification System for collision avoidance), and DSC (Digital Selective Calling on VHF radios).

It is important to note that no one system is more effective than another distress signal in safety, and that all means of signalling distress are effective and work best when used in conjunction with each other. However, nothing has yet replaced the specific function of pyrotechnic flares. As well distress alerting, flares act as a final mile pinpoint location marker and also as a wind direction indicator for approaching rescue craft, vessel, spotter plane or helicopter to safely retrieve casualties – making them an indispensable safety item for vessels all over the world.

When an emergency at sea occurs, it is of paramount importance that all crew on board are rescued as safely and quickly as possible. l For more information about Drew Marine Signal & Safety, please visit: www.signalandsafety.com

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Anything but general cargo You carry the essentials that make our world go round. Essentials that we often take for granted. Most people have no idea about the long hours spent on the highway.

To arrive on time you need a vehicle that is anything but general. This is why we don’t do one-size-fits-all trucks. No. At Scania, we tailor solutions for the only business that matters. Yours.

For more information about our new generation trucks and services, please visit scania.com.

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Profile: Wallenborn Wallenborn warehouse

Connecting the

dots

F

rom medical vaccinations to the latest smartphones, luxury household goods and motor vehicles, there will be very few people that haven’t used a product that at some point has been delivered by aircraft. While it is estimated that only around one per cent of the world’s exports by volume utilise aircraft for mass transportation, because they tend to be expensive goods they account for as much as 35 per cent of global trade by value.

Scania

Scania is a world-leading provider of transport solutions. Together with our partners and customers, like Wallenborn, we are driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system. Our Euro 6 engines are the benchmark in fuel consumption, resulting in low operational cost and a low environmental footprint.

Our trucks can handle a wide range of alternative (bio)fuels, lowering CO2 emissions even more.

Founded in 1891, Scania now operates in more than 100 countries and employs some 46,000 people. Research and development is concentrated in Sweden, with branches in Brazil and India.

Production takes place in Europe, Latin America and Asia, with regional production centres in Africa, Asia and Eurasia. In 2016, we delivered 73,100 trucks and 8300 buses, as well as 7800 industrial and marine engines to our customers. Scania is part of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH. For more information visit www.scania.com.

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“ MY SHELL CARD MAKES HANDLING ROAD TAXES A LOT SIMPLER.”

“ WITH MY SHELL CARD I HAVE A STRONG PARTNER IN THE TRANSITION ENERGY WORLD.”

“ MY SHELL CARD ALLOWS ME TO CONTROL MY FLEET 24/7.”

“ MY SHELL CARD GIVES ME ACCESS TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST NETWORK OF STATIONS.”

WHATEVER THE TYPE OF FLEET YOU MANAGE, WE’VE GOT AN EXPERT SOLUTION FOR YOU. Rue de l’industrie • L-8069 Bertrange T : +352 31 11 411 • F : +352 2637 55 85 generalcardrequests-lu@shell.com • www.shell.lu

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Profile: Wallenborn Wallenborn fleet Scania Euro 6

Frantz Wallenborn - CEO

Improvements in world trade in recent years have corresponded with growth in air freight demand. Data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in May 2017 for global air freight markets showed that demand, measured in freight

tonne kilometres (FTKs), grew 12.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2016.

This was up from the 8.7 per cent growth recorded in April 2017, and is more than three times higher than the five-year average growth rate of 3.8 per cent. The outlook for the industry is also very positive, with demand expected to grow at a rate of eight per cent for the rest of 2017.

“The largest part of our business is air cargo, and air freight volumes have been on the rise for several years now, though we have seen a much steeper growth curve since early 2016,” begins Frantz Wallenborn, Chief Executive Officer of Wallenborn, one of Europe’s largest air-cargo road feeder services (RFS) operators. “Air freight gives firms greater flexibility due to reduced delivery timelines, hence companies are moving in that direction to gain the ability to restock quickly when required.”

With a presence at more than 120 airports in central Europe, Wallenborn’s modern fleet of more than 800 vehicles give it the continent’s most extensive RFS network.

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Profile: Wallenborn Mega Reefer trailer

Jason Breakwell - Commercial Director

“When it comes to air cargo, one typically finds that it tends to fly into a very select few major airports, with long haul flights often consolidating and concentrating on these major gateways,” explains Wallenborn’s Commercial Director, Jason Breakwell. “It is the RFS providers that help connect the

dots in getting goods either from the initial location to one of these airports or to their intended destination.”

In financial terms, Wallenborn has evolved considerably, consistently growing yearon-year. “This year alone we have actually witnessed growth of 18 per cent, which has come as a result of a combination of growing world trade and targeted actions taken by the company,” Jason continues.

“Confidence across Europe, even in the Southern countries, is proving to be stronger than it has in some time and increased GDP is beginning to translate into improved consumer spend and trade. This is also coinciding with a shift in the balance between imports and exports in China, with demand for brand name quality products at an alltime high, and the consolidation amongst sea freight providers, which has pushed up costs and made air freight more competitive.

“Over the course of the last three years we have positioned ourselves ideally to capitalise on the growth experienced within the RFS market by developing a range of specialist products and services. Of these products,

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Prometeon

THERMOKING

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Profile: Wallenborn Bi-temperature trailer

Thermo King

Thermo King SLXi single and multi-temperature units are the industry’s first fully telematics-enabled refrigerated trailer units, delivering full visibility of the unit and load condition, with TK BlueBox communication device and Bluetooth® as standard.

With the SLXi, drivers and managers in fleets like Wallenborn’s have simple, remote access to the critical flow of data required to manage a fleet proactively, maximise up time and improve efficiency.

The TK BlueBox collects and stores unit data, which can be accessed through a free app on mobile devices or a Bluetooth-enabled device. This two-way communication enables remote real-time unit management like defrost, pre-trip, set point and additional operating mode settings, as well as access to critical data.

three have been particularly successful. One is designed and validated specifically for the healthcare sector, while our Secure product helps us to provide a secure transport service for vulnerable cargo and our Outsize offering caters for the safe and secure transportation of outsized cargoes including aero engines, helicopters, fuselage sections and turbines. These are all industrial sectors that we, through the vision of our CEO, have purposely targeted in order to benefit from expected and realised growth, and because they are made up of customers who demand reliability and consistency, and continue to value quality over cost.”

In line with its own growth expectations, Wallenborn has made a significant investment in its assets and fleet in recent times. “We have acquired a total of 78 new trucks and 114 new trailers, including 12 bi-temperature trailers, in the last 12 months alone,” Frantz states. “This represents a large investment, but a necessary one that has been made for two main reasons. First, quality has always been our number one priority and in order to deliver quality, we

need to have great assets. For this reason, I have always prioritised the upkeep of the fleet, and part of that means retiring older vehicles and replacing them with new ones.

Secondly, demand is continuing to increase, so we are taking pre-emptive moves to ensure that we can provide additional capacity to service our clients.

“The introduction of these new trucks also now means that 100 per cent of Wallenborn’s trucks that drive internationally are fully compliant with Euro 6 emissions standards.

As a transportation company, we accept we have an added degree of responsibility when it comes to taking appropriate measures that will reduce our environmental impact.

The Euro 6 diesel engine, which our new trucks possess, has the highest possible level of carbon dioxide savings, with permitted nitrogen oxides reduced by 75 per cent compared with the Euro 5 standard.”

While making up a relatively small proportion of its new trailers, the acquisition of 12 bi-temperature trailers is also a significant boost for Wallenborn’s fleet capabilities. “Back in 2013, Wallenborn

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“Intelligent approach: KRONE quality in a key role” Wolfgang Bellon, Head of Quality for the Commercial Vehicles Group

Typical KRONE: There isn't a single detail on your trailer that wasn't given our closest attention. In this way, we have already set the ball rolling with countless ideas. As a result, you get the complete trailer from one single source. And you only have one contact person for service, maintenance and repairs. Quality and durability are the top priorities during production – down to the smallest detail. This way, Krone makes sure your cost of ownership is kept low – now and for the future.

Let the infos roll!

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22.09.2017 08:18:47

:18:47

Profile: Wallenborn Bi-temperature trailer

‘‘

I would also like to see us take on more of an advisory role for our clients to help shape the way the market develops, and to allow for mutually beneficial growth opportunities. In the past, our growth has come through both organic and inorganic means, and I would predict the same for the future, possibly even beyond Europe

became the first RFS provider in Luxembourg to become Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certified,” Frantz says. “So, while we are by no means new to temperature controlled transportation, being able to offer our customers bi-temperature trailers is a brand-new service for the company. The bitemperature allows us to transport goods at two different temperatures simultaneously.

This is made possible through an adjustable and dividing wall within the trailer itself. The advantage for customers is that this allows them to send different products using only one truck, when in the past two would have been required. Obviously, this means large cost savings for the customer. It also means that the transportation of goods becomes more environmentally friendly and helps to solve some of the capacity challenges we face today.”

When discussing his CEO, Jason makes a point of referring to Frantz as a visionary. In addition to suitably preparing his company to capitalise on the growth he correctly envisioned occurring in key market sectors, Frantz also has an eye trained firmly on

some of the other emerging issues that could influence the RFS industry significantly in the years ahead. One of the trends he is most conscious of is the introduction of new laws and legislation that have come into play across Europe which, amongst other things, have had an effect on driver minimum wage, accommodation restrictions, required documentation and driver registration cross country.

Frantz’s concern, aside from the effect that such changes could have on businesses, is whether or not these changes will help accomplish what the original 1996 EU Directive set out to achieve. “The purpose of the 1996 EU Directive was to address social dumping, and the laws implemented to give effect to the Directive are, in essence, protectionist laws for respective countries,” he describes. “Whilst social dumping is, of course, undesirable, there has been little to no collaboration between Transport Ministers to find practical solutions to the problem.

For example, many countries now require all foreign transport companies’ drivers to be registered in their country, sometimes as

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Wallenborn cargo centre

SBS

Security solutions for logistic professionals SBS develops and supplies solutions for the logistics sector that counteract and/or prevent theft, and carefully analyses which solution best fits your company. Next to the technical possibilities, organisational opportunities are reviewed as well; the achievement of most products lies after all in the hands of the user.

Through years of experience in the logistics sector, we can quickly estimate which solution could be used best. If desired we can adjust a standard solution or we can produce it to your specifications.

SBS also supplies a comprehensive package of (online) services that make it possible to follow, in real time, the status of the cargo (security and temperature) and the vehicles (position, tire pressure monitoring). When using the high-end locking solutions, the functioning can be monitored through the different types of sensors.

The different systems can be installed in our own workshop, or at one of our national or international service partners. Our support department will verify online whether all the requirements are met.

SBS is a TAPA member and the majority of our locking solutions are SCM/VbV tested and certified. In the meantime, we have equipped the whole fleet of some of the leading companies in Europe with our products. Many of the shippers recommend the use of our locking solutions, which results in less concern for the transporting companies.

SBS is aiming for partnerships; your success is our success, and we are constantly striving to improve the quality of our products and services. .

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frequently as bi-annually. This results in enormous costs in terms of time and labour, something smaller companies are unable to absorb, which will lead to further capacity shortages. Larger companies, meanwhile, are forced to pass on these expenses to clients, therefore I must question whether it would be more practical to have a single, central EU database that all countries could access. “Similarly, today there are major discrepancies from one country to another regarding the requirements a company needs to adhere to, prior to even being granted a transport license. Luxembourg, for example, requires businesses to show proof the company is ‘real’,

Profile: Wallenborn Standard Reefer trailer

Wallenborn www.wallenborn.com • One of Europe’s largest road feeder services (RFS) operator • Significant investment in trucks and trailers • All its internationally driving trucks are Euro 6 compliant

Wallenborn Luxembourg – Headquarters

proof of vehicles, driver employment and more before being granted a truck license.

Other countries distribute licenses freely, with only proof of insurance in place of a bank guarantee. If governments really want a level playing field, and to tackle social dumping at its roots, then I believe there is much room left for discussion, debate and improvement, and it’s important we start having those conversations.”

It is this sort of forward thinking that has seen Frantz nominated as one of four finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year, Western Europe, Transport and Logistics award at the European CEO Awards. “If I am honest, the news came as a big surprise, but a very pleasant one of course,” he comments when asked about his nomination. “To be nominated for this award is truly a great honour and, even though I am being recognised as an individual, I think this is really testament to, and a reflection of, the great team I have at Wallenborn.”

With the company expecting growth in air freight to continue for the foreseeable future, its focus remains on its first priority, and that is to help its customers to grow.

“Our customers are incredibly loyal to us and the reason we work so hard to develop new products is to ensure that they grow their share in tandem with us,” Jason enthuses.

“Wallenborn has always enjoyed a good reputation for quality and customer care, and I want this to always be our focus,” Frantz concludes. “I would also like to see us take on more of an advisory role for our clients to help shape the way the market develops, and to allow for mutually beneficial growth opportunities. In the past, our growth has come through both organic and inorganic

means, and I would predict the same for the future, possibly even beyond Europe.

Finally, sustainability is and will remain an important issue at Wallenborn, and we will continue to take steps towards reducing our environmental footprint.” l

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Cool

runnings

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Profile: Culina Group

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Profile: Culina Group

Thomas van Mourik, CEO Culina Group Left: Culina Logistics warehouse

A

market-leading food and drinks logistics provider across the chilled and ambient temperature arenas, Culina Group provides warehousing, distribution, contract packing and value added solutions to deliver a total logistics offering to its broad customer base. Having entered the food and drinks market in 1994, the company began with one single site, a sole customer in the form of Müller Dairy and a turnover of £7.5 million in its first year; since then it has grown significantly through strategic expansion and acquisition to achieve an impressive turnover of more than £500 million.

Discussing this stratospheric growth is Thomas van Mourik, CEO at Culina Group: “I founded the business in 1994 on the back of Müller Dairy’s volume at the time – the company was a national player but not number one. The way we got ourselves on the map so quickly was two-fold: we decided to adhere to the wish of retailers by operating 24/7, which was rare in the 90s and gave us a

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competitive advantage. While 24/7 operations were resisted by our competitors at the time, we began to attract new customers on board.

“Secondly, the fact we had an automated warehouse and transport facility, which was far too large for us at the time, gave comfort to other third party food suppliers such as Kraft and Tropicana to come on board. This helped build up our brand and enabled us to compete against major names in the market. We then outgrew this facility in Market Drayton and came to the decision to use customers such as Tropicana and Kraft as a springboard for our new facility; this led to the opening of a new third party chilled warehouse in Milton Keynes while Müller Dairy continued to grow in Market Drayton.

We have gone onto repeat this exercise ever since.”

In 2007 the company developed further with a purchase of Wincanton’s chilled business and the merger of Culina Group with Bristol-based ambient specialist Baylis Distribution. Following this, the company has undergone further acquisitions such as CERT

Montracon Ltd

With a blend of high technology, accumulated experience and traditional trailer manufacturing skills, Montracon’s products set a benchmark for others to aspire to. The hallmark of the company is its use of the most advanced high-tech equipment available to complement the wealth of experience and traditional skills that its manufacturing and assembly line teams have accumulated over the past 40 years.

This blend has been further enhanced by major extensions to its facilities, the continued re-mapping of production flows, the flexibility to match increasing model offerings and a rising demand across all of Montracon’s ranges. Montracon’s production excellence is founded on solid engineering principles, with quality, reliability and longevity being the company’s underlying values.

Having worked closely with the Culina Group in the supply of both refrigerated and ambient trailers, Montracon’s sales and engineering team ensure that its products meet Culina’s exacting requirements, offering the latest in innovation and design.

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the right choice for all your trailer needs

MONTRACON

PREFERRED SUPPLIER TO CULINA GROUP

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t: +44 (0)1302 732500 | f: +44 (0)1302 732503 e: sales@montracon.com | w: www.montracon.com

T

the trailer for road transport

CR

Profile: Culina Group Below: Great Bear ambient vehicle and the Great Bear warehouse

Octavian and Great Bear, now the Group’s ambient operation, that give the company the presence in the ambient market that is currently has.

Providing complete coverage of the UK via a comprehensive network of strategically located ambient warehouses, with full connectivity to key delivery points, Great Bear provides high quality, integrated logistics solutions for a broad range of food and drink firms. With advanced processes and resources, Great Bear is able to ensure demanding ambient standards are met. To further cement its reliability and provide customers with comfort that their products are in safe hands, the company ensures transparency via nationwide GPS vehicle tracking, while a real-time client web portal provides easy access to key data. Highly flexible, the company is able to provide a ‘day one for day two’ service while offering customers a series of total supply chain solutions – this includes in-house contract packing and bonded expertise – as well as integrated transport-only services.

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Today Great Bear is one of the two major companies within Culina Group to specialise in the food and drink business; the other business is Culina Logistics, which is an award-winning, integrated supply chain expert for a range of food and drink products that require strict refrigerated temperatures.

Providing complete coverage of the UK and Ireland via eight strategically located chilled warehouses, which have space for more than 100,000 pallets, the company has a whopping 1.5 million cases delivered daily. Much like Great Bear, Culina Logistics offers ‘day one for day two’ picking capability and the same total supply chain solutions. Moreover, the company uses advanced processes and resources that enable demanding chilled standards to be met while also ensuring transparency via nationwide GPS vehicle tracking and a real-time web portal.

“I never imagined in my life time with Culina Group that I would end up with an ambient business that is larger than the business I founded in 1994,” says Thomas. “Great Bear now has a turnover of £230 million, while

Culina Logistics is around £140 million; Culina Logistics is a market leader in shared user chilled operations, while Great Bear is a key player in the ambient market. The reasons for this is because the food and drink ambient market is so much larger and competitive.

“Alongside these two businesses, we own CML Fulfilment in Telford, which specialises in the relationship between food manufacturers and German discounter retailers. We began this part of the business in the infancy of these discounters; I am a Dutch man and have known for a long time what happens when a discounter enters a market, and particularly the UK market. CML concentrates solely on the needs of these businesses and now has a turnover in excess of £50 million; it continues to grow by approximately 15 per cent to 20 per cent year-on-year.”

Becoming part of Culina Group in October 2014 as part of a joint venture agreement, CML operates 24/7, 365 days a year, providing the know-how and flexibility to manage a multitude of client requests in a quick and efficient manner. With a firm belief in transparency, the company has an open book costing model, with no hidden charges or costs and ensures customers get the fairest possible deal. Able to tailor a logistics package that suits each customer’s needs, whether the products are ambient or chilled, the company’s services include the collection of pallets, full loads, or containers of products from the suppliers site in the UK or Europe and deliver to CML warehouse; custom built scanning that allows full traceability of all products received into the warehouse; storage of pallets, provision of daily or weekly

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Profile: Culina Group IPS contract packaging

Linde

Linde is a world leader in material handling, offering bespoke solutions for every type of industrial and commercial application. In addition to its broad product portfolio, Linde offers efficient intralogistics solutions including fleet management, automation and driver assistance systems, and provides a comprehensive range of vehicle-related services.

Linde manages material handling fleets across multiple sites and also provides short-term solutions with Linde forklift truck hire. Headquartered in Basingstoke, Linde Material Handling (UK) operates from nine national network companies and 23 local customer service centres across the UK. Its team of 100 experienced sales professionals, and over 1000 factory-trained service engineers, are committed to providing an efficient and effective local response to customer needs.

stock reports, pallets or case picking, pallet labelling, provision of paperwork and delivery.

“We saw a real need to add value-added services across these three businesses, such as co-packing, and instead of having one person in a warehouse doing two jobs we teamed up with a business in Featherstone called IPS. This company was quite frustrated and restricted as it had one site at the time, which made it difficult for it to attract manufacturers to pick up their product from warehouses like ours and then bring it back to Featherstone for reconfiguration then back to a facility like Culina’s once again. In response to this, we suggest a joint venture where IPS could work with our customers and use our sites as co-packing facilities. Following the success of this joint venture, we reached a deal where we fully acquired IPS four years ago. This company is a key part of our business model and has a turnover in excess of £50 million,” explains Thomas.

To further strengthen operations and remain competitive, In May 2017, Culina Group entered into a joint venture with Morgan McLernon, a Northern Ireland based operator of 200 trucks and 500 trailers that caters for the transport of frozen, chilled and ambient food and drink products as well as machinery, building supplies and other dry freight. Benefiting from a strong relationship with CML already, Morgan McLernon is viewed as an excellent fit within Culina Group, with the joint venture anticipated to provide strong opportunities in both the UK and Ireland.

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“Morgan McLernon specialises in food and drink, both ambient, chilled and frozen, which gives us an offering to our customer base that we didn’t have before thanks to its location in Northern Ireland. We have been able to maintain the services of the managing director, who is also still the shareholder, within Morgan McLernon so he now has full access to the companies we own and is stimulating the Irish lag that is currently not being covered by ourselves. Thanks to these strategic acquisitions, we now have a turnover in excess of £500 million, 6500 employees, 850 vehicles and 2000 trailers.”

Having opened a new facility in Markham Vale in April 2017, the company is currently in the process of expanding its network with a new chilled site; due for completion in 2018, this new facility will further strengthen Culina Group’s foothold as a market leader in the chilled segment. “We want to ensure that we are the undisputed number one when it comes to shared user chilled services in the UK and the next facility will be the icing on the cake. On top of this, we will focus on ensuring our recent acquisitions work for us and bring another acquisition to fruition in 2017,” Thomas concludes. l

Culina Group www.culina.co.uk

• Award-winning food & drink logistics experts • New joint venture with Morgan McLernon • Split into five divisions

Ast Signs

Ast Signs is a market leading specialist in corporate branding. With a proven background in design, vehicle graphics, fleet livery and signage, Ast Signs works with some of the best known super-brands in the country, including Tesco, NHS, Yodel, Muller, Royal Mail and Eddie Stobart. Ast Signs’ six specialist divisions offer its customers a full corporate branding solution encompassing fleet livery, new signage, chapter 8 vehicle safety livery, printed media, branded workwear and interior graphics. Please feel free to contact us for a no obligation chat about how we can help you and your business.

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The White choice

M

oving house can be a stressful time, and whether it is an international venture across the world or a small move to a neighbouring village, the amount of anxiety that can be created shouldn’t be underestimated. With so much to organise, what house vendors need is a solid and reliable local removals company.

This is where White & Company comes in. Possibly the oldest independently owned removal, storage and shipping company in the UK, the business not only handles domestic removals but can also manage transitions on a global scale, ranging from Europe to key destinations including New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US and South Africa.

Household The business is well versed in standard household removals, as it has been moving homes for over 145 years and understands that all of its prospective customers have different requirements. Whether they are heading from a city apartment to a suburban house, or moving a motorbike, car or boats, White & Company has the experience to provide each and every client with an exceptional service.

What sets White & Company apart is the more personal, local approach that it can offer. It has 19 offices across the UK, including the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Scottish Islands, and these local depots not only understand their own area, but can draw on White & Company’s overall experience should something unexpected arise. Additionally, it has a network of industry partners to call upon, all of which provide an exceptional packing, removal, storage and delivery service anywhere in the country.

Corporate White & Company can also extrapolate its experience with domestic removals into a larger scale and handle complicated business relocations. The process begins with an initial planning meeting, where the key requirements of the move are established and a tailor-made schedule is created. Indeed, good planning is the key to successful corporate moving, where in an ideal world the client’s customers won’t even notice that any disturbance to business has occurred.

The options available from White & Company are far from just shifting boxes – the company can provide a full Project Management service, organising the process from start to finish. This means it can supply cartons, plastic crates and other packing materials, has specialist provision to pack IT equipment and other fragile items, provide IT decommissioning and installation services and even sequential packing, relocation and unpacking of files to make the entire move as seamless as possible.

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Profile: White & Company

Alongside office moves, White & Company also handles employee moves, and the business acknowledges that these need careful organisation and handling. An employee, when transferred, should be settled in at the new location with a minimum of delay, and White & Company’s experienced move manager will plan the schedule and assist the employee in all aspects of moving for a stress-free relocation. Previous satisfied clients include numerous Government agencies, GlaxoSmithKline, BAE, WHSmith, Ford and Esso.

Storage For any person or company considering a move, a temporary storage solution can be a helpful component of the process; by organising possessions prior to a move, freeing up expensive office space, or clearing furniture during redecoration, clients can manage their time more effectively and efficiently.

White & Company addresses this need by providing flexible short and long term storage solutions as part of its offering, with facilities throughout the UK all providing secure storage in personal,

dedicated containers. Its warehouses are accredited to European standard BS EN 14873, are covered by monitored security systems and CCTV and include optional extras such as upholstery cleaning and vehicle storage.

Across all of its business sectors, what unites White & Company is a dedication to maintaining the level of quality upon which its reputation has been built. Its overall quality policy is aimed at developing a sense of personal responsibility for quality improvement in each employee, as well as continual adherence to the standards and requirements of the relevant legislation. These are combined with good managerial skills and techniques, proper systems of control, dedicated training of staff and the provision of appropriate equipment (the company regularly invests in its fleet for example, and currently has over 230 vehicles ranging from LGVs to purpose built HGVs).

Furthermore, White & Company is a founder member of The British Association of Removers (BAR), as well as members of FIDI and OMNI, which offers further peace of mind in the unlikely event that something goes wrong. Membership of these recognised industry bodies also helps to support White & Company’s dedication to quality in all areas – from protecting the data of its clients to upholding strict standards in regards to the environment and ethics and even policies on anti-bribery and corruption.

White & Company has a long history and an impressive list of professional accreditations, but at its heart it is a practical company. It understands that maintaining a leading position requires a constant effort to achieve excellence in everything that it does. It’s that policy that has made White & Company one of the world’s leading moving companies. l

White & Company www.whiteandcompany.co.uk • History in the industry of almost 150 years • Dedicated to providing superb quality services • In-depth understanding of the removals sector

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Listen, respond and

deliver L

istening, responding and delivering to exceptional standards. These are the traits that have allowed Fowler Welch to become a supply chain supplier of choice for major retailers and manufacturers across the UK. Established in 1994, the company today boasts nine strategically located depots, covering a combined space of approximately one million square feet, each possessing its own dedicated team that help to provide a flexible, cost-effective and reliable service for ambient and temperature controlled products. With 450 Euro 6 modern vehicles at its disposal, the company is able to cover some 57 million miles of road each year.

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Profile: Fowler Welch

“Historically, Fowler Welch was very much a consolidator of fresh produce, distributing to retail and wholesale markets,” begins Fowler Welch’s Chief Executive Officer, Nick Hay. “In more recent times, and by building upon our heritage, we have developed a much broader range of products and services. Developing expertise in areas that utilise the same kind of chilled infrastructure that we became an expert in operating, we have gradually increased the amount of warehousing activity we provide on behalf of food manufacturers.”

Key developments in the last decade or so include the introduction of an ambient business, based in Manchester, in 2006, and the establishing of a joint venture alongside Direct Produce Supplies (DPS) in 2014, which has resulted in the company providing a linked fruit packing service from its distribution sites. Even more recently, in 2016 to be exact, Fowler Welch developed a sophisticated partnership with Dairy Crest, which sees the company operating all of Dairy Crest’s transport out of its Nuneaton facility.

“Looking back, 20 years ago Fowler Welch

could very much have been defined as delivering a fresh produce consolidation service. While this is still very much a core facet of the business, in 2017 we see ourselves much more as being food supply chain experts,” Nick adds. “We now specialise in more than just packing and are far more sophisticated in terms of trying to provide our customers with added value, whether this be by providing bespoke fleet solutions or by introducing new ways of working with people. An example of the latter can be found in our relationship with food re-distribution charity group FareShare. Our partnership with FareShare began in August 2016, and in the first 12 months we have helped to donate enough food to provide one million meals for charities supporting vulnerable people. This is a hugely rewarding example of what can happen when a company like ours shifts from being just a distribution consolidation business into a true supply chain expert, providing different solutions for different challenges.”

A team of ‘great people’, a ‘can do’ culture and a proven track record for

Thermo King

Thermo King and FRIGOBLOCK are in a unique position, offering a full portfolio of diesel, hybrid and zero-emission, all-electric solutions to suit all transport refrigeration applications from truck to trailer, and home delivery vans. Meeting expectations in areas of sustainability, intelligence and connectivity, this portfolio is available through an extensive dealer network, including Thermo King Northern, sales and after-sales service provider in the UK. The new Thermo King SLXi range of trailer refrigeration units is the industry’s first fully telematics-enabled refrigerated trailer unit, delivering full visibility of the unit and load condition with the new TK BlueBox communication device and Bluetooth® as standard.

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Profile: Fowler Welch

Harvest Energy

Harvest Energy is part of the State Oil group of companies, one of Europe’s largest independent suppliers and blenders of motor fuels, with operations in the UK, Switzerland, USA, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Nigeria.

In the UK, Harvest Energy is one of the largest independent suppliers of road fuels, supplying more than ten per cent of the UK’s motor fuel requirements.

Harvest Energy supplies liquid fuels to a diverse commercial base of customers including national supermarket chains, logistics companies, bus and coach operators, utilities and local authorities.

Harvest Energy’s growing reputation in the fuels sector results from providing quality products that are competitively priced, and are supplied and delivered with a customer-focus

The Cartwright Group

The Cartwright Group have been working with Fowler Welch since 2010, providing a wide range of equipment, including temperature controlled refrigerated boxes and moving double deck curtainsiders. Following the success of these orders, our most recent project was to work in collaboration with Fowler Welch on a pioneering solution for Automated Pallet Delivery in its refrigerated vehicles, which saw us break new ground together in carbon reduction and maximising the efficiency of the loading process. This saw us help to reduce empty running by 252,000 miles and show a reduction in carbon emissions of 310,000kg a year.

being a reactive business are just a few of company’s strengths that Nick points to as being the reason for Fowler Welch’s competitive edge in its field. “Our hard work over the years has allowed us to accumulate a strong, healthy balance sheet, which gives us the ability to invest for the long term,” he says. “One thing we do not do is take short term decisions and this has paid off for us massively to date.”

In addition to its obvious dedication to providing an unmatched quality of service to its customers, Fowler Welch has also placed innovation and delivering greater energy efficiency at the core of its activities.

By focusing on the miles per gallon (MPG) performance of its vehicles, the company has been able to increase its MPG by

12.5 per cent, which has contributed to a reduced carbon output of 14 per cent in the last five years, which is a great achievement.

In a further development, it was recently revealed that Fowler Welch would be undertaking a major environmental road test of a selection of tractor units, following the previous addition of 76 trailers and 72 units to its multi-temperature fleet as part of its ongoing investment in sustainability practices.

This investment will see 11 Scania units and 37 MAN units delivering to and collecting from all the major food retailers each week. Alongside these units will be

‘‘

Our mantra of listening, responding and delivering is as true as it has ever been. We need to take on board what our customers are doing, be willing to be innovative in finding a response to their concerns and then delivering that in a successful manner, much as we have done in the past

another six vehicles from each major marque, Volvo, DAF and Mercedes that will be put through a rigorous comparison process. A head-to-head will take place as each manufacturer is marked on MPG, both tank-to-tank and telematics, whole life cost, and uptime, as well as driver acceptance and after sales support.

The initial results of this assessment will contribute to decisions made during the company’s vehicle replacement programme in 2018. Commenting at the time of the announcement, Nick said: “Across the business we have a real focus on driving down carbon emissions by a combination

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Profile: Fowler Welch

Torien Services

Torien Services provides professional, reliable service at competitive prices for cooling solutions, maintenance and electrical services, for commercial and industrial applications. Regardless of a client’s size, its solutions are tailored to a company’s particular needs. Specialising in refrigeration and lighting for crop storage, food preparation areas and distribution centres, electric car stations and emergency lighting systems, distance is no issue, with a customer base that exists across England. With high levels of refrigeration, climate control, plumbing and electrical expertise, Torien Services delivers excellent standards from design to quotation, installation, service, and maintenance, all the way through to after sales care.

of adopting innovative technology and investing in better, more carbon-efficient equipment. This benchmarking exercise is the latest move in our holistic approach to our environmental impact which is saving over 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.”

The company also makes a concerted effort to improve the actual utilisation of its fleet. “A good example of this can be seen in our work with Tulip, one of the UK’s leading food producing companies,” Nick describes.

“Tulip’s products are transported on very specific pallets, which initially we found we could not double stack within our standard trailers. In response to this we choose to

introduce a bespoke ‘jumbo’ trailer, which is slightly taller and has a system of bars that drop down from the ceiling, creating a ‘double deck’ effect. We have since introduced a number of these trailers, which has helped reduce the mileage on those specific loops by 80,000 miles a year, which again has a significant, positive impact on carbon emissions.”

Environmental awareness also extends into Fowler Welch’s manufacturing operations, where it has contracted Linde Material Handling to supply a national fleet of more than 180 lithium-ion fork lift trucks and associated warehouse equipment.

“Within the next 12 months, 100 per cent of our warehouse fleet will run on lithium-ion batteries,” Nick comments. “The benefit of this will be two-fold. In the first instance, it is yet another example of our determination to reduce energy consumption. Secondly, we find that one of the biggest causes of workplace accidents and personal injury in this line of work is the changing of batteries on fork lift and pallet trucks. With these new trucks the battery does not need to be changed at all, rather you simply plug the truck into a plug socket to charge the battery. So this will have a massive impact on the welfare of our people as well.”

Looking towards the immediate future,

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Profile: Fowler Welch

while rightly remaining very positive regarding his own company’s fortunes, Nick is still aware that the next 12 months has the potential to bring with it a number of complex challenges that Fowler Welch will have to overcome.

“We are looking at something of a perfect storm brewing on the horizon, what with rising inflation, increases in the living wage, changing legislation as it relates to pensions and, of course, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit,” he says, before spelling out how the company can overcome these issues.

“Talking to, and working with, our customers, listening to their issues, collaborating to find resolutions to these and resolving them in a timely, cost-effective manner is going to be key to weathering the aforementioned storm. Our mantra of listening, responding and delivering is as true as it has ever been. We need to take on board what our customers are doing, be willing to be innovative in finding a response to their concerns and then delivering that in a successful manner, much as we have done in the past.” l

Fowler Welch www.fowlerwelch.co.uk • Nine depots across the UK • 450 Euro 6 modern vehicles • 57 million miles covered per year

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Profile: Bulk Logistics Group

Bulking

up B

ulk Logistic Group’s foundations can be traced back to the original business of J&J Ward Ltd, the company founded by Jim and June Ward, parents of the current group board director Michael Ward. Originally a company focused on the collection and delivery of largely agricultural products that were needed or produced by Yorkshire Dales farmers, the company expanded significantly when Michael took the helm. Upon seeing the opportunities to develop from agriculture products into other sectors, Michael diversified the company’s operations into the transportation of any conceivable bulk product that is produced in the UK. “We have come a long way from carrying agricultural products such as grains, seeds

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and fertiliser, with the company now having a major contract to carry salt on behalf of Cleveland Potash from the mine in Boulby as well as a number of contracts to carry a lot of household waste to name a few examples. The waste is predominantly taken to landfill sites for delivery to waste energy plants; in amongst other waste products that go to recycling plants are paper, plastics and glass, so virtually any product that can be recycled is carried in an increasingly large fleet of Bulk Logistic Group walking floor trailers,” explains Andrew Castle, Director at Bulk Logistics Group.

Currently operating 105 of its own vehicles, which are supplemented daily by as many as 200 more subcontractors, from centres in Middlesbrough, Penrith, Leeds, Newcastle and Bedale, the group is able to deliver a high-quality service by maintaining consistently high standards. Moreover, the majority of the group’s articulated trucks are manufactured by Scania and Volvo and are configured to meet the demands of the most complex or diverse jobs. To maintain reliability and quality, vehicles are replaced on a planned basis to ensure the fleet remains capable of operating at maximum efficiency and reliability while also complying with all emission regulations.

In addition to trucks, Bulk Logistics Group’s fleet is comprised of different trailer types that ensure a diverse range of products can be carried. The majority of conventional tipping trailers are plank sided and can carry a range of payloads; this includes volumetric products where weight isn’t the key usage factor. The walking floor trailer fleet, meanwhile, is configured to provide a variety of size of trailer and floor type in order to carry different commodities with ease.

“The vehicles themselves aren’t particularly specialised; it is the trailers

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where the technical aspect comes in. In terms of health and safety, the use of walking floor trailers has become popular for the carrying of goods where the product can be walked off the back of the trailer in a controlled way. Most of the parties that hand out contracts for the carriage of waste require walking floor trailers due to the safety aspect,” says Andrew. “To further meet the growing needs of parties that place

large contracts, we also invested £300,000 on driver training in 2017 alone to ensure we have a recognised driver training scheme in place.”

He continues: “The flexibility of our fleet is complemented by the level of service we give to customers. In fact, we have won business based on service and not on price, which is down to Michael who runs a very tight ship and is a highly-accomplished man when it comes to the provision of service.

This ethos has spread throughout the business, with eight people working on the traffic desk at Bulk Logistics Group to the exact standards that Michael sets.”

Today one of the UK’s leading carriers of an impressively wide range of dry bulk products, Bulk Logistics Group has become remarkably flexible thanks to a number of strategic acquisitions that complement the capabilities of the group’s largest subsidiary, J&J Ward.

The two recent acquisitions are Horsley Bulk Transport, which operates a fleet of new conventional tippers from Leeds to meet the requirements of its primarily

Profile: Bulk Logistics Group

Hentons -Seeing you through the business maze

Business ideas and solutions weave their way into everything Hentons does. Where many see just numbers, it sees an opportunity to create and nurture wealth and success.

Hentons provide a range of accounting, tax and business advisory services specifically designed to help you meet challenges and maximise opportunities. Its service delivery is grounded in a deep understanding of the industry in which you operate, combined with a sound, practical and commercial business acumen.

Going beyond compliance, Hentons’ goal is to work with you to create sustainable financial security and success.

agricultural based customers, and Hare Bulk Haulage, which specialises in the supply and bulk haulage of agricultural products such as potash, combinable crops and stock feeds. The Hare fleet works closely with DH Pearson, another subsidiary of the Bulk Logistics Group, as its founder, Michael Hare, is responsible for both operations.

“Since making these acquisitions, we feel that a strong platform is in place to build an outstanding enterprise on over the coming years, so we are looking to pick out sectors of the market where service is paramount and go out and provide that service. If we

need a larger enterprise to do this, we will acquire vehicles or companies that have the vehicles and trailers we need and do whatever we can to meet the needs of our customers,” Andrew says.

“On an aspirational level, our aim is for Bulk Logistics Group to grow in a controlled manner and be able to win large contracts when they become available in the areas we are looking to be involved in. If the business grows and continues to compete in increasingly larger contracts, the likelihood is that we will look for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, something that is almost an inevitability if the size of contracts we are seeing at the moment continue to come our way,” he concludes.l

Bulk Logistics Group www.bulklogisticsgroup.com • One of the UK’s leading carriers of dry bulk products • Comprised of four trading subsidiaries • Now winning larger and more complex contracts

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Customer-driven

approach O

perating from its head office in Nybro, Sweden, as well as a German office in Erfurt, Börjes Logistik & Spedition is a successful European carrier that has its own modern fleet of vehicles, drivers and a strong, wellestablished network of collaborative partners.

Driving cargo, partial and full loads, groupage, special transport, ADR transport, heat transport and heavy transport, the company operates in four key business areas, ADR, which is dangerous goods transportation, safety and military transportation, three-part logistics, and special project logistics. Able to handle complicated transport assignments with ease, the company has the long-term expertise and a customer-centric approach to business at the heart of its operations; this not only ensures all requirements are met with the best possible solution, but also means Börjes Logistik & Spedition maintains its reputation as a company to trust.

“We don’t sell a product or a service, we

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sell our company name and a level of trust,” says Magnus Krantz, Managing Director of Börjes Logistik & Spedition. “This has been our philosophy and part of our DNA since we began in 1947 as an independent family company and is a tradition that every employee follows from their first to last day with us. As such, our main assets are our employees and drivers who are highly efficient and skilful, which is something our Chairman and Owner has been very careful about to ensure our level of quality is maintained.“ Indeed, while Börjes Logistik & Spedition has grown and been characterised by significant improvement, it is still run in the same spirit and with the same tradition of its Founder, Börje Johansson, who stated: “The customer is not a person you must impress or convince that you know better than him… when he comes to you, he is your guest. Treat him as you would like to be treated when you are a guest.”

Proud to bring Börjes’ vision forward, the

company has become known for its ability to listen to what each customer needs and respond accordingly. Moreover, with Börjes Logistik & Spedition, there are no detours; customers calling the company arrive directly at the traffic management department where they receive a good service and direct answers. To further cement the bond between customer and company, Börjes Logistik & Spedition ensures the customer always speaks to the same person, while the individual who books the freight for the client has direct contact with the driver and the goods throughout the project, from collection to delivery. Additionally, customers benefit from the most flexible, high quality and costefficient service for each individual shipment, which means goods take the straightest route to the destination.

Another way the company maintains high quality operations is through a long-term commitment and adherence to certifications and regulations/legislation as Magnus comments: “Where other companies may

Profile: Börjes Logistik & Spedition

see a problem with gaining a certificate or authorisation we see solutions as we want to work with permits, certificates and laws that different countries make. This is not only a unique selling point for us to have the control and solid know-how on regulations, but it also means we can continue to operate in parts of the business that we love: hazardous goods, waste, ammunition and explosives.

We know how to work with these dangerous goods effectively and safely and have the certificates in place to transport between countries within Europe.”

He continues: “This is particularly important as we see an increase in demand in dangerous goods and waste and military, which is due to actions in the past that have led to an increase in security and movement of this type of equipment. We have also seen an increased number of special projects, which continue to do well. There is concern with this success as we don’t want to grow so fast that we lose our focus on quality; growing is easy, but keeping quality and margins is more important. However, generally there has been a high turnover of growth for both ourselves and our customers; they are growing and we are growing, so there is a positive atmosphere on the market!”

Benefiting from strong demand and a reputation for excellence, the future looks full of promise for Börjes Logistik & Spedition as it not only maintains the traditions of its founder but also seeks to prepare for upcoming social and market changes, as Magnus explains: “One thing that is interesting is how we will solve the puzzle of new generation drivers who are more anxious about taking a three-week trip across Europe so we are considering ways to attract new employees.

This will be both through new techniques in the trucks as well as focusing on putting

our drivers even more at the centre in our company and help their families with chores such as cleaning, shopping and babysitting.

The new generation is more equal, with work split between both mother and father; we have to adapt to this to attract drivers.

“Looking further ahead, we want to increase our business with present customers and perhaps add some new clients, however

we ultimately want to grow with our existing client base and maintain the stamp of quality we have earned over the years. It is also important to us that our employees have a good feeling about working here,” he concludes. l

Börjes Logistik & Spedition http://borjes.com/en • Successful European carrier • Provide transportation, ADR, logistic and 3PL services • Customer-focused

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Moving

forward

T

urning over three billion euros a year, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics (HWL) is still run by the fourth generation of Hellmanns, who maintain a hands-on and dynamic approach to encourage continual growth and success.

When you look at the organisation that is today HWL, it is hard to imagine that it began in 1871, with one man and a horse drawn cart. In just four generations, it has grown into a global organisation, with a worldwide network of 19,500 people in 437 branches in 162 countries. Working with blue-chip clients, HWL handles nearly 80,000 shipments per day, providing logistical solutions for a range of sectors including automotive, agriculture, healthcare, project cargo, fashion and beverage/perishable goods. It also offers specific industry solutions that include hightech logistics, marine and cruise, project cargo and renewable energy.

As one would expect from a global leader in logistics, Hellmann’s range of products and services covers every transportation

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need that a client may have, whether that is airfreight, seafreight, road freight, and rail solutions, customs clearance, or eCommerce.

Over the course of its nearly 150-year history, HWL has been through a variety of evolutions, and 2017 witnessed another exciting development, when it revealed a new company structure in August. This realignment and reorganisation was necessary to adapt the company's legal organisation to its continuous expansion and changing market requirements. The result created a parent holding company and three divisions - Air & Sea, Road & Rail and Contract Logistics, which operate as legally independent subgroups.

Reorganising the business into divisional companies along with the three main product groups is the key component of this future-oriented realignment.

While the Group had largely been organised geographically, the new organisation represents a global unification according to the product groups. In addition to providing a basis for further optimising

internal processes, the new structure creates greater flexibility in the individual product areas, which will enable more rapid reactions to market trends across countries. At the same time, customers will now be offered uniform global solutions along the entire supply chain, which will further enhance service quality.

“The reorganisation along with the product groups is a milestone in the history of Hellmann. Above all, we expect greater transparency and clear responsibilities within the individual business areas. In this way, the different strategies within the respective product segments can be developed more simply, more specifically, and most especially can be implemented,” explained Dr. Thomas Knecht, a Spokesperson for the Board of Management.

Managing Partner Jost Hellmann noted: “With these small and flexible units, we are much closer to the market and thus, to our customers. For me, speed is key to a competitive edge in our industry.”

“Through the establishment of the

Profile: hellmanN worldwide logistics

our transport network. For our customers, this means more quality and security for their Italian relations,” he said.

Founded in 1924, the Bianchi Group is one of the leading international logistics companies in Italy. The new Hellmann partner has a warehousing and handling area of 5000 sqm with 30 loading gates on a 140,000 sqm logistics area at the Como distribution centre. Additional receiving depots of the group are located in Modena, Padua, and Florence. Consequently, the Bianchi Group is able to ensure fixed transit times for all Italian postcode areas.

This latest partner is just one of many close relationships established by HWL and its dedication to co-operation and collaboration starts at the highest level; even being reflected in the company’s trademark, a flock of wild geese in flight.

Chosen because geese fly in what can be described as a phenomenal illustration of science and co-operation, HWL note that the

elements that make wild geese’s migration so successful also make excellent traits for logistics providers - planned flights, estimated risks, excellent communication skills and perfect co-ordination. Added to this, they remain faithful to each other for life and have a highly-developed sense of responsibility.

The wild geese mirror the virtues of HWL’s family business and illustrate the reasons for its success - and any client working with the Group can be reassured that they will receive the highest quality service at all times. l

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics www.hellmann.net • Turning over three billion euros annually • Run by the fourth generation of

Hellmanns • Encourage growth through a hands on and dynamic approach

branch, we are significantly streamlining our processes. At the same time, we can offer customers globally uniform services along the entire supply chain. Cross-selling will continue to be a key issue for us in the future,” added Carsten Fuhlendorf, CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and head of the ‘Formation of Business Units’ project.

The announcement of the new company structure was swiftly followed with another exciting new change – as of October 1 2017, HWL changed its partner for road and rail transports for Italy, and is now handling daily scheduled services to and from Italy together with the Bianchi Group. With the new partner, Hellmann is able to offer shorter run times and an optimised route network.

Matthias Magnor, COO of Hellmann Road & Rail, sees the choice of the new partner as a decisive step to further strengthen the European transports of the Hellmann Group: “With the Bianchi Group, we have won a highperformance company for a successful cooperation at the highest level. In this way, we can significantly improve both run times and

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Delivering record

results

W

ith more than 400member depots comprising independent transport companies strategically located across 20 countries, Palletways is a pioneer of the palletised freight network model and Europe’s largest palletised freight delivery and collection operation, delivering up to 40,000 pallets every day with the help of its 110-plus member depots based in the UK. With its Pan-European network and industry leading customer satisfaction levels, it is the pallet delivery partner of choice for hundreds of businesses across the continent.

“Our offer to our member depots is second to none,” explains Palletways UK Managing Director, Dave Walmsley. “We engage with

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our members at every level of their business, from sales support to marketing and public relations. We believe it is important that we work as a Palletways family, relying on each other in both good economic times and bad. As well as the sales support we provide to help members win new business and the cutting-edge technologies we invest in, which is designed to heighten a member’s competitiveness, we also host regular conferences with opportunities for them to meet and exchange ideas, and we provide incentives for our members to perform at the highest standards.”

Palletways commitment to technology and customer service are two of the main factors behind its success. Its multi-million pound investments in new technology all have

the customer and end-consumer in mind, making pallet delivery an efficient, flexible and cost-effective service. Recent innovations include the company’s Digital Information Hub, which provides its teams with real-time intelligence, including vehicle use, traffic planning and visibility on the progress of individual consignments, and its ETA system, which provides an industry first two-hour delivery notification window for palletised freight. Meanwhile, Palletways’ award-winning archway scanning system photographically records every single pallet passing through its sortation hubs, with around 112,000 images taken on its busiest days to ensure customer goods are kept track of.

“These innovations have helped the network to smash records in the sector for

Profile: Palletways

Dave Walmsley, UK Managing Director

pallet movements as we have created a well-oiled machine to cope with ever increasing demand,” Dave continues.

“For example, in 2016/17 we achieved the UK’s largest daily volume in pallets recorded at 27,017 in April 2017, and the largest single day delivery consignment in a day at 22,311.

Further to this, over the 2016 festive period we exceeded our expectations by moving more than 867,000 pallets, which is an industry record for the Christmas season.

“The figures for this year are outstanding and represent our most successful year on record. Recent projects have strengthened our position as the pallet network of choice in the UK, while the expansion of additional regional hubs in the UK, South West, Spain and Germany gives our members and

customers unrivalled access to markets at home and abroad. I want to thank our UK members who worked incredibly hard to deliver excellent customer service and at the same time, a 5.8 per cent increase in the overall number of pallets moved last year.” l

‘‘

We believe it is important that we work as a Palletways family, relying on each other in both good economic times and bad

Palletways www.palletways.com • Europe’s largest pallet delivery operation • Up to 40,000 pallets delivered daily • 110-plus network member depots based in the UK • 400-plus network members Europe-wide • Present across 20 countries

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Profile: visbeen

Caring for the

customer

T

he company known as Visbeen may have evolved considerably over the course of its 90-plus year history, but one thing that has remained the same has been its focus on releasing its customers from what it calls their ‘transport burdens’. Having initially begun life as a business providing local transport options between farms, the company has since developed into a reliable and reputable carrier of both fresh and frozen products within the Benelux, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Scandinavia, Swiss, Portugal, Poland and Russia.

“It was my grandfather who started the company back in 1925,” explains Visbeen Managing Director, Adrie Visbeen. “In the 1960s the scope of the business increased into international transport, beginning with Germany and France, before later turning to the UK where we developed groupage services supplying fruit and vegetables, and later flowers and plants. In 1998, a separate company called Dailyfresh Logistics was formed by competitors, taking ownership of all fresh distribution lines, and it remains a very successful business owned by Visbeen and Post-Kogeko. Then, in 2011, we as Visbeen commenced activities within the frozen market, launching in partnership with a leading European customer.”

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Find out how we can help you and take a look at www.stenalinefreight.com or contact us at salessupport.nl@stenaline.com

Profile: visbeen

Today, Visbeen’s customers can be split across two different market segments. The first of these involves the daily distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables under the Dailyfresh Logistics label, many loaded from Holland and Belgium to UK retailers, catering companies, fruit and vegetable traders.

The other segment revolves around frozen distribution all over Europe to producers of foodstuffs. Here the company developed its

Cross Chain Control Centre solution for one of its biggest customers to fully co-ordinate and direct their supply chain. This involves consolidating, planning and managing logistical flows as well as creating transparent information flows, financial flows and data management, and this has been adopted by a number of other customers.

At Visbeen’s disposal is an enviable fleet of vehicles, including 110 own trucks, 350

reefer, 60 huckepack trailers (owned, leased and hired from several suppliers) and 110 reefer containers, each measuring 45 feet in length and pallet wide. Visbeen has eight long 25 metre reefer lorries that can carry 50 block pallets. Also Visbeen uses several local subcontractors to deliver the goods in their own country. In addition to this, the company also boasts a strategically important cross dock facility in Hoek van Holland operated by DailyFresh Logistics which is only one mile from the Ferry to the UK. Each truck and trailer comes equipped with GPS, temperature controls and door lock trackers, and its team of highly trained drivers are supported by an operational department that is on standby 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Due to the fact that Visbeen believes in thinking differently and sustainably it is continually looking at innovative logistic concepts and investing in economical equipment and facilities. “At least 50 per cent of all our movements are now in the process of going intermodal,” Adrie reveals. “Our unique huckepack P400 reefer trailers, with their internal height of 2.7 metres and width of 2.5 metres, have a larger load capacity and

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dimensions that correspond with standard trailers found on European roads. As a result, they can be lifted on to, and transported by, rail and over water. This capability helps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, unburdens the road network and increases our own transport flexibility. Further to this, more than 75 per cent of our trucks are already equipped with Euro6 compatible engines, with a number also equipped with gensets powered by the trucks engine to generate clean 380 volts for use on our 45 feet Visbeen-Coolboxx reefer containers.”

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This socially responsible approach can also be found in a number of the projects that the company undertakes. For example, Visbeen is a partner in the COOLRAIL project, working alongside several European retailers, importers, exporters and a major packaging supplier. The project itself involves a fast rail connection between Valencia and Rotterdam, which will run twice a week transporting 45-feet diesel electric reefer containers. The transit time for the rail link will be approximately two days and will result in a 70 per cent reduction in emissions

compared to what would have been created by transportation by road.

In March 2017, the company announced the further strengthening of its fleet with the purchase of 50 new refrigerator/freezer trailers. “This delivery of new trailers will ensure that we meet the ever-growing levels of demand from our customers,” Adrie says. “These trailers are equipped with the newest refrigerators from major suppliers.

In addition, these trailers increase the number of dual-temp trailers we have in order to better control temperatures for our

Profile: visbeen Visbeen www.visbeen.nl • Specialist carriers of fresh and frozen products • Developers of the Cross Chain Control Centre • Large fleet of intermodal trailers, trucks and containers

Refrigerated Trailer Rentals

groupage services and are also equipped with parking sensors, engine protection, special ferry bumpers and secure bars inside to avoid damages.”

Over the next 12 months the company’s goal is to expand within its core markets in order to achieve steady growth, all while remaining true to its slogan, ‘because we care’. In the longer term, Adrie plans to expand Visbeen’s multimodal European network with new connections. “We

are going to work towards offering our customers transport solutions in a sustainable way so as to help them achieve reduce their emissions,” he concludes. “Furthermore, we will look to establish partnerships with local specialists in all the European countries in which we are present, including the UK, as we continue to look at reducing the number of miles we transport by road rather than through intermodal means.” l

Refrigerated Trailer Rentals (RTR), founded in Rotterdam, Holland in 1982, started with 15 refrigerated trailers and expanded its activities six years later from the seaport of Antwerp, Belgium.

RTR’s top quality fleet today consists of 500 refrigerated trailers, 60 per cent of which are unaccompanied ferry trailers. The reefer Multitemp share of its fleet is suited for transporting different products under optimal conditions in two temperature zones, and it also has the reefer Huckepack rail trailer available.

Since 2015, all of RTR’s new reefer units have been using the R-452A refrigerant, which has lower operating costs and a more positive effect on the environment. These units are equipped with a BlueBox, an advanced telematics and connectivity system that makes unit data available in real-time.

RTR’s team of employees are knowledgable and offer 24/7 customer service. Short-term rentals can be from one day up to one year, while long-term rentals are for longer. Full maintenance of the trailer and refrigerated unit is covered for normal wear and tear, and long-term rental options include the chance to create a custom advertising design on the trailer.

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In control F

amily-owned since 1918 when it was established by Niels Therkelsen in Logumkloster, Denmark, H. P. Thekelsen A/S has grown over the years thanks to strategic investments and an ability to adapt to market trends, as CEO Peter Therkelsen begins: “In the last two decades alone we have changed the business into a more niche-focused organisation where we solely operate in the refrigerated logistic segment, which means we do groupage logistics all over Europe in segments that require refrigerated transport and warehouse logistics. Previously we were involved in all segments when it came to transport, however the decision to focus on a niche area was made while my father was in charge when he saw a need to focus the business on one key area instead of doing a little of everything. You have to find your speciality in order to survive long-term, which is why we chose an area

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of transportation that is highly complex but is also unlikely to be affected by a crisis in society. People always need food, whether a crisis takes place or not.�

Operating in Padborg, Denmark, the company has a 1600 square meter coldstore

at minus 22 degrees, an 8000-square metre chilled warehouse that has space for 7000 pallets, and a garage and washing facilities for its trucks and trailers. Today in its fourth generation and with Peter at the helm, H. P. Therkelsen operates with a

Profile: HP Therkelsen A/S

overview on developments, which in turn ensures it is able to inform customers on the location of their shipment and its nature. To further enhance its capabilities in this area and boost its competitiveness in the market, H.P. Therkelsen has recently invested in IT systems, as Peter notes: “We have experienced great interest in the chilled warehouse logistic solutions, which is something we have experienced over the last three-to-four years and even more now than ever before. In line with this development, we have invested in new chilled warehouse facilities and a new state-of-the-art warehouse management system. On top of this, we have a lot of projects ongoing with regards to IT investments, which will ensure we are even more productive and transparent towards our customers. This is something that will become more of a requirement in the future, when everything will need to be more reliable, transparent and faster than it is today.” In line with this focus on IT enhancements, the company is looking into robotics and artificial intelligence in areas of the business where there are repetitive processes. team of 300 personnel serving hundreds of customers, ranging from international firms such as Nestlé Group, which it has worked with for more than 60 years, to small and medium sized companies. “This widespread customer range suits us very well and the reason customers such as Nestlé, Nordic Seafood, Tulip and Royal Greenland have remained loyal to us is that we focus on high quality services and deliveries at a fair price. This has been a recipe for success for us and complements the culture that we have developed throughout the entire organisation, which customers also find suitable to their needs,” says Peter.

Customers naturally also appreciate H.P. Therkelsen’s long-term expertise in logistics and service solutions when it comes to the road transportation of goods across Europe – a strength that is enhanced by the company’s staff members, all of whom are experts in the transportation of temperature sensitive goods, such as frozen, chilled and fresh foods, as well as pharmaceutical items and industrial goods.

Around 90 per cent of all import and export shipments transit its transportation and terminal centre before being forwarded on to their chosen destination within H.P. Therkelsen’s routing system.

During transportation, the company remains in control thanks to its IT systems that ensure its employees always have an

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Profile: HP Therkelsen A/S

Peter says part of the reason such investments have been possible is the ongoing success of H.P. Therkelsen, which has gone from strength-to-strength over the last five years: “After the crisis in Europe a lot

of shipments went from FTLs to groupage because there was no warehousing anymore; it became the rolling warehouse on the road, which is where our niche was before. We could see a rising demand in this segment as people began to book three shipments of three pallets for three deliveries in one week instead of one shipment of nine pallets for one week. This change was hugely beneficial to us and played a part in our strengthened financial results, however these opportunities can only be gained if you have the service package and culture in place to meet the market’s needs.”

Furthermore, since 2013 H. P. Therkelsen has been a founding member of the European Food Network – a co-operative partnership between renowned European providers of food logistics in the chilled segment. “Through this network we are able to serve our clients with high qualified and reliable logistic services from every deserted or urban place in Europe to Scandinavia and vice versa. This is a strength which no other network in Europe has,” Peter comments.

Alongside continued IT investments that will enable H.P. Therkelsen to meet the changing demands of customers and the market alike, the company is also seeking to invest in new services in strategic locations such as Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. “In the past it was Germany and surrounding countries that had the most focus for us in terms of generating business, however we are seeing growth in areas of southern Europe. As such, we have invested in these countries to get service lines that can be used by our clients in Scandinavia who purchased their goods in these countries. The lines are set up already, but we need to continue investing in them so customers realise the potential and possibilities of using these services,” says Peter.

“This is a positive thing about being a familyowned company, we can adapt to possibilities very quickly, which means we can react to the market and be opportunity driven while also maintaining healthy organic growth,” he concludes. l

HP Therkelsen A/S www.hpt.dk/uk/ • Specialists in transport and logistics solutions • Focused on temperature claiming cargo shipments • Investing in IT and new service lines to ensure continued growth

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Profile: Gestion Maritime

The perfect

system

W

ith roots dating back to 1908, privately owned shipping company Gestion Maritime has grown to become a prominent global tonnage provider that has remained fully independent and capable of a prompt response to market changes.

The family founder Andrea Corrado needs no introduction. He was one of the largest shipowners in the first half of the 20th century, with a fleet size of 35-40 vessels at the peak. After scaling down in the 80s with Grandson Franceso Corrado, the 90s saw a resurgence, and with the hiring of current CEO Danilo Fumorola in 2002, the company has slowly and organically expanded its operations. The company now offers a comprehensive range of high quality shipping and tonnages for the worldwide seaborne transportation of cargoes; these include iron ore, coal and grains, bauxite, fertilisers; steel products, refined oil products and easy chemicals.

A trusted name in a changing world, Gestion Maritime’s reputation as an innovative, customer-centric and performance driven firm has resulted in it becoming an increasingly more competitive shipping company over recent years, during which it

has consolidated its position in the dry cargo transportation market. However, the company also re-established a presence in the liquid bulk sector in 2015 with the addition of two new build medium range (MRs) tankers that are under its direct management. Able to handle both dry bulk and liquid, the company not only strengthened its capabilities but also boosted its fleet with high-tech, cutting-edge vessels. While the two MRs are working on a long-term contract for top market European operators, Gestion Maritime also upgraded its whole team and reviewed the management system in order to meet the demands of customers.

Another example of the company’s commitment to serve clients in the best possible way can be seen in the retrofitting of fuel saving devices and equipment on its vessels, which means voyages are optimised and margins are maximised in response to charterers demanding more speed/ cons ratios. Furthermore, the company has successfully obtained ISO 5001 certification for energy management on board and has been actively working on the reduction of CO2, NOx and SOx emissions over the last few years; an area of the business that will continue to improve in the future.

Since going through a process of disposing

aged tonnages in the last two-and-a-half years, Gestion Maritime presently has six dry bulk vessels in addition to its two oil tankers. This fleet is comprised of Dragon, Ines Corrado, Elena, Francesco Corrado, GB Corrado and Jupiter, which were added to the company’s fleet in May 2012, February 2012, February 2009, May 2008, March 2008 and June 2006 respectively. While the 81,389 DWT Dragon has a D+ Rightship

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THE BEST ANTICORROSIVE AND ANTIFOULING PERFORMANCE

Società soggetta all’attività di direzione e coordinamento di Chugoku Marine Paints Ltd.

CHUGOKU-BOAT ITALY S.P.A. Via Macaggi, 19 - 16121 Genova Tel. +39 010 5500 5 - Fax +39 010 5500 288 - +39 010 5500 298 E-mail: boat@chugoku-boat.it - www.chugoku-boat.it

Profile: Gestion Maritime

Chugoku Marine Paints Ltd.

Since its establishment in 1917, Chugoku Marine Paints Ltd. has uniquely developed marine paints as a core product, together with other specialised paints for industrial use. CMP continues to grow and is well supported by a broad customer base. Their confidence and trust in our technology and products underpins our success in both the domestic and global markets. Our products are designed and developed based on focused research activities, and distributed via our highly organised global service network. As a supplier to key industries, such as shipbuilding, shipping, power generation, steel, wood and general construction, we are aware that we have a responsibility to support the development of these industries through our commitment to achieving this on a basis of harmonisation with nature.

CMP, as a leading company aiming to harmonise human activity with nature, endeavours to promote industrial growth with the environment very much in mind, and embarks on new challenges towards the next 100 years.

emission rating and the 81,272 DWT Ines Corrado has a D rating, the remaining dry bulk vessels have an emission rating of B. This rating, based on the vessel’s performance, proves Gestion Maritime’s drive for energy efficiency and management on board has delivered strong results.

Since previously being featured in Land, Sea & Air magazine in February 2017, Gestion Maritime has continued with its focus on the optimisation of vessel portfolio management with the formalisation of its asset play and vessel employment strategy - for which it has been collaborating with Maritime Capital Partners, an investment manager and maritime analytics company - over the last 12 months. “I have personally been exploring possibilities on an in-depth but ad-hoc basis with Richard Stephenson, CEO of Maritime Capital Partners, for the last four years. We have always believed that shipping portfolios should be both scaled and managed using techniques developed in financial portfolio management, with the key driver being the cross-industry mapping process,” explains Danilo Fumarola, CEO of Gestion Maritime.

“As such, we have co-developed and implemented advanced internal management processes, from cycle identification, entry point, strategies, chartering, credit and market risk management and exit strategies.

This has meaningfully enhanced our recent performance and we thus expect to fully capitalise on the oncoming market upswing.”

Continuing to elaborate on market developments, Danilo continues: “The lack of bank financing for new vessels is a very supportive trend in the market, particularly for dry bulk. Because we do not use excessive leverage and are considered a ‘good credit’

company with a 110-year track record of performance, we see this as a very positive development. Excessive bank financing for new builds and the evolving business models ship-owners towards the exit, order and manage has led to a massive expansion in fleet size; this development explains the recent downturn in the market. Distressed loan sales in general and wholesale bank withdrawals from the market has reduced the probability for a debt filled expansion of the global fleet; as such, we are confident that the market is well poised for a meaningful upswing. However, though passively buying vessels will likely result in modest, ‘beta’ gains, we expect to meaningfully outperform peers due to our systematic approach.”

Indeed, with a superior, data driven systematic approach to vessel portfolio management, the company is in a strong position and, for the first time, is considering external investment capital as it develops a structure that would fully align interest between itself and its co-investors. This decision comes after the company’s decision to strengthen its position in the dry bulk market following a new build programme that will allow Gestion Maritime to better serve its customers’ demands for younger and more state-of-the-art vessels. “We have been following a new build project for kamsarmax type vessels, which will enable us to reduce the average age of the fleet and provide customers with more modern tonnages commending premier over our peers due to superior commercial performance and compliance with new environmental regulations,” says Danilo.

Moving forward, the company will focus on the development and streamlining of its systematic approach to asset plays and vessel employment strategy as it uses increasingly intensive data analytics techniques. Looking further ahead, Gestion aims to extend its expertise to institutional investors that are looking to diversify their existing investment portfolios away from the main asset classes.

“Because we plan on being a co-investor rather than a pure manager, institutional investors have indicated a strong interest in collaboration,” Danilo concludes. l

Gestion Maritime www.gestionmaritime.com • Specialists in ship owning and ship management • Celebrated 108 years in operation in 2016 • Developed a data-driven systematic approach to vessel portfolio management

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Building

dreams W

ith a name that is synonymous with luxury, motor yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has forged a reputation for the ultimate in refinement and absolute quality. With many different lines available throughout its range, Sunseeker has become one of the world’s most desirable marine icons.

While now owned by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, Sunseeker started its life in Poole, in Dorset, UK, and to this day its headquarters and main assembly facility remains in this large coastal town. Founded in 1969 by Robert Braithwaite, the company evolved from an importer and distributor of boats into a boat builder in its own right in the early 1970s. It was while exhibiting at its first boat show that what was then called Poole Power Boats got a big break - a French boat dealer agreed that if the company implemented full-width sunbeds across the stern of its designs and made them all in white, he would buy them.

In an early example of Sunseeker giving customers exactly what they want, the team set about designing this unprecedented and

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ultimately-successful new boat. Inspired and determined to meet the demands of the growing sports cruiser market, the business launched the Sports 23 and the Daycab 23.

These innovative vessels were the start of an evolution for Sunseeker, where throughout the subsequent decades it continued to launch new and exciting vessels, including its first true performance model, the Offshore 28. With the Portofino 31, focus shifted from overnight accommodation to cockpits that could host large groups of people, and with the remarkable Tomahawk 37 (still loved to this day), emphasis was put on enjoyment, fun and high performance. Further benchmarks in luxury and performance followed, with the Renegade 60 and the Predator 80; the latter featured the most sumptuous interior seen in a Sunseeker yet.

The turn of the century saw Sunseeker set the pace with the launch of its then-largest ever motoryacht, the 105 Yacht, which featured advanced composite materials and the latest construction techniques. This design proved inspirational, not only winning two of the world’s most prestigious accolades in the International Superyacht Design awards,

but inspiring Sunseeker’s new 131 Yacht.

Finally, just 15 short years after the 105 Yacht’s inception, another truly exceptional milestone was achieved in 2015…the delivery of Sunseeker’s 100th luxury performance motoryacht in the 100ft+ superyacht category.

It is clear that over the years of its evolution, Sunseeker has always prioritised the continual launch of more advanced, ambitious and creative vessels and 2017 is maintaining that momentum with two new world premieres unveiled at the yachtmarket.com Southampton Boat Show in September - the 76 Yacht and the Predator 57 MK II. Alongside these magnificent models, Sunseeker showcased the 95 Yacht, Predator 68, Manhattan 52 and the San Remo.

In fact, multiple model launches are set to continue as part of a long-term product plan that will see new model introductions across the size range over the next five years including additions to the Manhattan range.

Boat shows have always been a forum where Sunseeker has been proud to show the world its latest wares and share good news – Sunseeker used 2017’s Cannes show, to announce a strong performance in 2017 with significant growth forecasted going forward as

Profile: SUNSEEKER

a result of substantial investment across new products, improved facilities and its people.

It also used this event to showcase the new Manhattan 66, which, while it has already sold 43 boats since its launch in January, was making its first appearance at the show. This new 2017 model is designed to maximise space and entertainment options with exceptional panoramic hull and saloon windows providing light-drenched living spaces throughout. Its deep V hull offers signature Sunseeker performance and impeccable seakeeping, whilst the impressive layout provides ample space on board to rival much larger yachts.

It would be true to say that 2017 has been a fantastic year for the Manhattan range.

Earlier in April it was announced that the new Manhattan 52, which had already been declared as the winner of the ‘Best flybridge under 55ft’ award at the Motor Boat of the Year Awards, had secured record sales since its launch in autumn, with £80m of retail forward orders, as Phil Popham, CEO at Sunseeker confirmed: “The Manhattan 52 is our fastest selling model to date, with over 80 orders taken for 2017 and 2018. The Manhattan 52 sets a new industry benchmark for the smaller

flybridge format and makes an important statement about Sunseeker’s continued focus on new product development and innovation.”

It is clear that throughout its near five decades of existence, through success and some difficult times, Sunseeker has now formed and crafted a strategy that creates both compelling new products as well as inspirational existing model refreshes. With the experience of a dedicated team of over 2000 highly skilled designers, engineers and master craftsmen to draw upon, plus the support of a worldwide network of over 80 retail and service locations, Sunseeker looks set to heighten its reputation still further, continuing to ‘build dreams’ for its demanding and sophisticated clientele. l

Sunseeker www.sunseeker.com • Committed to creating hand-built, hand-finished boats • Exports c.140 yachts a year to more than 45 countries • Customers can tailor and personalise elements within their yacht

Tijssen Elektro Tijssen Elektro has provided electrical installations on luxury yachts for almost 45 years. Its knowledge of electrical engineering is of the highest international level; from design and engineering, to installation and integration. Its multidisciplinary provision of services extends from state-of-the-art audio/video systems, navigation and communication equipment, and clever domotics, to complex data networks and sustainable yacht installations. Over the past ten years Tijssen Elektro has equipped more than 70 Sunseeker yachts with its MPA alarm and monitoring system. Panel building is also an integral part of its activities on the Sunseeker yachts. Tijssen Elektro is very proud of its exceptional collaboration with Sunseeker.

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Charting the

course I

t was in September 2003 that Céline Mortier took on the position of Chief Operating Officer at Bogerd Martin, one of the largest distributors of nautical charts and publications. In the 13-plus years that followed, Céline has witnessed the landscape of the maritime service industry continue to evolve dramatically as it navigates its way through what is an increasingly digitised world.

Having steered the company’s operations in the right direction, Céline was rewarded by becoming Bogerd Martin’s newest Chief Executive Officer in January 2017. “My primary aim as CEO is to further the digitisation of our operations, placing us in the best possible position to succeed in a digital future,” she explains. “Whereas in the past companies like ours could wait for customers to come to us when they needed a physical chart or publication, in this new digital world we need to be more forward facing, leveraging our service offering, productivity and quality to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. We have definitely had to adopt a new way of thinking here in recent years, but it is one that our entire team is 200 per cent behind, which is one of the main reasons why we are making such strong progress with our growth plans.”

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Profile: Bogerd Martin NV

Bogerd Martin’s strategy for achieving growth has also extended this year to the opening of a new sales office in Singapore.

Opened in April, this new facility has been established to service the steadily increasing demand for the company’s services from Asian ship owners. “When it comes to certain regions,” Céline continues, “we believe it is important to have people in place that are familiar with the market and the companies operating within it. This all comes back to one of our principle aims as a business, which is to make the life of our customers easier by offering them a quality, cost-effective and customised service.”

Living with ECDIS requires a ship manager and the ship’s officers to be constantly aware of changes in legal requirements and maintenance issues. Along with the selection and installation of ECDIS hardware on board their vessels, ship owners and managers will also face the associated challenge of training their officers to use these navigation aids. As experts in its field, Bogerd Martin can help its customers to manage and select the right product for their needs.

“The SOLAS regulations regarding the adoption of ECDIS systems has definitely had an impact on demand from ship owners for our services,” Céline states. “Existing cargo vessels, for example, make up one segment that is now looking to address the absence of such systems, and we expect the retrofitting of these, and other vessels, will only become a larger part of our activities as 2018 approaches. Certain geographic regions are also starting to recognise the need to update their charting capabilities, with owners based in Asia also driving our activities, hence the opening of our new Singapore office. All of this has resulted in a strong first six months of 2017.”

When speaking previously to Céline’s predecessor, Michael Martin, back in January 2016, Bogerd Martin was in the process of rolling out the latest version of its Chart Track Navigator solution. A user-friendly computer programme, it enables a ship’s crew to list their inventory, activate or deactivate geographical areas depending on the trading route, and to download vessel-specific notices to mariners

and tracings via e-mail. Said crew is then able to visualise their paper chart holdings on a digital catalogue and easily select the charts they require for their next voyage.

“Today we have reached the point where the newest version of Chart Track Navigator has been adopted by almost all of our customers,” Céline says. “What we find is that the majority of vessels within our customers’ fleets are in fact dual usage, meaning they carry both physical paper and digital charts and maps. Chart Track Navigator is the perfect tool for these customers, providing them with a complete overview of their upcoming activities.”

Integrated with Findaport world port information, Chart Track Navigator’s latest platform offers a scalable solution that incorporates future functionality, including a Port Form database, route planning, voyage preparation, weather information and more.

Also included is a full database of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) and easy-to-use functionality with which to manage permits, monitor validity and place orders for additional ENC cells. Such has been the response to Chart Track Navigator, and its upgrades,

that it has become a must-have for Bogerd Martin’s customers.

“The digitisation of our industry, in my opinion, is only set to intensify in the years to come, and as such we need to be sure to optimise ourselves, our products and our services as much as possible,” Céline adds. “It is the case with all of our customers that once they make the transition digital solutions they soon realise and appreciate the advantages, and cost savings, that they create. For our part, Bogerd Martin is a well-respected name, one that has a strong reputation for the support and service we provide, and by making sure that we are on-hand 24/7 to provide our expertise I am confident that this reputation is one that we not only retain, but enhance going forward.”

Bogerd Martin NV www.martin.be • A history dating back over 100 years • Servicing the rise in electronic charts and publications • Creator of the Chart Track Navigator solution

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A group

mentality

A

ccounting for approximately 12 per cent of Germany’s gross domestic product, shipbuilding, the marine equipment, marine engineering, port management and marine research industries form a vital economic network in and around Northern Germany.

At the heart of the region lays Hamburg, home to the country’s largest seaport, which handles approximately 145 million tonnes of goods on an annual basis.

Helping to facilitate business flowing through the seaport, and beyond, are a number of world class maritime companies, one of which is the Nordic Hamburg Group (Nordic Hamburg). Serving as a single point of contact for clients in the shipping industry, Nordic Hamburg leverages a comprehensive range of services, extensive experience and practical knowledge to realise successful ship management and shipbuilding projects.

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It is also able to call upon a wide network of partners, including leading shipyards, charterers, investors and banks, to manage every stage of a project, from technical and commercial development to project management and supervision during the building phase.

Three specialist companies come together to make up Nordic Hamburg, these being Nordic Hamburg Shipmanagement, Guoyu Nordic Shipping (GNS) and FastNet Chartering. Founded in 2006, Nordic Hamburg Shipmanagement provides highquality ship management services to its global clients via a small, efficient team of highly competent and dedicated staff. Its fleet comprises of more than 25 vessels, which it manages through its Hamburg headquarters and its fully owned branch offices in Odessa, Manila, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

GNS is the result of a successful joint

venture between Nordic Hamburg and Chinese company Guoyu Group, an established player in the steel trading, shipping and shipbuilding industries. The financial strength and technical expertise of Guoyu Group was seen as offering the perfect complement to Nordic Hamburg’s profile as a one-stop shipping services provider. Having commenced with an expansion programme into international waters in 2011, GNS quickly established a reputation for itself for its technology leadership, exceptional service levels and its consideration for the environment.

Meanwhile, FastNet Chartering acts as its customers’ commercial management partner safely navigating through complex and volatile markets. It does so by offering comprehensive, high quality commercial management solutions in the dry bulk sector.

Boasting a worldwide fast network, FastNet Chartering has excellent access to global

Profile: Nordic Hamburg Group

freight markets, providing owners with full scale employment opportunities for their vessels, and is able to arrange first class period time charter contracts, time charter trips and voyage business with reputable first class counterparts. The scope of its work is completed with high quality post-fixture administration and daily operations, which includes extensive reporting.

Through its family of companies, Nordic Hamburg is able to offer its customers a mixture of ship management and project development services. In the former category, its offering is split across technical management, crew management and commercial management services. Its comprehensive technical management services ensure that its client’s vessels are kept fully operational and well maintained in the most cost efficient way. A group of dedicated superintendents are responsible for all technical, marine and safety issues. In carrying out their work, each superintendent is allocated a maximum of five vessels to oversee, which they make sure to visit on a regular basis. In return, all senior officers

on-board said vessels regularly visit the company’s headquarters in Hamburg to undertake briefings and training, thus ensuring that all vessels are manned by welltrained and fully updated staff.

In conjunction with the training and development of key crew members, the company also facilitates the procurement of spare parts and other supplies for the vessels through an advanced e-procurement system, which ensures that quality parts and stores are sourced quickly, and at the lowest possible cost. Nordic Hamburg uses a powerful software package to also plan and control maintenance work, stocks and supplies on-board all of the vessels entrusted to it. Installed on both vessels and at its Hamburg office, the software is fully integrated and enables the company to share findings from individual vessels with the entire fleet, with the end goal being the boosting loss prevention. Nordic Hamburg’s advanced IT solutions also allow its clients to view online reports and data on their vessels’ performance. This ensures that they are kept up to date with detailed information on

SHIP-TEC

As a specialist dealer of shipping components, SHIP-TEC offers a variety of solutions for oil firing technology, pump technology and electrical engineering. If a machine is not running properly, business also stutters. Since time is money, SHIPTEC keeps a large stock of common items in its warehouse and is able to react to the customer’s need immediately. Being fast does not mean losing sight of the fact that quality is essential – every part is decisive. That is why SHIP-TEC works almost exclusively with European suppliers who have proven their quality over decades.

SHIP-TEC makes no compromises in that regard, and that’s a promise.

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Profile: Nordic Hamburg Group

‘‘

When it comes to project development, Nordic Hamburg has successfully completed over 70 new building projects, from small to large container vessels to bulk carriers and heavy-lift vessels, by drawing upon a pool of extensive experience with complex shipbuilding projects around the world

their vessels, including financing, crews and technical matters.

From a crew management perspective, the company’s services cover the recruitment, deployment and management of deck, engine and catering staff. All of the crew recruited are done so from its offices in Odessa and Manila, as well as through partner crew agencies in key seafarer locations around the world. In order to guarantee that its crew always possesses the latest knowledge and skills, the company provides training and arranges seminars on a regular basis. Beyond direct crew-related

operations, it also supports services such as payroll management, travel arrangements, handling of crew insurance claims and other services needed to safeguard smooth crewing services of its client’s vessels. Nordic Hamburg’s concept is a one-stop solution, taking care of everything from recruitment and salaries, to planning, pre-joining checks, crew changes, travel, insurance, training and administration.

By using its extensive network of bluechip contacts within the shipping industry, Nordic Hamburg offers a full range of commercial management solutions. Its excellent track record of being a first-class manager with in-house brokers, as well as its renowned business partners, help to ensure an optimum management of a client’s vessels. Following the fixture of said vessels, its experienced, competent and dedicated team ensures a smooth operation in all respects. As a one-stop-provider, the company benefits from direct and smooth communication, permanently keeping the flow of information between owners, managers, brokers and charterers as efficient, and transparent, as possible.

When it comes to project development, Nordic Hamburg has successfully completed over 70 new building projects, from small to large container vessels to bulk carriers and heavy-lift vessels, by drawing upon a pool of extensive experience with complex shipbuilding projects around the world, and in particular China. Specific services include complete project management, planning approval, makers’ selection and site supervision during the construction phase.

The company is regarded as a pioneer in the creating of energy-efficiency on board of vessels. Even during the construction process it can enhance a vessel’s energy efficiency, making it greener.

With three new vessels added to its fleet in the last several months, the company has a further four new builds currently on order, one of which is being built by Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard. Coupled with the continued growth of its various offices, particularly those in Odessa and Manilla, and the coming months appear very positive for Nordic Hamburg. l

Nordic Hamburg Group www.nordic-hamburg.de • Global network of maritime partners • Full range of ship management services • Four new builds currently on order

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Profile: Port of Gibraltar

A premier port of

call

M

easuring 2.6 square miles and bordering the Spanish region of La Linea, the importance of Gibraltar has been recognised for centuries. Home to over 33,000 residents, it is positioned where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean join, resulting in close geographical proximity between Europe and Africa. This strategic location has made Gibraltar ideally placed to provide a wide range of services to vessels of all sizes and types. With approximately 60,000 vessels transiting the Strait of Gibraltar each year, the Rock has developed into a maritime ‘Centre of Excellence’ and the largest bunkering port in the Mediterranean.

“When we spoke last year, we were coming off the back of a very successful 2015,” begins Captain and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Gibraltar, Commodore Bob Sanguinetti, “and I am pleased to say that 2016 was another year of strong growth, one that has been followed by a good first half of 2017.

In that time, we have been able to retain our leading position in regards to bunkering by completing a number of projects to increase and improve the bunkering infrastructure for the delivery of fuels to vessels, and for the accommodation of increasing numbers of small coasters and superyachts.

“We are currently witnessing a rolling programme that is focused on the replacement of bunker barges, introducing more modern and larger capacity barges. For our part, we work closely with the bunker suppliers to ensure that they approach such programmes in a measured way so that it ultimately leads to an increase in activity, something which has proven to be very effective as we

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Profile: Port of Gibraltar

Gibunco Ship Agency Services

www.gibuncoshipagency.com

Another service available to customers is Gibunco Ship Agency, which has been active in the ship agency sector for more than five decades. In this time, it has emerged as a very well respected professional ship agency in Gibraltar and has through the years expanded into the nearby ports of Ceuta and Algeciras and the ports of Las Palmas and Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The agency today handles more than 3000 vessels per year, making it the number one choice for ship operators across the globe.

move towards our third successive year of growth.”

The enduring success of the Port of

Scamps Worldwide Services www.scampnetwork.com

• Provides cost-effective solutions to the shipping industry • Focused on saving fuels and optimising performance • Provides underwater support from over 280 locations worldwide With 50 years of experience, SCAMP is the most prominent private enterprise in Gibraltar and also a leader in the international market respectively.

Operating from over 280 locations across the globe in the world’s major shipping routes, the SCAMP Worldwide Co-ordination Centre provides a complete solution to its customers’ underwater problems; services include hull cleaning, propeller polishing, inspections and surveys, and underwater repairs.

SCAMP is 100 per cent committed to protecting the marine environment and has developed a unique approach to hull cleaning that ensures minimal ecological impact.

Gibraltar is intrinsically linked to its location, positioned as it is in such close proximity to some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Equally as important, however, as Bob explains, are the relationships the Port Authority has formed over the decades that it has been supporting the shipping community. “The relationships we have with the port community are very much personal as well as professional, and we use this to pull together all of the service providers here to deliver the best possible solutions for vessels coming into Gibraltar. Whether said services involve bunkering, the provision of stores or spares, crew changes or hull cleaning, the end goal is to bring these together in order to minimise the time a vessel needs to spend in the port, and that is something we take great pride in being able to do efficiently and safely.”

As its business has continued to prosper, so too have the efforts of the Port Authority in modernising and expanding the port infrastructure to accommodate its increasing number of visitors. “We have been working diligently with bunker suppliers in order to increase capacity and sustain the growth that we have experienced in recent years,” Bob states.

“Gibraltar also saw a ten per cent increase in cruise calls in 2016 compared to 2015, and an increase in visits from superyachts of approximately 24 per cent in the same period. In parallel with this we have commissioned a series of new deep water berths for superyachts to accommodate

the near threefold increase in the number of nights spent in Gibraltar as yachts take advantage of the facilities we have to offer.”

June 2017 also saw the Port of Gibraltar play host to its largest ever visitor, the container ship TRITON. Built in 2016, TRITON measures 369 metres in length with the capacity to carry over 14,000 containers with a displacement of 155,000 tonnes. “While the visit of TRITON was a landmark moment in terms of the size of the vessel in question, we treated its arrival as business as usual,” Bob reveals.

“Working closely with the bunker supplier in question in order to facilitate their needs, the smooth passage of the vessel through the port again highlights our flexibility, our versatility and our ability to accommodate vessels of all shapes and sizes.

“At the same time, we continue to move closer to the relocation of our port office, which is programmed to occur towards the end of 2017. We will be moving the office to a purpose-built site at the southern end of the Rock, one with commanding views over the Bay of Gibraltar and the entry point to the Strait. This will be underpinned by the commissioning of a new vessel traffic service (VTS) system. This state-of-the-art system will allow our team to ensure the highest of safety standards are maintained in our busy waters.”

In November 2016, the Port Authority was proud to host the annual International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) convention, welcoming over 100 delegates from more than 20 countries. This opportunity to showcase Gibraltar’s position among the world’s leading bunker ports, and its wide range of associated

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Profile: Port of Gibraltar

“Gibraltar’s location means that we will always be of vital importance to the shipping community,” Bob adds. “In order for the Port of Gibraltar to consolidate and build upon its recent gains we need to ensure that we continue to engage with ship owners and operators, particularly as they themselves transition through events such as the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and the introduction of the global sulphur cap in 2020. By doing so we will work to reinforce the fact that we will remain best placed to meet changing and emerging vessel requirements, while retaining our position as the region’s premier bunker port.” l

Kongsberg Norcontrol

Kongsberg Norcontrol maritime domain awareness solutions improve the safety, efficiency and security of maritime transportation and infrastructure, such as berths, anchorages and bunkering areas, by providing optimal situational awareness and extensive decision support tools.

Kongsberg’s maritime domain awareness solutions are in service with the world’s leading maritime coastal organisations, the safest offshore operators and the most successful, and environmentally aware, port authorities, including the Gibraltar Port Authority.

Kongsberg’s advanced C-Scope Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) system is compliant with international regulations and guidelines from IALA, and with forthcoming disruptive technologies such as e-Navigation and autonomous vessels.

services, was invaluable. In the coming months, it will follow this up with participation in London International Shipping Week in September 2017, where it will host a shipping breakfast, the Posidonia Shipping Exhibition in Greece, in June 2018, and several visits to Northern Europe where it will engage with the local shipping community.

Port of Gibraltar www.gibraltarport.com • A maritime ‘Centre of Excellence’ • Largest bunkering port in the

Mediterranean • Welcomed its largest ship in June 2017

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MV Hoy Head

A vital

O

Andrew Blake, Ferry Services Manager

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link

perating from the archipelago of the Orkney Islands in the Northern Isles of Scotland, Orkney Ferries has represented a vital community transport link to the islands since the 1800s. Originally established in 1960 as the Orkney Islands Shipping Company, the firm was taken over by Orkney Islands Council in 1995 and renamed Orkney Ferries Ltd. Today the company continues to serve the local community, carrying cargo and passengers alike between the Orkney mainland and 13 surrounding island destinations. During 2016 Orkney Ferries transported more than 350,000 passengers and 85,000 vehicles, a steady increase on the 321,000 passengers and 84,000 vehicles carried in the financial year ending March 2015.

Profile: Orkney Ferries

Since previously being featured in Shipping & Marine magazine in March 2016, Orkney Ferries has remained focused on delivering a high quality and reliable service to its passengers. “The service is continually looking at optimising routes and service availability to ensure the best options for our isles communities, however this remains a challenge due to budget, infrastructure and vessel constraints. For example, the updating of the fleet used by Orkney Ferries is the subject of a number of high-level discussions with various sectors of government,” explains Andrew Blake, the newly appointed Ferry Services Manager at Orkney Ferries.

Utilising a fleet of nine ferries, Orkney Ferries operates 74 different point-to-point connections across its network and provides more than 20,000 sailings annually. Roro vehicle and passenger ferries include the MV Earl Sigurd, the MV Earl Thorfinn and MV Varagen, which all serve the outer north isles service; also within the fleet are the MV Golden Mariana, which serves the Westray and Papa Westray inter-island service and the MV Graemsay, which serves the south isles on the Graemsay and North Hoy service,

both of which are small passenger ferries.

Additionally, Orkney Ferries has a small passenger relief vessel, the MV Thorsvoe, and three further roro vehicle and passenger ferries, MV Shapinsay, MV Eynhallow and MV Hoy Head, which operate on the Shapinsay; Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, and south isles service respectively.

Comprised of 70 islands, many of which are uninhabited, Orkney is viewed as the perfect place to unwind and switch off for visitors who want to enjoy wide open spaces and the different islands’ wildlife and breathtaking beauty. Travelling across Orkney also offers visitors the opportunity to take in its Neolithic ancestry, with ancient monuments, stone circles and tombs testament to its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. With a fascinating history that dates back 6000 years, picturesque scenery and a welcoming experience of island life - complete with arts and crafts and music events such as the Orkney Folk Festival - Orkney continues to be a popular destination, particularly during the summer season as well as Christmas and Easter.

Orkney is now the most popular cruise

PDMS

PDMS has been delighted to work with Orkney Ferry Services since 2004, when they first implemented our Compass ferry reservations and ticketing system.

Compass allows Orkney Ferries to control vehicle and passenger capacity across the inter-island fleet, catering for both pre-booked and ‘turn up and go’ customers.

We have helped Orkney replace its ageing ticketing machines on its ships. Our mobile ticketing solution for this comprised a rugged/waterproof mobile device with a belt mounted ticket printer, suitable for use in all types of weather. Further enhancements to mobile ticketing included a smart concessionary scheme to replace the previous ferry vouchers issued by Orkney Islands Council. Eligible residents are entitled to 24 free journeys with the entitlement held securely on customer smartcards. The number of journeys is validated/down dated by the mobile ticketing machines when the card is presented for travel.

PDMS has also developed a next generation mobile ticketing solution and is currently working to implement this with Orkney Ferries in 2018. The new device is a rugged Android device and is fully certified for ITSO contactless smartcards, which means instead of Orkney issuing its own smartcards it can now add its concessionary scheme to the National Entitlement Card.

We are working with Transport Scotland and other ferry operators to deliver smart enable/replace paper based tickets, and facilitate smart and integrated ticketing across Scotland.

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Golden Mariana

ship destination in the UK, with 110 port calls in 2016 delivering 110,000 passengers and an estimated £5.8 million in economic benefit to the islands. On top of this, the islands are becoming increasingly important as a destination due to the ongoing development of renewable energy solutions such as the Surf ‘n’ Turf project on the island of Eday, which will utilise Eday’s excess of both tidal and wind electricity and convert it into hydrogen. The hydrogen will be stored, shipped to Kirkwall and converted back into electricity, with the aim of providing auxiliary power for ferries tied up at the pier.

While these exciting developments are taking place within Orkney, the ferry operator continues to deliver a vital transport link to both Orkney and the surrounding community, working in close collaboration with the local authority and residents to fully understand and meet the requirements of the local population. As the sole provider of ferry services in the area, the company operates under a service level agreement with Orkney Islands Council, the owner of Orkney Ferries. Due to the integral role it

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Profile: Orkney Ferries MV Varagen

plays in the lives of locals, the company often changes its regular timetable to accommodate people wishing to attend events, as Andrew comments: “We have an events calendar that allows us to make sailing time changes for the bigger events such as the Westray Regatta, County Show and Stromness Shopping Week. This is intended to allow maximum participation at those events, whether they be on the Orkney mainland or in the Isles.”

On top of this, the everyday operations of Orkney Ferries complement the activities of Loganair, a Scottish regional airline, as Andrew explains: “Loganair provides a passenger service to the outer north isles but is unable to manage much freight or any vehicles. The company also has no connectivity with the inner north isles or south isles; as such, Orkney Ferries is a critical component in delivering the lifeline requirements of all Orkney Islands.”

Having recently joined Orkney Ferries as Ferry Services Manager, Andrew will continue to gain a stronger understanding of Orkney Ferries and its interfaces with both the communities and local authority. On top of this, Andrew aims to be part of the team seeking to source funding for Orkney Ferries aging fleet as well as the improvement of systems that will ensure the service is more efficient for passengers in the future.

“Over the coming 12 months we want to

continue providing a safe and efficient lifeline ferry service for the communities of Orkney within the constraints of an aging fleet and budgets. Looking further ahead, our goal is to support the Orkney Island Council’s priorities of promoting successful, thriving communities and Orkney’s transport networks,” he concludes. l

Andrew Blake, Ferry Services Manager

Orkney Ferries www.orkneyferries.co.uk • Operate nine dedicated inter-island ferries • Transported more than 350,000 passengers and 85,000 vehicles in 2016 • Viewed as a crucial lifeline service for rural communities

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Ship

shape

I

n April 2017, international asset and investment manager MPC Capital AG initiated an investment firm with a focus on small-size second hand container ships in the feeder segment that are sized between 1000 and 3000 TEU. Named MPC Container Ships AS, this newly established and registered company has expanded rapidly and has gone on to own and operate a portfolio of container ships, with 15 feeder vessels acquired so far; the company has also already attracted $175 million in equity capital from more than 100 institutional investors in the US, the UK and Europe.

Having the broader MPC Group as a 27 per cent shareholder, MPC Container Ships benefits from the structure and capabilities within MPC Capital as it has access to resources when it comes to the technical and commercial assessment of ships that it wishes to acquire as well as the management of ships. “The goal is to grow the fleet to 50 ships by 2018 and at that point we will be one of the largest tonnage providers in the feeder segment globally; we have already been extremely active in this sector through Ahrenkiel Steamship

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and Contchart, the services units under the MPC Capital umbrella, which have played a key factor in us being able to acquire assets and build up a fleet,” says Constantin Baack, Managing Director of MPC Container Ships.

Discussing the reasons behind the strategic establishment of the company, Constantin continues: “Our main thinking centred around the combination of the following elements: access to capital, which is vital to building up a company with a strong asset base in this capital intensive market; a legacy free solid balance sheet, which, although linked to the first point, is different as the capital market has a lot of players that aren’t legacy free, so to us having a solid balance sheet and being legacy free is very important. Of course, you also need the right partners and through the network of MPC Capital as well as our service providers we have the right people in place to grow the company. The third element is market timing, which is the most difficult part of the equation. However, having analysed the feeder market and the dynamics of supply and demand over the last couple of years as well as the relation of

acquisition prices to scrap value and newbuilding parity we believe it is now a good time to invest and to deploy capital.”

Indeed, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings and the implications this had on world trade, the shipping market has been in a challenging and volatile position since 2008, with containerised volumes decreasing by nine per cent in 2009. Taking place at a time when the entire market was expecting a rise in containerised volumes, this significant disruption in the economic market had a huge impact on demand and supply, which led to an imbalance in the market and tumbling freight rates for liner operators and as a result also significantly lower charter rates. Nevertheless, on the back of growing containerised volumes MPC Capital noticed that in 2010 and 2011 liner companies continued to order very large container vessels in order to bring down costs and to counter the new costleadership centric market environment.

“This has had an adverse effect on charter and freight rates as people are now battling for cost leadership and market share and not at rebalancing demand and supply

Profile: MPC Container Ships

in a difficult market environment,” says Constantin. “This situation has resulted in continuous volatility and a generally low market, which has led to sliding asset values over the time as the earning side wasn’t in good shape for the liner companies or tonnage providers. However, the demand and supply situation is now slightly more favourable when it comes to smaller size tonnage, which is why we have focused on this segment. There are a significant number of ships that have been ordered and the vast majority of the order book is for very large containerships; these are being used on east and west routes to service these large pattern trading services.

“The deployment of larger vessels on long-haul trade routes supports the development of the hub-spoke system that has replaced the previous global trading pattern, therefore enhancing demand for feeder vessels; more specifically, with the big liner companies they had global routes where they deployed 4000 to 8000 TEU ships to trade globally. However, with 13,000 TEU container ships that now only approach a limited number of ports on the east to west trade the containers then have to be distributed by other means – this in particular supports the case of feeder container ships as they will be used to transport the containers from the hubspoke system and into the regional trades and so on. This is where we will come in.

Chartering is of interest to us as a tonnage provider and we have had a strong view on taking a position in the feeder segment in expectation of higher demand for feeder tonnage in terms of chartering demand of liner companies.”

The investment rationale of MPC Container Ships is based on the so-called newbuilding parity, or replacement cost, analysis. For instance, in today’s market, willing buyers may be able to contract 2500 to 2800 TEU container newbuildings at approximately $31 million. Depreciating such asset value over 12 years would implicate a second hand value of $18 million. However, comparable second hand vessels aged between ten to 13 years, with high specification such as low consumption, are in the market for $7 million to $9 million, resulting in a discount to newbuilding parity of about 50 per cent. This is close to all-time-high discount to newbuilding parity. At the same time, investors’ downside risk is protected in view of high scrap value coverage of asset values. ”Because we can acquire second

‘‘

With experienced management and a strong balance sheet with no hidden fees or legacy issues, the Oslo based MPC Container Ships is in a strong position having shown its ability to transact, execute and find the right assets for the feeder segment

hand vessels at comparatively low prices, the newbuilding of these ships would only make sense in an instance when charter rates improve. We feel we are in a good position to benefit when that happens,” says Constantin.

The company is also benefiting from the great deal of consolidation that has taken place within the shipping industry, with strategic mergers and acquisitions resulting in widening alliances, as Constantin notes: “There previously used to be a top 20 of liner operators that were organised into seven alliances and there are now three big alliances left. The consolidation process has led to an adjustment of trading patterns and services with liner companies as well as a clearer view on what is required in terms of chartering needs. The very large container ships are to a larger extent financed through the liner companies own balance sheets as they are key asset of their cost cutting programme, but they certainly still need small ships to satisfy their customers’ needs, which is the area that we focus on.”

With experienced management and a

Constantin Baack, Managing Director of MPC Container Ships strong balance sheet with no hidden fees or legacy issues, the Oslo based MPC Container Ships is in a strong position having shown its ability to transact, execute and find the right assets for the feeder segment in the space of a few months. “Amongst the non-operating tonnage providers in this segment, globally there has been no other company in 2017 that has been able to attract both significant funding from the capital market and invest the capital efficiently into such a number of ships at these prices. We are a front runner with a clean balance sheet that is focused on acquiring more ships, of course always with markets permitting, in this picture-perfect environment for deploying capital and investing in container ships. By the final quarter of 2017 we anticipate having 30 to

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Profile: MPC Container Ships

Kloska Group

The Kloska Group is a general ship supplier located at all important maritime ports in Germany.

Through its international cooperation network and own representative offices, the group supplies technical stores and provisions, spare parts and repair services to cargo vessels, cruise liners, ferries, research vessels and stations. The service portfolio for the customers of the Kloska Group is completed by a multitude of attractive services. Furthermore the Kloska Group offers a special catering service for provisions, and stores consumable items around the world.

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35 vessels in our fleet and will announce further acquisitions shortly,” says Constantin.

“Looking further ahead, our ultimate goal is to have a listing potentially also in the US, assuming we can keep up the pace of developing the company and raise additional funding. To make this possible, we would need a market cap of $500 million and to be in a position to tap the US capital market. Once this target has been reached, we are then well-positioned as a stock listed, container and asset owning company, free

of any legacy issues and with a focus on feeder vessels. This is the position we want to be in going forward,” he concludes. l

MPC Container Ships www.mpc-container.com • Own and operate a portfolio of container ships • Focused on the feeder segment • Attracted $175 million in equity capital since April 2017

Profile: snijtechniek-brabant bv

A cut above the

S

rest

nijtechniek-Brabant began life back in 1991, when it essentially consisted of a son cutting parts for use in his father’s shipyard.

As it turned out, this activity quickly caught the attention of other shipbuilders wanting to have parts cut for their own ships. Within three years, demand had increased to such an extent that premises of its own were required and the company today operates from a 6000-square metre factory in Raamsdonksveer. From here, Snijtechniek-Brabant has become a trusted name, specialising in manufacturing high-quality aluminium and steel construction packages for the shipbuilding and hunting industries.

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Exes Group Exes Group provides the outsourcing of engineering to customers all over the world, which we do from our own outsourcing locations.

With over ten years of experience in outsourcing engineering, we have the knowledge, contacts and experience to deliver exactly what our customers need.

Our good relationships with our customers make it possible to provide them with the best price-quality ratio on every occasion. We are able to offer services including conversion CAD data (all 3D CAD software is avaliable), illustrations, detail engineering and Internet of Things.

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“Within those three years, such was the level of demand for our service that we set about building and installing the first new machines that would carry out our marking and cutting operations,” begins Pieter Vermeulen, Co-owner, Managing Director and Technical Director of Snijtechniek-Brabant. “It was at this time that we first introduced our innovative ink marking technology, which just happened to coincide with the mass adoption of aluminium into the shipbuilding process.”

Today, the 3D milling and printing of aluminium is far more widespread, with multiple industries recognising the many benefits provided by this form of manufacturing. Additional features and benefits of 3D milling include, but are not limited to, the ability to carry out five-axis simultaneous and double curved surface milling, drilling and pocket milling, while also providing high tolerance levels, no heat input and zero shrinkage, all without using lubrication.

“One of the keys to our success is our ability to innovate and an example of this was the invention of our own router cutting machine,” Pieter explains. “The machine has a flat table underneath, on top of which we

place aluminium sheets in order to carry out the printing and machining of the material.

It is a rather expensive piece of machinery, which we built on our own, and we followed it up with the idea of introducing a second machine to complete the printing element.

What we have now, in addition to a dedicated machine for cutting and inking, is a large flatbed printing machine that allows for text and full colour images to be printed onto metal sheets. It is a very unique way of working and separates us from most of the other cutting companies active today.”

Aluminium and steel parts, as well as complete kits, forged within SnijtechniekBrabant’s premises are delivered to mega yacht and yachting customers all over the world. Said customers are drawn to the company as a result of the quality of parts that it produces on a continuous basis. The company’s kits have also been delivered to owners of ferries, tugs, and commercial and private vessels.

“What we do extremely well is create ways of making vessel building kits smarter and easier to work with, while our printing processes add an extra layer of value to the package of services we provide,” Pieter

Profile: snijtechniek-brabant bv

says. “Our router cutter means we can manufacture very complex 3D parts, but our expertise extends much further, through to completing complex insert plates and even window frames for ship yards or working boats. A lot of people get the impression that we only handle aluminium, but there remains a strong demand for steel packages and parts for working yards and vessels, and we are well positioned to service these needs as well.”

The nature of Snijtechniek-Brabant’s work is particularly high-tech, and with the demand for the highest quality products being unwavering amongst its customers the need for highly skilled and experienced labour is near constant. “Due to insufficiently trained staff, part of the machine coding work is being outsourced in India through our Dutch partner Exes group. They provide us with the right flexibility and excellent engineering services to help our clients to get their products quick and correct.“ Therein lies a challenge for the company, which has seen the pool of potential machine operators shrink in recent years. The answer to this problem rests in the adoption of greater levels of automation within its facilities. “We are making strides when it comes to devising ways of getting more output from fewer physical resources,” Pieter states. “With the

support of subsidies from the European Union we are investing capital into making our facilities smarter and more automated, and this will grow in importance as time progresses.”

At present the company is particularly busy, with one project in particular seeing it producing the aluminium kit for one of the biggest aluminium sailing yachts ever produced, which measures an impressive 81 metres in length. “This project only helps to reaffirm our position at the top of the chain when it comes to aluminium cutting for the ship building industry,” Pieter enthuses. “We now want to take this a step forward to become completely integrated with shipyards, completing our move away from being simply a supplier to becoming an integral part of a shipyards’ activities. That is our goal for the next three-to-five years and we are confident we have the tools in place to make this a reality.” l

Snijtechniek-Brabant BV www.snijtechniek-brabant.nl • Innovative router cutting technology • Experts in machine inking and printing • Embracing automation

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Lifting transformer from vessel to yard site

A clean Scraping away dirt until down to bare steel before cutting can be done

record

A Drainage of oil

Removal of asbestos flanges

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pplying its trade in the taking apart and recycling of ships that are no longer wanted or needed, Sea2Cradle works with massive structures that are not only built with valuable and useful materials, but also parts that contain harmful materials that need to be handled and removed with care. Finding the appropriate yards to perform the recycling of each ship, the company takes a tailored approach to each project, as opposed to one size fits all; this means that the correct infrastructure is always in place to deal with the right materials. This delivery of a high quality bespoke solution is complemented by the extensive training of its staff, which takes place both within the classroom and on-site, so its employees understand the theory and practical sides of safety.

Through a long-term commitment to quality and safety, Sea2Cradle has retained an exemplary safety record of zero accidents – a huge feat considering it has worked on more than 114 vessels since its inception and works with hazardous materials that may have degraded on an aging ship. Discussing the company’s ongoing focus on delivering the highest of standards when it comes to health & safety and the environment and how standards are maintained is Tom Peter Blankestijn, Managing Director at Sea2Cradle: “We are lucky to be offered challenging projects by large companies that demand the highest of standards, particularly in the oil & gas sector. We also review our own procedures throughout the company and have our personnel talking with supervisors on a regular basis, with every project reviewed on the lessons learnt.”

Profile: Sea2Cradle

He adds: “It takes an everyday effort to keep safety standards as high as possible and through working in the offshore industry we have translated these strict procedures into our own operations.”

Thanks to its impressive capabilities and long-term expertise, Sea2Cradle has continued to enjoy ongoing success since it was previously featured in Shipping & Marine magazine in September 2016.

“We have been involved in a number of projects, for example, we completed work on a couple of container ships and supply vessels in both China and Turkey and worked on a project on a platform in Norway,” says Tom Peter. “Additionally, we had a cleaning project in Mexico where there was a salvage issue due to the vessel being pinned to rocks, making it impossible to move her. Because of this challenge, instead of bringing her

to a recycling facility, we cleaned her of hazardous and potentially hazardous materials at sea.

“Since we last spoke we have seen an accelerating number of ships being phased out due to the opening of the new Panama Canal. This type and size of vessel, which is slightly older and has high fuel consumption, was no longer in supply and demand so phasing out of this ship was accelerated. We got a fair share of this recycling activity, which we are still performing in China at the moment.

Furthermore, we have seen an increasing number of requests to start the inventory of hazardous materials for platforms in order to plan the phasing out of oil & gas units efficiently; this type of phasing out tends to take at least two years and we are in the process of adding a few platforms to our portfolio.”

Working with set procedures and checklists to ensure every part of the process is handled with care, Sea2Cradle can supervise the entire ship recycling process based on an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM); this enables it to provide a unique ship-recycling plan for every vessel while remaining wholly compliant with the Hong Kong Ship Recycling Convention as well as the latest regulations.

With new EU legislation meaning that only facilities on the European list will be approved ship recyclers for EU ships, Sea2Cradle already has the strengths and experience to help companies meet these standards. However, because facilities outside of Europe, such as China and Turkey are not on the list, Tom says Sea2Cradle has not benefited from the phasing in of ship recycling regulations:

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Profile: Sea2Cradle Daily preparation of items for removal from ship to shore

needs to be in place for every ship that calls into an EU port by 2020.”

With 2020 around the corner, Sea2Cradle recently became certified as a Lloyd’s Register approved supplier of IHMs with the goal of not only ensuring customers receive high quality services but also to follow through on ambitions to double its project numbers over the next four years, as Tom concludes: “Time is running out, so customers will either get professionals performing the IHM or amateurs, which could lead to risks for recycling facilities and workers who rely on this information to be correct. It makes sense to respond to this regulation now so customers get a high quality service before demand increases and prices rise, and we of course are willing to assist!” l

Sea2Cradle “China and Turkey are countries that

production of five or six container ships

www.sea2cradle.com

could easily meet the standards of the EU legislation but have not been approved.

This is challenging for us as facilities in the EU are not large enough to run the

as well as bulk vessels at the same time.

However, we do see some benefits from the increased deadline surrounding the inventories of hazardous materials, which

• Increase in demand • New EU legislation • Zero accident record

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Profile: Williams Jet Tenders Turbojet 325

A reputation for

excellence

Sportjet 345

F

rom its humble beginnings working out of a garden shed in the 1990’s, Williams Jet Tenders has grown to become the world’s leading producer of prestige jet tenders. Taking the strategic decision to establish a presence in the yachting industry in 1996, the two brothers, John and Mathew, used their mother’s maiden name for their company. Building wooden boats in a garden shed at their home, the company used UKsourced components whenever possible, and otherwise designed parts from scratch.

In 1997, Williams Jet Tenders launched the first of many boats: the Tahoe 20 Jade, which emerged from the company’s workshop in Oxfordshire. Powered by a single V8 inboard engine, Jade was based on the classic Italian and US runabouts of the 1950’s and 60s.

Turbojet 285

To gain further traction within the shipping market, the company attended its first boat show at Henley-on-Thames in 1998; here Jade was displayed on a stand and boat trailer, both of which were built at Williams Jet Tenders’ workshops. In the same years, Jade underwent further promotional activities and was tested by Classic Boat magazine and Motor Boat and Yachting.

In 1999, Jade’s bigger sister, Izana, a 33-foot boat powered by twin V8 engines running through Z drives, was launched.

Closely echoing the style of 1960s Italian lake boats, Izana was also modernised with a cutting-edge hull shape and engineering configuration. Designed by Tony Castro, the hull was further engineered by Williams Jet Tenders. Appearing in the London Boat Show in 2000, Izana was delivered to her

owner in France, where she plied the Cote D’Azur for more than a decade before moving onto Montenegro.

Following the success of Jade and Izana, Williams Jet Tenders made the strategic decision to progress into a wider market.

The first example of this can be seen with the Ski Rib jet tender in 2002; originally developed to fit the Fairline Targa 43, the Ski Rib jet tender proved majorly successful, with more than 100 jet tenders supplied in two years. In line with this growth, the company moved premised to a factory in Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, and Roy Parker joined Williams Jet Tenders as a shareholder. At its new facilities, the first of a new generation of jet tenders, the Turbojet 325, was built.

Transforming the tender market with its innovation and powerful four-stroke Weber

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Profile: Williams Jet Tenders Dieseljet 445

Dieseljet 505

Dieseljet 565

Jet Tenders is the expansion of its SportJet range, with the new SportJet 345 and 395; launched in September 2017, these boats up the sociable and feature-filled SportJet package to a whole new raft of yacht owners, with the 345 and 395 capable of fitting on yachts of 50 feet and above. Created from a strict design brief based on years of customer and OEM feedback that has been gathered at boat shows across the world, the Sportjet 345 and 395 have all the hallmarks of a Williams tender, while also delivering a sociable layout that means more passengers can be carried than the equivalent Turbojet unit. Having achieved this feat, the company has created a tender that isn’t just a functional load carrier, but also enhances the yacht ownership experience on all levels.

Key to making these changes possible is the BRP Rotax ACE 903 engine, which enabled Williams Jet Tenders to re-imagine the layout of a 3.4 metre tender while also creating a smooth running, mid-engine boat that is able engine, the Turbojet 325 was well-received at exhibitions. As such, the company expanded the range with a 285, 385 and 445, which enabled Williams Jet Tenders to offer a tender for most yachts between 45 feet and 100 feet in length. This proved to be a good decision, with production increasing to 900 boats per year.

Further innovative developments were in the pipeline, with Williams Jet Tenders launching its first diesel tender, the Turbojet 505D, in 2009 – a milestone that was the catalyst in the company’s expansion into the superyacht market and its collaboration with engine manufacturer Yanmar. In 2011, the expansion of the diesel-powered range progressed, named Dieseljet, the company’s portfolio within this area includes 445D, 505D, 565D and 625D. One year on, Williams Jet Tenders designed the Tender Launch System to launch and recover the Turbojet range into production yacht garages.

In 2014, further developments were afoot, with Williams Jet Tenders beginning a collaboration with engine manufacturer BRP for the launch of the Sportjet range of tenders. Two years on, the company launched the revolutionary Minijet 280, which was powered by a BRP ACE 900 engine and opened up the potential for Williams Jet Tenders to progress into yachts between 38 foot and 45 foot. The smaller and lighter model has been making waves, with customers appreciating its uniqueness, quality, powerful performance and engineering design excellence.

The most recent development for Williams

to move all guests on-board the parent yacht with ease.

Currently building an average of 800 boats annually, the 66 employee strong Williams Jet Tenders anticipates more of the same as it continues to buck trends and focus on the design, engineering and building of high quality, innovative tenders. Seeking to grow and take on more staff in response to market demand, the company will also continue with its apprentice scheme, which began in 2014 with the Powerboat Workshop for 14 and 15-year-old children. The annual course is run over five consecutive Saturdays and gives youngsters the opportunity to build a radio-controlled powerboat while using many of the techniques used on a Williams’ tenders.

From there, the company launched its apprenticeship scheme, where school leavers work towards an NVQ Level 2 qualification as well as gaining valuable experience in the Williams factory.

With quality, performance and innovation at the heart of Williams Jet Tenders, the company is certain to remain in a class of its own over the coming years, with more innovation to come. l

Williams Jet Tenders www.williamsjettenders.com • Global leading producers of prestige jet tenders • Entered a new partnership with

Bombardier Recreational Products • Launched two new vessels in September 2017

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16:22

Photographs copyright of Liege Aiport S.A.

Flexing its

muscles

I

f you were to connect the European cities of Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt on a map you would be left with what some refer to as a ‘golden triangle’, a dense area of production that is unique for the continent and handles approximately 66 per cent of all of its freight traffic. At the very heart of this triangle sits the city of Liège and its international airport. Such is its geographic position that the airport, thanks to its neighbouring motorway network, sits less than one day by truck away from approximately 400 million consumers.

Created 25 years ago to act as its operator, Liege Airport s.a. emerged with a unique strategy for the airport, one that was focused almost entirely around facilitating the movement of cargo. With its rural location allowing for a 24 hour per day operation, during which time it supports as many as 90 flights per night, the airport today handles 1800 tonnes of freight per day, placing

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it within the top ten of the biggest cargo airports in Europe.

“As a result of our work with a number of big, multinational customers, the airport managed to handle over 660,000 tonnes of cargo in 2016 alone,” begins Liege Airport’s Chief Executive Officer, Luc Partoune. “The main customer of ours is FedEx, who we have been serving since they acquired the TNT brand, which had established Liège as its European hub 15 years ago, who represent around 50 per cent of the total traffic that runs through the airport. In addition, we have also worked hard to turn Liege Airport into a hub for the cargo activities of airlines such as Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Icelandair Cargo and CAL Cargo Air Lines.”

While cargo may be at the heart of Liege Airport’s activities, it has also developed the infrastructure necessary to allow it to serve more than 20 different destinations for passengers, primarily through the welcoming

Profile: Liege Airport s.a.

of charters. “At present, we cater for approximately 400,000 passengers passing through the airport on an annual basis,” Luc continues. “Among these passengers are holiday passengers taking in destinations across the Mediterranean, but we also cater for a very unique market, which comes in the form of charter flights from China.

“We connect between China to Liège between four and six times a week during the high season, with charter flights arriving from many of the country’s so-called ‘second tier cities’ bringing visitors to Europe to visit all the major tourist destinations. We are the only airport in Europe to cater for these charter flights and, by working with the Chinese tour consultant Utour, we have developed a tailormade solution for these visitors which has included hiring Chinese staff and translators.

At present our Chinese visitors number around 100,000 per year, but we fully expect this to grow rapidly as tourist activity grows in

popularity in China and we see more of the country’s cities take up chartering activities.”

Away from its purely air traffic related activities, Liege Airport also owns and operates considerable real estate space around the airport’s grounds, on which it is able to facilitate the building and running of offices, warehouse space, and other pieces

of logistics and distribution infrastructure to both airline operators and other associated businesses that are keen to establish a presence in the region. One of Liege Airport’s aims is further the development of its airport business park. At present the park is home to more than 20,000 square metres of office and warehousing space, with plans for this

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Profile: Liege Airport s.a.

Horse Inn equestrian hotel

to multiply three times over within the next five years.

“Our most recent data shows that Liege Airport is experiencing growth of five per cent, year-on-year,” Luc states. “We have achieved this by attracting new customers on a regular basis. These include our newest customer, NAF, an African airline connecting Liège to more than 15 destinations in Africa.

We have also continued to diversify our offering, making the airport the perfect place to cater for various types of cargo, from fragile perishable goods all the way to horses

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and grooms, the latter of which we provide dedicated transport and accommodation to in the form of our Horse Inn equestrian hotel.

The Horse Inn offers 55 fully equipped boxes, specially designed flooring and access ramps, a control and healthcare area, and veterinary services upon request.”

All around the airport there is some form of evidence of the growth and expansion that Luc speaks of. In addition, there are plans in place to create more space for aircraft, with the apron being increased over the next three years to accommodate a further

ten positions for 747-sized aircraft. This will occur alongside the building of a new 20,000 square metre warehouse in anticipation of the arrival of new customers.

“For varying reasons, we are seeing a growing pattern where more and more airports in Europe are limiting their own cargo freight activities, something which is certainly not the case here at Liege Airport,” Luc concludes. “We continue to give the utmost priority to our cargo activities, and it is our expertise and flexibility in handling these that has seen us recognised as one of the best airports in Europe in our field. It is this flexibility, together with our ability to deliver quick, reliable service, that has led to the airport acquiring the brand name of The Flexport, a moniker that certainly captures all that make this airport so special.” l

Liege Airport s.a. www.liegeairport.com • 1800 tonnes of freight handled per day • 90 flights arriving every night • Over 300 hectares of land in the airport’s vicinity

Profile: Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS)

X-48B/C dynamically scaled sub-scale demonstrator

I

No challenge too

great

t was in 1946, on the then Royal Air Force base of RAF Cranfield, that the establishment now known as Cranfield University was formed. Originally dubbed the College of Aeronautics, it was set up by the UK Government in the wake of the Second World War as a means of ensuring that the country retained a vibrant aerospace industry. In the decades since, Cranfield University has expanded into a number of specialist areas, yet at its heart it remains a research and industry focused institution.

“Until 1997, we made up part of the engineering wing of the university’s aerospace department,” explains Paul Hutton, Chief Executive Officer of Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS), one of the market leaders in the prototyping of new aerospace concepts and complex modifications to existing aerospace platforms. “By that point,

with the sheer volume of work that we were receiving from third parties and with an increasing number of approvals being gained from the likes of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for design and manufacture projects, it became logical to spin the business out as a separate, commercial entity.”

The core of CAeS revolves around it having all of the necessary engineering capabilities and disciplines in place to not only design, build, test and certify a whole aircraft prototype, but also to carry out the design, build, installation, testing and certification of complex modifications to existing platforms, of all sizes or complexities, be it civilian or military. By way of example a recent design for hard-points on the King Air 350i to support 120Kg per wing has been completed including a full mechanical analysis of wing structure and whole aircraft

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Profile: Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS) NASA wind tunnel testing X-48B/C

‘‘

A major differentiator for us is how we are able to leverage a unique three-point combination of our own design and manufacture capabilities, the research facilities of Cranfield University and a live, commercially operated airport

Munition carriage shock/vibration/thermal trials project

interaction. This included flutter analysis of the wing/aircraft and GVT (Ground Vibration Testing) of the wing. “We also recently certified through EASA, FAA and Brazilian ANAC a revolutionary active winglet system for retrofitting to Cessna business jets for the Tamarack Aerospace Group.”

In addition to these services, CAeS is also equipped to offer aircraft maintenance and clearances for the carriage of munitions on aircraft, and investigate dynamic structural performance of new systems in the air, on

land and at sea. This range of capabilities makes CAeS unique among SME’s, and its ability to deliver results quickly and in a costeffective manner has attracted the biggest names in aviation, including the likes of Boeing, Airbus, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce.

“Another major differentiator for us is how we are able to leverage a unique three-point combination of our own design and manufacture capabilities, the research facilities of Cranfield University

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Profile: Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS) CAeS G-Cueing seat for US Navy F18

Cove Industries Manufacturing and Technical Support Cove Industries, based in Farnborough, UK, has recently worked with Cranfield Aerospace on a Motion Cuing G-Seat simulation project. The initial work involved mechanical, electrical and software design updates of a Power Supply Switching Unit, which controls the seat actuators and other functions. A total of 25 units were then fully manufactured in house, including the sheet metal fabrication of the enclosure, painting and silkscreening the panels and then carrying out the wiring and assembly work, programming and unit test. Cove Industries also carried out the wiring and assembly work on a number of other assemblies and modules for each system.

This is an example of the services provided

by Cove Industries, from the manufacture of enclosures and full box build to cable assemblies, pcb prototyping, and bespoke test equipment design.

and a live, commercially operated airport,” Paul continues. “CAeS is one of, if not the only company of its kind to possess such infrastructure in one place and that is definitely a draw for our customers as it allows us to deliver pragmatic solutions, backed up by market-leading research and practical flying trials. It is certainly a case where the whole of what we can deliver as a business is considerably more than the sum of its parts.”

The company’s capabilities cover the most important themes encountered by aircraft manufacturers today. In fact, in some of these CAeS has long shown itself to be ahead of the curve. For example, in the area of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) the company has actually been involved in the majority of the UK’s military development projects for the last 30 years. By accumulating considerable knowledge in autonomy, aerodynamics and the man-machine interface of UAVs, CAeS was able to develop its own UAV product, CASSIUS, which became available to customers almost four years ago.

“Upon joining the business around 20 months ago,” Paul states, “I took the decision to build upon our UAV capabilities and move into providing UAV services to clients who need the data that UAVs can provide but who don’t want to have to build a UAV capability in their businesses. This has brought us to the point where we can

take the operational data needs of said clients and then turn these into a set of technical requirements to define the UAV capabilities they require, before finally advising on the selection of the correct UAV platform/sensors/control links and then integrating these to deliver an effective UAV solution.”

Other important services provided by the company come from its Safety & Suitability Technologies (SST) department, which delivers carriage of munitions clearances, environmental trials and dynamic structural performance trials. It also offers independent evaluation and consultancy for runway and helideck friction testing, water ingestion testing and aircraft noise testing.

More recently, CAeS has been gaining ground with the global success of its advanced G-Cueing and simulation services.

At the heart of this area of the business is its bespoke motion cueing technology, which provides the operator or pilot with the most immersive and high-fidelity simulation of real flight available anywhere today. The company’s Motion Cueing G-Seat (MCS) employs electric actuators, combined with a series of dynamic elements, to provide a sustained simulation of the conditions pilots will face in the air. The success of this product has resulted in the company taking on its largest order to date, which is for the

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delivery of 29 MCS systems for L3 in the United States, on behalf of the US Navy F18 Hornet fleet.

Last, but not least, CAeS has also become a leading player when it comes to subscale demonstrators. “This capability saw CAeS approached by Boeing almost a decade ago to construct a dynamically scaled subscale demonstrator, the X-48B/C,” Paul adds.

“This means that all of the mass and inertia properties had to be scaled relative to what was a full sized, 450 seat passenger plane of the future. We were asked to build two of these, which we successfully delivered within two years, one of which would go on to complete 122 test flights making it the most successful un-manned X-plane project, as measured by number of successful flights, completed by NASA.” In speaking with Paul, he reveals that the company has something of an unofficial motto which is ‘there is always a way’. The source of this phrase is the company’s people, many of whom are highly experienced engineers. “Whereas in the past we have gravitated towards

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Profile: Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS)

one-off projects, we are now working to secure longer term projects and relationships with multiple OEMs, while also looking to develop our one-off designs into products that we can sell into the aerospace market,” he concludes. “We embrace all challenges, the greater the better, and as such we believe that whatever market we find ourselves in, we will be at the cutting edge of this sooner rather than later.” l

‘‘

Whereas in the past we have gravitated towards one-off projects, we are now working to secure longer term projects and relationships with multiple OEMs, while also looking to develop our one-off designs into products

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited (CAeS) www.cranfieldaerospace.com

• A unique portfolio of services and products • Market leader in rapid prototyping for new aircraft designs • Specialists in complex aerospace modifications

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Flying

high

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Profile: GIBRALTAR Airport

W

ith stunning sea views, the iconic rock and a short runway on the border of two countries, Gibraltar Airport is a regular in lists of the most scenic airport landings in the world. Unique in many ways, the airport is located in a British Overseas territory that measures only 2.3 square miles while serving a densely-populated city of approximately 30,000 people. Located a mere 2.5 hours flying time from the UK, Gibraltar also has no language or currency issues, making it convenient for passengers seeking business or leisure. On top of this, Gibraltar’s geographical location situates it just over one hour’s drive from its nearest airports, Jerez and Malaga, which means everyone enjoys

their own unique catchment area, while its proximity to Morocco also makes the airport an alternative gateway to the region.

Discussing the history behind Gibraltar Airport is Terence Lopez, Air Terminal Director at Gibraltar Airport: “The airport itself began development in 1939 as a military airport and is still owned and operated by the UK Ministry of Defence to this day, however the air terminal is owned and operated by Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar. A new air terminal, air cargo facility and five aircraft stands became fully operational in September 2012.”

He continues: “The terminal itself boasts both landside and airside retail and catering, with excellent duty free shopping. One of the terminal’s prime features is an airside terrace

in departures, which allows passengers to relax after passing through security control with a fantastic view of the North face of the Rock. The terminal also has its own dedicated general aviation facility, which includes immigration, security and boarding lounge.

The short distances involved are also an advantage, with the average time taken from landing to walking out of arrivals on scheduled flights approximately 12 minutes, which makes it very convenient.”

A destination in its own right, Gibraltar has strong year-round passenger figures as its passenger base is a well-balanced mix of short term and long-term business and leisure travellers. “Approximately 50 per cent of our passengers are in transit to Spain, as Gibraltar Airport is ideally located both for the

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Profile: GIBRALTAR Airport

southern part of the Costa del Sol and the less known Costa de la Luz to our west, which runs from Tarifa to Cadiz,” says Terence. “A lot of the travel to the UK that originates in Gibraltar is inextricably linked to our historical and political links but there are others factors, namely our finance centre, further education and specialist medical care, which provides regular opportunities for residents of Gibraltar to do so and most of this is via our airport. The easy access to our port also makes us the gateway for the ship’s crew that are either leaving or joining vessels.”

In 2016, the airport once again beat records on passenger numbers, with 548,230 passengers handled in the calendar year, beating 2015’s record by an additional 103,894 passengers. This 23.4 per cent growth came mainly from travellers on scheduled services, which took a 546,549 majority, while the additional 1681 passengers were classed as non-scheduled passengers that arrived or departed on corporate services and charter flights. Furthermore, 4968 commercial aircraft movements were recorded in 2016 in comparison to 4100 in 2015, showing an increase of 21.2 per cent.

In terms of months, December 2016 was the highest percentage of growth in comparison to 2015, with 28 per cent more passengers that month, 40,005, in comparison to 31,252 in 2015. However, unsurprisingly, the month with the highest number of passengers recorded was August with 60,360, an increase of 27.5 per cent growth on the previous year. In fact, summer

Bland Group International

Established over 200 years ago, Bland Group International is part of the Bland Group, a company built on the foundation of solid and strong family ties in Gibraltar. Steered by generations of the Gaggero family, the company specialised in travel, aviation, security and technology, and now proudly operates on an international scale with an extensive range of companies based in the UK, Gibraltar, Spain and Morocco.

2016 was a record season for Gibraltar Airport, with 50 weekly departures, 48 to the UK and two to Morocco. Looking at passengers carried, 189,652 were taken on the London Gatwick route, 134,616 taken on London Heathrow, 74,160 taken on Manchester, 59,851 taken on London Luton, 42,643 taken on Birmingham, 41,448 taken on Bristol and 4179 taken on Casablanca/ Tangier respectively. These flights continue to be undertaken by four airlines that operate into Gibraltar: British Airways from London Heathrow, easyJet from London Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester; Monarch Airlines from London Luton, London Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham, and Royal Air Maroc from Tangier and Casablanca.

“Thanks to its business, leisure and VFR proposition, Gibraltar Airport has seen an

increase in demand in all market segments.

One point to add though is that Gibraltar has experienced an increase in hotel visitors in 2016 and therefore the leisure short stay city break element has increased slightly more than other market segments,” comments Terence. “Gibraltar Airport has also benefited in the last couple of years from the shift in flying from eastern to western Mediterranean destinations, with Gibraltar Airport one of the

fastest growing airports in the entire Iberian Peninsula in 2016. The new routes are all doing well, with the 500,000-passenger mark being broken for the first time in 2016, and the annual total amount being the highest we have ever recorded. We are currently on track to achieve this growth again in 2017, however, the terminal is operating well within its available capacity and no extra measures have been necessary to handle this increase in demand.”

To continue this trend of growth, her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar has created an ‘events led’ tourism strategy to ensure Gibraltar has a calendar full of events such as a Literary Festival, the Gibraltar Music Festival and a prestigious chess tournament, for example. “These events have improved our product considerably, making us a very attractive destination and resulting in repeat business,” highlights Terence.

With Gibraltar and Gibraltar Airport always open for business, Terence aims to maintain the airport’s current rate of growth over the coming years while also trying to break into other regional and short haul European destinations. However, in the short term, Gibraltar Airport will focus on consolidation, as Terence concludes: “Consolidating existing routes with our current carriers with the view of developing mutually beneficial strategies is an area of great interest for us over the next 12 months. We are also very keen to explore the possibility of expanding our route base.” l

Gibraltar Airport www.gibraltarairport.gi • Serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar • Runway owned by the Ministry of Defence • Record year for passengers in 2016

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Ambitious

goals

T

he centre of technology in the design, development, manufacture, integration and support of aerospace systems for military and commercial aerospace clients, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has established a respected presence in the global market since its establishment as part of a joint venture in 1984. Set up following the Turkish Government’s foundation of Turkish Aircraft Industries in 1973 with the aim of building its own aircraft, TAI began operations as the coproducer of F-16 aircraft in Turkey. Following the success of this project, the company went on to begin co-production of the SF-260 Trainer and CN-235 Light Transport Aircraft in 1986.

“With the AS-532 Cougar Helicopter coproduction in 1997, we started increasing our experience in rotary wing platforms. This increase in experience and competitive skills enabled us to start working with the major passenger aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus; the first commercial aerostructure projects with these companies began in 1998,” comments Mr Temel Kotil, President and CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries.

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Restructured in 2005, TAI became a 100 per cent Turkish shareholding company and went on to take steps in becoming a world brand aerospace company. In 2008, the company participated in the Airbus A350 XWB Passenger Aircraft project as a risk sharing partner and also worked on the Joint Strike Fighter F-35 programme. With capabilities developed on the design and manufacturing side of the business, the first flights of the indigenous MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) Class UAV ANKA and Trainer Aircraft HÜRKUS took place in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

“We have achieved very important milestones, such as the development and acceptance of the ANKA Block A-MALE Class UAV and the launch of the GOKTURK-2 LEO Satellite on December 18th 2012. We have also worked on the design, manufacture and delivery of several structural parts to AMSL as an industrial partner of the A400M Transport Aircraft,” highlights Kotil.

Serving customers both in Turkey and on an international scale, TAI is wellknown and respected for its technologies and commitment to delivering ultimate customer satisfaction. Having made strategic

investments in recent years, the company continues to invest in new technologies and advanced composite manufacturing facilities. For example, the Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) centre is a new business area for the firm, which it believes will be instrumental for Turkey’s roadmap into the aerospace sector.

“Our main aim is to increase our presence in international markets and become one of the important players in the world with our indigenous systems. Our main export strategy is to enhance our market position through high value generated indigenous products as well as keeping constant aerostructure work streams to sustain our business. The USA and Europe are a significant part of our aerostructure business, while at the platform level our key markets are the Middle East, North Africa, Middle Asia, Asia-Pacific and South America. To expand our export market, we are establishing co-operation with the aforementioned territories with our indigenous products such as ANKA, ATAK and HÜRKUS as well as our engineering capabilities in system design, modification and/or modernisation of aircraft platforms such as F-16 and C-130,” says Kotil.

Profile: turkish aerospace industries

Focused on R&D, TAI has more than 1000 design engineers and certified contractors within its facilities working on new and exciting innovations. For example, the company revealed the new T625 multi-role helicopter following airframe production in the summer of 2016. “The airframe was produced with the goal of providing better fuel consumption, which subsequently leads to longer endurance and range. Our prime example of this is the use of the retractable undercarriage, the main components of which consists of a shut-off valve, hydraulic reservoir, landing gear selector valve and filter manifold.

The first flight is expected in September 2018, which will be followed by certification by both the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the European Aviation Safety Agency.

There are then plans for international export following the launch of this product to Turkish customers,” explains Kotil.

Another notable project TAI has been involved in is the A400M programme, which was initiated to develop a transport aircraft to replace the aging C-160 transport aircraft with the participation of Turkey, Spain, Germany, France, the UK, Belgium and Luxembourg in 2003. With all participants committed to buying a number of aircraft, Turkey put down an order for ten, and, within the scope of this industrial participation, TAI took on the design and production responsibility for the forward centre fuselage, ailerons and spoilers; paratroop doors, hatch doors, tail cone, upper shell on the rear fuselage, emergency exit door, lighting and water/waste systems as well as the fuselage harness.

“Our participation has had a positive impact on the relationship we have with Airbus, with TAI becoming a reliable and cost-efficient design and production partner to Airbus, not only for the A400M but also for passenger aircraft programmes,” says Kotil. “In terms of the A400M’s success, we believe in the next 20 years there will be at least 200 more orders of this aircraft thanks

to capabilities such as air-to-air refuelling, airdrop and Medevac.”

Moving forward, TAI aims to gain more engineering projects to ensure further business growth in line with its target of becoming a $5 billion company with 6000 employees by 2023 and a $6 billion, 8000 employee company by 2025. With longterm expertise, strong partnerships and an impeccable reputation in the market, there is no reason for TAI not to succeed in its goals. l

Turkish Aerospace Industries www.tai.com.tr/en • Achieved many milestones through its history • Aims to increase presence internationally • Ambitious vision to be $6b company by 2025

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The sky’s the

H

limit

aving first opened its doors on 17th May, 1992, Munich Airport began life as a predominantly regional airport. A quarter of a century later and it has been transformed into one of Europe’s leading air transportation hubs, and the first in Europe to be awarded ‘Five Star Airport’ status by the London-based Skytrax Institute.

“One of our biggest accomplishments to date, and arguably the main contributing factor to our growth, was to enter into a

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strategic partnership with Lufthansa,” begins Dr. Michael Kerkloh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Munich Airport. “The idea behind this unique joint venture was to build an efficient and fast hub system, and to bundle airport and airline expertise in order to create a terminal building offering maximum service and comfort to passengers.”

Over the past 25 years, Munich Airport has handled around 8.5 million flights, with the total number of passengers arriving, departing or catching connecting flights topping 700 million in that time. Today a total of 84 different airlines serve Munich Airport,

which itself serves 238 destinations in 68 countries. Since its first year in operation commercial passenger numbers have increased from 12 million in 1992, to 42.3 million in 2016, representing average annual growth of 5.5 per cent. This translated into record revenues of 1.4 billion euros for the airport in 2016, placing it within the top ten performers in the world. In addition to being a key contributor to the tourism industry of the Bavarian region, the airport’s campus is also home to approximately 500 companies and public authorities, providing employment for around 35,000 people.

Munich Airport’s transformation from

Profile: Munich Airport

a city airport into what it describes as an ‘airport city’ has been particularly impressive considering the relatively short timescale in which it has been achieved. “Our joint venture partnership with Lufthansa helped motivate our enormous growth and development, as did the support of the government during both the construction and first development stage,” Michael continues. “Bavaria is also one of Europe’s most successful regions, with an export-driven economy that is reliant on access to international air transport services.

Timing our transformation correctly allowed us to capitalise on an optimum choice of global aviation routes and connections.”

‘‘

Since the airport opened in 1992, passenger volume has more than tripled to over 42 million and in the last five years alone, traffic has increased by almost 20 per cent. This trend will continue

While he is rightly proud of all the honours and awards the airport has received over the years, one of its greatest achievements in the eyes of Michael has been the awarding of Europe’s only ‘Five Star’ status by Skytrax.

“This is an extraordinary accolade which challenges us every day anew,” he enthuses.

“We have successfully positioned ourselves at the upper end of the marketplace in terms of airports and we are determined that travelers benefit from all a premium airport has to offer. At the same time, we have made sure to strike a good balance between commercial and recreational activities within our terminals, while also striving to retain a

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Dr. Michael Kerkloh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Munich Airport

hassle-free environment that travelers can appreciate and enjoy.”

A further aim for the airport, and arguably a much more ambitious one, is its goal to become a carbon-neutral operation by 2030.

“Sustainability is of the utmost importance for Munich Airport and plays a key role in our corporate strategy,” Michael states. “To date we have rolled out a number of projects that go far beyond statutory requirements and industry standards, investing in environmental protection strategies that help to increase efficiencies across the campus. We anticipate spending around 150 million euros up to 2030 on the most modern processes and technologies as we look to make Munich Airport a demonstration platform for the rest of the world for what can be possible in the future.”

In what had already been a momentous year for himself, in June 2017 Michael had the honour of being elected president of Airport Council International (ACI), the umbrella organisation of Europe’s international airports. “I am looking forward to continuing the successful work of my predecessors and bringing more visibility to the issues affecting

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Profile: Munich Airport

the airport industry, and to the work of the ACI Europe team in Brussels,” he explains.

“As ACI Europe president I will strive for a positive development of the European airport industry evaluating different interests and needs. Further to this, I will focus on the airport industry’s most pressing issues, namely security, the EU Aviation Strategy, climate action, the capacity crunch and digitalisation.”

One month prior to being name ACI president, Michael and his team had officially marked Munich Airport’s 25th anniversary with a week of events, beginning with an official state reception and a campus festival, before taking in public music days and two family aviation days. Michael also personally marked the occasion by writing and performing a special music video celebrating the success of the airport and its employees.

With his focus now on the next 25 years and beyond, Michael foresees growth remaining solid in the immediate future, with growth in passenger volumes anticipated to average five per cent in 2017/2018. These figures could well increase further still with Lufthansa announcing its plans to station five Airbus A380’s and 15 A350 jets at the airport in the coming years.

“Since the airport opened in 1992, passenger volume has more than tripled to over 42 million and in the last five years alone, traffic has increased by almost 20 per cent. This trend will continue,” Michael concludes. “For Germany, the Federal Ministry of Transport expects air traffic to grow by about 60 per cent by the year 2030 compared to 2010. This will have a significant effect on the Munich hub, with its high share of transfer passengers. The construction of a third runway, which has been officially approved and has overcome all court challenges, is thus essential for keeping Munich and Bavaria on track for long-term growth. From a personal point of view, I have worked in big and medium-sized airports, but Munich Airport is by far the most beautiful in Europe, and maybe even in the world. Keeping it that way, and exposing this architectural wonder to even more passengers, is at the top of our agenda.” l

Hilton Munich Airport

The hustle and noise of Munich Airport is quickly forgotten upon entering the beautiful palm atrium of the Hilton Munich Airport. Enjoy direct access to the airport within walking distance to Terminal 1 and 2. Since March 2017, an additional 162 rooms as well as 17 rebuilt meeting rooms are now available, all designed in a modern ‘mountain hub’ flair. The hotel now offers 551 guest rooms and 30 meeting rooms for up to 500 attendees covering 2100 square metres of Conference and Events space.

The Fit & Fly spa invites you to relax in a quiet atmosphere. Its 17-metre indoor pool is the only pool available at Munich Airport, ideal for a refreshing swim in-between flights.

ARRIVE AND START YOUR MEETING IN JUST A MINUTE

Perfectly located at Munich Airport – one of the biggest hubs in Europe – directly between Terminal 1 and 2, the Hilton Munich Airport is the perfect location for your next event.

To add another highlight: The extension with 162 new Deluxe rooms and 13 refurbished conference rooms is open now! The focus of the interior design is on concepts like “mountains” and “airport,” highlighting materials like light oak wood, natural stone and felt.

The Hilton Munich Airport now offers guests 551 rooms and 30 meeting rooms for 2 to 500 delegates.

„Best Airport Hotel Europe“ 2015, 2016 & 2017 Skytrax World Airport Awards

Munich Airport www.munich-airport.com • Europe’s only ‘Five Star Airport’ • Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017 • Revenues for 2016 amongst top ten airports in the world

Scan this QR code to get to our website

Visit us now munichairport.hilton.com

HILTON MUNICH AIRPORT Terminalstrasse Mitte 20, 85356 Munich Airport, Germany T: +49 (0)89 9782 0 | F: +49 (0)89 9782 2610 | E: info.munichairport@hilton.com

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Profile: Bermuda skyport CORPORATION LIMITED Airport exterior (artist’s impression)

Kaissa Limited

Taking

flight

L

aunched in March 2017 and wholly-owned by Aecon Concessions, Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited is a special-purpose company established with the goal of managing and co-ordinating the overall delivery of the LF Wade International Airport’s redevelopment project for a 30-year concession term.

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Implemented under a framework agreement between the Governments of Bermuda and Canada, the airport redevelopment project is being delivered under a Government-toGovernment and public-private partnership business model, with Aecon responsible for the project’s development, financing and long-term operation/maintenance. The project will deliver a larger, state-of-the-art,

Kaissa Limited is a specialty contracting firm based in Bermuda. For over 30 years, Kaissa has been the industry leader in Bermuda’s building envelope protection industry.

With a core focus on primarily commercial roofing and waterproofing systems, Kaissa has followed a natural integration into exterior cladding, plastering and insulation.

Through its exclusive relationships with global manufacturers, such as Carlisle Syntec and STO Corp, Kaissa brings considerable resources in exterior envelope design consultation and installation. This expertise is built on an extensive knowledge of waterproofing, roofing and insulation systems, vapour analysis, wall assembly and mould remediation consulting, as well as caulking, scaffolding, pedestrian and vehicular traffic deck systems, and epoxy floor finishes.

Kaissa’s one departure from its exterior focus is a specialty in raised access flooring, including the design and integration of underfloor air systems for the modern commercial interior.

More recently, Kaissa expanded to fill another specialist gap in the Bermudan market for large-scale panelised formwork systems and, through another exclusive relationship with industry leaders Peri Formwork Systems, it has quickly established itself as the market leader for large scale developments such as the Tynes Bay Waste to Energy Facility, West Hamilton Apartments, the Bermuda Cancer Radiotherapy Facility, and the Caroline Bay Resort.

Kaissa has experience working throughout the Caribbean on projects such as retrofit tank liners, sprayed insulation and, of course, the iconic white Bermuda Roof. Kaissa has worked on projects from Providenciales to Antigua, and St Thomas in the USVI. Protecting buildings against the elements, while ensuring their aesthetic value, requires creativity, expertise and experience. Kaissa provides solutions tailored to specific problems through trained professional installers, the right equipment, and a strict adherence to manufacturer specifications and global safety standards.

e

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Profile: Bermuda skyport corporation lmited

accessible terminal that will be able to resist hurricane-force winds, improve passenger flow and introduce new or renovated facilities. At the close of the 30-year term in 2047, Skyport’s lease with the government will end, with the day-to-day operation of the airport as well as its facilities reverting back to the Government of Bermuda.

Looking at more current developments, the new facility is due for completion in 2020, with Skyport overseeing both the 40-month project to replace Bermuda’s only airport as well as the sprucing up of the existing building over its remaining three years of service. Operating as a private company, Skyport will be more agile, efficient and will have access to better resources that will enable it to enhance the conditions of the airport, not only for visitors and residents alike, but also for the dedicated employees of LF Wade International Airport. These strengths will not only be used for the new terminal; because the presently-used airport is run-down, the company will also be hiring more staff and implementing a

robust training programme to ensure existing facility deficiencies are mitigated until higher levels of service can be delivered at the new terminal in three years’ time. By operating in this manner, Skyport will create a safer, more comfortable and pleasant passenger experience for passengers both now and in the future.

“One of our biggest objectives this year was to get through the America’s Cup and ensure we were able to accommodate

any influx in passenger arrivals, both commercial traffic and private jets, and I am happy to say we got through the entire event without any concerns,” highlights Aaron Adderley, President of Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited.

“Furthermore, in line with seeing doubledigit growth in air visitors over the last 17 consecutive months we have been working very closely with our friends at the Bermuda Tourism Authority, which is doing a fantastic

‘‘

It is also very important that we had many DAO employees join the organisation alongside this influx of new people, as this has resulted in a more dynamic and energetic team

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Profile: Bermuda skyport CORPORATION LIMITED

job in stimulating visitor arrivals. In addition to visitor traffic, as the economy continues to grow we will see more residents begin to travel too. Bermuda is a unique market as it has three key travel market segments: leisure visitors, international business and residents, so if we see growth in any segment, or all three, that means more passengers through the terminal, more revenue being generated and a more financially sustainable airport,” he adds.

Since taking over responsibility for the operations, maintenance and commercial functions of the airport from the Department of Airport Operations (DAO), Skyport is pleased that 80 per cent of DAO staff members made the decision to transfer.

“The majority of the personnel from the previous company, 27 employees, transitioned over to Skyport, with a further nine employees hired so far as part of a recruitment drive to hire a total of 50 employees. Having the same employees helped ensure the transition of DAO to Skyport during March 15th to March 16th was seamless,” says Aaron. “It is also very

Benson Steel

Benson Steel Limited is a structural steel fabrication and installation expert, focusing on complex commercial projects within Canada, The High Arctic and abroad.

Specialising in transportation, healthcare and education building systems, its emphasis is on airports, universities and hospitals as standard design models, and also as P3/P2 models.

Located in Bolton, Ontario Canada, its state-ofthe-art fabrication facility, complete with in-house engineering and project management, provides it with the ability to support the most complex, logistically demanding and time sensitive projects.

Call Benson Steel Limited for your next project, ‘because performance matters’TM.

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Profile: Bermuda skyport CORPORATION LIMITED Aaron Adderley, President of Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited

important that we had many DAO employees join the organisation alongside this influx of new people, as this has resulted in a more dynamic and energetic team.”

As the contractor and manager of the development project, Aecon aims to use as many Bermudian employees as possible to ensure the bulk of the $285 million development of the airport is fed back into the local economy. “So far this major project has resulted in significant construction jobs that have gone to locals, however at times it has been necessary to bring in foreign labour due to their level of expertise. We are also creating new career opportunities with a successful apprenticeship programme where

locals can learn about a discipline such as architecture or engineering; this is going very well, with approximately ten interns involved so far,” explains Aaron.

Hailed as the start of a new era, the development of the new airport will result in a cutting-edge facility that will include features such as covered passenger boarding bridges, improved concessions, restaurants and duty-free offerings as well as vistas of Bermuda’s beautiful landscape. Designed with sustainability in mind, the new airport will have a bright and open layout and will reference classic Bermudian architecture, walls styles to represent coral reefs as part of a marine theme, lush landscaping; a

Prestige Autos

Prestige Autos Ltd. has been the importer for FUSO trucks for a number of years and is pleased to supply Bermuda Skyport with FUSO Canter intermediate and heavy trucks. FUSO trucks are the number one selling truck in Bermuda.

Prestige Autos Ltd. provide a range of vehicles, from the FE71 Canter intermediate cargo and dump trucks up to the new FI 12 tonne dump truck. Prestige Autos Ltd. looks forward to assisting you with your trucking needs, including sales, parts supply and service for FUSO trucks.

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putting green and nature trail and a display representing Bermudian culture.

“We are on schedule and on budget and have completed smaller projects such as the realignment of the fuel line for the new airport, which came to an end earlier this year. We are also engaged in pile driving where we are piling steel columns 115 feet into the ground and we have around 200 piles that have to be driven in so that process is continuing throughout the summer and into the fall,” says Aaron. “The purpose of this is to lay the foundation so come the final quarter of 2017 the public will really see the building coming out of the ground.

By 2018 the developments will be clear as the terminal continues to take shape in line with our goal of operating out of our new passenger terminal by summer 2020.”

As work continues for Aaron and his team, Bermuda is set to shine on the world stage, not only as a beautiful place to visit, but also for having an ultra-modern airport that provides the best possible features and services to its growing number of passengers. l

Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited http://bermudaairport.com/pages/skyport.aspx • Tasked with transforming Bermuda’s airport infrastructure and services • Will manage and co-ordinate the delivery of the airport redevelopment project for a 30-year concession term • Fusing local talent with the international expertise of Aecon Concessions

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Quality

craft

O

ffering confidentiality, reliability, top-class service and no hassle, European Flight Service (EFS) has a long tradition of high safety standards and the delivery of optimum quality in-flight services that ensure passengers can work or simply relax in a comfortable environment. Providing custom-made solutions such as ground transportation and catering that are designed to enhance each passenger’s travel experience, whether for business or pleasure, EFS has become Scandinavia’s leading business aviation company. Complementing the comprehensive solutions within private aircraft charter services and aircraft management is the company’s versatile fleet, which is certified for long-distance flights. This ability to fly long-distance is a key strength for the company as it is one of the few European business jet firms with a global

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reach, making it an attractive option to high flying businessmen and women who have the world as their office.

The Swedish operator meets the needs of its customers with a modern fleet of eight aircraft; this includes a Gulfstream, a Legacy, and XLS, XLS+, a CJ3, CJ1 and two Sovereigns. Particularly well-received by customers is the Legacy, which is based at Farnborough and is meeting the demands of the charter market. In response to this, the company is attempting to build on its success in Farnborough and has employed two additional members of staff, taking the team up to five. Additionally, EFS aims to add two new Bombardier models, a first for the company, at its Farnborough location with the goal of expanding further on the location’s success.

A more notable development to have taken place for the company involves a strategic relocation. Originally headquartered

Profile: European Maintenance Services

at City Airport in Gothenburg, where its main terminal was also based, EFS recently moved to Landvetter International Airport in Gothenburg where it is building an FBO. Sharing this facility is EFS’ Part 145 sister company, European Maintenance Service (EMS), which manages approximately 80 per cent of the Textron Aviation market in Scandinavia.

Founded in 1982, EMS obtained its JAR145 approval in 1995 having successfully conducted business in the aircraft maintenance sector for over 25 years. This level of experience gives EMS a unique competence base as well as the opportunity to support and develop the fast growing jet segment in both Nordic and Eastern European markets. In 2010, the company was selected by the Cessna Textron Company as an authorised Cessna Citation Service Centre, while its central location provides Nordic Cessna Citation owners with a service centre that is close to their operational area.

Furthermore, in 2011, EMS was selected by Williams International as its line maintenance service facility in the Nordic region for the company’s FJ44 Series engines. An operator of Cessna Citation business jets, Williams International was seeking a company that could provide a comprehensive solution to its maintenance and spare parts requirements; with its many years of experience with these jets, EMS was the obvious choice.

Moreover, Williams International’s modern and fuel-efficient engines are in line with EMS’ environmental policy to reduce emissions in the aviation sector.

With this authorisation from Cessna Citation Service Centre, EMS is able to carry out warranty repairs on most Citation models and constantly extends its authorisations in order to do so on new models. With an ambitious and experienced Citation maintenance crew in place and a large stock of spare parts, EMS can ensure downtime is kept to an absolute minimum without sacrificing quality.

Working together, the two companies have developed a strong presence in Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg where they deliver a boutique service that first and foremost involves taking care of the customer. While EFS does so through high quality, reliable operations, EMS offers a one-stop-shop service for aircrafts thanks

to modern component workshops that can quote for battery and wheel overhaul and a large inventory of spare parts and Cessna factory support.

In more detail, the level of maintenance delivered includes phase inspections, modification and warranty repairs; avionics / airframe / powerplant systems, trouble shooting and warranty repairs, structural repairs, avionics modifications and aftermarket programme handling. On top of this, the company also delivers exterior refurbishment, interior refurbishment, maintenance of wheels and brakes; a battery shop, pre-purchase inspections, spare parts supply, borescope inspections and aircraft weighing. Line maintenance, meanwhile, includes AOG support and defect rectification worldwide, line station support and ad-hoc services. All maintenance services are provided with the goal of delivering

an outstanding product to customers, a commitment that can be found at the very heart of EFS and EMS alike.

With 2016 proving to be a positive year for charter, the future looks full of promise for EFS and sister company EMS as they continue to focus on quality over volume while also finding opportunities to fly even higher in the boutique charter market. l

European Maintenance Services www.ems.aero/en • One-stop-shop for Citation aircraft • Authorised by Cessna to carry out warranty repairs on most Citation models • Modern component workshops

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STYLE UNLEASHED Experience Zhat’s Sossible with Satcom Direct 6'

Not long ago the standard for state-of-the-art connectivity ZDV VHQGLQJ DQ HPDLO GXULQJ D ČľLJKW RU ZDWFKLQJ D '9' on the business jet cabin monitor. Within just a few VKRUW \HDUV LQ ČľLJKW FRQQHFWLYLW\ KDV JRQH IURP OLPLWHG capabilities to limitless possibilities. Today, there are more options, more bandwidth, more data, more technology, and more value-added services. So many options require a dedicated support team to ensure they are working together to provide the best customer experience.

7KDWȇV ZK\ DW 6' FXVWRPHUV FRPH ȴUVW We enable communications spanning the whole aircraft. From SHUVRQDO FRPPXQLFDWLRQV DQG HQWHUWDLQPHQW WR ȾLJKW operations and cyber security, our solutions allow SDVVHQJHUV WR EH FRQQHFWHG DQG WKH ȾLJKW WHDP WR VWD\ in synch with the aircraft and its operational data, while our network infrastructure allows us to customiVe our solutions. Our focus LV on the user experience, so choosing 6' PHDQV VWUHDPOLQHG VLPSOH WR XVH V\VWHPV DQG D seamless, uninterrupted transition from the ground to the sky and back again.

Time is valuable and stepping on an aircraft shouldn’t mean unproductive time. Our Stylus Handsets set the standard for airborne cabin communications to NHHS LQČľLJKW WLPH HÎ?HFWLYH :LWK VW\OLVK JRRG ORRNV DQG unmatched performance, Stylus makes it simple to stay in touch at 41,000 feet.

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Profile: AMAC Aerospace

Completed with

care

I

t was in October 2007 that a dynamic new company called AMAC Aerospace took the first major step in its development by signing a 35-year land lease agreement with Switzerland’s EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse. This was the starting point for the company to commence with the building of its first state-of-the-art hangar from which to offer its maintenance and completion services.

What began with a single, 4200 square metre hangar, serving the likes of Boeing, Airbus and Gulfstream, has since expanded to incorporate four maintenance and production facility hangars within Basel airport’s new expansion zone, offering a combined total of more than 28,000 square metres of floor space, and more than 6000 square metres of workshop and office space.

With new facilities now extending its reach into the Middle East, AMAC Aerospace is today one of the largest privately owned facilities in the world to offer narrow and widebody VIP maintenance and completion services for the corporate and private aviation market.

“It was roughly five years ago, having firmly established ourselves within Europe, that we

began to examine ways of expanding our global presence,” begins AMAC Aerospace’s Group Chief Operating Officer, Bernd Schramm. “The answer was to acquire a hangar at Istanbul Atatürk Airport in Turkey, from which we are now providing line maintenance for Airbus’ A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, as well as the Dassault Falcon

7X, 900, 900 EX EASy, 2000 and 2000 EX EASy. In the last 12 months, we have also commenced with the construction of a second hangar in Turkey, this time at the Milas-Bodrum Airport in Milas on the Turkish Rivera. Here we are building a Boeing 777 sized hangar, from which we will be able to offer maintenance services for VIP customers

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Profile: AMAC Aerospace BBJ images courtesy of Boeing

and airline tour operators. This newest facility is on track to be inaugurated in September 2017.”

In 2016, the company also made a significant, strategic acquisition when it acquired French aviation service provider, JCB Aero. “JCB Aero is a company that we have a long history of working alongside,” Bernd continues. “As leading specialists in aircraft and helicopter interiors, and the manufacturing of raw and semi-finished materials such as special honeycombed panels and moulded shells, we recognised how the purchase of JCB Aero would greatly extend our own capabilities, as well as open up channels to new customers and markets.”

As they make up many of the leading blue chip players within the aerospace industry, it comes as no surprise that AMAC Aerospace’s customers employ stringent expectations upon the work that it carries out on their aircraft. This makes it all the more impressive

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that feedback from said customers to the company’s work is universally high.

“In addition to the accessibility of our management teams and our ability to deliver on-time requests, the single most important thing for our customers is the quality of our maintenance and completion work,” Bernd stresses. “We have always ensured that the quality of our work matches the commitments we make, and this has become well noted within the industry. The aviation world can actually be a rather small place and this means that if you are able to provide a quality service, word of this spreads very quickly and this has benefitted ourselves greatly over the years.”

Since its formation, AMAC has successfully completed some 30 large-scale projects, averaging two-to-three per year. In May 2017, the company announced another landmark event with the successful completion and returning to service of its first Boeing

BBJ Demonstrator aircraft project. “This particular project represented a hugely prestigious opportunity to showcase our completion centre capabilities and highquality workmanship,” Bernd enthuses. “The fact that Boeing choose AMAC Aerospace for this particular project is perhaps the best example we can give to show that what we are doing is of the very highest of standards that the industry has to offer. It also demonstrates the immense trust that Boeing has in the work we carry out, trust which was again wholly justified with the on-time and within-budget return of their aircraft.”

While the aviation market as a whole may be facing some challenges at present, most specifically those related to the softening of oil prices and political uncertainty within the Middle East, AMAC Aerospace’s future looks strong. “We continue to receive a steady stream of requests for quotations from our customers, and we stand ready to facilitate the maintenance and completion of the next generation of green aircraft, with a contract already secured for Airbus’ first A320neo project in 2018,” Bernd adds. “We always strive to maintain a good balance between our maintenance and completion activities, giving us a stable and plannable workload, something that has continued to serve us well into 2017, and will do so beyond.” l

AMAC Aerospace www.amacaerospace.com • Hangar facilities in Europe and the Middle East • Blue chip clients include Boeing and Airbus • Completed work on the Boeing BBJ Demonstrator aircraft in 2017

Plane

sailings

‘‘

Keeping aircraft safe for more than 20 years, Storm Aviation will continue to deliver high quality services to its 40+ international customers over the coming years through flexibility and a commitment to working to the most stringent of standards

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W

ith line stations, at more than 30 different international airports and a customer base that includes Lufthansa, Emirates, Swiss International Airlines and easyJet, Storm Aviation is the ideal international partner for those seeking 24-hour line maintenance. Established in 1996, the company was originally owned by management teams and VC investors, however in September 2011, 100 per cent of Storm Aviation was acquired by Lithuanianbased FL Technics.

Furthermore, FL Technics is part of Avia Solutions Group, a WSE listed company comprised of more than 17 subsidiaries that provide aviation business solutions and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services such as supply chain, pilot

and crew training; aviation staff leasing, aircraft fuelling, ground handling, aircraft management, business charter, airport management and other aviation related services. The acquisition created one of the largest networks of independent line stations across European and CIS countries while also expanding FL Technics aircraft capabilities into aircraft types such as A330, A340, A380, B747 and B777. It also enabled FL Technics to access new markets and customers that had long-standing relationships with Storm Aviation.

Under the umbrella of FL Technics and Avia Solutions Group, Storm Aviation remains a UK registered MRO company that operates under a UK issued EASA Part145 (approval number UK. 145.01041) and EASA Part-147 (UK.147.0057). Holding various other NAA approvals means that it has a

Profile: Storm Aviation

true global outreach to perform its services which include Base Maintenance, AOG recoveries, Line Maintenance & A-checks.

“We are a very safety and quality conscious organisation; while other companies talk about it, we are proud to go out and do it. In fact, we have a mantra: Safety, Quality, Sustainability, because we know if any one of those elements is missing your business is dead in the water,” says Thomas Buckley, CEO of Storm Aviation. “The mantra is also in the order of importance, with safety always coming first; this is stressed to all of our people from myself as well as the other Senior Managers, so it truly is a top down initiative. With engineers operating across the UK, Europe and further afield, I try to ensure I am around to see them when they visit the head office so we can sit down and discuss key

matters such as their safety as an individual, as a team and also the safety of the passengers on board the aircraft. It’s also a great forum in which to hear their thoughts and ideas on how the business is doing as ultimately we are a service provider and our people are our product. Taking the time to listen to them and interact is something I find invaluable.”

With safety and quality at the heart of Storm Aviation’s operations, the company continues to invest time in its personnel with

the aim of becoming one of the safest and most open organisations in Europe. With this in mind, the company is willing to share its safety data with any other organisation with the goal of sharing information and thus helping to prevent accidents in the future. “If we get a near miss, we share this information too so companies can see how we prevented it; we are very open and if it results in a safer industry then we are pleased to support this,” says Ian Jones, Commercial Director at Storm Aviation.

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Profile: Storm Aviation Thomas Buckley, CEO

Snap-on

Snap-on has a long and enviable association with the aerospace industry, with class leading, market orientated products that offer a wide range of solutions to combat difficult issues, including FOD. Our products and programmes have been at the leading edge in the shift away from personal tools in the hangar. We have now designed well over 200 kits for use on all aircraft type, all of which are bespoke and can be laser marked for traceability. We also have our market leading ATC total tool control system, which can take you and your maintenance programme to the highest level.

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Not only investing in personnel, Storm Aviation has recently branched out into the Diamond Hangar in Stansted, of which it has three bays in the West side. “This is a fantastic facility that gives us immense opportunity to grow,” says Thomas. “Whilst we will always focus on maintaining and keeping our line maintenance customers happy and will always look to expand on this, we now also have the opportunity to offer services up to C checks. Whilst we have no interest in performing actual C checks, we instead

are focusing on the shorter input, faster throughput, low man hour work scopes with the aim to ultimately be much more flexible for our customers.”

Keeping aircraft safe for more than 20 years, Storm Aviation will continue to deliver high quality services to its 40+ international customers over the coming years through flexibility and a commitment to working to the most stringent of standards. As market trends change and the demands of customers develop, the recently relocated Storm Aviation will be ready and willing to adapt in a manner that ensures customers achieve safety, quality and sustainability ahead of their competitors. l

Storm Aviation www.stormaviation.com • Delivers customised aircraft

maintenance and training • Operates globally • Offers 24-hour comprehensive support for commercial aircraft operators

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Schofield Publishing Limited Unit 10, Cringleford Business Centre, Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1603 274130 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 274131 Editor: Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Managing Director: Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk