THE SUPPLY Chain and Logistics Group (SCLG) organised an in-house workshop at Panasonic, in Dubai, on how the supply chain process works in the logistics and related industries.

Conducted by Dublin-based Dr Dermot Carey, an international advisor to SCLG, last month’s training seminar was aimed to help trigger an innovative thought-process among the attendees.

“A word of appreciation for the SCLG and its staff, who were able to put things together on a rather short notice, and have this programme organised,” said Milburn Eusebius Andrade, a senior learning and development specialist at Panasonic Middle East.

Dubbed ‘Integrated Supply Chain Management’, the workshop made use of relevant industry examples, best practices and group activities for an interactive and enhancing learning experience.

Andrade described the SCLG workshop as “nothing less than excellent”, as he was all praises for Carey. He remarked, “With his profound knowledge and experience in supply chain, Dr Carey was able to compile a comprehensive two-day programme which, I believe, will surely add value to our energetic and zealous staff here at Panasonic.”

THE UNIVERSITY of Liverpool has joined the Supply Chain and Logistics Group as a Privileged member. Founded in 1881, the university is a member of the Russell Group of leading research universities – the ‘Ivy League’ of UK’s higher education. It received its Charter in 1903, and has eight Nobel Prize winners over the years.

This academic excellence is one among the many reasons why almost 3,500 professionals from more than 175 countries have chosen the University of Liverpool for their online graduate studies. The university’s exclusive partnership with e-Learning pioneer, Laureate Online Education, provides a uniquely global perspective and stimulating educational experience.

FREIGHT Systems provides clients with innovative logistics solutions, and delivers products tailored to customers’ requirements. Having strategic alliances with major carriers, the company has competitive rates, and has been rewarded by its partners for excellent performance.

Established in 1988, Freight Systems has acquired considerable expertise to operate as a full-fledged third-party logistics (3PL) company. It has a presence in 17 countries, with headquarters at Dubai’s Jebel Ali. It also focuses on major trade lanes in the UK, the US, Germany, Canada, Singapore and China.

The company’s regional presence and commitment to customer value have made it the principal choice by the top clientele in the region to manage their active an inactive records. This allows clients to focus on their core business and mitigate some risks. Being a member of the International Professional Records & Information Services Management Association, InfoFort adheres to a high-standard code of ethics and international best practices.

AL Futtaim Logistics is now a Premier Member of the Supply Chain and Logistics Group (SCLG), upgrading its membership status from Corporate Basic.

Established in the 1980s, Al Futtaim Logistics has a global reach via strategic alliances with various partners worldwide.

The Kanoo Group and SSI Schaefer, a global systems integrator for all types of warehousing distribution centres, also upgraded their memberships to Privileged Category from Basic.

Kanoo Group offers a full-range of supply-chain management solutions, specialising in retail, high-tech and automotive logistics.

“We warmly welcome them again to the SCLG fold,” the group said in a statement, “and thank them for their support and trust in SCLG.”

ABU Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation (ADBIC) and Bahrain's Midal Cables have embarked on a $100-million venture for an aluminium rod and conductor plant, which will be built at the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Taweelah by 2010.

The two companies, which were already engaged in a strategic partnership last year, strengthened their ties with the signing of the joint venture agreement.

Jamal Al Dhaheri, senior vice-president for Metals at ADBIC, and the managing director of Midal Cables, Hamid Al Zayani, signed the agreement for their respective companies.

Expected output from the state-of-the-art plant is 150,000 tonnes per annum of aluminium products, including rods and electrical overhead conductors. The products will not only be exported, but also serve as feedstock for Abu Dhabi's downstream industries.

Al Dhaheri considers the project as “the first major milestone towards the expansion of Abu Dhabi's downstream manufacturing capacity in the metals sector”.

He lauds the partnership as a merging of “one of the world's largest manufacturers of aluminium rod and conductors with the experience of one of the leading industrial investment and development companies in the region".

The joint venture will enable Midal Cables to benefit from the rapid industrial growth in the UAE and the Gulf region with its world-class expertise in the field of aluminium production. ABDIC’s investment and industrial development expertise will allow Midal Cables to maximise the growth in this key sector of the UAE economy.

The aluminium plant is only the first step towards the development of ADBIC's upcoming metals cluster. Strategically located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it will focus on base metals, such as aluminium, steel and copper.

Emirates Aluminium Company (EMAL) has been tapped as the source of molten aluminium, the plant’s main feedstock. The plant will be ready to receive its first batch of molten aluminium from EMAL by the second quarter of 2011.

SAUDI Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), one of the world’s top five producers of commodity chemicals and plastics, can proceed with its petrochemical complex project in Tianjin, China.

This develops as the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission approved SABIC’s joint venture with the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC ).

Beijing’s approval came after both parties entered into a strategic co-operation agreement on June 21, 2008 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The agreement provides for a 50/50 joint venture at Tianjin, and a feasibility study on the production of polycarbonates using SABIC technology from raw materials produced at the complex.

The $3-billion complex is expected to be completed by next month. Its overall production capacity is around 3.2 million tonnes for various petrochemical products. Among these are one million tonnes of ethylene and other downstream products, such as polyethylenes, ethylene glycol, polypropelene (PP) butadiene, phenol and butene-1.

China is the world’s largest petrochemical market. SABIC’s participation in the Tianjin petrochemical project will expand its presence in Asia’s emerging markets.

Its location in China will make its products and services readily accessible to its Asian customers, thereby strengthening SABIC’s goal of being the world’s preferred chemical supplier.

SABIC is a major global developer and supplier of thermoplastics engineered to meet customer needs. Additionally, it has operations in steel production and fertilisers, and increasing brand presence in high-value performance chemicals.

AL FUTTAIM Electronics, a part of Al Futtaim Group, has bought a major stake in Saudi Arabia’s Best Electronics, expanding its operations in the Gulf’s biggest economy.

This brought to nine the number of its outlets in the Gulf, including four in Riyadh and one in Bahrain, with a total retail space of 300,000 square feet.

“We will expand to other parts of Saudi Arabia slowly,” said Vishesh Bhatia, group director for electronics, engineering and technologies at Al Futtaim.

He added that Al Futtaim Electronics, which pioneered the multi-brand consumer electronics and IT retailing concept in the Middle East, also plans to expand into Egypt and Qatar over the next 12 months.

While sales are now stabilising, Bhatia described the last quarter as tough due to large inventory. The rest of the year is going to be stable, he said, although it doesn’t offer anything exciting.

Al Futtaim Electronics closed two Plug-Ins stores at BurJuman and Madinat Jumeirah, and cut down staff to help ride out the global economic meltdown.

"Personally, I would like to see some consolidation in the retail market as it is very fragmented,” Bhatia said. “We are looking at further opportunities as the market needs a consolidation for retailers to sustain.”

HIGH oil prices and the various measures taken by the UAE Central Bank from September last year to support liquidity in the banking sector prompted the country’s economy to grow 7.4% in 2008.

Also last year, inflation jumped to 12.3% from 11.1% in 2007 due to property rental prices that rose by 13.4%, the central bank said in its annual report released last month.

It added that money supply growth was up 29.1% to $245 billion last year compared with $189.2 billion in 2007.

“These developments indicate a contraction in monetary liquidity in the banking sector due to the lack of liquidity in the global markets,” the report said, “after the exit of speculative money that entered the country in the second half of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008.”

As evidence, the investment balance of banks operating in the UAE dropped to $12.82 billion at the end of December 2008. This is shown in deposit certificates issued by the central bank.

The trade balance surplus grew 35.3% to $62.91 billion in 2008 from $46.51 billion the previous year.

TIRED of bad service and high prices, Al Futtaim Logistics has purchased more customised vehicles and brought its transport business in-house – a move seen to reduce operation costs by 15%.

“The current economic climate has helped us look at all aspects of our business and, after a thorough review, we felt there was a solid business case to move our transportation function in-house,” said Tom Nauwelaerts, head of logistics at Al Futtaim.

This fresh approach in operation follows the cancellation of third-party transportation contracts for domestic transportation, the company said in a statement. This also indicates a strong confidence in the firm’s ability to gain fresh business initiatives during tough times.

Al Futtaim recently purchased 35 tractor heads from Hino and Volvo, and 60 customised container flatbeds, box-vans and taut-liner trailers from Munro International. The delivery started from March.

This will “enable the company to reduce operating costs by 15% over the lifetime of the vehicles,” the statement said.

Nauwelaerts cited deteriorating service, increased prices by subcontractors and substandard equipment as reasons for Al Futtaim to buck present-day trends of outsourcing.

“This move has enabled us to become extremely competitive by combining daytime transportation with nighttime operations, thereby ensuring maximum utilization of the vehicles,” he said.

Al-Futtaim Logistics offers a full-range of supply chain solutions that include temperature controlled warehousing and distribution, road transportation, sea and airfreight forwarding. It has over 200 Volvo and Hino vehicles in its fleet.

STARTING from September 25, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) will have its first direct service between Abu Dhabi and Kiev, said the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC).

Meanwhile, Etihad Airways enjoyed its busiest month in July, servicing over 616,000 passengers, a nine per cent increase from a year earlier.

“Whilst we expected July to be busy, we are delighted to have beaten our previous records, especially during the final week of the month…” said James Hogan, chief executive of Etihad.

UIA will operate a Boeing 737 aircraft configured in two product classes – business and economy – for the flight which is estimated to take about five and half hours in each direction.

Set to depart from the Abu Dhabi International Airport, the initial flight will be followed with twice weekly flights due to arrive in Abu Dhabi Mondays and Fridays, and depart Tuesdays and Saturdays.

This will also allow easy transfer for passengers onto the wide network of onward services offered from the airport.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, vice-president of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue at ADAC, said the service offers both business and leisure travellers to experience the city of Kiev.

He added that passengers can take advantage of the links provided international carriers and Etihad Airways to other destinations worldwide.

“We are delighted to be expanding our operations in the Middle East with this new service to Abu Dhabi,” said Yuri Miroshnikov, president of UIA.

Wholly-owned by the Abu Dhabi government, ADAC operates and manages the Abu Dhabi International Airport. It is also tasked to spearhead the development of emirate’s aviation infrastructure.

BVT Surface Fleet, a European manufacturer of naval ships, has formed a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to support world-class naval support services for customers in the Gulf, Jordan and Egypt.

Called Gulf Logistics and Naval Support (GLNS), the new company will offer various services for the marine fleets of navies, coast guards, marine police, homeland security organisations, special forces and key commercial clients.

“This is a significant strategic move for BVT,” said Alan Johnston, chief executive of BVT. “GLNS will greatly enhance our customer base and global footprint. It will combine our outstanding naval support experience with the world-class and complementary capabilities of ADSB in the Gulf.”

Initially, ADSB will own 70% of GLNS while the remaining 30% share will go to UK-based BVT, which has the option to increase its holding to 40% in the future.

ADSB’s chief executive officer, William Saltzer, stressed the high degree of support services needed by military vessels in the region and the sophisticated equipment carried on board.

“GLNS will provide this support, ensuring the maximum availability of vessels, and the efficient operations of their non-core base activities and facilities, allowing them to focus their efforts on the important duty of protecting their countries,” he said.

BVT and ADSB signed the joint venture agreement in July, and have since been working to develop and finalise the necessary documents, prepare financial and business plans and form the organisational structure of the new company.

Johnston remarked, “Together, we provide a high-level of expertise to address the growing demand for enhanced through-life naval support from organisations in the region.”

THE GULF Arab countries may not implement the value-added tax (VAT) until the end of the year, in order to give authorities more time to study the implementation mechanism.

Citing unnamed sources, the local Arab daily Al Ittihad said the Gulf countries would neither scrap nor shelve the implementation of VAT, however.

Reports earlier said the UAE, which has a service-oriented economy, has been looking for other sources of income other than oil exports.

The UAE is the most advanced among members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in studying the VAT system. The GCC states agreed in 2001 to boost regional trade by forming a monetary union.

Taxation experts say the emergence of VAT regimes worldwide has been the most significant development in global tax policy and administration over the past years.

Over 143 countries levy VAT, which accounts for over 20% of the world’s tax revenues.

SEVENTEEN companies and four personalities were adjudged best performers in the fast-growing logistics industry in the recent Middle East Logistics Award (MELA) celebration.

Ram Menen, senior divisional vice-president of Emirates SkyCargo, clinched the Hall of Fame award at a gala dinner held in Dubai for the third MELA ceremony.

The Personality of the Year award was granted to three people, namely Fahad A Hammad, chief executive officer of Saudi Airlines Cargo (Saudi Arabia); the managing director of TNT Express for the Gulf, Middle East & Africa, Jinendra Sancheti, and Jamal Majid bin Thania, vice-chairman of DP World (Dubai).

“Dubai is making substantial infrastructural investments, transforming itself into a major logistics hub that is attracting an increasing share of the global players in the industry…” said Rashed Al Ansari, vice-president of Dubai Industrial City (DI).

A member of Tatweer, the strategic driver of select entities under the government-owned Dubai Holding, DI was the platinum sponsor of the awards night.

Al Ansari and Dr Kanak Madrecha, a member of the regional development committee of the Supply Chain and Logistics Group, presented some awards during the gala celebration. Madrecha is also the practice head of DP World Business Excellence Centre.

Aleem Aziz, CEO of MELA Executive Office and vice-president of Media One, said there are plans to hold future award ceremonies in the different parts of the Middle East region.

The Best Innovator of the Year award went to the Economic Zones World while the Dubai Cargo Village of Dubai Airports clinched the Best Airport award (cargo terminal), FedEx Express Middle East bagged the Best Express Operator prize and Emirates SkyCargo walked away as the Best Air Cargo Carrier.

The winners also included Midex Airlines (UAE) as the Best Air Charter Operator; DP World Jebel Ali, Best Seaport and Best Container Terminal; Maersk WCA, Best Shipping Line; Al Majdouie Logistics Group (Saudi Arabia), Best Road Hauler.

The Saudi Railways Organisation (Saudi Arabia) won the Best Rail Operator award while the Dubai Aluminium Company, or DUBAL, and the Al Futtaim Group (UAE) earned the Best Exporter and Best Importer awards, respectively.

Agility ME was adjudged the Best Logistics Service Provider (BLSP) while the Gulf Agency Company got the same BLSP award for perishable logistics.

The Dubai Airport Free Zone and the Jebel Ali Free Zone were named Best Logistics Park (Air) and Best Logistics Park (Sea), respectively, while the Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone was selected the Best Emerging Free Zone.

The Best Trade Finance Bank, the final award of the night, went to HSBC Bank Middle East.

THERE had been a 124% rise in domestic freight for UK’s road transport market between January and June, according to new findings from Teleroute, a pan-European provider of electronics solutions for the transport and logistics industry.

Mark Appels, area manager for North Europe at Teleroute, noted that the UK market has been hit badly by the global financial turmoil.

But there was a 54% rise since February in overall freight in the Teleroute freight exchange for the UK market for domestic and international loads.

“[T]his growth in availability is a great sign, and we expect to see a further shift in focus by UK hauliers towards the domestic market to retain and stimulate new business,” Appels said.

Teleroute also noted a 25% increase in the UK spot-freight market being exported from the UK to France, Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg), Germany and Spain in the six months to June.

“There is no denying that the market is tough both in the UK and across Euorpe,” said Richard Potts, transport manager for UK-based haulier Marsh Transport. “But there are opportunities out there – if you look for them in the right place, and your business adapts to take advantage of them.”

Logistics bagged the contract for UK retailer Sainsbury’s Non Food Direct business, and was appointed to manage Honda of the UK Manufacturing’s (HUM) European inbound logistics operation.

The logistics firm will handle deliveries across the UK by collecting orders from Sainsbury's fulfilment centre in Corby and transporting these to its distribution centre in Northampton. Through CEVA’s UK home delivery network, other products can be collected by CEVA from the manufacturers and delivered direct to a customer’s home. 

Sainsbury’s looks forward to CEVA’s logistics expertise to help it grow its Non Food business while Nick Cullen, managing director of CEVA Logistics-UK & Ireland, is also proud of this partnership with Sainsbury’s.

“Sainsbury's is synonymous with quality and great products, and we are particularly pleased they’ve chosen us as their logistics partner," Cullen said.

On top of the Sainsbury’s contract, CEVA was tapped by Honda of HUM to manage the collection and transportation of its parts from over 40 locations in Europe to its production plant in Swindon. The contract includes ensuring the availability and movement of parts, and managing third-party haulers and suppliers to deliver the materials in keeping with Hum’s work programme.

The CEVA-developed IT system MATRIX will provide the technology for supply-chain visibility from the point of collection to delivery. Returns of empty packaging will also be controlled and monitored through the same process.

HUM’s key objective was to create a more efficient supply chain. With CEVA’s experience, resources and open-minded approach to logistics solutions, HUM achieved its goal while reducing costs and increasing flexibility.

The logistics firm is committed to focus on driving value in the area of transportation management for HUM. It pledged that its service will be subjected to CEVA's Zero Defect Start-up Programme and operated by fully trained personnel immersed in CEVA’s standards of excellence.

CEVA’s three-year contract with HUM coincides with HUM’s production re-start in July.