Adding value along supply chain

LOGISTICS COMPANY BLL South Africa has seen “enormous” growth in the automotive side of the business, having been awarded a tender by one of the OEMs to handle the logistics, customs clearing and forwarding for the import and export of all its fully built motor vehicles, catalytic converters and engines. But, says director Shane Gerber, “we are not complacent. “While 2007 is proving to be a record year for BLLSA, our quest continues to add value along the whole supply chain,” he says. This will include pre-assembly to cater for the trend by the motor industry worldwide to move towards a modular supply of sub-assemblies. With the backing of the international BLL network, which is already supplying value-added services around the world, Gerber is confident that BLLSA will continue to make inroads into this business locally. “Many of our OEM clients worldwide regard us as an extension of their production arm. We perform critical functions normally associated with and performed by the OEMs themselves,” he says. These range from consolidation and deconsolidation of freight to inspection of freight received and rebuilding of palletised cargo.