Birkart extends China footprint

Customers increasingly demand more complex requirements JOY ORLEK HAVING RECORDED the best 18 months in its 30-year history, Birkart Globistics is bullish about the year ahead. But along with his colleagues in the industry, managing director Patrick Federle believes there are two major obstacles to the country realising its full growth potential. The first is the shortage of skilled staff, and the second the crumbling infrastructure which has not kept pace with growth. “The government is addressing this, but it’s not happening fast enough,” says Federle. In terms of skills development, the industry is beginning to make inroads – Birkart for example has a learnership programme in place and 5% of its employees are part of that programme – but once again skills development needs to be fast-tracked to catch up. Customers are increasingly becoming more demanding, says Federle. “We’re seeing more and more complex requirements, all of which are customer-driven. In order to meet these requirements it’s essential to integrate into the IT systems of your customers and to offer services like pick and pack, all of which demand a highly skilled workforce. “In Johannesburg over the past two years there has been an enormous move towards warehouse outsourcing. We’ve seen the impact in our facility which is constantly filled to capacity. This is a good sign that importers and exporters are recognising the prudence of concentrating on their core functions,” says Federle. While Birkart has no plans to extend its warehouse facilities at its East Rand base right now, the company will be keeping a close watch on developments. “We have the available space on site if there is a need for expansion.” The automotive industry remains one of Birkart’s core niches, but the company has benefited from the impact of the stronger rand, handling big volumes of imported consumer goods, a large quantity of these from China. Responding to this shift in global sourcing, the Thiel subsidiary Birkart Globistics Air & Ocean has extended its China footprint, expanding from two or three offices in the region to a current total of 16 and growing. The company recently opened offices in Dubai and Italy and is constantly looking to expand into new areas, says Federle.