Cargosuite and Mainport join forces

Specialist shipping and IT enterprise is born, writes Ray Smuts IT HAS taken Barry Fourie and his team two years to develop a specialist shipping and IT enterprise designed to meet the exacting needs of global trade but Cargosuite Line is finally up, out of the starting blocks and running hard. Last week was cause for celebration in Cape Town as the fledgling company announced its partnership with long-established Mainport Africa Shipping, at the same time introducing its striking new logo. Explains c.e.o Fourie: "Mainport's expertise will strengthen our global alliance." Peter Evans, an executive director of Mainport and former m.d. of Rennies International in London, says the focus will be on raising levels of customer service through technology, ensuring rapid response to global requirements. What Cargosuite is essentially all about is a group of experienced shipping and IT specialists with extensive experience in running a profitable business in the global trading and transportation industry. The Cargosuite initiative, as Fourie puts it, is to bring an exciting technological solution to the supply chain that is focused on adding value to customers. Starting from a low base of 50 container shipments last December - dry cargo in the main - Cargosuite Line expects to grow to 1 000 containers a month from September and to be handling around 25 000 containers in the fiscal year 2003. Fourie says Cargosuite Line is targeting pretty much the small to medium enterprise. "Our target is customers who have very strong and defined information needs and service levels and we will find the right fit by customer rather than by commodity." Evans says that in order to service Cargosuite Line, Mainport Africa has created three distinct new global services although it will continue to co-load as do other lines.