Cost concerns ‘refocus’ industry

The freight forwarding and clearing industry is making significant progress in moving towards the process of mapping the movement of goods – which is indicative of supply chain management and optimisation. That’s according to a survey undertaken by local logistics recruitment specialist, Communicate Personnel. “Many key players in this industry have piloted successful programmes and then rolled these out to their customers,” says business development manager, Marcia Dippenaar. “Globalisation and the need to reduce costs over the entire supply chain have refocused the freight forwarder in ways that are innovative and functional,” said Dippenaar. The current trend, she added, is to move towards offering integrated supply chain solutions to clients. “Clients are no longer looking to move goods to numerous destinations by splitting goods transactions, but want all their distribution done by a single provider.” And a logistics company able to offer complete supply chain management is going to be critical in its ability to survive in the face of the current market demand.