Growing oil industry will provide major opportunities

Getting mothballed projects back on their feet seems to be the focus of many companies following the 2009 global economic meltdown, which saw project cargo across the globe slowing down substantially. Ross Barry, supply chain developer for RB Freight Management, says many businesses are also looking at introducing new projects now, particularly as the country seems to moving out of the recession. “Organisations are however still wary and are not as willing as before to allocate the large sums of money required to make projects work. As a freight provider this can lead to delays and adjustments which can raise the overall cost of the project. “ But, he says, the project cargo industry, like most others, is already looking forward to a slightly rosier future. “Things are definitely picking up after the recession, but not nearly as fast as they dropped off pre-recession. However, there are good signs of future growth, especially since African minerals and resources are in high demand globally. The growing oil industry off the coast of West Africa will provide many opportunities in the future for project work as infrastructure needs to be built as do the rigs themselves.” He believes these opportunities are further increased in Africa as the dash for resources continues and it’s seemingly picking up momentum. “New mines, infrastructure and building projects abound, all of them offering significant reward to a well placed and knowledgeable organisation.” With RB Freight Management currently working on several projects in both South Africa and the rest of the continent, there is much on the horizon for the company in the project sector, especially in the mineral resources, infrastructure and housing markets. “We believe doing project cargo well means first and foremost satisfying the customer,” says Barry. “During a project you are dealing with a wide variety of different cargo from different sources, so making sure that the person who is ultimately in charge (and paying the bills) is satisfied is paramount. This means having the ability to deal with all the cargo types, transportation methods and pitfalls.” Add to that having a good relationship with the customer. “Being able to reconcile the reality of the transport environment with the customer’s expectations is vital – it often happens that a customer has unrealistic expectations of the freight system as a whole. This must be managed.”