'New name better reflects the global nature of our operation'
A CHANGE of name to give a global identity, and a major investment in making the product match the new name.
That's a brief synopsis of the detail behind Hellmann International Forwarders officially changing its name to Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, according to deputy chairman of the group, Jost Hellmann.
We have developed a worldwide door-to-door product, he told FTW in Johannesburg last week, linking up the manufacturers with their suppliers and consumers through a transport, warehousing and distribution network.
This new, globally-identifiable brand name better reflects the nature of our operation - a one-stop shopping system of value-added logistics services.
The problem for modern-day manufacturers, Hellmann added, is the sheer wealth of transportation options available - air, sea, land and river transport modes.
Take South African manufacturers, for example, he told FTW. They - like their international counterparts - are now becoming global, both in their buying and selling.
They don't want to have to talk to thousands of transporters around the world - each mode only offering individual legs of the logistics pattern. But we do, and can unite the best selection of modes for each routing - offering the cheapest, fastest and most cost-efficient worldwide distribution, all controlled by the one corporation.
And, if they need warehousing in Europe, Australia or the USA for instance - they probably don't have the facilities.
But we do, and can supply this network to them as a value-added service - allowing them to stick to their core business, without any of the worries of global logistics.
To achieve this, the Hellmann group has had to interlink its global chain of offices - 390 international centres, plus the local branches in each country - into a communicative network.
In this exercise, more than R100-million has been invested in EDI (electronic data interchange) and Internet track-and-trace systems - and ensuring that all the hardware and software are Y2K (Year 2000) compliant.
This allows an intimate control of a client's distribution programme, said Hellmann. We have a purchase order follow-up system, where we can assess if a product is on-time, appropriately packaged for the country of destination, and following its planned routing.
