Airfreight division ‘takes off’
Leonard Neill
TOO MANY would-be forwarders jumped on the bandwagon when South Africa’s export drive moved into top gear. Many of them fell by the wayside through their inability to meet market demands and, at the same time, soured the good name of the industry.
That, says Landwave Sea & Air Services Thabo Hlongwane, is why big companies prefer to turn a blind eye to small business operators who are offering competent services.
“You can’t blame them,” he says. “The field is littered with failures who were over-eager to snatch at contracts with the major organisations and then failed to deliver because they were not capable of matching the requirements of a project.
“We have been in business for two years and have kept clear of biting off more than we can chew. But I would like to see the big guns giving us smaller companies a try. There are those among us with the expertise and the experience to serve them well.”
Hlongwane emerged from a lengthy career in customs to start up his clearing and forwarding business in 2001, setting his sights originally on what he terms ‘small packages’.
“I found small companies wanting to import such items as bicycle parts in breakdown form ready for assembly in this country. Travelling cases came in the same form, all in pieces, and were put together by the importer. These are the small operators and we were at the same level. We were able to grow together as a result.”
Landwave continues to service this form of importer, subsequently helping to export the built-up articles. Most of the items come in from mainland China.
Packing and unpacking containers in a small warehouse attached to the company’s Benrose offices ensures a rapid turnaround of containers. Now new markets have opened up in West Africa. A mix of household requirements, clothing, foodstuffs and small electronic goods are loaded into containers on a daily basis, destined for Angola, Nigeria and Senegal in the main.
“We are planning to grow our warehousing and even consider opening our own depots,” says Hlongwane. “We’ve concentrated on sea and land operations from the outset, but two months ago we entered the airfreight field and that is growing fast.
Our next step will be to open a Durban office. It’s all part of a major planning programme which will see us growing quickly in the next few years.”
At the customs level, he draws on his own experience.
“The industry will find the EDI system will be of great assistance to them when it is fully up and running, but they mustn’t expect miracles overnight. We are still a few years behind the big, overseas markets when it comes to expertise in this sector. It will come and when it does it will all leap ahead in providing faster and more accurate services. But patience is going to be essential for all of us.”
