Logistics specialist makes its mark in print niche

IT expertise adds systems muscle Don Fraser É Port Elizabeth and Cape Town branches will open this year. Kevin Richardson É order management and warehousing systems among the most powerful in the market. WHILE MANY forwarders pay little more than lip service to the concept of logistics, Worldwide Logistics truly lives up to its name, managing the supply chains of its growing client base from supplier to consignee, says managing director Don Fraser. It’s a success story that has seen the company grow from an in-house clearing and forwarding arm for the Customs Holding Group into an independent specialist in supply chain management. Fraser has notched up 27 years in the clearing and forwarding industry. The Customs Holding Group established the company in 1999, catering exclusively for its seven in-house operations, all of which are involved in digital print. Raw materials are imported chiefly from Korea, the US and Europe, and the finished products exported into Africa. It’s a highly specialised niche market, and as the company moved into true logistics, becoming an integrated part of its client’s supply chain, it seized the opportunity of extending its reach beyond the scope of the group. And there’s been no looking back. In November last year Worldwide moved into new custom-designed facilities in Longmeadow Park on the East Rand with 1500 square metres of warehouse space. The East Rand office has grown to a staff of 30. An office was opened in Durban last April, and Port Elizabeth and Cape Town branches will open this year. While the company’s service portfolio encompasses the full range of clearing and forwarding services, with supply chain the speciality, niche marketing has paid dividends. “Because we’re so close to the print industry, which is where we’ve built our success, it’s a market we have developed,” says Fraser. Bringing an added dimension to the company’s logistics muscle is general manager operations, Kevin Richardson. His extensive experience in the clearing and forwarding industry includes seven years in Information Technology. This enables Worldwide to develop all its systems in house, harnessing Richardson’s forwarding and IT expertise. “We believe that our order management and warehousing systems are among the most powerful in the market,” says Richardson. “And it’s an ongoing process of refining and improving, and never being complacent.” Clearly the formula has paid off. The company was one of the finalists in last year’s Business of the Year, run by the Kyalami Chamber of Comm