Proactive advice on cargo status more crucial than ever

In the post-recession environment
business processes have been
re-engineered, supply chains have
been consolidated, and cost and
buffers have been further removed,
says Safmarine Africa region
executive Jonathan Horn.
“There are different approaches
to manufacturing and procurement
and supplier consolidation has been a
common occurrence – all demanding a
change of approach by shipping lines.
“One of the consequences of the
post-recession environment is that
in several instances, products are
going to move in both different
quantities and from different
locations, and there is an increased
visibility requirement in the supply
chain, demanding closer cooperation
between shippers and shipping lines,”
says Horn. “Reliability has become
more important from a service point
of view and there is less room for
error or lack of predictability. In short
it’s becoming increasingly important
for shipping lines to keep customers
proactively informed about the status
of their cargo.”
While market share is difficult
to accurately estimate across the
continent, Safmarine puts its share of
the containerised trade in the 12%-
15% range. “Approximately 50%-55%
of Safmarine’s global volumes touch
the African continent. Volumetrically,
the top three countries for Safmarine
Africa are South Africa, Kenya and
Nigeria.”