Resistance to depersonalised negotiations, writes Alan Peat
A SPOT survey by FTW amongst the main sea carriers on the SA trade reveals that a lot of client businesses are not yet ready to connect electronically with their service providers.
There have been loud trumpet blasts in recent times that shipping lines were opening up "one-stop shopping", cargo booking and track-and-trace facilities on the internet.
But SA would appear to be lingering behind certain of the more developed seafaring nations in their actual use.
There are two primary reasons for that, according to two shipping line executives.
"The roll-out of the internet is fairly good in the business area," said Murray Grindrod, m.d. of Quadrant Container Line, which is currently working on an internet booking system in association with another SA line.
"All the infrastructure is there, but not necessarily the willingness to use it. A lot of this is to do with people's attitude - where they like to talk to someone when they're conducting negotiations."
Taking this a stage down the line is Harold Prodgers, national export manager for P&O Nedlloyd (P&ONL), just back from a national promotion of the line's pilot scheme for electronic cargo booking.
"It has not taken off to the extent we had hoped for," he told FTW.
"We have found that, in general, industry has just not accepted it."
Add to this the fact that - although the line may have a fully-fledged system up-and-running - not too many of its potential users are suitably electronically connected.
"A lot of booking staff," said Prodgers, "don't have access to the internet. At every corner, guys are saying to us: "Great system, but I'm not able to connect to the Ônet."
The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) already has an electronic booking system. "But not on the internet as yet," said marketing manager, Glen Delve.
This system requires the customer to have the appropriate software to match into the MSC system. "But nobody is using it at the moment," Delve told FTW.
However, the line is ready to go the internet route when the times are right, Delve added.
The right time for Safmarine is this week.
According to a source, the line has just officially launched its new web-page - and those booking facilities are to be found there.
Mitsui OSK Line (MOL) is a typical example of most of the international foreign carriers - where such systems are being used in the more developed trading areas.
"However," said m.d. Dave Giraudeau, "not in SA yet. But we will have the new system in about two years time."
