Speedy connections cut transit time for courier specialist

Having established its presence in the SA market over the past 12 years, southafricancouriersystems is set to expand its service portfolio beyond courier operations. Part of the Royale Group, the company was set up by director Andy Smallman, focusing largely on the movement of samples from China and Hong Kong into SA. “We’ve found a lot of reciprocal work in the other direction,” he told FTW, “dealing primarily with niche industry sectors – from medical work to garments, shoes and textiles. “We steer clear of larger shipments although we are looking at moving into seafreight and airfreight in the next year or so.” Speedy transit is a major marketing tool, says Smallman. “We can arrange a collection in the morning in Shenzhen in southern China and have the item in Johannesburg the next day, which is two days faster than anyone else. “Our export service also offers highly competitive transit times.” The secret lies in speedy connections. “We have our own vehicles on the road in Shenzhen and although it is six hours ahead we have very late flights out of Hong Kong. That means if we call first thing in the morning we can still grab that shipment in Shenzhen or Guangdong and have it out at 5pm that evening to Hong Kong in time for the overnight Cathay Pacific flight to Johannesburg.” And while the company’s core focus is the Asian garment and textile market, it also offers a service out of the UK. The Royale Group was launched in the US. It currently operates three offices in the US, two in the UK, Paris and Amsterdam and 16 in Asia. It is looking at opening an overborder office. Its South African network currently includes Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Smallman expects to see market growth when the quota system ends in December. “Our clients have run out of quota and there are items they want to bring in – that means excess traffic out of China, which will continue to grow as it manufactures more and more.”