Total cargo visibility facilitates planning

Removing waste in the supply chain is the biggest challenge facing logistics operators, says Dr Dawie Ferreira, managing director of the FPT Group and CEO of Capespan Logistics. “Much of the waste is caused by bad planning. In fruit exports, the unpredictable nature of production and market demand complicates the matter tremendously. We provide our customers with total visibility of their cargo to assist them in planning of shipments in order to ensure we have as little waste as possible.” Remaining viable in an everchanging business environment is just as important, he said. “We believe that people tend to rely on dedicated and knowledgeable service providers more and more. In our case we are far advanced with the development of a new electronic system whereby customer portals are created to provide up-to-date information to the customer regarding their cargo and services,” said Ferreira. At the same time major investments are being made into the organisation’s physical infrastructure. “We are spending significant amounts on our terminals to convert them into cold stores with high cube racking, dedicated to container shipments,” he told FTW. “At the same time we are creating space, and we are acquiring handling equipment to improve our service levels to our general cargo customers. For the first time in the history of FPT we are now handling more general cargo than fruit.” On the general cargo side, he said, they were starting to see significant growth as the company provided a 12-months-a-year service in all its terminals. “All indications are that the customers are very satisfied with our service levels and that this business will continue to grow.” INSERT & CAPTION We are developing a new electronic system whereby customer portals are created to provide up-todate information to the customer regarding their cargo and services. – Dr Dawie Ferreira