Visibility

Delivering total supply chain control with 4PL transparency…. and much more

Nov 2, 2022 | , ,

The COVID-19 pandemic raised public awareness of the critical importance of supply chains, with the industry being recognised as ‘key workers’ throughout the crisis. And the need for efficient logistics has increased reliance on fourth-party logistics (4PL) providers to manage complex global supply chains, which will see the global 4PL market, valued at £43 billion in 2021, reach £78 billion by 2030. Or we suspect probably much more.

The Metro MVT (My Visibility Tool) platform was conceived and launched over 15 years ago to provide real-time shipment status updates and end to end control and milestone management throughout the life of a movement of product and its transit on a neutral platform. It is a cloud-based, hyper secure, 4PL solution that connects shippers to their entire supply chain, harnessing all participant entities, process and inventory data to provide complete real-time visibility, control and intelligence.

Accenture defines Metro’s 4PL solution as, “a supply chain integrator that assembles and manages the resources, capabilities, and technology of its own organisation, with those of complementary service providers, to deliver a comprehensive supply chain solution.” 

“The 4PL client achieves improved service levels, reduced costs of up to 25%, minimised asset down time and reduced supply chain risks to the business. Performance visibility, better reporting and enhanced analytics assist faster and smarter decisions.”

Metro’s cloud-based 4PL platform is entirely modular and configured to each customer’s needs and situation. It consolidates multiple data sources to deliver 4PL insight and control, for strategic supply chain management and data-driven decision making.

Each 4PL platform embraces essential data sources from key supply chain participants, with advanced drill down features and a library of added value features that support participant management, financial oversight and performance benchmarking. 

The 4PL platform is a single source for managing end-to-end logistics, with multiple participants, carriers and service providers. Shippers, manufacturers and retailers find it easier, and more profitable, to focus on their core competencies and trust the control of their transportation and distribution to an expert like Metro, with a mature and proven 4PL solution.

The COVID pandemic and the Ukraine war have revealed the vulnerabilities of complex, geographically dispersed global supply chains. Metro’s 4PL platform creates visibility and stability, to make extended supply chains resilient, even in uncertain supply and demand conditions.

And because Metro do not own assets, there are no vested interests, just objectivity to optimise operations, detect and address issues, to deliver the most efficient supply chain, at the best cost and best performance metrics.

EXAMPLE 1

For automotive manufacturers and supercar marques, the Metro 4PL control towers manages the movement of finished vehicles globally. These singular assets are often time critical and very valuable, which means the 4PL needs to be constantly scanning the market to source the right mode of transport, for time sensitive freight moves, with the optimum balance of cost, service and on time delivery, while monitoring the vehicles progress throughout its journey. Scorecards rate vendors, validate invoices and provide a monthly KPI pack. 

EXAMPLE 2

For consumer product manufacturers Metro’s neutral 4PL solution manages multiple freight forwarders, consolidating data to provide a single view of the supply chain and giving the customer the ability to replace forwarders, without the hassle of integrating new systems.

Our commitment to innovation and developing bespoke digital solutions goes back decades, with the latest generation of 4PL tools incorporating robotics, predictive analytics and AI, to minimise risk along the supply chain. The latest modules monitor and measure CO2 emissions, at consignment level, for off-setting and ultimately carbon-neutral supply chains.

For more information on the 4PL platform, or to discuss how our technology could support your supply chain, please EMAIL Simon George our Technical Solutions Director or Matt Weight.

India factory

Sourcing insight; Buyers strategically moving production from China to India

Oct 19, 2022 | ,

Post-pandemic globalisation is not dead, but as China’s zero-COVID strategy continues it is evolving, as buyers reassess China sourcing risks and diversification and the alternative production capacity that India offers is badly needed, particularly given that Vietnam and much of Southeast Asia are hitting their limits.

As widely reported in the international media this week, new COVID outbreaks are creating further lockdowns in China and this quote from The Loadstar outlines the logistics impact, as of yesterday.

‘’Lockdowns in key Chinese port cities are again hampering supply chains, despite a “muted” peak season and President Xi gave no indication of a change to China’s zero-COVID policy at the Communist Party Congress this week, where he is expected to obtain a record third five-year term in office.

Indeed, in what has now become a regular occurrence, COVID restrictions are impacting supply chains in Ningbo, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Ningbo is the worst affected, with forwarders reporting disruption to the area around the port going into lockdown.’’

Apple has already moved 5% of its iPhone 14 production to India and US importers are increasing their sourcing from the country, with inbound shipments from India rising over 12% in 2022, though this growth is eclipsed by the UK’s goods imports from India, which grew by over 50%.

Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu since 2017 and by 2025, analysts expect a quarter of all iPhones to be produced in India, as trade tensions between Beijing and Washington show no signs of letting up.

Over 5% of the UK’s importers - >14,000 - are already importing from India and the number is likely to grow exponentially, as many companies looking to "de-risk" global supply chains are looking at alternative supply sources, because of political uncertainty and China's "zero-Covid" policy.

China’s zero-COVID strategy for eradicating the pandemic has already led to factory closures and large-scale supply chain disruption, with buyers  increasingly adopting a “China plus one" strategy, or avoiding the country entirely and re-engineering their supply chains.

The trend towards dual and omni-sourcing is clearly good news for emerging manufacturing power-houses like India, Vietnam, Turkey and Mexico.

Metro’s footprint in India continues to grow, to meet our customers demand, with our expanding team of 50 relocating to a much larger, custom-built, facility in Chennai next year, driven in part by the government’s commitment to building manufacturing capability.

Prime Minister Modi's government is offering financial incentives to companies that are keen on making India their production hub, which is attracting foreign investment in sectors such as manufacturing and electronics, including semi-conductors, which are critical components for many of our customers.

Encouraged by these production-linked incentives a renowned mining conglomerate is investing £17bn to set up a semiconductor plant in India in collaboration with the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, taking India a step closer to its own 'Silicon Valley’.

The ascendancy of India as a sourcing region, mirrors near-shoring activity closer to home and in particular within the EU, sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey, where we have integrated transport networks, designed to support JIT manufacturing requirements.

These transport networks are ideally positioned to support new sourcing requirements, de-risking and simplifying a critical strategic decision.

If you would like to discuss our India capability, or learn how we can assist your ability and strategy to source from the EU and Turkey, or other evolving global manufacturing  regions, EMAIL Elliot Carlile to arrange a consultation and scoping discussion. We have it covered from a logistics perspective with immediate ability, agility and results to ensure you have a streamlined supply chain regardless of where you are sourcing your products. It’s what we do…...

Lines effectively write off 2020 peak season

Carriers stepping up Golden Week capacity cuts

Oct 5, 2022 | , ,

For much of the last two years, container shipping lines have struggled to maintain sufficient capacity to meet demand, but in recent months demand has fallen away, which means that some vessels are not fully utilised, with carriers blanking more sailings and reducing supply using various tactics.

As demand has weakened over recent months due to global events, a percentage of the world's container vessels have not been fully filled and freight rates have been under pressure, which would typically prompt tactical blank sailings, to reduce available capacity and support higher rate levels and reducing the erosion of rates on the spot markets.

Golden Week, which began on Saturday, is traditionally a time for lines to blank sailings as demand dips around the holiday, but carriers are cutting much more aggressively this year, as they attempt to artificially manage freight rates, in the face of diminishing demand. In fact some carriers have pulled whole services completely, in particular so far on the transpacific trade, but it is widely anticipated that this will be replicated with the Asia/ Europe trades in the coming weeks.

Post Golden Week capacity reductions on the Asia to North Europe trade lane are removing almost 20% of available volume, which is in line with 2019, but higher than the 2014-2018 average.

The carriers use blanking strategies, as a lever to reduce and increase capacity, but the demand outlook has deteriorated so significantly on transpacific trade lanes that lines are scrubbing services, with MSC suspending bookings for its express Ningbo and Shanghai to Los Angeles Sequoia service.

MSC’s announcement follows the closure of Matson’s China-California Express (CCX) service and suspensions of CU Lines TPX service and CMA CGM’s Golden Gate Bridge loop.

Maersk has suspended an Asia-US east coast service, with the last sailing of its TP28 pendulum service from Vung Tau, Vietnam, on the 13th October. The cut loop will be merged into Maersk’s TP20 pendulum service, with a revised rotation of: Jakarta-Vung Tau-Shanghai-Ningbo-Busan-Panama Canal-Mobile-Newark, returning to Jakarta via the Suez Canal.

Demand for US east/Gulf coast services has remained strong, with volumes up 12%, as cargo has shifted from congested west coast ports amid nervousness about the lack of a new west coast labour agreement and the continuing risk of labour dispute disruption.

Transpacific routes are barometers for North European trade lanes, which tend to mirror transpacific trends in the short term, so it is a little concerning to note that capacity reductions to the US east and west coasts range between 22% and 28% of deployed weekly capacity in the weeks following Golden Week, up 50% on 2019, and well over double the average of 2014-2018.

It is anticipated that the main container shipping lines will continue to use a variety of tools to balance supply versus demand, as the markets change at a pace not seen in recent years. We will continue to advise, report, make recommendations and advise all options available to ensure that cost effective and reliably consistent service continues, as changes continue to be made.

We negotiate long-term and FAK contracts with shipping lines across all three alliances to secure space and rates, to provide the best alternatives and options, whatever the situation. Over the last decade this has proven to be the best approach, especially during the pandemic where rates and capacity were at a premium.

By leveraging agreements across the alliances – and spot rates, when appropriate – we can often adapt port pairs and routings, to work around blanked sailings, to maintain resilient and reliable supply chains.

FXT dock

Shippers brace for Felixstowe and Liverpool walkouts – a double whammy

Sep 23, 2022 | ,

Strikes at the key container ports of Felixstowe and Liverpool commenced at the latter on the 19th September and will continue to the beginning of October, with dates overlapping for maximum disruption.

Dock workers began their planned two-week strike at Liverpool port on Monday, 19th September, while an eight-day at Felixstowe, the UK's busiest port, will begin on the 27th September.

The port of Liverpool strike will continue to the 3rd October, while the Felixstowe strike will run until the 5th October, which means that strike action will overlap for seven days, increasing the potential for disruption, while putting more pressure on London Gateway and Southampton.

The Unite Union blamed the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company for unilaterally ending pay talks, after refusing to improve its pay offer and imposing a pay deal of 7% on the workforce.

The 7% increase was already rejected in August, which resulted in an eight-day strike at Felixstowe between Monday 22nd August and Monday 29th August.

Unite members at Liverpool port rejected a pay increase of 8.3% and a one-off payment of £750, stating that the wage increase would be a pay cut in real terms, with the union seeking a deal iro 20%.

Peel Ports argued that the basic pay of their Liverpool employees has increased above inflation by 16-26% every year for over a decade. 

The previous Felixstowe strike saw vessel calls drop from 29 to 5, with many carriers calling at alternative ports or just delaying calls to avoid disruption.

The first Felixstowe strike happened before peak shipping really got underway, but these walkouts in Suffolk and Liverpool coincide with the beginning of the peak arrivals, in late September and early October.

As with earlier disputes, we will be focused on clearing cargo from terminals ahead of strike dates. We will make use of London Gateway and Southampton when appropriate and consider alternatives like Rotterdam or Hamburg, should the situation warrant.

We are in continuous contact with all our shipping line partners to assess their contingency plans and mitigate the impact of these strikes.

We will continue to monitor and manage the emerging situation and will keep you updated should there be any significant developments.

As with previous industrial action, we are well prepared, with contingency plans in place to protect supply chains and work around points of disruption.

Category: Supply Chain

Air | China | Coronavirus | Sea/Air | Supply Chain

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