Better collaboration key to success in Asia

Better collaboration between cargo owners, shipping lines and logistics operators is key to making the most of Asia’s growing economies and robust markets.

This was stated by Mark Holloway, APAC Customer Service and Logistics Director for liquor giant Diageo, at the recent TOC Container Supply Chain Asia 2012 conference in Hong Kong.

Holloway told an audience of shippers, carriers, port representatives and other Asia container supply chain professionals that better partnerships should aim to improve services for customers and eventually win their trust.

“We are becoming more customer-centric and need our partners to do the same,” he said, noting that for Diageo, “performance today is as much about planning and logistics as procurement and manufacturing”.

Holloway added that the size of the vessel carrying the cargo, or whether a forwarder was involved, mattered far less than knowing whether containers would arrive on time.

And in cases of change or delay, shippers simply wanted sufficient forewarning so they could mitigate the effect before it impacted the whole supply chain.

In short, there is often a lack of proper end-to-end visibility between all the parties, he said.

This post is also available in: Spanish