LCL

Source: Supply Chain Digital

Date :04/01/2008 04:49:52

LCL, which has recently arranged finance for a new European trucking operation, based in Spain, controls up to 450 vehicles. ExecUK looks at how it plans to enter new markets

Written by Abigail Saltmarsh and Produced by Paul Radbourne

Managing director of LCL, Ole Schack-Petersen, has been with the company since its birth eight years ago. He has watched the company blossom into a global operation, providing integrated door-to-door, multi-modal and multi-destination logistics solutions for the world’s perishable trades.

Since mid 2007 LCL has been part of the Japanese shipping and logistics company, NYK. It also operates from some 40 offices worldwide and has a particularly high presence in South and Central America, as well as in South Africa. Its aim now is to develop its business in the Far East and the Red and Black Sea areas and to take its operation even further into the hearts of production areas.

“We are currently investing in the areas of our supply chain where we believe there is the greatest potential to meet our customers’ long term logistics needs,” he says. “This means improving both the seamless transportation service we can provide and setting up local logistics platforms where necessary.”

Seamless Logistics

Today the system it uses to link each step in the logistic chain is called the Transport Chain Management System (TCMS). This is a web-based system for information management and control.

Within TCMS, information about service providers, from trucking and storage companies, and shipping lines to quality inspection providers, is immediately available to customers. The system also contains practical information about vehicle and storage capacities, ports, timetables and routes etc. With all these components accessible through the system, an entire door-to-door transport system can be quickly booked and easily tracked electronically.

“We arrange for a seamless logistics solution,” says Mr Schack-Petersen. “This is from the producer - the plantation or the fish farm - all the way through to the retailer. We take a lot of very seasonal produce from areas that change depending on the time of year and the climate etc to the major retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and Lidl.”

LCL offers its customers the most efficient service, bringing together land, sea and air transport, finding the best solution for the produce, the producer and the retailer.

“We have our own fleet of containers but we also deal with third party providers.

This puts us in a stronger position than some of our competitors, who are perhaps tied to one or two sailings a week in particular trade lanes,” he adds. “By using multiple lines we can ensure we can make the most of several sailings every day.”

The trucking fleet of trucks and reefer trailers has recently been expanded to 450. This complements the 150 already subcontracted from other providers by the company.

“This has been an important step for us in the development of the company,” says Mr Schack-Petersen. “This is a very modern, environmentally friendly fleet. There’s no doubt that one of the big issues and challenges of the fresh produce transportation business is the reduction of its carbon footprint, “We try to do this in a number of ways and one of these is to make our transportation methods as environmentally friendly as possible, this is why we also load on the European lorry trains, thus reducing the running of the trucks to an absolute minimum.

Closer to Producers

As well as expanding globally, however, the company is also moving closer to the producers, setting up more cold stores in the heart of production areas and to the retailers by setting up local distribution networks.

For example, in Ovalle, approximately 400 km north of Santiago de Chile, LCL recently opened a cold-storage and pre-cooling facility to receive, cool and cross-dock fresh fruit grown in the neighbouring farms which includes fruits such as table grapes, avocado, citrus and blueberries.

A similar venture is now also underway in Asia. LCL is currently building a new state of the art cold store in Hiep Phouc, Vietnam and close to the largest container terminal in the country to start operation in 2008.

This will have a capacity of 18,000 pallets for fish, seafood and other perishable products. Not only will the new centre be able to store produce but it will also act as a local hub for the loading into local supply chains and for processing and re-export.

Today LCL employs some 300 people and in terms of volume is growing at a rate of approximately 30 percent per year.

“We do expect that to continue - partly through organic growth and partly through the acquisition of competing companies around the world,” says Mr Schack-Petersen. “We are investing heavily in European logistics and this is opening up the southern part of the region for us. We are now connecting markets in places like Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey with cargo coming in from Egypt, for example.”