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Africa
We analyse the main benefits of choosing a logistics partner with a global structure for carriers looking for more reliable alternatives to their supply chain
The pandemic in 2020 demonstrated the fragility of the supply chain and, since then, the international context has been adding events that confirm the vulnerability of logistics: whether it is a ship stuck in the Suez Canal, the war in Ukraine or the blockage in the port of Shanghai.
Any event thousands of kilometres away from a company's headquarters can have a direct impact on the supply of its goods and its bottom line, even if its products do not pass through the Suez Canal or it has no suppliers in Ukraine or Shanghai.
The interconnection of the global transport network has knock-on effects on an international scale, in the form of container shortages, higher shipping rates, port congestion or delivery delays.
In this new environment, shippers are immersed in a process of change, inspecting their supply chain in search of new solutions that bring stability to their business and the ideal logistics partner to adapt to the new rules of the game.
The first trend among freight companies has been a global rethinking of their strategy and, specifically, of their suppliers, identifying the most suitable ones and the place where they should be located, as pointed out in a report published in the magazine Información Comercial Española (ICE). On the one hand, shippers are seeking to increase the number of suppliers in order to diversify the risk of depending exclusively on a single supplier and, on the other, they are rethinking the concept of Nearshoring, bringing production closer to nearby territories, thus shortening the value chain.
Linked to this movement, shippers are evaluating which operators are the most suitable to entrust their logistics to. Changes in production also require a global reformulation of their logistics and transport network, so they demand that their partner has the necessary characteristics to adjust to this new environment, respond to new challenges and solve any type of problem.
Faced with this choice, international logistics operators are positioned as the best candidates for shippers to entrust their supply chain to. The complex international situation makes the profile of a global logistics partner more and more attractive, with its own structure and professionals that guarantee the capacity to respond to any incident anywhere in the world. But there are many more arguments for entrusting logistics to a large international group:
The uncertainty of the global situation of the supply chain pushes shippers to look for partners with greater solidity, who guarantee sufficient financial solvency to provide stability to their clients and the necessary capacity to solve any type of unforeseen event in the market.
The delegations of a global logistics partner provide a shipper with the guarantee of greater security for its supply chain, especially in such an unpredictable context, in which companies may be forced to look for suppliers in new markets.
A logistics operator's own staff becomes the best ally in the face of any problem that may arise throughout the chain, which is why it is an advantage to have a large team of professionals located in the main international hubs.
Large freight forwarders have long-term contracts with shipping lines, airlines and freight forwarders, so that loading companies can access better conditions for their transport services.
A logistics partner with a global structure can offer shippers a wider range of transport services, providing flexibility for their shipments and adapting them to the conditions of all types of goods, all time periods and destinations.
The offer of a leading operator is not limited to transport, but is complemented by services that cover all the logistical needs of a company and by designing specific solutions to meet its concrete requirements.
Large logistics partners have accumulated experience with industrial companies in different branches of activity, so they can offer customised services for each sector to meet the requirements of all markets.
The trend towards logistics specialisation has pushed large operators to provide services aimed at adding more competitiveness to the supply and production chain and to become strategic allies for companies.
Key players are the main drivers of technology in logistics and lead the most disruptive initiatives in the sector, which is why their clients are the main beneficiaries of these developments.
Environmental concerns are increasingly evident in the heart of logistics companies and those with greater investment capacity are taking more decisive steps to reduce their carbon footprint and, therefore, that of their clients.