►OTS Logistics Group appoints new member to Executive Committee

►ICPI Visits Vanguard Logistics Services Hong Kong

►Vanguard Logistics Services in Port Klang relocates

►Vanguard Logistics Singapore Opens Cambodia Representative Office

►VLS New Zealand Handles Papeete Charter

►Vanguard New Zealand provides
service to the children of South Africa

►VLS Philippines Goes to Batangas For Team Building
 

►’Spotlight’ shines on Vanguard Logistics Australia

►Vanguard Dalian Diversifies Services

▪ Brennan International’s Philippines' agent is a Most Outstanding Sea Freight Consolidator
▪ Customized Program + Dedicated Team = Success!
▪ NACA Atlanta Appoints New Customer Service Manager
▪ Utilization Leads to Employee Appreciation, and the Florida Marlins
▪ New York Project Desk makes big inroads
 

OTS Logistics Group appoints new member to Executive Committee

TS Logistics Group has recently appointed Tony Holt to the Executive Committee.

Tony Holt joined Vanguard Logistics Australia in December 2001 as Managing Director for Australia and Regional Director for the South Pacific Region at the request of the Chairman, Mr. Owen Glenn, with a brief to restructure the Group following the acquisition of AFS and EFS.

At the end of his three year contract, Holt was transferred to OTS Logistics Group as Senior Director Corporate Finance, reporting directly to the Chairman with responsibilities for acquisitions, the GPS Projects Division and other assignments as required.

Before joining Vanguard Logistics, Holt had been Regional Director of Wilson Logistics Group South Pacific Region, a position he had held for eight years

Tony Holt

Holt is a family man with four children from eight to forty-three years old and is a keen yachtsman and fisherman. On more than one occasion, Holt has been Australian Sailing Champion in multiple classes in various Olympic class sailing boats.

ICPI Visits Vanguard Logistics Services Hong Kong

The purpose for the trip was to meet their counterparts personally to be able to build a better and stronger relationship. Marlon and Erich were accompanied by Michael Tsui, Vice President for East Asia, around the new office located at Central, Hong Kong. Both had the chance to be introduced to the different sales and key staffs at VLS Hong Kong.

International Consolidators Philippines Inc. (ICPI) is the agent for Brennan in the Philippines. ICPI is known in the industry as the market leader in the Philippines-USA trade.

In the course of their visit, Marlon and Erich also toured the Global Resource Center in Zhuhai, China together with Mike Dye, CEO of Asia Pacific, Haydn O’Brien, Senior VP for Global Operations and Michael Tsui, Chief Operating Officer, East Asia. The Zhuhai office intends to make ICPI its first direct client. “With this in place, the process of information passing will be cut short thus customers will receive the import/export information 2-3 days earlier than usual,” Villanueva said.

“Now that we have China doing consolidations to the USA, it is easier for our sales staff to sell the service to our global co-loaders,” explained Mike Dye during their meeting in Zhuhai.

 Villanueva and Lingad plan to expand the consolidation business from the USA trade to other markets with the help of other partner brands such as DCL and Conterm. ICPI look forward to continuing the partnership and in growing the business of the group.

Vanguard Logistics Services in Port Klang relocates

Vanguard Logistics in Port Klang recently moved to a better and more strategic office location reputed to be one of the most well known buildings in Klang Town and home to some prominent shipping lines.

VLS in Port Klang is currently one of the major FAK consolidators from USA and China. Aside from this, the Port Klang office also handles FAK containers to Australia and provides an airfreight service to different destinations.

In the growing market of Port Klang, many of the members of the VLS Port Klang team see this office relocation as a strategic move to raise their profile in the industry. They are optimistic that they can continually handle different challenges and new opportunities for the betterment of the company. 

Contact details of VLS office in Port Klang:

Vanguard Logistics Services (Hong Kong) Limited
Suite P3.02 Level P3 Menara Trend Intan Millenium Square
68 Jalan Batai Laut 4 Taman Intan, 41300 Klang
Selangor Darul Eshan Malaysia
Telephone: 6-03-3344-6223
Facsimile: 6-03-3344-9920

From left to right: Sherine Beh (Sales Executive), Irese Lim (Customer Service Assistant), Faridah (Operations Assistant), Nooranita (Operations Executive), Azmin (Operators Assistant), Tammy Chin (Accounts/Admin Executive), Christy Ngai (Accounts/Admin Manager), Irene Goh (General Manager), Jin(Customer Service Executive), Regina (Operations Assistant), Wilson Ong (Sales Manager)

Vanguard Logistics Singapore Opens Cambodia
Representative Office

TS Logistics Group CEO for Asia Pacific, Mr. Michael Dye, today announced that it’s wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, Vanguard Logistics Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., has opened a representative office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The new office started operations on June 1st, promoting services from the multiple brands that Vanguard represents, such as Direct Container Line, Ocean World Shipping, Brennan International Transport and Conterm Consolidation Services, to the shipping community in Cambodia.

From Left to Right: James Huang, Managing Director of R & H Enterprises, Khuy Phea, Sales Manager Of Vanguard Cambodia and Roy Chew, Vice President of South Asia Region of the OTS Logistics Group

OTS Logistics Group has aggressively promoted expansion in Southeast Asia with an objective to establish an office in each key city. "We view South Asia, with a population of over 600 million, as an important and growing market. The establishment of a representative office in Phnom Penh reflects the confidence that we have in this new emerging market" said Dye.

To coincide with the opening of the new office, Vanguard has also appointed R & H Enterprises (Cambodia) Ltd., to handle all operational matters on its behalf. Said James Huang, a Singaporean and R & H's managing director: "I am happy to be associated with Vanguard and the brand names that it represents. Having been based in Cambodia the past five years, I am confident that R & H will contribute significantly to Vanguard's overall sales direction."
 
Added Roy Chew, OTS Regional VP for South Asia: "The opening up of our Phnom Penh office is another milestone for Vanguard Logistics. Cambodia became the newest member of ASEAN in 1999. This market is opening up and attracting overseas investment interest. Vanguard has always sought to innovate itself at each stage of its development by expanding its portfolio of services and developing new capabilities to create more value to its customers. I hope that our presence will create more awareness and choices for the shipping community in Cambodia as well our global partners and offices."

Vanguard Logistics Services New Zealand Handles Papeete Charter

anguard New Zealand recently handled the charter of an airbus from New Zealand to Papeete, Tahiti for 7 x 20ft containers of hotel furniture & fittings. This included a large glass chandelier from Malaysia & Indonesia.  The cargo was destined for the newly opened "Societe Hoteliere Motu Ome'e" resort located in Bora Bora, an Island in French Polynesia. The opportunity to handle this cargo arose when the connecting vessel in New Zealand went into dry-dock. The consignee had a deadline for the opening of the resort of the 20^th of June which could not be postponed due to several VIP bookings that had been accepted already. 

“We demonstrated that we can move fast and still deliver the cargo in good shape and without error”, said Patrick Munoz, Vanguard MD for New Zealand. “If it can’t get it there using one mode of transport, we’ll use another, but we will get it there. And we clearly understand what deadlines are about”.

Vanguard New Zealand provides
service to the children of South Africa

anguard Logistics Services (VLS) New Zealand was recently approached by Dilworth School in Auckland for help with a container they had to send to John Wesley School in Natal, South Africa. This School is based on the traditions of the famous John Wesley where many orphans and under privileged children are situated.

The goods that the Dilworth school wanted to ship to Africa included sporting equipment and clothing which they were able to collect from their fund raising activities. 

VLS New Zealand requested special subsidized rates from a shipping line and also made available a container free of charge for Dilworth School to load as and when they received the goods.

The container reached its destination but encountered a problem with Customs in South Africa. This resulted in extensive co-ordination between the South African Government and Thrutainers International, the VLS agent in South Africa.

The cleared container arrived at the school 30 minutes before classes concluded for the day. The excited kids gathered around the truck and waited for the doors to open. "Good grief it was stuffed full!  I wish you could have heard the noise when the driver pulled the balls out of the truck! Wow! We just want to say thank you so much,” said Lore, a school administrator.

Dilly Davies, administrator of Dilworth School, upon hearing of the successful delivery of the cargo sent a letter to Patrick Munoz and his staff saying: "I just want to thank you all again for all the work you put into getting the container load of goods to John Wesley School in Eshowe."
 

“Sometimes, we get the opportunity to use our daily work to make a difference in people’s lives”, said Patrick Munoz. “The staff at Vanguard Logistics in NZ is happy that we made a small contribution to the lives of kids that we have never seen”.

VLS Philippines Goes to Batangas For Team Building

The VLS Philippines team recently went South heading to the ESL Resort in Batangas for a team building weekend. The day started around 10:30 am with the arrival at the resort and settling into their rooms.

Don Aquias, Country Manager, addressed the team and outlined the objectives for the day.

Vanguard Logistics Services Philippines Team

The Batangas resort provides a number of recreational facilities including a swimming pool, basketball court, jet ski facilities, pool table and conference facilities for team building exercises.  

The group conducted a number of enjoyable and stimulating activities, including music relays, trust building and communication skill related activities. A 360 degree feedback and communication exercise gave every one the chance to speak and to share insights about the activities, the team in general and personal comments and suggestions on how to build stronger working relationships.  

At the end of the team building weekend, the group collectively felt that they had achieved and built upon a far better and dynamic rapport among themselves which they expected would translate into a better working environment. They also utilized the opportunity to identify challenges facing the business and strategize on ways to overcome them, build revenue and customer service and generally enhance the business

 “We were able to bring the participants together and set a good start for the next half of the year for the whole VLS Philippines team,” said Don Aquias during the closing remarks.

’Spotlight’ shines on Vanguard Logistics Australia

Spotlight is Australia, New Zealand and Singapore's largest fabric, craft and homemaker decorating retail chain. With revenues exceeding $600 million, Spotlight currently operates over 100 stores stocking over 50,000 unique products. 

Earlier this year, Vanguard was given the opportunity on a trial basis to handle the shipping and distribution for Spotlights exports to the South Island of New Zealand. 

The scope of this business included the delivery of empty containers to the Spotlight warehouse in Laverton, the pickup of full containers, ocean freight and the de-vanning and sorting of stock. It’s the last service that was of special relevance to Vanguard Australia as it demonstrates the ability to add features to the service set that is of particular value to logistics managers.

Due to the exceptional service provided by Vanguard at both origin and destination, Spotlight invited the organization to tender for the North Island business where the volume is substantially greater than the South Island. Spotlight has 13 stores in the North Island and 4 in the South Island.

On June 19^th, VLS was advised by Bernard McDonald, Spotlight Supply Chain Manager, that Vanguard had been successful in the submission process and would be awarded with all of the New Zealand business including any airfreight.  

The privately held company imports 1700 TEU per annum, predominantly from China. ”We are grateful that a pre-eminent name like Spotlight chose to trust us with streamlining their logistics” said Vince Argenzio, General Manager for Corporate Development in Vanguard Australia. “We are proving that we can help with thinking through how to use our freight services for maximum advantage as smart companies like Spotlight leverage their Supply Chains into maximum efficiencies”.

From left to right: Vince Argenzio, General Manager Corporate Development (Vanguard), Bernard McDonald, Supply Chain Manager (Spotlight), Belinda Shiells, Export Manager (Spotlight), Tammy Heaviside, Customer Service Representative (Vanguard)

Spotlights 240,000 sqft. fulfillment center in Laverton, Victoria

Vanguard Logistics Dalian Diversifies Service

VLS Dalian has successfully added a number of trade lanes to its core destinations. A recent upsurge in volume to Canada, Scandinavia and West Mediterranean has added to the traditional markets in the US, South East Asia and the strong presence in the Japan trade lane. Vanguard Dalian now offers a weekly service to all these destinations and to major European destinations.  

The growth is part of a diversification and expansion strategy being followed both within the Dalian office and in the broader VLS China operation. “The market in Dalian continues to grow to all locations and we wanted to broaden our focus. In order to do this, we are pointing out to our customers that we offer some of the most competitive rates and some of the friendliest service in Dalian” said Lance Lu, General Manager of VLS Dalian.

The operations team of VLS Dalian

The accounting team

The documentation department

Brennan International’s Philippines' agent is a
Most Outstanding Sea Freight Consolidator

A leading Philippines NVO, International Consolidator Philippines Inc.(ICPI), representative of Brennan International in that country, has received a prestigious “Global Award for Marketing Excellence” from a national marketing body.

The award is presented to companies that demonstrate, through rigorous market research, a superior value offering, excellent product quality, strong customer orientation and outstanding marketing practices in a global environment.

The acclaimed award is conferred by the Philippine Marketing Practitioners Association, Business Asia Magazine, the Asia Pacific Global Awards for Marketing Excellence and Angora Institute for Marketing Excellence.

"It is with deep honor and quiet pride that we receive such a distinguished award," said Erich Lingad, General Manager of ICPI, "We would like to thank Brennan International for the support and for giving us the same level of quality service from all over the world”.

Mike Dye, CEO for Asia Pacific for the OTS Logistics Group, returned the compliment. “We trust ICPI to handle Brennan’s customers because we know they will do a good job. We didn’t need independent confirmation but I am happy for our colleagues at ICPI that there is broader market recognition for their customer focus. My congratulations go to them for a well deserved prize”.

Customized Program + Dedicated Team = Success!

Conterm Chicago continues to raise the bar on its competition. They are bringing to market the concept of highly customized programs for customers using existing routing and services, cutting edge technology, and dedicated customer service.

For over a year now, Conterm has pioneered a special program in conjunction with one of its elite customers, Schenker International, a concept called the “Schenker Program”.

The two major components of the program are technology and service.

As part of the “Schenker program”, Conterm undertook a complete customization of a number of elements that it makes available as part of its usual offering to the market place. This included modifications to the web based Sailing Schedule, Rapid bookings, Track and Trace, Shiprite and performance reports.

“We tailored these components to suit Schenker’s operating and process requirements so that they now form the basis for ‘silent’ communication between Conterm and the 50 offices with the customer’s network”, said Olivia Fidler, regional manager for NACA Logistics. “I use the term ‘silent’ because nearly 2000 cbm of freight gets loaded into a hundred or so containers every month with reduced phone calls while Schenker is able to maintain control over all of their freight and what they want done with it”.

The second major contributor is the day to day services offered by the NACA “Schenker Team’ which is centralized in Chicago.  This staff of four ensures all 1500 bookings move as needed each month. 

Dawn Versetto (Customer Service Manager) John Fitzgerald (Team Lead) Joyce Fugate (Booking Agent) Matt Gustafson (Customer Service) form the “Schenker team” in Conterm Chicago.

 “This is no small feat, and not possible at all without the daily assistance offered by Vanguard staff through out the system.  The program’s success is a tangible result of everyone’s consistent efforts and outstanding service approach”, said Jeff Lee, COO for North American operations. “We also appreciate the close co-operation of Schenker as we built the components and together we demonstrated that collaborative logistics is indeed the right approach”.

The success of the program is believed to have played a role in the recent decision by Bax Global to add their cargo to the program as part of their internal merger with Schenker. The newly renamed “Schenker / Bax Global program” is expected to handle 500 – 700 cbm of additional freight each month.

NACA Atlanta Appoints New Customer Service Manager

Ish has become a favorite of the Atlanta based customers for his prompt and thorough follow up, and for his pleasant and professional demeanor.    

Ismael Perez, Customer Service Manager

Utilization Leads to Employee Appreciation, and the Florida Marlins

Utilization of containers has been a focal point for management in all regions of the USA for 2006. This led to specific and measurable goals being set for each region for the year.

Miami’s Traffic department has been particularly successful in achieving their utilization goals and they have been vocal in recognizing the key role that Miami CFS staff has played in their ability to achieve these goals. The CFS crew has had to put in longer hours, build more complex loads and increase hand stacked freight.

The CFS team is led by Pedro Polanco, the VLS CFS Manager. “We are loading a few less containers a week” said Pedro, “but those that we are loading are fuller more consistently.  This is exactly our goal in improving utilization; loading the same freight in fewer containers”. 

Dolphins Stadium

In recognition of the outstanding efforts, Pedro and Vanguard Miami operations showed their gratitude by escorting the CFS staff and their families to a Florida Marlins game against the Boston Red Sox in early July. In addition to the ballgame, a tailgate party preceded the game with some delicious burgers, hot dogs and chicken by Chef Polanco.  

Juan Suris, Miami Warehouse Supervisor, was also in attendance. He too has felt the pressure of utilization by the need to speed up the receiving process. He took the opportunity to send a nod to the IT department. “We couldn’t have done this without the wireless remote hand held receiving units which are in use now as they allow us to make freight available faster for load plans”. 

Those that attended enjoyed the evening, even though the Marlins lost.

New York Project Desk makes big inroads

The New York project cargo desk began in May of 2006 and has been expanding with the handling of project freight ever since. 

Headed by Dieter Plompen, the special services desk has taken the east coast project freight industry by storm; quoting everything possible for USA based clients and worldwide agents and offices as well. 

Dieter’s vast knowledge has allowed for the pieces of the complex jigsaw puzzle most often associated with project cargo to fall into place. 

This extruder weighed 62000 lbs and was moved from New York to Laem Chabang, Thailand.  Delivery was made along-side the vessel and loaded straight onto the vessel from the truck.  It was lashed onto 2 40 foot flat-racks in the vessel’s hold.

This 79300 lb steam boiler was moved from Port Everglades to Callao, Peru.  Florida International Terminal, the actual terminal in Port Everglades, loaded this cargo directly onto the vessel.

The east coast and mid-west sales force now has the New York project cargo desk flyers in their possession and the global services department has distributed soft copy flyers across the world. 

“We eagerly anticipate our new undertaking to grow from its child phase into an intricate part of NACA’s business”, said Plompen, outlining his vision for the new service segment.

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c/o NACA Logistics (USA) Inc
857 E 230^th St
Carson CA 90745