► OTS Logistics Group Chairman appoints new member to Executive Committee
► Osaka office moves to Japan's Central Business District
► DCL awarded for contribution to top clients business operations
► VLS creates presence at Brazil tradeshow
►Glenn Family Foundation funds scholarship for New Zealand school district
► Children's school receives boost from Glenn Family Foundation
►Vanguard Airfreight Department rises to lofty challenge
► A race against time in the International Logistics business
▪
Vanguard's addition of import sales manager a sign for coming growth
▪
Conterm, Makoto officials meet to keep 15-year
partnership strong
▪
DCL USA honored with tip off ceremony
▪
Conterm, OWS agent awarded BASC certification
OTS Logistics Group Chairman appoints new member to Executive Committee
wen
G. Glenn, Chairman of the OTS Logistics Group, announced the
appointment of Hal Donahue to the organizations Executive Committee. Hal is
responsible for the region of South America south of Panama and Mexico.
”Hal has delivered sustained growth year on year in his region and has a unique combination of skills from sales and marketing to financial management," said Mr. Glenn, "I expect him to bring these skills to contribute significantly in helping to grow the group at a strategic level.”
Mr. Donahue has worked to augment the regions growth and profitability, in 2005 Vanguard Latin America increased productivity over 100 percent. His newly acquired membership in the Executive Committee will allow him to take a more active and in-depth role in the region as part of the groups multinational growth strategy. With his new role on the committee, Mr. Donahue will expand his focus on the regions direction as it relates to not only market need but to the company as a whole.
Mr. Donahue said in accepting his new role, “This company is one which has the ability to take emerging trends and new opportunities and translate them into bottom line growth. I am pleased that Owen sees this region as a vital contributor and as a new member of the Executive Committee I look forward to participating in helping to implement the companys global vision.”
Mr. Donahue came to the company 7 years ago with experience setting up distribution centers in Argentina and Brazil for Wal-Mart, which was his key account at a logistics and trucking company. He began as the Vice President for Vanguard Latin America and in 2002 he took over the role of Regional Managing Director.
Mr. Donahue not only brings with him experience but drive and interest in the industry. Unlike many, he has always known what he wanted to do.
"I always wanted to work internationally. When I was 10 I wanted to be a freight forwarder, "said Mr. Donahue.
He obtained his MBA from Thunderbird University, which is the American Graduate School of International Management. Mr. Donahue studied language at the university level and is fluent in Spanish.
ACA
Japan’s Osaka office recently relocated to a more strategic
location. The new office is situated in the central business district of
Osaka where most shipping lines and customers are located.
Colleagues were pleased to move from their old office to a larger and more strategic location, which is closer to the clientele they service, said Mike Dye, Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific.
“We are very pleased with the move and we see plenty of room for development and improvement in our service quality in this exciting and rapidly expanding market,” said Ms. Hiroko Tanaka, Osaka Branch Manager.
The new office location is equipped with modern facilities and larger office space in order to accommodate the growth in NACA Japan’s customer base. NACA Japan has two offices in Japan: Tokyo and Osaka.
anguard
Logistics Services (VLS) Hong Kong has succeeded in keeping the
momentum in building up direct freight all kinds (FAK) services from Hong
Kong to the United States.
VLS Hong Kong furthered its list of offerings by adding service from Hong Kong to New York, Chicago and Minneapolis. Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia are also serviced via New York.
“We understand our customers and agents. There is a need for a direct FAK service to the Mid West in the USA. The new
service provides a reliable and fast transit time,” said Jackson Yeung, general manager for VLS Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong to Chicago the transit time is within 20 days and to Minneapolis it takes just an additional three days from Chicago.The New York service takes 23 days.
“Since the LCL cargo will not be stripped in LA, this service saves on forwarding costs," Yeung explained, "It provides a faster transit time and less handling which avoids damaged goods, making it the best way to ship out cargo from Hong Kong to Chicago and Minneapolis.”
DCL awarded for contribution to top clients business operations
Direct Container Line's Manila, Philippines office awarded by a top client for valuable service
irect Container Line (DCL)
in Manila was recently
invited for the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Technolux, a top DCL
Manila import client. DCL Manila
Country Manager, Don Aquias attended the event on the group’s behalf.
Technolux Equipment and Supply Corporation is a distributor of top-of-the-line food service equipment. As exclusive distributors Technolux uses DCL’s services to import a large array of items such as ice machines, soft serve ice cream machines and juice dispensers for hotels, fast food chains, restaurants, resorts, hospitals and manufacturing plants.
“We recognize Technolux as a VIP account and we are honored to be invited to Technolux’s anniversary celebration and in turn be recognized for the service we provide them,” Aquias said during the celebration." This recognition is only an incentive to take our services to an even higher level."
(Left to
Right) William Stelton, Florence Hobayan,
Don Aquias and Susan Roxas hold up the award presented to DCL.
In the course of the event, Technolux Chairman, William Stelton, and Import Manager, Florence Hobayan awarded DCL with a plaque of appreciation. The plaque was awarded to DCL for the company’s contribution to Technolux’s “continuing growth and success”.
anguard Logistics Services (VLS)
Brazil recently
participated in the Intermodal South America Trade Show 2005, which was held
in Sao Paulo this year. This marks the sixth consecutive year that VLS has
participated in this trade show.More than 40,000 people attended the show which featured 350 participants. Over 85 percent of the people who visited the show were importers, exporters and freight forwarders.
Vanguard was represented by staff from its offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas and Porto Alegre. Alejandro Retamosa and Silvana Dudek from VLS in Buenos Aires also participated in the trade show in order to further heighten the trade between Brazil and Argentina. General Manager for VLS Chile, Andres Ritter, represented his office. Ritters presence at the show proved important for agent and customer development.
Vanguard's display brightly looms over
the crowd at Intermodal South America Trade Show 2005
Gabi Ortega, from AGC Barcelona, a long-term and
(from left to right) Paulo
Tonello of VLS Brazil, Gabi Ortega of AGC, Caio Salles of VLS Brazil,
Luciana Pan Mulato of Dupont Latin America, Hal Donahue of VLS Latin
America.
"AGC’s presence at the show was highly productive and we look forward to receiving Gabi at Intermodal trade shows in future years," said Ritter.
“The annual intermodal trade show is a very important marketing event for VLS in Brazil which permits us to demonstrate our growth and market presence to competitors and customers,” explained Hal Donahue, Regional Managing Director, “ This year’s trade show was a huge success and all of the VLS staff who participated in the show and in the preparation are to be commended.”
The show has grown in importance and is not only an opportunity to meet with local suppliers, customers and competitors but is an important forum for meeting with agents from throughout Latin America and from Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean.
Glenn Family Foundation funds scholarship for New Zealand school district
he
Glenn Family Foundation recently announced it will offer a
scholarship with the Sir Howard Morrison Education Foundation to begin in 2006. The
Glenn Family Foundation contributed a total of NZD 100,000.
Named the “Owen Glenn Scholarship”, after the Founder of the Glenn Family Foundation, the scholarship will assist students entering into tertiary education. The scholarship will grant the chosen students from the Rotorua school district in New Zealand with enough funding to cover advanced education fees for three to four years. The funding will provide for at least four recipients from 2006 to 2010. The Sir Howard Morrison Education Foundation, facilitated by the Manaakitanga Aotearoa Charitable Trust, will interview students for the scholarship with committed input from the Glenn Family Foundation.
“We are looking for those entering into tertiary education in 2006 that show exceptional leadership qualities in academia, sport or music,” explained Sir Howard Morrison, founder of the Manaakitanga Aotearoa Charitable Trust and a New Zealand entertainment icon.
Students will be chosen on performance and talent, however, attitude will be highly taken into account, said Donna Grant, CEO of the Manaakitanga Aotearoa Charitable Trust.
“In my father’s words, the three most important things are attitude, attitude, attitude,” said Grant.
The Trust was given recognition as one of the finalists in the
Rotorua Business Awards and was the only trust on the list of finalists.
Sir Howard Morrison and Owen Glenn decided on the scholarship details during Mr. Glenn's mother's 90th birthday celebration. Mr. Morrison was invited to sing for the occasion. Mr. Morrison first began his entertainment career in 1956. He began his outreach to students in 1981. Both Mr. Glenn and Mr. Morrison share a focus on contributing to education.
Sir Howard Morrison sings with Owen Glenn to his side.
Children's school receives boost from Glenn Family Foundation
he
recent London Marathon was filled with a multitude of runners,
all with their own reasons for taking on the impressive 26-mile stretch.
Stephanie Johnston was one such runner with a purpose beyond physical
ambition and determination. She ran for a charitable cause.
After completing a strenuous 26-mile
distance, Stephanie Johnston smiles, holding her jersey dedicated to
Dr.Graham's Homes.
As the great granddaughter of the missionary in India, who founded the Homes in 1900 in the Darjeeling district of India, Johnston decided to run for the Homes.
“Sometimes it takes a long time to get into the [London] marathon. I got in and so I thought I might as well do it,” said Johnston.
The school boards over 350 sponsorship-supported children
on 500 acres with a total of 1,300 students from all areas and social classes, which pay tuition. On the school’s acreage the children have access to workshops, a farm, bakery, central kitchen and a hospital.
A view from above of the Dr. Graham's
Homes, courtesy of The Kalimpong Homes Magazine.
The school provides the children with a complete education in subjects such as Science, Commerce, Humanities and Language. The students are given the opportunity to participate in debates, sports, inter-school festivals, choir, magazine club and can make use of an Internet café. The Homes also provides the children with career counseling as one of the many guidance programs available.
Johnston was able to visit the homes with her father, the grandson of Dr. Graham, in September 2003 for the 103 birthday of the Homes establishment. She remarked how happy and well educated all of the children were.
Owen Glenn, founder of the Glenn Family Foundation and Chairman of the OTS Logistics Group, gifted the money after Jimmy Keir, foundation coordinator, relayed the story of Johnston’s background connection to the Homes and all of the opportunity it provides the children.
“The donation was much more than I expected. It was quite generous,” Johnston said with emphasis.
The Foundation stated it hopes the donation will provide the Homes with the resources it needs.
▪ Vanguard's Airfreight team used precision to successfully transport a helicopter
Vanguard Logistics Services (VLS) moved a Sikorsky S76 helicopter from Dallas, Texas to Melbourne, Australia. Helicopter Resources, a helicopter charter and leasing company, commissioned VLS to transport the helicopter, which will be used on an oilrig.
Vanguard Airfreight
Department inches the helicopter into the 747 Freighter.
The helicopter was trucked from Dallas to Chicago, to be loaded onboard a 747 Freighter and flown via Hong Kong to Melbourne in cooperation with VLS’ United States airfreight agent, Allstates Worldcargo and Cathay Pacific Airways.
The helicopter is 43 feet long, nine feet and eight inches high, eight feet wide. Loading this oversized cargo required an inch-by-inch forward / rotation movement to steer the helicopter in through the side door, explained Airfreight Manager, Dominic Fedele.
“The helicopter is certainly one of the most awkward pieces of cargo, as the dimensions are within inches of the size limitations for loading into the aircraft,” said Fedele.
The movement was difficult as any impact sustained to the tail of the helicopter, called the boom, can render the helicopter unable to fly.
Special cargo of those dimensions required much coordination with government customs and quarantine departments. VLS was able to arrange for Customs and Quarantine to be onsite when the helicopter was unloaded so the unwieldy cargo did not have to be moved to a bonded warehouse, which is usually mandatory.
“All local customs and quarantine formalities were finalized within hours of landing. Having the department onsite saved a lot of time," said Fedele, expressing gratitude to the authorities involved for their commitment to the trade community.
VLS Airfreight Department took great pains to ensure the helicopter arrived undamaged by storing the unusual cargo away from traffic. Airline trollies were used as buffers around the helicopter to prevent damage from traffic.
The Airfreight Departments efficient coordination of the move
ensured the shipment arrived on time and undamaged. The department made sure there was no double handling of the cargo and stayed in constant contact with the airline to make sure it arrived on time, said Fedele.
"Vanguard Logistics Services' Airfreight Division is fast becoming renowned for it's capabilities in handling Special Needs Cargo,” said Fedele.
VLS Australia and New Zealand has seen it's airfreight product experience growth over the last two years.
“Its strengths have been its truly dedicated team of Airfreight professionals as well as it's agent network,” said Collin Rozario, National Airfreight Manager.
Vanguard's Airfreight Department prepares the helicopter to be trucked.
Vanguard has also been able to offer "third country moves" said Rozario. This has involved movements from countries in the Far East to Europe and movements from the USA or Europe directly to destinations in the Pacific Islands.
anguard
Logistics Services (VLS) New Zealand recently encountered
a “moment of truth” when it successfully responded to an SOS call from a
client in Greece whose vessel was fast running out of lubrication oil in a
region far removed from its origin country.
The alert came unexpectedly in the early evening. The client’s vessel, which was on a voyage to Labasa, was going to get stranded in Lautoka, Fiji and would not be able to make it past that port. The oil was not available in Lautoka leaving the only option to call for an emergency shipment in order to keep on schedule. VLS entered into the equation as the fastest mode of assistance.
“We were in a unique position to respond because we have our own office in New Zealand. This gave us an important time advantage,” said Patrick Munoz, general manager for VLS New Zealand.
VLS immediately contacted a supplier in Sydney, Australia that managed to source 12 drums containing 2,500 kilograms of the special lube oil in Auckland by the next
day. VLS Air Freight Department then swiftly moved the cargo on a direct flight into Nadi, Fiji.
“Part of our business is to respond to the unexpected. In this case, we needed to find a solution to an interesting problem that we had never encountered before, which was how and where do we source the oil and then solve the second part of the problem – how to urgently deliver it for the vessels arrival in Fiji”, said Munoz.
The freight was customs cleared in Nadi and delivered to the ships side just as the vessel berthed in Lautoka. Within 48 hours, the SOS call from Greece had translated into a shipside delivery of a vital ingredient required to keep the ship moving.
“The way the whole transaction happened involving Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji is an indicator of the phenomenal way in which communication and logistics has effectively shrunken the world,” said Patrick Munoz, general manager for VLS New Zealand.
The New Zealand team liaised directly with the customer in Greece and used Vanguard’s own airfreight department to take care of clearance and delivery. The customers initial contact, Teijesh Patel at VLS New Zealand, aided in coordinating communication during evening hours to accommodate the time difference.
“It’s also an issue of jumping to help a customer in an urgent situation. We were able to demonstrate our commitment to customer service by pulling out all stops. In this case, the customer was a first-time user of our services and we’ve already received another request from them to move four tons to Pago Pago in American Samoa”, said Munoz.
Vanguard's addition of import sales manager a sign for coming growth
Vanguard Logistics Services (VLS)
USA
expanded its import department with the addition of an Import Sales Manager,
Richard Suwinski.
VLS maintains a focus on
further developing its import services and chose Suwinski for
his 10 years of experience in imports.
Richard Suwinski
“I’m fully aware of everything that goes into it. I used to be the customer so I know exactly what they’re looking for and I plan to focus on using that knowledge in providing solutions to the customer,” said Suwinski.
Suwinski hopes to help VLS develop the import product to be more sophisticated in meeting the demands of the
customer. He is supported by inside sales and sales support as well as the import customer service department.
“Our import services have been rapidly developing and with the recent growth of business in China, we have a global import coverage that will meet the needs of the entire spectrum of customers. Richard has a tremendous amount of experience . His mission is to bring us to the next level, and I have confidence that he will do so ,” said Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Lee.
Suwinski not only brings logistics experience from his previously held positions such as Ocean Operations Import Manager, but from the Army. He served in the Army for six years. During that time he was involved in the transportation of supplies and equipment to military posts and training facilities throughout the U.S.
Conterm, Makoto officials meet to keep 15-year partnership strong
▪ Heads of Makoto and NACA Logistics (USA) Inc. recently met to ensure continued success of the partnership.
Yasu Tomita, president of Makoto Japan, came for an annual meeting with Michael Sinclair, CEO for NACA Logistics (USA) Inc, which represents OTS Logistics Group in the United States.
Makoto and NACA USA celebrate a 15-year mutually beneficial business relationship. Makoto began as the NACA USA agent in Japan. The relationship has evolved through the years as office locations changed and Conterm Consolidation Services now takes care of Makoto’s outbound freight. Due to the volumes handled customer service is strengthened by having a Makoto/Conterm representative based in the United States.
Yuki Tanida, who has been with Makoto for seven years and in the care of the CCS Los Angeles office for four years, handles customer service, sales, and traces shipments to ensure everything moves properly. Ms. Tanida accompanied
Mr. Tomita and Mr. Sinclair to visit the Chicago office and visit with a major account.
From January 2004 to July 2005 the partnership handled 942 TEU exported from Japan to the United States.
“Makoto has remained a strong ally and we do all we can to take care of them as partners,” said Mr. Sinclair.
Yasu Tomita (left) and Michael Sinclair discuss the partnership over dinner
Representatives for Federal Mogul Venezuela, one of the largest automotive part manufacturers that produce over 26,000 items, and Direct Container Line recently met in Venezuela to strengthen the relationship.
DCL and Federal Mogul stand at half court to participate in the tip off ceremony as both teams reach for the ball.
“They are a very important customer of ours so I went there to learn more about their local needs and to find additional ways to improve the process and to also find new opportunities to work together,” said Richard Burke, southeast regional sales manager for DCL Miami.
The meeting turned to be more eventful than a usual business meeting. DCL Southeast Regional Sales Manager, Richard Burke, with Alvaro Ayala, Transcarveca Operations Manager for Caracas, attended the Conference Championship Game for the Venezuela National Basketball League.
“We were the special guests
of Mr. Gustavo Garcia, General Manager of Federal Mogul Valencia. Federal
Mogul and their Champion Spark Plug Division are key sponsors for the
Valencia Trottamundos Basketball Club. The game was very exciting and the
Trottamundos played an
excellent game,” said Burke.
Aside from being surprised with the honor of the tip off ceremony, it was a successful trip because the discussions amounted to DCL being appointed to carry Federal Mogul’s import business to Venezuela from the USA and Mexico, explained Burke.
Conterm Consolidation Services' agent in Peru, Train Peru SAC, received official certification from the Business Anti-Smuggling Coalition (BASC), a program created to promote a secure global supply chain, during a ceremony at the Lima Chamber of Commerce. The ceremony, held by the BASC Peru Chapter, featured participating representatives of the US CBP and DEA as well as guest speakers from the private and public sector. This certification guarantees security management and monitoring standards in the day-to-day operation as established by the World BASC Organization, to prevent smuggling and possible terrorist acts.
The
Train Peru team proudly displays the BASC earned certification.
To obtain the certification, Train Peru upgraded corporate security policies and conducted comprehensive training for all employees. The standardization of procedures and enhanced control measures in all areas within the company will in turn streamline its interaction with other parties in the
global supply chain. Train Peru’s operation now guarantees high quality security standards and procedures, protection against potential smuggling risk and a faster customs processing operation.
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