Dachser has been constantly adding regular direct LCL routes to its worldwide network. Seventeen new direct services from, to and within Asia have been implemented since the beginning of 2018. By constantly adding weekly LCL container services, important economic centers in China, India, Korea and South East Asia can gain closer connectivity to Europe via sea freight. Ports of arrival and destination are also strategically defined to implement the shortest possible transit times. The Dachser European Logistics teams arranges warehousing and delivery upon arrival at the port in Europe, while the teams in Asia organises hinterland transport via rail and road. “The LCL service offerings are minimising our transit times and close cooperation with preferred partners helps us to maintain high service levels”, says Edoardo Podestá, Managing Director Air & Sea Logistics Asia Pacific, Dachser.

Blue Dart has launched its state-of-the-art aviation hub in Chennai. The hub will measure 4,912 sqm upon completion and is strategically located at the Blue Dart Aviation Terminal, Gate 6 Old International Airport, Meenambakkam, Chennai, with both air and land side access, enabling fast and efficient transfer of shipments, improving faster transit times and further extending Blue Dart’s already market leading service quality. The new facility will also house the headquarters of Blue Dart Aviation. The hub boasts BCAS approved security screening with its own X-Ray machines, equipment and dedicated manpower. Malcolm Monteiro, CEO, DHL eCommerce India, said, “The new aviation hub will further improve our already market-leading transit times and boost on-time performance, further strengthening our promise of being the nation’s most reliable logistics brand. As part of the world’s leading logistics company, we are committed to supporting India business and will continue to be the logistics provider of choice for the sub-continent.” Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart, added, “We continue to invest heavily in technology and infrastructure to create differentiated delivery capabilities, provide the best quality services and customised solutions for our customers.”

The 8th edition of India Warehousing Show, underway at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, gained a good start through numerous product launches and an increased number of footfall this year. The summit, which is themed as ‘The evolutionary leap forward – India warehousing optimising procurement, manufacturing and distribution services in India’, aims to cover pertinent interesting subjects of the industry, be it the e-Way Bill, warehouse of tomorrow, age of automation, to name a few. The summit will conclude on June 23, 2018.

TeamLease Services estimates that the logistics sector will create employment for at least three million people by 2022, with the road freight industry alone contributing nearly 63 per cent or 1.9 million new jobs. Waterways and air freight are expected to be the other big creators of new jobs. In all, the sector is likely to employ, conservatively, at least 13.9 million, from the current 10.9 million. It also forecasts that most of these potential three million jobs would be concentrated in the bigger cities. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru would together account for 1.74 million new jobs and Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune would add another 0.68 million jobs. However, the fastest growth of jobs would be from smaller cities such as Vijayawada, Allahabad, Guwahati and Raipur.

Strong on formulating a dedicated and comprehensive logistics, warehousing and retail policy to promote and project Haryana as the logistics hub of North India, the state government has held a consultation-cum-interactive session with various stakeholders in Gurugram. The state government also plans to launch the policy by August 2018, after in-depth consultations with concerned government departments and industry stakeholders. The speakers at the interaction also felt that Haryana is set to become the logistics hub of North India in the coming years, with a consumer base having a high propensity to consume, strong connectivity owing to an exhaustive network of national highways and industrial corridors, and introduction of GST.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects the inflation-adjusted revenue of logistics service providers to grow 8-9 per cent y-o-y in FY19 as against the estimated real Gross Domestic Product growth of 7.4 per cent. Ind-Ra expects a recovery in global trade volumes in FY19, coupled with a higher demand for automobile, retail and FMCG, construction material, coal and metals, to support volume growth across the logistics space. According to Ind-Ra, the logistics space would undergo substantial consolidation over the medium to long term. Integration of goods and services markets through GST may help create a hub-and-spoke model for logistics players. This is likely to be accompanied with a realignment of supply chains from the one based on tax incentives to those based on proximity to pockets of demand and supply. The operational efficiency arising out of such realignment in supply chain designs is likely to translate into 15-20 per cent lower logistics expenses for major FMCG and white goods players over the next two to three years. The synergies from such consolidation are only to be realised FY20 onwards. Also, the introduction of e-Way bills is likely to enhance the speed of freight transportation and would thus support asset turnover for transport operators, albeit some near-term challenges will exist for smaller players.

Kale Logistics Solutions collaborated with Widerøe as a technology partner to provide air cargo management system for more than 38 airport stations across Nordic region. Widerøe is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. Vineet Malhotra, Director, Kale Logistics Solutions, said, “Air cargo operations are intricate and complex with numerous stakeholders involved at each step of a cargo transaction. With GALAXY, Widerøe can feel extremely confident to address the necessary concerns in a systematic and industry compliant way. GALAXY is a preferred solution. used by worldwide airports that incorporates global best practices and prepares the industry to manage the growing industry demands.”

DAMCO has launched Twill (www.twill.net), a new digital freight forwarding service into India. The new easy-to-use online platform provides greater control of shipments by offering instant price quotes and booking, transparency and tracking services, simplified paperwork, and proactive customer care. “The shipping and logistics industry today is filled with emails, phone calls and document-heavy processes which can lead to huge delays in getting quotes, a lack of flexibility to change routes mid-shipment, and lack of transparency for customers in pricing, location data, and issue resolution. Twill, like the name suggests, is like a tightly woven fabric that consolidates different strands of the supply chain together to make shipping simple. Resonating with the Indian government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative, we truly believe this is the right time to go live in the country, and we’re excited to be paving the way for digitisation in this industry,” shares Troels Stovring, CEO, Twill.

The cargo industry in India will now benefit from a new policy, informed Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation of India, Government of India. Addressing the Supply Chain Summit in Delhi, Prabhu said, “The country will soon have a policy on cargo that is being finalised by the new logistics department. For the first time, a logistics division has been created in the country. All the modes in the segment were reaping good results, but, there were no single one-point of contact. The policy is more of a concrete plan, to create new logistics hubs in India. The document is in the final stages of preparation.” The minister has asked the industry stakeholders to give their inputs, which could be incorporated in the policy. He said that the new policy will have a new industrial policy, one for agriculture exports and developing parameters for the country’s districts on ease of doing business.

As part of its international campaign for the FIATA World Congress 2018 (FWC-2018), Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI) participated in RAME (Region Africa & Middle East) 2018 Conference, held recently at Douala in Cameroon. This conference was the part of FIATA’s annual regional conference, where more than 700 delegates of Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders and Logistics Companies mainly from African countries, gathered to exchange views on market trends, trade opportunities and skill development. At the conference, FFFAI leaders, S Ramakrishna, Vice Chairman, FFFAI, Sudip Dey, Vice Chairman, FFFAI and Vinod Sharma, Honorary Treasurer, FFFAI, interacted with the conference delegates about FWC 2018 and business opportunities in India. According to Ramakrishna, “There were significant footfalls. Our visit to RAME 2018 was very fruitful and we are expecting about 200 delegates from African countries alone.” To be hosted by FFFAI, which is a member association of FIATA, the FWC 2018 will be held from September 26-29 at Aerocity in New Delhi. The event expects more than 1500 delegates from overseas countries as well as India. Themed as ‘The Future Starts Here’, FWC 2018 aims to showcase brand India as a lucrative hub for manufacturing and logistics industry.