In my previous article China in Focus: Logistics and transport future trends (part 1), I described four future logistic and transport trends in China. The supply chain is changing and it’s important to meet the new demands. Here are a few examples of our solutions.
Local distribution centres to keep the merchandise for local sales in Asia
One example is that we have set up distribution centres in China and Hong Kong where we collect the locally produced merchandise and the re-distribute within China and Asia. This is also in line with our Greencarrier Spirit as we are minimising the environmental impact. Before, the goods were shipped from China to Scandinavia and then back to final customers in China and Asia – now the merchandise for local sales never leave Asia – thus minimising the environmental impact.
Customs bonded warehousing solutions to shorten lead times
Another challenge for exporters in the Nordics is that some of their competing producers are located in China or Asia and the long lead time from the Nordics makes them less competitive. We have established customs bonded warehousing solutions in for example Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong cutting lead times from order to delivery with more than two months.
A Nordic importer was labelling and sorting goods in Scandinavia, at a high cost to the company. Our solution was a Greencarrier warehousing solution, with sorting and labelling at the China port of export and then distribution directly to stores in the Nordic region.
Buyer’s consolidation service and e-solutions to keep track of the goods
Yet another Nordic importer buys vast amounts of small-quantity orders from a large number of suppliers – and has problems keeping track of shipments. Our solution is the Greencarrier buyer’s consolidation service, provided at the main ports of China, together with e-solutions to keep track of the goods. This minimised administration and lowered the costs for our customer making their everyday operations more efficient
Looking into the future of Greencarrier and the logistics and transport market in China
My plans for Greencarrier in China include making our sales offices in Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian into fully operational offices with Qingdao being the first one. At the same time I would like to open a new office in Beijing to take care of the automotive, telecom, pharmaceutical and project business that are controlled mainly in Beijing. Further we need to explore the potential in opening a couple of inland offices like Chongching and Chengdu and perhaps other areas as well.
As the environment is an important part in what we do I would like to get some customers on board our train service from China to the Nordics. It would make a less impact on the environment – the cost is higher, but you save on the transit time in addition to lowering the pollution.
I hope you enjoyed reading my article series! If you have any questions about Greencarrier or the China market, please contact me or visit our Greencarrier website.
/ Niklas Olsson Greencarrier Freight Services
