10 must-haves in the new age of port-centric logistics

Port-centric logistics solutions create powerful opportunities that cannot be matched by the ‘landlocked’ competition.

The new age of port-centric logistics is here. With an increase in the amount of goods being transported on the sea and through ports, operators across the world are providing companies with port-centric logistics solutions designed to be agile, reduce costs across the entire supply chain, and add certainty to delivery times.

And as companies continue their march on obtaining efficiency, in terms of both cost and sustainability, it is becoming increasingly clear that the distribution of the right products from the right locations will be key to growth. In this trading environment, ports can no longer be seen as simply convenient spots for importing and exporting, but rather as trade enablers capable of providing significant operational benefits.

Here are our 10 must-haves for a port-centric logistics provider:

1. Safety

An intense focus on safety, with a visual workplace and daily emphasis on best and latest safety procedures.

2. The right talent

For DP World, it began with assembling a team of deeply seasoned professionals to form and lead the business based on their collective experiences. Leveraging professionals whose primary focus is logistics service will be critical for successful implementation and quality performance down the road.

3. Complete customer perspective

Listening to pain points and acting on them demonstrates trust and engagement. Also understanding that the trust of the customer is earned and must always be evident through complete transparency.

4. Insistence on better data

So often clients lose control of their inventory and it becomes the logistics provider’s directive to re-capture it. Weights, dimensions, volume, customer behaviours, market-specific and vertical-specific trends at the part level are needed for the best solution. Ambiguity in this area is common but persistence to fill the gaps is key.

5. Agility

Being adept to changing forecasts and building ‘what-if’ scenarios in all processes to prepare for each possibility.

6. All-hands-on-deck

Identify opportunities to share logistics resources across a diverse customer base, absorbing peak-volume challenges such as labour or equipment shortages.

7. Intense understanding of the customer’s current logistics model

This allows the provider to identify opportunities to expand and scale services, from in-network transfers up to management of the regional or global logistics network.

8. Replication

Setting a standard and replicable global template of operational processes so that the efficiencies can be scaled and packaged for other geographies.

9. Letting the systems do the talking

At DP World, if our customer does not have a system, we will build one. We are in large customer testing of an in-house, global track-and-trace program we call Cargoes Flow, and also an Enterprise Resource Planning tool called Cargoes Runner. Built entirely from the ground up and using 100% DP World resources.

10. Leveraging influential relationships in the chain

As the port operator, DP World has one of the strongest Customs relationships in the supply chain, where the most common and costliest delays can occur. By the time the customer or their contracted provider are notified of a Customs issue, our port-centric logistics team already resolved it.

Read our latest whitepaper on port-centric logistics to further update your knowledge here.