Durban-based Turners Shipping joined the BDP Global Network on December 1st, and will be representing the logistics giant in Southern Africa.
Turner Group MD Conrad Cochrane-Murray said that membership of the network would be a great step forward for the country because it extends its reach to the 1,000 locations in 100 countries around the world where the BDP Global Network is represented.
BDP is strong in the East, particularly in China.
Tom Frear, director of BDP Global Network Services, said that BDP had placed great importance on their choice of South African partner due to the fact that the country has the most sophisticated economy on the continent and that it functions as the effective gateway to much of the sub-Saharan region.
Cochrane-Murray commented that the new alliance would not produce any disruption to the service provided for existing Turners Shipping clients but that, to the contrary, the knock-on benefits to them would be substantial. Most important was the organisation’s global representation to help ensure the smooth flow of cargo from South Africa to their overseas destinations.
BDP’s Smart information system will provide another great benefit to Turners Shipping clients who will be proactively notified about the progress of their shipments in real-time. The system provides instant feedback to clients, and this complements the Cargowise system being implemented by Turners, which performs a similar function, once incoming shipments reach South African shores.
Frear noted that there has been a great deal of consolidation in the logistics industry, particularly as a result of the recent recession, and that the surviving mega-forwarders had become so large that they were less nimble and concerned with each individual client.
He said that BDP is in an ideal position to compete on a global basis because it remains small enough to look after each client, but has the muscle to negotiate extremely favourable shipping rates with the major carriers.