Global Supply Chain November 2019 Issue

November 2019 Issue 64

ENHANCING THE BUSINESS OF LOGISTICS

SSI SCHÄFER

The Solution Experts Emirates Delivers

New delivery platform takes flight

Dubai Airshow 2019

A peek at the impending mega event

Emerging Technologies

Making the case for adoption

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                                                                  ’                            



Technology Transforms and Triumphs SIGNATURE MEDIA FZ LLE P. O. Box 49784, Dubai, UAE Tel: 3795678/3978847 04 Email: info@signaturemediame.com Exclusive Sales Agent Signature Media LLC P.O. Box 49784, Dubai, UAE Publisher: Jason Verhoven jason@signaturemediame.com Editor: Malcolm Dias malcolm@signaturemediame.com Art Director: Johnson Machado johnson@signaturemediame.com Production Manager: Roy Varghese roy@signaturemediame.com

Printed by United Printing Press (UPP) – Abu Dhabi Distributed by Tawseel Distribution & Logistics – Dubai

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The digital age and its spinoff—the digitalisation of transactions and technology continues to impact the manner the logistics and supply chain industry conducts its operations, oversees systems and deals with customers, logistics services providers, the regulators, the Government and various stakeholders.

The rapid evolution of new technologies and their increasing affordability is inclining people to adopt these on a mega level, making it more pervasive, ubiquitous and thereby also making their professional lives easier. This compels entities and ecosystems to transform through technologies and harnessing these enables them improve their standing vis-à-vis their peers through efficiencies and gain the competitive edge.

Three thought-leadership contributions, one from the world of academia and two from well regarded professionals from the logistics and supply industry, provide us with insights, implications and compulsions of technology and the many offerings new and emerging technologies that are revolutionising the business.

Our lead story in this issue spotlights the long-established SSI Schaefer that has carved a niche for itself in the field of providing logistics solutions globally. Its impressive track record is under the scanner in this issue. With its tagline ‘Think Tomorrow’ the company sets the tone and pace for developing innovative, ingenious solutions in a fast-changing and rapidlyevolving industry environment. Our Cover story is the outcome of our engagement with the SSI Schaefer team up close and personal in their offices in Dubai’s DWC. Developments have been occurring fast and furious for the logistics trade in the region and in this edition of Global Supply Chain we have covered multiple events that are changing the industry scenario. Emirates Airlines has introduced ‘Emirates Delivers’, a newly conceived shipping platform for e-commerce orders from the USA initially for delivery to buyers in the UAE. Elsewhere we cover the digitisation of Etihad Cargo; the proposed launch of a SpiceJet hub in Ras Al Khaimah in the northern Emirates and the second edition ‘Cargo Connect’— an industry forum on the air freight industry that will occur in tandem with and on the sidelines of the upcoming Dubai Airshow 2019.

Our content platter this month, as always, also includes a rich mix of news, views, interviews and profiles and other offerings. We always strive to keep you posted and well informed and to stay on top of things.

Enjoy the read!

Malcolm Dias Editor malcolm@signaturemediame.com

NovemBER 2019 3

November 2019 Issue 64 September 2019 Issue 62

ENHANCING THE BUSINESS OF LOGISTICS

49 Etihad Rail Hitachi Rail UAE Rail operator has awarded Hitachi Rail a big Phase Two contract for developing the country’s rail network.

50 Agility-JD.com deal 06

NEWS

20

SSI Schaefer

With its ‘Think Tomorrow.’ motto, the global provider of logistics solutions is gearing for the long haul ahead making its mark in this region and beyond.

28

Emirates Delivers

The newly conceived delivery platform is making its mark in e-commerce facilitating shipping services from the USA to the UAE in this first phase of its introduction.

30

New SpiceJet Hub in Ras Al Khaimah

Plans are drawn to make the Northern Emirate the first overseas hub for India’s second largest air carrier.

31

Etihad Cargo Digitalisation

Next phase of the carrier’s digitalisation strategy will see the introduction of fresh new initiatives.

32

NAFL

UAE National Nadia Abdul Aziz has been re-elected President, NAFL, for a second consecutive term by a landslide majority.

4 NOVEMBER 2019

36

dnata-Wallenborn Pact

dnata has signed a deal with top European Road Feeder Services provider Wallenborn for provision of carrier services.

37 Etihad

Secure Logistics

Etihad Cargo’s secure logistics services division is all set for pan UAE expansion.

38

Digital Technologies

Agility has reached a preliminary deal with Chinese e-commerce portal JD.com.

51 GPCA Jubail Conference 2019 Gulf Petrochemicals Association held its ‘Responsible Care’ Conference in the King Abdullah Convention Centre in Jubail, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

52 ADP-ADNOC Logistics MoU

Agility is spearheading a raft of new proven technologies to take it to the next level of operational efficiency.

Abu Dhabi Ports will train mariners for ADNOC’s Logistics offshore functions.

40 Cargo Connect

54 Procurement & Supply Chain MENA 2019

The second edition Cargo Connect is all set to reconvene on the sidelines of Dubai Airshow 2019.

43 Dubai Airshow 2019 Global Supply Chain speaks exclusively to Michele Van Akelijen, Managing Director, Tarsus F&E ME for the low down on the upcoming mega show .

Global Supply Chain reviews the just-concluded procurement event.

56 Supply Chain Risk Management

Prof Omera Khan holds forth on ‘Black Swan’ events that threaten the industry.

48 World Road Congress 2019

58 AI & Emerging Technologies

A round-up of the recently concluded Congress in the UAE capital .

The case for new and emerging technologies in the logistics domain.

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Dubai launches World Logistics Passport

DP World launches Log-X technology accelerator platform for logistics

n Dubai recently launched the World Logistics Passport

Rizwan Soomar, Mike Bhaskaran, Ajay R, Co Founder, Startup Reseau and other officials pose a group picture.

as part of the implementation of the first phase of the Dubai Silk Road strategy.

The World Logistics Passport offers a set of unique operational and financial advantages for businesses and shipping companies by connecting government entities, including Dubai Customs and Dubai Trade, with logistics service providers like DP World and dnata, and facilitating commercial transactions among concerned bodies in Dubai.

The passport will help boost the role of the Dubai Silk Road and enhance demand for Dubai’s products, services and integrated transportation systems. The initiative also further raises the growing role played by Dubai Customs in regional and international trade.

HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, remarked that the implementation of the Dubai Silk Road strategy marks the beginning of a new phase of economic growth that will further boost Dubai’s position as a global economic and business hub, powered by its exceptional connectivity and logistics services.

He said that the Dubai Silk Road strategy responds to the changes in international trade by offering new state-of-the-art logistics services using the latest smart applications.

“Dubai’s sophisticated logistics services will further enhance its value offering for investors and businesses by saving time and effort and reducing their operational costs. This is a powerful tool that will eventually lead to increased revenues. We are keen to offer investors and businesses new advantages in conducting global trade,” commented HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.

6 NovemBER 2019

n DP World recently launched Log-X, a national technology accelerator platform for logistics, in partnership with Invest India, Kerala Start-Up Mission and its accelerator partner Startup Réseau, to encourage innovation and technology adoption in the Indian logistics sector.

The accelerator programme is specially curated for entrepreneurs in the logistics and other associated sectors.

The goal is to catalyse Indian entrepreneurs and the start-up community to develop smart trade solutions by leveraging massive opportunities offered by digital technology.

Log-X was launched by Rizwan Soomar, CEO and Managing Director, DP World Subcontinent; in the presence of Mike Bhaskaran, Global Chief Digital Officer, DP World.

The Log-X technology accelerator platform will focus on digital technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics, simulators and Internet of things (IoT

systems). The platform will seek to identify logistics-focused technology start-ups through Startup India portal. The finalised start-ups will be mentored by DP World leadership team and external mentors on-boarded to the program.

“DP World wants to encourage the creation of a startup eco-system for logistics and supply-chain focused innovators with an aim to reduce the costs of logistics in India and make India’s exports more competitive.

Stronger technology adoption in the logistics sector will also improve transparency, reliability and predictability in the supply chains across the country. This will be transformative for India,” commented Rizwan Soomar, CEO and MD, DP World Subcontinent.

“This is a unique partnership and the first in the logistics sector. We are very pleased to be partnering with DP World on this unique initiative to drive innovation in the sector,” remarked Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO, Invest India.

Maersk debuts at Port of Duqm n The Port of Duqm recently welcomed Maersk’s entry to Duqm as a breakthrough, since it puts Duqm further on the map as destination for containerised cargo.

Maersk’s container shipment, destined to one of the key development projects in Duqm, arrived from APM Terminals’ Container Terminal in Nhava Sheva’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), India via Jebel Ali, from where it was picked up by Oman Shipping’s express feeder service and delivered at Port of Duqm.

Maersk’s maiden container delivery is of importance for Port of Duqm since it confirms the interest from a leading integrated container logistics and transport company in Duqm as a new gateway for containerised cargo in the Sultanate.

The Port of Salalah is Maersk’s main base in the Middle East and thanks to Oman Shipping’s active feeder service, connecting Duqm to other regional ports Salalah, Sohar and Jebel Ali, containers destined for Duqm can be picked up on a weekly basis from now onwards and shipped to Duqm.

This will reduce transportation via road substantially leading to obvious health and safety advantages. This set up will remain in place till end 2020, when Port of Duqm expects to commission its fully-fledged container operations. At that time, direct calls of all major container lines into Duqm are expected to commence.

A container being offloaded a Maersk Container Vessel at the Port of Duqm.

‘We welcome Maersk to Duqm, and we are proud that it signifies the important role that Port of Duqm is currently playing as a gateway port for the various industrial projects happening in the region,” remarked Anwar Al Balushi, Port Commercial Manager, Port of Duqm.

Strategically located, Port of Duqm is destined to become a natural container hub enjoying the proximity of major consuming markets such as the Indian Sub-Continent, East African regions and the wider Middle East.

DP World’s Ecuadorian port emerges as trade and logistics hub for LatAm’s West Coast n The landmark US$ 538mn first phase of the new Deepwater Port of Posorja in Ecuador by DP World, is now completed and successfully operational.

The overall US$ 1.2bn project will replicate Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port and Freezone, making Ecuador a trade and logistics hub for South America’s west coast, and opening a gateway for large container ships with capacities exceeding 10,000 TEUs. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, recently visited the facility to assess progress of the project, one of the largest international investments in Ecuador.

The port has already been operational for two months, handling thousands of containers and more than a dozen postPanamax ships. Posorja is expected to welcome an annual volume of 750,000 TEUs during the first phase, and 1.5 million TEUs at full port capacity. The Port is equipped with state-of-the-art technology,

Sultan Bin Sulayem (second right) with officials at the Port of Posorja in Ecuador. world-class infrastructure, and the largest gantry cranes in South America.

“The beginning of operations at Posorja is a defining moment in Ecuador’s economic growth. The new Port and Special Economic Zone will significantly improve Ecuador’s global competitiveness

and position the country as a dynamic business hub for the west coast of South America,” remarked Bin Sulayem.

Phase two of DP World’s project in Ecuador will be the development of ‘Posorja ZEDE’; a special economic zone (SEZ) for maritime, logistics and light industrial businesses. Once completed, the 1,000,070sqm special economic zone will serve the various needs of investors and traders seeking an integrated location that can act as a manufacturing and distribution hub for their products.

“The Port of Posorja is being developed in line with international best practices, and is already creating thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities that are backed by robust social programs,” remarked Nicolas Gauthier, CEO, DP World Ecuador.

The project includes a deep water port with a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs, in addition to a 21-km access highway and a 21 nautical mile maritime access channel that is 16.5 meters in depth.

NOVEMBER 2019 7

LogiPoint signs historic, long-term agreement with Aramex n LogiPoint, the leading logistics business and the largest bonded and re-export zone in KSA, recently announced that it has signed a long-term agreement with Aramex, a leading global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions, for the construction of ‘Build-toSuit’ facilities for Aramex’s Western Province ground operations.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Eng. Saad Al Khalb, President, Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI); Aamer Alireza, Vice Chairman, Saudi Industrial Services Company – SISCO and Captain Abdullah Al Zamee, Director General, Jeddah Islamic Port.

The new ‘Build-to-Suit’ facility will be located in Jeddah Islamic Port with a built-up area of 20,000 square meters.

LogiPoint’s central location offers Aramex an unparalleled connectivity for their last mile delivery as well as connectivity to all major highways for their line-haul business.

“This agreement underlines LogiPoint’s vision to act as the enabler of the logistics industry, reinforcing our ambition to grow into the Kingdom’s leading logistics parks

LogiPoint and Aramex officials at the deal signing ceremony. developer and operator. It is also a mark of confidence and trust which our esteemed clients pose in us when they choose LogiPoint to be their long-term partner,” explained Farooq Shaikh, CEO, LogiPoint.

“The Saudi market is a vital arena for Aramex, and today’s agreement supports our continuous efforts to keep investing in our operations in KSA, further develop our service offerings and enhance the overall customer experience. We believe this new facility will allow us to meet the growing

customer demand for rapid and more efficient shipment deliveries,” commented Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Alnowaiser, General Manager, Aramex, Saudi Arabia.

This agreement comes in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NDLIP), with the support of the Saudi logistics Hub Committee to transform the Saudi Logistics Landscape and develop specialized and ‘build-for-purpose’ logistics facilities.

Etihad Airways and Saudia to boost commercial partnership n Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudia, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have marked the first anniversary of their commercial partnership by announcing 12 new codeshare routes to key destinations in Asia and Europe.

Since signing their agreement in October, 2018, the two airlines have placed their flight codes on each other’s services between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi Arabian cities of Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina.

Saudia has also added its ‘SV’ code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 12 more destinations – Ahmedabad, Belgrade, Brisbane, Chengdu, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Lagos, Melbourne, Moscow-Domodedovo, Rabat, Seychelles and Sydney – while Etihad has placed its ‘EY’ code on Saudia flights to Peshawar, Multan, Port Sudan and Vienna.

Under the deal announced today, and subject to regulatory approvals, Saudia will progressively add its code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 11 more destinations in nine countries Amsterdam, Baku, Brussels, Dublin, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Phuket, Nagoya, Tokyo and Seoul, significantly extending Saudia’s reach.

“The increased collaboration we have announced today will deliver even more growth to both airlines, provide greater choice 8 NovemBER 2019

for our passengers and freight customers, and further strengthen the ties between our nations,” stated Tony Douglas, Group CEO, Etihad Aviation Group.

“We are pleased to further enhance our collaboration with Etihad Airways and continue to support the growth in services and routes,” remarked Engr. Saleh Bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Director General, Saudi Arabian Airlines.

SOHAR signs agreement to set up a cement block products facility n SOHAR Port and Freezone recently signed a land lease agreement for the establishment of a cement block products facility. The agreement was signed by Dr. Mohammed Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Board of SOHAR Port and Freezone and Salim Khalfan Al Mamari, owner, Wald Al-Qanas International.

“The investment made by Wald Al-Qanas International will witness the establishment of a project that is the first of its kind in the Freezone. Moreover, the by-products generated by other industries, such as the ferrochrome factories, can be used as feedstock for the new facility, thus reinforcing our principle of promoting downstream opportunities,” commented Omar Mahmood Al Mahrizi, CEO, SOHAR Freezone and Deputy CEO, SOHAR Port.

The OMR 25mn (US$ 65mn) local project will cover an area of 20,000sqm at SOHAR Freezone. Apart from cement projects, the facility will also be used for the manufacture of white cement and other products. Additionally, it will see the export of products to the GCC and African markets.

“We are proud to be setting up at the Freezone and to be able to contribute to the cross-industry principle that is promoted at SOHAR. Additionally, the unique upcoming new facility, will also play an important role in the creation of local job opportunities,” remarked Al Mamari.

SOHAR Port & Freezone and RFX Industrial Parks Development officials at the ground breaking ceremony.

SOHAR hosts official Pilot Boat inauguration ceremony n SOHAR Port and Freezone, recently held its official pilot boat inauguration ceremony at the SOHAR administration building.

The event took place under the patronage of HH Sayyida Hujaija Jaifer Al Said, Chairman of the Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Children, alongside the presence of Esther Grootenboer and members of the senior management from SOHAR Port and Freezone.

“Following our agreement with Svitzer in September last year to upgrade our pilot vessel fleet, we are proud to see these vessels set sail. The ceremony will reinforce the commitment of SOHAR to provide safe and efficient pilot services, which are a vital link in our operational capability and port competitiveness,” remarked Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO, SOHAR Port.

“In line with our initial agreement which includes the provision of the pilot boats, we will also be responsible for the vessel maintenance and crew manning. This is

SOHAR’s pilot boat inauguration ceremony based on a coninuous 24-hour operational cycle to ensure a safe and efficient means of transport for marine pilots,” commented Karim Cordahi, Country Manager, Svitzer Oman.

“At Svitzer, we adhere to only the

highest level of safety to provide transport for the pilots from the boats to the vessels in a reliable and timely manner whilst strictly adhering to the HSSE and environmental standards set in place at SOHAR,” he added.

NOVEMBER 2019 9

Turkish Cargo acquires its sixth Boeing 777F freighter n Turkish Cargo, a fast-growing air cargo brand, has included the sixth Boeing-777 Freighter, capable of flying at a range of 9200 km, to its fleet.

Recently taking off from Everett Paine Airport (Seattle/USA) and landing at Ataturk Airport, the Boeing-777 Freighter falls under the new-generation freighter category capable of carrying 102 tons and equipped with a high level of fuel saving and technical safety.

Taking delivery of the first Boeing-777F freighter, which has many substantial benefits in terms of operational costs, efficiency and reliability in intercontinental journeys in 2017, Turkish Cargo will have a total of 8 Boeing-777 Freighters by 2020.

Developing and reinforcing continuously its fleet of 344 aircraft including 24 freighters, the global air cargo brand keeps growing with accomplishments.

According to the data obtained by WACD, the international air cargo data provider in August 2019, Turkish Cargo has increased its tonnage rate by 7.5 percent, ranking 7th across the air cargo market which has shrunk by -7.1 percent.

A Turkish Cargo Boeing 777 freighter given the ceremonial welcome.

Maintaining its sustainable and accomplished growth with air cargo operations at more than 300 destinations including 88 direct cargo destinations at 126 countries across the world, Turkish Cargo aims to be one of the top five global air cargo brands by 2023.

Turkish Cargo awarded the ISO 10002-Customer Satisfaction Management Certificate n Turkish Cargo, the fastest growing air cargo brand in the

A Turkısh Cargo B777F freighter.

10 NovemBER 2019

world, obtained the ‘Customer Satisfaction Management Certificate’ (ISO 10002) and developed the Cargo Customers Feedback Management Policy accordingly.

Under the Feedback Management Policy developed across Turkish Cargo, various improvements have been performed on the reporting methods, related processes and the feedback management system titled as 3CS, and all employees have been assigned with trainings in their respective fields.

The accomplished air cargo brand placed the customer satisfaction-focused boxes titled as “Sizi Dinliyoruz” (Turkish for ‘we care about your feedback’) at the cargo terminals at Istanbul and Ataturk airports, ensuring a transparent, competent, accessible, objective, fast, answerable and continuously-improvable process management.

Providing service with a focus on customer satisfaction, the global air cargo brand Turkish Cargo aims to be among the top five global air cargo brands by 2023.

Abu Dhabi set to get its first low-cost carrier

Eugene Mayne, Group CEO, Tristar.

Tristar Group joins the Middle East Gases Association (MEGA) n Tristar Group, the integrated logistics services provider, n Abu Dhabi Airports has welcomed the upcoming launch of the UAE capital’s first low-cost carrier, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi.

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will cater to the growing low-cost travel market through its hub in Abu Dhabi International Airport, strengthening the city’s air connectivity and accessibility.

It is anticipated that the airline will greatly increase the number of destinations served from Abu Dhabi International Airport, offering new choices to passengers to travel directly to previously un-served or under-served destinations. The new carrier will be based out of Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH).

“The establishment Air Arabia Abu Dhabi with Air Arabia, with its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, is a milestone in the continuing growth of Abu Dhabi’s aviation industry and the Emirate’s status as a global hub for business and leisure travellers,” commented Bryan Thompson, CEO, Abu Dhabi Airports.

“This independent joint venture company will operate a low-cost business model and independent strategy, steered by its board of directors, which will consist of members nominated by Etihad and Air Arabia,” remarked Tony Douglas, Group CEO, Etihad Aviation Group.

A rendition of the new Midfield Terminal in Abu Dhabi.

has announced its membership of The Middle East Gases Association (MEGA) of which it will be the very first Category 4 member. Tristar will actively participate in three of MEGA’s working groups, namely, Transport, Safety and Environment.

Through its membership of MEGA, a safety and technically oriented non-profit organization, Tristar has demonstrated its commitment to achieving the highest levels of safety and environmental care in handling of industrial gases.

“We are committed to managing our business to the highest health, safety, environmental and compliance standards and relish the opportunity to work with other knowledgeable businesses in this space,” remarked Eugene Mayne, Founder and Group CEO, Tristar, “We welcome Tristar’s membership of the group and anticipate that its expertise will be a valuable contribution to MEGA’s Working Group discussions,” commented Roger Sayah, General Secretary, MEGA. MEGA, which is headquartered in Dubai, was established in 2010 with the aim of fostering the exchange of technical information in the handling of industrial gases through the development of documents with industry experts. It liaises closely with national authorities in the region to provide assistance with the preparation of laws and regulations via expert advice on production, transport, storage and applications of industrial, medical and food gases.

MEGA also aims to promote consistency and harmonization of Safety, Health, Environmental and technical standards throughout the industrial gases industry in the region.

Tristar’s KSA’s office recently signed up Saudi Industrial Gas Co. (SIGAS) to transport liquid gases for two years, underpinning its status as a logistics provider of choice in the region. SIGAS is a member of the Linde Group which is a world leading supplier of industrial, process and specialty gases. Linde-SIGAS is the second biggest industrial gases company in the Kingdom.

NOVEMBER 2019 11

Mega KIZAD accommodation project gets underway n The first purpose-built accommodation project at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, was recently launched with housing and community amenities for 5,000 management and operational employees.

The 75,000sqm accommodation plot is located in Area B of KIZAD, within the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone, which was established in conjunction with Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Co-operation Investment Company (JOCIC).

The project will house four staff quarters, one management dormitory and two supporting rooms, as well as supporting community living infrastructure to be constructed over two phases, the first of which is due for completion by March 2020.

“This iconic and collaborative project reinforces the confidence and mutual benefits we achieve through our strategic partnership,” said Samir Chaturvedi, CEO, KIZAD. JOCIC, which is engaged in investing, constructing, operating and managing industrial zones abroad, as well as investing in real estate development and other projects, has already attracted the interest and investment of Chinese firms in KIZAD, with investments of more than AED 6.2 billion.

The longstanding economic relationship between China and

The KIZAD and JOCIC teams pose for a group picture. the UAE was further strengthened last year with the official inauguration of the COSCO Shipping Ports’ Abu Dhabi Terminal at Khalifa Port, positioning Abu Dhabi as a key regional hub for COSCO’s global network of 285 berths at 37 ports, and for China’s Belt and Road Maritime Trade Route.

Ajman Free Zone launches innovative apps and IT platforms to enhance efficiency n Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) chose GITEX 2019 to officially launch a number of IT platforms and apps to further simplify the business set-up process and improve efficiencies.

The organisation’s new technologies are transforming the customer experience and are enabling it to compete on a global scale for business investment. The Free Zone’s participation at GITEX was part of a drive to attract new investors from the IT sector whose businesses would benefit from AFZ facilities.

A new WhatsApp ‘Chatbot’ service will now allow businesses to begin the set-up of their operation in the Free Zone in a few easy steps. It will also enable the re-registration process to take place in a seamless manner.

In addition, the introduction of the 24/7 operational new Robotic Process Automation (RPA) system will transfer data without the need for a human interference. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature will analyse data and ensure that it is correct. The new system will reduce license processing time and increase AFZ competitiveness.

The introduction of an innovative smart digital platform, ‘APPSmart Glass’, will assist the inspection and monitoring of all AFZ investors to ensure compliance. It comprises a smart app along with digital glasses that can read, and scan faces of labourers, before correlating the scans with the aligned paperwork. This will see 12 NovemBER 2019

Officials from Ajman Free Zone at the launch of the new apps and platform. inspection process speeded up considerably, thereby reducing costs and increasing efficiencies.

These new applications represent further enhancement to Ajman Free Zone’s digital transformation which has seen the development of an interactive IT platform aimed at simplifying business establishment and encouraging acceleration through a range of easy to access support services for investors.

Gulftainer appoints new Group Chief Commercial Officer

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General, Dubai Customs (left), receiving the award.

Dubai Customs wins EFQM Innovation Platinum Award n Dubai Customs recently won the innovation platinum award, with a

David Casey, COO, Gulftainer.

n Gulftainer has named David Casey as its new Group Chief Commercial Officer. In his new capacity, Casey will be responsible for the development and execution of Gulftainer’s shortand long-term commercial and strategic plans to strengthen the company’s industry leadership.

“We are delighted to welcome David Casey, an industry veteran with vast experience across global supply chains, on board at Gulftainer,” remarked Peter Richards, Group Chief Executive Officer, Gulftainer.

With over two-and-a-half decades in highprofile leadership positions in the ports and logistics industry, Casey will be instrumental in steering the company’s growth and success globally.

In his previous roles, Casey served as Senior Director of Port Solutions for General Electric Transportation, prior to which he was Director of Logistics and Transportation for the Coca-Cola Company.

“I look forward to this exciting opportunity to leverage Gulftainer’s strong global presence, as well as its vast customer base, robust operations, and solid track record in ports and logistics,” commented Casey.

6-star rating from EFQM Global Excellence Award scoring 700 points, the highest among all participating organisations.

With this exceptional achievement Dubai Customs has become the first organisation in the world to win this reputable global award based on the new rating system in 2019.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General, Dubai Customs, received the award in the ceremony held for this occasion in Finland.

“Winning the EFQM award is an international recognition of our leading achievements and the advanced level we reached in customs innovation” Musabih commented.

The objective of the EFQM Excellence Award Program is to recognize Role Model organisations worldwide, whether private, public or nonprofit. The EFQM Excellence Award Programme is supported by one of the most challenging assessment processes.

To assess organisations and identify role model practices, an international team of 5 to 7 experienced, specifically trained managers spend one week on site and an average of 500 hours in total per applicant. They review the management system and interview individuals as well as groups to analyse how effective the organisation is against the EFQM Excellence Model.

“As a role model organisation, we invested in innovation in order to develop and upgrade customs procedures in order to introduce the best services and trade facilities,” remarked Musabih.

Recently Dubai Customs introduced the Virtual Corridor initiative, which helped streamline movement of goods between ports and entry points of Dubai. This resulted in a reduced cost and more streamlined customs procedures.

In 2018, 324,435 customs transactions were done through the Virtual Corridor. Another project developed by Dubai Customs is the Creek Vessel Berth Management system that manages the operations and movement of vessels that go to 50 ports in nine partner countries.

NOVEMBER 2019 13

UAE concrete supplier acquires its first fleet of Renault Truck Models

n Middle East Ready Mix Concrete, one of

the UAE’s leading concrete suppliers, has just taken delivery of twelve new Renault Trucks K models, representing one of the French brand’s big purchase deals in Dubai and the Northern Emirates this year.

This is the first time that Middle East Ready Mix Concrete has purchased Renault Trucks. The trucks are equipped with 48CBM Tipping Trailers and will be used to transport aggregates and other products to various facilities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In choosing these specific models, the Dubai-based company cited their proven abilities in the field of operation, high standards of safety and impressive fuel efficiency.

The K Heavy Construction Range trucks are equipped with the latest features and technology. Fitted with 13L engines, they offer a capacity of 120 tons and have automated transmission along with All Wheel Drive (AWD) capabilities that deliver full power to all the wheels. This makes them ideal for heavy duty use and strengthens the models’ abilities to tackle off-roading in the UAE’s tough terrains.

The new trucks return low fuel consumption figures and meet Euro 5

Renault and Middle East Ready Concrete Mix officials at the trucks delivery ceremony.

Engines emission standards, making them among the most environmentally friendly options in the market.

“We were impressed by the new K 480 Heavy Duty trucks’ robustness and impressive fuel efficiency, along with the very competitive Renault Trucks finance offer. These factors made Renault Trucks the natural choice when we decided to expand our fleet,” commented Ally Edha Awadh, CEO, Middle East Ready Mix Concrete.

Middle East Ready Mix Concrete has two fully automatic concrete batching plants,

with attached ice plants, in Dubai Investment Park, Jebel Ali. It is one of the largest concrete suppliers in Dubai and uses the latest technology to create the highest quality readymix concrete and precast products.

“Renault vehicles are known for being sturdy and reliable with a leading position in terms of fuel efficiency, consequently enabling our customers to deliver greater productivity and control operating costs to the benefit of their companies,” said Guillaume Zimmermann, Commercial Director, Renault Trucks Middle East.

Gulf Navigation Holding records 19% revenue growth in Q1-Q3 2019 n Gulf Navigation Holding the Dubai Financial Market-listed maritime and shipping company, has announced a 19% operating revenue growth by end of Q3-2019, compared to the same period last year.

The company recorded an operating revenue of AED 130mn compared to AED109mn in the same period of 2018. The company reported a net loss of AED 18mn in Q3 of 2019, bringing total losses in the first nine months of 2019 to AED 46mn. The decline in the company’s financial performance is due to the high operating costs of vessels coupled with lower asset utilization in the quarter.

Gulf Navigation has adapted well to the economic challenges in the first nine months of 2019. The Company has successfully completed the 10-year special survey and ballast water treatment installation program on its four vessels that are chartered to SABIC. After a period of underutilization, the company has now managed to secure spot and long-term charters for all nine vessels. On the cost structure front, the company has restructured its operations and reorganized its subsidiaries to ensure continuity of its operations and enhanced its productivity at the lowest possible costs for the near future.

“We continue to work on opportunities to drive positive changes through operational and administrative reorganization. We continue to resolve legacy issues and I am confident of achieving operational and financial excellence in the near future,” commented Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Chairman, Gulf Navigation Board.

14 NovemBER 2019

The GNH-owned Huwaylat Vessel.

Grandweld Shipyards attains 35-year milestone n Grandweld, the UAE-based ship building company, recently celebrated its 35th anniversary. The ceremony was attended by major industry key players, associates and partners. The Dubai Council for Marine and Maritime Industries has valued the regional maritime industry at an approximate US$ 61bn.

Holding a LEED Gold certificate reinforces Grandweld’s efforts and status as a sustainable shipyard. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

Available for virtually all building, community and home project types, it provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. The certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.

“With the help of our in-house engineering and design team, we are able to provide quality services to all our clients.

The company has been incorporating safety

Jamal Abki, GM, Grandweld Shipyards, addresses attendees at the company’s 35th year celebrations. and sustainable measures into its business and this has made us a preferred choice for many of the regional maritime industry’s stake holders,” added Abki.

Since its inception in 1984, Grandweld has sold more than 60 Crew Boats of its

trademark GW42M design. The company currently employs over 800 professional engineers and technicians in shipbuilding and maintenance, and to date, has manufactured over 170 boats and marine vessels of all sizes and types.

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NOVEMBER 2019 15

Atkins celebrates a decade of operations in Saudi Arabia

Ambassador Simon Collis, Phi_lip Hoare and other officials at the 10th anniversary celebrations.

n Atkins recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An official ceremony was held at the British embassy in Riyadh to mark this occasion, with the attendance of Simon Collis, the Ambassador of UK to Saudi Arabia, Philip Hoare, President, Atkins, in addition to the senior leadership team of Atkins, Faithful+Gould, Atkins Acuity, key clients and dignitaries.

“Atkins’ values, capabilities and commitment put them in excellent position to partner with a wide range of clients in Saudi Arabia to design and deliver projects aligned with Vision 2030. I am excited to see what Atkins will achieve over the next 10 years,” remarked Ambassador Collis.

“With over 50 offices across six continents, Atkins has established a stellar reputation as one of the most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies in the world,” recalled Philip

Hoare, President of Atkins.

With over 50 years’ presence and a number of iconic projects in the Middle East region, Atkins officially opened its first Saudi office in Riyadh in 2010. Earlier this year, Atkins relaunched its Riyadh office with an expanded 1500sqm facility that boosts the company’s innovative design and engineering approach.

The company also has offices in Jeddah and Al Khobar that provide end-to-end advisory, design and engineering and project management services under the Atkins Acuity, Atkins and Faithful+Gould brands.

Riyadh Metro, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, and Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District are among some of the flagship projects where Atkins is proudly supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its economic diversification agenda.

UPS Flight Forward attains FAA’s first full approval for drone airline n UPS subsidiary UPS Flight Forward recently announced it has received the U.S. government’s first full Standard certification to operate a drone airline.

The company will initially expand its drone delivery service further to support hospital campuses around the country, and to provide solutions for customers beyond those in the healthcare industry. UPS Flight Forward plans in the future to transport a variety of items for customers in many industries.

The UPS subsidiary immediately launched the first drone delivery flight by any company at WakeMed’s hospital campus in Raleigh, NC. That flight, using a Matternet M2 quadcopter, was flown under a government exemption allowing for a ‘beyond visual line of sight’ (BVLOS) operation, also a first in the U.S. for a regular revenue-generating delivery.

Earlier this year, UPS partnered with drone-maker Matternet to launch its healthcare delivery service on the WakeMed campus. This first ever revenuegenerating service demonstrated the business case for drone delivery of medical products and specimens.

“This is history in the making, and we aren’t done yet,” remarked David Abney, UPS Chief Executive Officer.“Our technology is opening doors for UPS and solving problems in unique ways for our customers,” he added.

16 NovemBER 2019

A UPS drone in action.

US$ 200mn greenfield cement project to be developed in Georgia n The UAE based Pioneer Cement Industries, part of the Oman based Raysut Cement Company (RCC), is in the process of setting up a 1.2 m tonnes per annum capacity integrated cement plant in Georgia.

The value of the project is estimated at US$ 200mn.

Pioneer Cement owns the concession to limestone mines in Georgia that will provide the key raw materials to this project. Georgia will provide Pioneer Cement the opportunity to diversify from the Middle East into a market with large infrastructure growth and shortage of clinker and high-quality cement, the company said in a statement.

The plant will be located near Tbilisi, adjacent to the limestone mines. The debt and equity arrangements for the project are currently being finalized and the construction work in the project is slated to commence from Q4-2019.

“We have embarked on an aggressive and ambitious expansion strategy in the region with specific focus on Africa and neighboring regional countries, and in this context setting up Pioneer Cement Georgia is a significant geographical diversification,” said Joey Ghose, Group CEO, RCC. “The Georgia expansion is a major milestone for Pioneer and its parent company Raysut, as it opens up a diverse market for us in terms of growth potential as well as new challenges,” affirmed BS Rajan, General Manager, Pioneer Cement.

The Georgia expansion of Raysut comes close on the heels of the company’s announcement of signing a land lease agreement and Port of Terminal services agreement with Port of Duqm Company for building a new grinding unit in Oman at an investment of US$ 30mn.

BS Rajan, GM, Pioneer Cement.

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Web: www.tranzone.ae NOVEMBER 2019 17

Last mile delivery tech start-up FODEL launches operations in the UAE

Soumia Benturquia, Founder and CEO, FODEL

FedEx welcomes Roxo, the FedEx SameDay Bot, to the UAE n FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp and the world’s largest express transportation company, recently announced that Roxo will make its first international appearance in Dubai, UAE. Roxo is an autonomous delivery device, designed to travel on sidewalks and along roadsides, safely delivering smaller shipments to customers’ homes and businesses. Its features include pedestriansafe technology from the iBot, plus advanced technology such as LiDAR and multiple cameras, allowing the zero-emission, batterypowered bot to be aware of its surroundings.

These features are coupled with machine-learning algorithms to detect and avoid obstacles, plot a safe path, and allow the bot to follow road and safety rules. Proprietary technology makes it highly capable, allowing it to navigate unpaved surfaces, curbs, and to even climb some steps for an extraordinary door-to-door delivery experience.

“Roxo is currently testing in the U.S. and will play a new role in the last-mile delivery market, one that is not currently addressed by any other automated service or technology. Feedback from customers will ensure that real-use conditions are taken into consideration as early as possible during the on-going development of Roxo’s capabilities,” said James R. Muhs, Regional President for FedEx Express in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa.

It is anticipated that in the future, Dubai will join test cities in the United States including Memphis, Tennessee, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Plano and Frisco, Texas.

“The UAE is recognized internationally as a future-forward city, with a positive regulatory framework, world-class infrastructure, and a fertile environment for the testing and adoption of robotics, and we look forward to testing Roxo here in the future,” added Muhs.

18 NovemBER 2019

n Last mile delivery tech start-up FODEL has launched its operations in the UAE to provide a better solution to the delivery problem faced by online shoppers, e-commerce and logistics companies.

FODEL’s proprietary technology gives customers the option to collect their parcels any time they want, from a location most convenient to them, putting an end to the endless waiting windows consumers have to endure in expectation of their deliveries.

“Delivery is the most stressful part of the online shopping experience. Customers have to change their schedule to be home to wait for the parcel, they usually get multiple calls from the drivers asking for directions, and in the worst cases, they miss their delivery and it gets postponed to another day,” explains Soumia Benturquia, Founder and CEO, FODEL. This is made possible thanks to FODEL’s fastexpanding network of pick-up locations, currently consisting of more than 1,000 pick-up locations across all seven Emirates.

“Also, all parcels are tracked in real-time, and customers have full visibility and control over their shipments” added Benturquia.

The start-up raised $2.6 million by a number of prominent investors and advisors including Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi family and FODEL’s Chairman and ex-Fedex Senior Vice President, Hamdi Osman, a 33year logistics industry veteran and a strong figure in the region’s express delivery sector.

“FODEL’s disruptive technology and proven business model add great value at every step of the supply chain, while providing flexibility and peace of mind to the end-users of courier services” said Osman.

FODEL will soon launch its operations in Saudi Arabia where it already has secured over 800 pick-up locations.

SSI SCHÄFER

The Intralogistics Icon Leading the way with Intelligent, Innovative solutions for the global logistics industry The eponymous company, founded in 1937 by Fritz Schäfer, has since catapulted into the frontlines of the logistics solutions sector

W

hen visionary enterpreneur Fritz Schäfer founded his namesake manufacturing company for producing sheet metal products in his native Burbach in Germany’s industrial North Rhine Westphalia State over eight decades ago, it was inconceivable that he could have foreseen his endeavour become the forerunner to the world’s leading effective solution providers for logistics systems and products.

With a legacy steeped in trademark German engineering excellence, the now globally renowned SSI Schaefer is reshaping the course of the intralogistics industry with ingenious concepts and promising in-house developed processes, components and software.

The closely privately-held family-owned company, has grown phenomenally to the prime position it now enjoys. Its illustrious history is matched only by the company’s solid professional reputation as the pioneer and purveyor of technological proficiencies and dependable, revolutionary products that have transformed the industry.

Applications in multiple industry verticals SSI Schaefer’s signature smart and knowledge-based industrial storage, warehousing and materials handling solutions cover diverse industrial verticals.

These include Fashion, Food & Beverage, Food Retail, Retail & Wholesale, Healthcare & Cosmetics, Industry and Waste Management. Its products find applications in Conveying, Storage, Picking, Handling and overall warehouse management.

As a titan in the sector, its exponential growth is evidenced in the fact that SSI 20 NOVEMBER 2019

Schaefer operates on every continent and in over 70 countries globally. Currently, it has manufacturing facilities in eight locations.

The company has set its sights resolutely to scale even greater heights in the future with a mandate to ‘Think Tomorrow.’, the corporate tagline. The credo is intended to enable the company propel forward towards the future with customised cutting-edge ideas and concepts.

Up close and personal Global Supply Chain visited the offices of SSI Schaefer Systems in Dubai Logistics City in the Dubai World Central enclave.

The multi-million dollar headquarters, established in 2010, serves as the regional hub for the Middle East and Africa. In fact SSI Schaefer was a pioneer, one of the first companies to move into and go operational in this designated logistics zone. The establishment of the bricks-and-mortar building is a testament to the company’s glowing ambitions and engagement in the region.

Here we met Matthias Hoewer, General Manager, SSI Schaefer Middle East and Africa, a 15-year company veteran who has been at the helm in his current position since January 2011. Hoewer was joined in an exclusive interview by his core quartet team comprising Carsten Spiegelberg, General Manager Logistics Solutions MEA; Cosmin Sebastian Ilie, Regional Sales Manager UAE; Marian Danila, Business Development Manager MEA and Alexander van den Oever, CSS HUB Manager MEA. “SSI Schaefer’s association with the Middle East goes a long way back in time.

Our presence in the region dates back to

the 1980s when our products were available through a network of local distributors,” affirms Hoewer as he chronicles the founding and growth of the company in this geography.

“Thereafter our business progressed and we obtained a large automation contract in Saudi Arabia in 1987, a major project with which we continue to be associated with to this day through restoration, renovation and replacement,” he continues.

UAE Venture “SSI Schaefer made its foray in the UAE in 2001 and over the past almost two decades we have progressed well with double digit growth both in terms of business volumes

SSI SCHÄFER

Corporate Profile: SSI Schaefer Group

and employee numbers. We offer a full portfolio of services related to logistics, supply chain, warehousing, storage and materials handling businesses including automation and semi-automation products although racking constitutes a significant section of our business,” he adds.

“SSI Schaefer is in the business of providing solutions that are unique to our customers. These solutions are the outcome of understanding customer needs and crafting solutions that solve their challenges. Our products are meticulously and rigourously designed and adhere to high manufacturing and performance standards. Our products are specifically intended for end users and created

with our clients’ requirements in mind.

The bar is set very high for our product development, usage and consequently they are well regarded in the marketplace, have proven reliability and capabilities in terms of increased efficiencies, ease of handling, improved ergonomics and additional capacities,” he asserts.

According to Hoewer, SSI Schaefer won a recent contract in Uganda and business across the African continent is developing well. The Dubai hub oversees the Middle East and Africa, Pakistan and Cyprus. The two additional satellite offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Johannesburg, South Africa report to the Dubai Office, which presently has 80 employees.

The SSI Schaefer Group is the world’s leading provider of modular warehousing and logistics solutions. It employs approximately 10,500 people at its group headquarters in Neunkirchen (Germany), at eight domestic and international production sites, and at approximately 70 worldwide operative subsidiaries.

SSI Schaefer designs, develops and manufactures systems for warehouses, industrial plants, workshops and offices. Its portfolio includes manual and automated solutions for warehousing, conveying, picking and sorting, plus technologies for waste management and recycling. In addition, SSI Schaefer is now a leading provider of modular, regularly updated software for in-house material flows.

SSI Schaefer offers highly sophisticated, turnkey systems. As an international player, it can deliver one-stop solutions to its international customers. Its comprehensive portfolio encompasses design, planning, consulting, and customerspecific after-sales services and maintenance.

NOVEMBER 2019 21

SSI SCHÄFER

Middle East Centerpiece “The Dubai Office is the nucleus of our business in this region. During the past several years we have moved away from being a stand-alone sales office to a more service and fulfillment-driven hub for all of our activities including high-end contracts. This implies we have increased our activities portfolio and taken of the general contractor role from a project and service management point of view. This constitutes a big step forward for us because it enables us to provide a comprehensive, full life-cycle support for all our activities for our clients, including consultancy and end-to-end solutions and related services,” explains Hoewer.

Hoewer also notes a strong trend towards automation in the region and is keen to facilitate this move into that area.“We sense a tendency towards greater automation and are keen for our clients to ride this wave.

So our emphasis is clearly oriented in that direction and more recently we enlisted 22 NOVEMBER 2019

the talent and services of our long time SSI Schaefer veteran Carsten Spiegelberg, General Manager, Logistics Solutions MEA, with considerable expertise and experience in Singapore and earlier in Germany and Australia to harness this potential in this region.”

In Hoewer’s estimation this is also a time for consolidation for SSI Schaefer in the region. “With our long-standing presence and an expert, experienced, committed team we have all the professional resources and engineering capabilities to provide clients with optimum, tailor-made solutions to overcome problems and glitches and ensure seamless and streamlined operations,” he assures.

Strong customer interface Hoewer also cites other corporate attributes and employee characteristics that put SSI Schaefer in pole position as far as its brand equity and heritage is concerned.

“We are close to our customers and enjoy a

professionally intimate relationship borne by our strong roots in local and regional communities we serve. Despite our German provenance and global status, we think local and understand local requirements.”

“We do not pursue the cooker-cutter, assembly-line, one-size-fits-all approach but listen to our clients and devise individual solutions for each. We go the extra mile to keep our customers happy and content with our premium, tried-and-tested products and matchless quality of service.

Many of our clients are repeat customers, an indication of our proximity, bond and efficacy of our products,” he underscores.

Hoewer is also optimistic and buoyant about the future for the region. He foresees promise and potential ahead for SSI Schaefer.“Resource-rich Africa is still virgin territory and offers lucrative prospects given their emerging oil and mineral-rich economies. This is drawing significant overseas investments into the continent and therefore as a spinoff there is bound to

SSI SCHÄFER

The Dubai Office is the nucleus of our business in this region. During the past several years we have moved away from being a stand-alone sales office to a more service and fulfillment-driven hub for all of our activities including high-end contracts is of course the concept of a fully automated warehouse that involves a large investment but that is not something that I intend to push to potential and existing customers.”’

“There is also automation and semiautomation on a lower scale at decreased costs that is designed to increase productivity not only in terms of utilizing less man-power but in being more effective and generate more business. From that perspective the market can absorb more automation to be able to boost both top line and bottom line growth.

“We do not advocate blanket automation and as we have demonstrated in Asia over the past decade, we automate just enough to manageable levels to suit local requirements and stakeholders who can derive maximum mileage in a hybrid setup.

That is why SSI Schaefer chose to move me to this region to mobilize the full potential of customers and to make it work for them,” he remarks.

UAE-key market

be substantial industrial growth. However, the downside is the lack of infrastructure, regulations and standards but that is likely to change given the winds of change sweeping across Africa. We do foresee growth there,” opines Hoewer.

“The Middle East is still in development mode and increasing investments are earmarked for developing and upgrading infrastructure and the periodic announcements of new, greenfield projects are still the norm. Governments and the private sector are still bullish on growth and that offers us hope for the future,” he adds.

New innings Carsten Spiegelberg cherishes his new role in the region and is excited about the many possibilities. His expertise and capabilities in the automation logistics sector will stand him in good stead in a region where automation is increasingly becoming the norm and has been growing year-on-year thanks to growing customer demand for

shortened delivery times and the need by LSPs to provide cost-effective services.

“I will be involved largely in developing and building systems for seamless logistics and automation supply chains for our customers across different industry verticals,” notes Spiegelberg.“Many companies need to move to a level of mechanical and technological sophistication where processes are facile and efficient and I will be making the case for companies to adopt new modules that bring higher ROIs and competencies in their systems.

My long tenure and exposure to this area in Singapore will enable me replicate this successful formula and model in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa,” he assures.

So how does this region rank in terms of technology adoption vis-à-vis the rest of the world? “Automation in the logistics and supply chain sectors is relatively high in Europe, the USA but the Middle East has some catching up to do and therefore there is scope for greater automation here. There

Cosmin Sebastian Ilie is SSI Schaefer’s Regional Sales Manager for the UAE. “The UAE is the logical choice as a business hub for the region given its well developed logistics and industrial infrastructure, a trans-shipment centre, its strategic geographical location and the Government’s prudent economic policies.

The UAE accounts for a substantial share of our business,” he reveals.

“In the UAE, SSI Schaefer products are increasingly finding greater applications in various industry sectors such as Retail, FMCG, Fashion and Automotive. We also work closely with third party logistics service providers-LSPs and premium auto dealers. The UAE is also a developed, mature and intensely competitive market and the challenge is to grow the market.

Fortunately, our strong antecedents in the UAE and familiarity with the country provide us an advantage in terms of recognition and reputation that works to our advantage,” he asserts.

Africa Rising Making the case for SSI Schaefer’s inroads in Africa is Marian Danila, Business Development Manager MEA.“Africa NOVEMBER 2019 23

SSI SCHÄFER

Driving for Excellence

SSI Schaefer welcomes Mick Schumacher as its Brand Ambassador In May 2019, SSI Schaefer announced the appointment of Formula 2 Driver Mick Schumacher as its new brand ambassador.

The reigning Formula 3 champion, who is competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship this year, has entered a long-term partnership with intralogistics specialist SSI Schaefer.

Mick Schumacher has been impressing fans, colleagues, and the general public alike for years with his stringent quest for improvement. The 20-yearold son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, has long since created his own identity. As a member of the exclusive driving field of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Mick is now one of the best young racers in the world.

‘Driving for Excellence’ is the clear goal for this partnership. “Mick brings a great passion that impresses us here at SSI Schaefer. Giving everything, gaining experience, and accepting challenges that work towards a solution with intent and hyper focus is what connects our company with him. True to our corporate tagline, ‘Think Tomorrow.’, SSI Schaefer looks ahead to achieve the ambitious goals for our customers,” stated Michael Mohr, EVP Sales for SSI Schaefer.

Mick Schumacher has been driving for the Italian PREMA team since 2016.

The 2018 European Formula 3 Champion just recently started driving for the Formula 2 team this year and he joined into the Ferrari Driver Academy program that promotes young talents.

As a young driver, Schumacher started test driving in April for Bahrain in Formula 1 for both, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo Racing. “I am delighted to welcome SSI Schaefer as a partner because we share the same core values: a downto-earth attitude, striving for success, innovative solutions, as well as long-term thinking and action. ‘Think Tomorrow.’ suits me too,” said Schumacher.

24 NOVEMBER 2019

remains our focus and we are exploring opportunities given the sheer geographical size, population and rising economic activities on the continent. Our corporate philosophy remains unchanged. We connect with our customers, study, understand and evaluate their requirements and then offer cost-effective solutions that benefit them in bringing efficiencies in the manufacturing and the logistics and supply chain processes,” he remarks.

“We are in the business of offering solutions and a track record that bears testimony to our reputation and confidence in our products and services. We come as collaborators, partners and stay the course offering our customers multiple solutions within the entire ecosystem. In essence we offer the right products that meet our clients’ criteria, closely monitor their installation and operations and ensure that systems function as clockwork through training and familiarization by their employees,” he says.

In Africa as elsewhere SSI Schaefer chooses to work with local partners, well acquainted with markets in their backyard.

“Our corporate model involves working in tandem with carefully screened and perfectly matched partners that serves more than just a distributorship. Our partners represent the SSI Schaefer brand and ethos and are engaged with our customers, twinning with them and even micromanaging our installations, making certain our functionality and performance is not compromised. We appoint distributors only in markets as a stop-gap measure where we presently don’t have partners.”

The South Africa office is a 100% SSI Schaefer entity. In addition, the company does business in Nigeria, Uganda, Ivory Coast and several North African countries.

“In the long term we hope to expand our footprint in other countries of the continent particularly the emerging economies given our professional standing, popularity and provable products portfolio,” says Danila.

Strong customer interface Alexander van den Oever, CSS HUB Manager MEA, characterises himself as the glue that binds multi-level portfolios together within the regional SSI Schafer structure.“As the customer service operative, my responsibility is to liaise, maintain equilibrium with our internal systems and ensure that our service offering

SSI SCHÄFER

With a long-term commitment to the region and investment in mind, a new 3,000 sqm. regional headquarters in DWC in 2011 was opened

commitments are adhered to both in terms of quality and speed of response.

Our current working structure constitutes a Sales Manager who is the first point of contact with our customer and then a Customer Service Manager to provide ancillary and second tier services for followup, maintenance and reinforcement.”

“I wish to stress that at SSI Schaefer we do not wish to be typecast as sellers but as partners and consultants. We work intimately and alongside our customers, listen to their concerns and then offer perfectly matched practical solutions that address their requirements. We also instituted an app that helps monitor product life cycles thereby pre-empting breakdowns and reducing downtimes,”he states.

Like the conveyor systems they manufacture, the wheel turns full circle as the extended meeting with the SSI Schaefer core team draws to a close. It is now back to Hoewer with his final sagely observations.

He has presided over the company’s operations in the region for over a decade and is enthused by the long-term prospects and his vision for the future.

“Despite headwinds, SSI Schaefer has been holding steady in a region that is in growth mode. We are excited about future possibilities such as the expected stimulus from the Saudi Vision 2030 initiated by the HRH, The Crown Prince. Our substantial investments in this hub and in our regional offices and markets are evidence of our confidence for the long term. We are here for the long haul and with our fine, dedicated team I am positive about our future prospects.”

“Our partners, associates and distributors, many of whom have worked alongside us for decades, are also an integral part of our network, an extension of our corporate ethos and philosophy and share a common vision. Together

Matthias Hoewer we undertake to create value for our customers. Expansion is also on the cards for the region as we examine new markets and consolidate some. We have made great strides in retail and automotive as a standout but making good progress in other sectors as well. Given our enhanced profile and both human and professional resources, we now have traction and poised for a new phase of growth and development,” he aspires.

SSI Schaefer is gearing for and shaping the future with proven efficiencies in throughput and productivity for its customers. With increasing trends towards automation in the region, the company, with cutting-edge technologies, has its work cut out for it. As it gains momentum, these are indeed interesting times for SSI Schaefer!

Matthias Hoewer Matthias Hoewer is General Manager, SSI Schaefer Middle East and Africa, and has been in his current position since January 2011. As a graduate in Business Information Systems from the University of Paderborn,

he joined SSI Schaefer in Germany April 2005 and relocated to the United Arab Emirates in April 2008.

Under the management of Hoewer, SSI Schaefer spearheaded the long planned move in the new office location for Middle East and Africa. With a long-term commitment to the region and investment in mind, the new 3,000 sqm. regional headquarters in the Dubai World Central (DWC) in 2011 was opened, a state-ofthe-art facility that included a capacious warehouse showcasing SSI Schaefer`s latest solutions.

Under his stewardship, SSI Schaefer MEA continues to grow and now has three offices in the region and more than 10 local partner companies. What began in 2001 as a team of only 4 employees has developed multifold into a current team of more than 80 people, across a geographical swathe that extends from Pakistan to South Africa.

The offices in Johannesburg (established 2011) and Jeddah (established 2013) now support the national customers with the day-to-day business.

NOVEMBER 2019 25

SSI SCHÄFER

Many companies need to move to a level of mechanical and technological sophistication where processes are facile and efficient and I will be making the case for companies to adopt new modules that bring higher ROIs and competencies in their systems .

Carsten Spiegelberg Carsten Spiegelberg is presently the UAE-based General Manager, Logistics Solutions for the Middle East and Africa Region and has been associated with the world of logistics for over three decades in three continents.

He has been a key player in setting up SSI Schaefer’s automation business across Asia-Pacific (APAC), Australia and now the Middle East. After 26 years in Singapore, he decided to take on new challenges and locate to the Dubai headquarters.

He studied Electrical Engineering in Germany and taught Mechanics and Control Engineering at Darmstadt University for three years.

He initially worked at AEG Automation (later Cegelec and Alstom) in the field of design, controls and IT for general Material Handling applications, Warehousing and Distribution for 14 years and has now been with SSI Schaefer since 2001.

As General Manager for Systems and Automation for the Asia-Pacific region headquartered in Singapore, he was responsible for sales and implementation of Automated Warehouses and semi- and fully automated Order Fulfillment and Distribution Systems.

With his extensive experience, he has been a muchsought after speaker at conferences and exhibitions in Asean, Australia, India, China, Korea and other countries.

He has presented papers covering all aspects of conventional, semi- and automated warehousing, order fulfilment systems and order picking technologies and other subjects of intralogistics.

Carsten Spiegelberg

Cosmin Sebastian Ilie Cosmin Sebastian Ilie is Regional Sales Manager in charge of SSI Schaefer United Arab Emirates, part of HUB SSI Schaefer Middle East and Africa.

Cosmin has been in his current position since July 2011 and in the logistics industry for over 15 years.

He has been the key player in setting up SSI Schaefer’s local sales team in UAE, responsible for Sales and Business Development.

He graduated in his native Romania with a Mechanical Engineering degree with specialization in Automotive and an MBA in Management and Marketing.

26 NOVEMBER 2019

Cosmin Sebastian Ilie

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For the past seven years, Marian Danila has been responsible for providing strategic guidance and leadership to the export team that works through several distributors, developing and overseeing the implementation of the sales strategies for the region Marian Danila

Marian Danila

Marian Danila is the Senior Business Development Manager with over 13 years of commercial management, business development experience, within diverse industries including FMCG, Storage / Materials Handling and related segments in Europe and the Middle East.

Danila considers himself to be customercentric, focused on client relationship building and boosting new market development and brand expansion.

Part of SSI Schaefer for the past seven years, he has been responsible for providing strategic guidance and leadership to the export team that works through several distributors, developing and overseeing the implementation of the sales strategies for the region.

His overall responsibility is to implement the spearheading of the business in the MEA, Pakistan and Cyprus and both new and existing market growth regionally on both a corporate and B2B level, including identification, negotiation and follow-up.

Alexander van den Oever

Alexander van den Oever 28 NOVEMBER 2019

Alexander is CSS Hub Manager Middle East Africa (MEA) and is credited with having over ten years experience in customer service and automation in warehousing and intralogistics systems.

He has been part of the global SSI Schaefer Customer Service and Support Department for the past five years and joined SSI Schaefer Dubai in 2018 in his current role as CSS Hub Manager.

He is responsible for all the region’s existing customers in 16 countries. His team is now 24-employee strong and is spread over three countries.

One of the challenges that he successfully manages through his experience is to provide each customer with the right indigenous solution for their requirements from a wide portfolio of SSI Schafer patented and proprietary products and ancillary services. n

Emirates Delivers

SkyCargo unveils new e-commerce delivery platform

Platform will enhance Dubai’s position as global hub for e-commerce fulfillment

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mirates SkyCargo has launched ‘Emirates Delivers’, a new e-commerce delivery platform that allows customers shopping from multiple online retailers in the US to consolidate their purchases and have the goods delivered to a home or office address.

Now available to individual or small business customers in the UAE, Emirates Delivers supports Dubai›s vision to become as a global hub for e-commerce, as envisioned under the Dubai Silk Road Strategy announced by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai.

Emirates Delivers is a fast, reliable and cost-effective e-commerce shipping solution that is targeted both at individual customers as well as small businesses who regularly shop online for their personal or business needs. It is an open e-commerce fulfillment platform that can also be used by other e-commerce businesses and logistics integrators.

«Emirates SkyCargo is the first international cargo airline in the world to develop a dedicated e-commerce delivery platform. Currently, Emirates Delivers enables consumers to purchase their favourite products from any US based online retail store and have it delivered in the UAE. The launch of Emirates Delivers

30 NOVEMBER 2019

is in line with our strategy to roll out specialised and innovative air transportation products targeted at industry verticals and with our efforts to position Dubai as a global e-commerce fulfilment hub for customers based in the Middle East, Asia and Africa,” commented Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

Free registration

To use Emirates Delivers, customers have to go through a free registration process at www.emiratesdelivers.com. On completion of registration, members are allocated a unique and free Emirates Delivers mailing address in the USA. Customers can have their online purchases from US e-commerce retailers delivered to this address where the goods can be stored free of charge for up to 30 days.

Customers have the flexibility to create a shipping request anytime within these 30 days and have their purchases consolidated into one parcel and have this delivered to their designated UAE address. The packages will be transported to Dubai on Emirates SkyCargo›s flights from the US and will then be delivered to the shopper›s doorstep within 3-5 days of the creation of the shipping request.

Through Emirates Delivers, customers can save money through cheaper shipping costs both when shipping within the

US from the retailer to their Emirates Delivers mailing address and through the competitive shipping rates offered by Emirates

Cost effective

Delivers to move goods from the US to Dubai. Customers can also benefit from reduced shipping weights thanks to repacking through which packaging material from each individual shipment is removed and the goods are packed into one consolidated box.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cargo capacity on Emirates› fleet of over 265 modern wide-body aircraft including 12 freighters11 Boeing 777-Fs and one B747F. The carrier operates to 13 destinations in the US, offering cargo capacity on over 100 weekly flights including scheduled freighter services to destinations including Columbus, Chicago, Houston and New York.

The air cargo carrier operates two state of the art cargo terminals at its hub in Dubai and has developed specialised air transportation products for specific industry verticals. Emirates SkyCargo is a key facilitator of global trade and during the FY 2018/19, the air cargo carrier transported over 2.7 million tonnes of cargo across its global network of over 155 destinations spread over six continents through its hub in Dubai. n

Etihad Cargo

Etihad Cargo’s digitalisation process enters its second year

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Next phase of digitalisation strategy will see the introduction of fresh new initiatives

tihad Cargo has marked the first year of its ambitious digitalisation program, which went live with iCargo in October 2018, by reiterating its commitment to enhancing customer experiences with a pipeline of further programmes and initiatives.

Etihad Cargo implemented a full overhaul of its booking processes and platforms 12 months ago with the successful migration of Its front-end systems to the market leading SPRINT - an IBS iCargo fully integrated technology platform that combined six legacy Etihad platforms into one.

Since its launch, the system has successfully handled almost half a million bookings, equating to 115,000 flights processed and 10 million messages from close to 3,000 customers and nearly 6,000 users. “iCargo marked a significant shift in the way Etihad Cargo operates; it was a momentous first step in our ongoing journey of improvement and adaptation to a new and exciting digitised world for air cargo,” said Abdulla Mohamed Shadid, Etihad Aviation Group’s Managing Director Cargo and Logistics Services.

Online booking portal goes live

Of the approximately half a million bookings processed in iCargo, Etihad Cargo’s online booking portal at www. etihadcargo.com, which also went live last October, accounted for 20% of total bookings. The monthly booking rate grew from zero in October 2018 to 33.7% in September 2019, unprecedented in the industry over this timeframe.

The region with the highest online booking penetration rate for Etihad Cargo is Asia, with India completing 96% of its September 2019 bookings through www. etihadcargo.com and Thailand close to the 90% mark. The Americas represents the second highest rate with the US recently crossing the 50% mark for online bookings.

Etihad Cargo is working to boost the rates

The system has handled over half a million bookings, 115,000 flights, 10 million messages and nearly 6,000 users in Europe as several new initiatives come online in Q4.

To further its commitment to digitalisation and offer multiple channels to its clients, Etihad Cargo’s automated Freight Forwarder Messaging (FFR) booking function went live in April 2019, allowing instant bookings and confirmations from its global operations as well as key forwarder customers. A total of 2,100 bookings were made through FFR during the past five months, with September marking the highest percentage of FFR bookings at 2.9%.

Enterprise Data Lake

Etihad Cargo has also successfully launched its enterprise data lake, which feeds key internal and market data to its interactive data visualisation tool Microsoft PowerBI. The key tool provides access to on-

demand information for smart commercial sales steering, volumes and yields trend monitoring, customer booking behaviors, global accounts and loyalty targets, as well as station KPI performances, and is complementing the ongoing rollout of customer resource management tool, Salesforce, across all Etihad Cargo stations.

“Our digitalisation roadmap is only in its infancy. The foundations have been laid for a number of exciting projects in coming months, including our new, soon-tolaunch and state-of-the-art Cargo Control Centre, a brand-new website and mobile app, dynamic pricing, and APIs to support several new booking channels,” added Shadid.

Etihad Cargo’s complete product portfolio is also available across its digital platforms, including general cargo, TempCheck (pharmaceutical), SafeGuard (valuables), FreshForward (perishables), FlightValet (automotive) and FlyCulture (arts and music), amongst others. Now considered one of the world’s leading loyalty schemes with more than 5,300 active members from 74 different countries, PayloadRewards, Etihad Cargo’s cargo loyalty program, will also roll out further functionalities and rewards to its customers in coming months. n NOVEMBER 2019 31

NAFL

UAE National Nadia Abdul Aziz re-elected NAFL President Thanks to the inspiration of the newly re-elected UAE national female as the President of the National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL), the percentage of UAE nationals has soared from 10% to 30% on the NAFL Board.

Currently, UAE national females constitute 20% of the NAFL Board composition.

NAFL 2019/20 New board elections results Nadia Abdul Aziz was elected as President.

Ahmad Abdul Razeq from Maltrans-Al Ghaith Group was elected as Vice President.

Sudesh Chaturvedi from GAC Logistics was elected as Secretary General.

Mathew Chacko from MRC was elected Treasurer.

The six nominees elected to the Executive Board are: Madhu Madathil from Rais Hassan Saadi Group Praveen Chandrasen from Kays Logistics Maitha Juma Bin Bakit Al Falasi from Airlink International Majid Barzanji from Mateen Express Essa Al Jallaf from ACT Ibrahim Abu Zayed Al Fadhil Al Mazruoie from AFCO

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uoyed by the encouragement and continued support of HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; CEO and Chairman of the Emirates Group and the Honorary Patron of the National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL)-UAE, Ms Nadia Abdul Aziz re-stood for re-election for the post of President, NAFL-UAE and won by a landslide majority.

NAFL-UAE is a chapter of the global organization FIATA, by far the largest freight organisation globally, She has previously also served as President and was able to deliver on various pledges and initiatives for the Association,

32 NOVEMBER 2019

its members and the wider UAE logistics industry.

Recently, in October 2019, she travelled for the FIATA World Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa, and was also elected as a Vice Chair for the FIATA Global Extended Board where 150 member countries are eligible to vote.

New Board elections

The NAFL, a non-profit, non-government organisation held its annual general meeting and conducted full new Board elections for the next term in September 2019. The re-elected Board Members will serve for two years and then can also reapply for elections for the following term.

In the past, there were no UAE nationals on the NAFL Board. Ms Nadia Abdul Aziz was the only UAE national serving the board since more than 10 years where she worked her way up from serving as a Board Member, then serving as Secretary General and currently as the President of the Association.

There was a duly-designated election process and from among the General Assembly a representative from every member company had one vote. Ms Nadia was re-elected by a large majority and in voting for her, members affirmed great confidence in her work.

NAFL members congratulated and wished her and the new Board all success. Several of

NAFL

As a country we rely heavily on logistics, trade and our strategic position for transshipments and associated services.

NOVEMBER 2019 33

NAFL

the new Board members were also re-elected and have served NAFL in different capacities for many years in the past.

Due diligence

Prior to the elections, Ms Nadia held a detailed presentation on all the accomplishments of NAFL under her presidency and showcased the value-added services that the association provides to its corporate and associate members.

Some of the benefits included discounted trainings to members; complimentary specialised logistics/ freight legal advice offered by NAFL legal consultants, networking events, industry and governmental collaborative events, participation in regional and global logistics conferences and exhibition among many other professional services.

Some of the events conducted by NAFL include a MoU (Memorandum of 34 NOVEMBER 2019

Understanding) and participation in global regional events in Morocco, Cameroon, Tanzania, Rwanda, Turkey, Lebanon, Dublin, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Uganda, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Ms Nadia also worked on various collaborations between countries to enhance the logistics industry between various countries and enable logistics firms to further network.

Governmental support

Various Governments have also sponsored NAFL members to attend their conferences thanks to the good rapport between NAFL and their country Freight Associations.

Ms Nadia also encouraged UAE nationals to pursue careers in the logistics sector as a profession. She has sponsored UAE nationals for the FIATA degree in logistics. “I will continue to push for this

as this sector we have a low rate of UAE nationals and we can penetrate this sector and create great job opportunities for UAE nationals. I will be working on developing various programs for the nationals to help them further understand this sector and perhaps have a career path in it,” affirmed Ms. Nadia.

“We as the NAFL Board will be working with schools and universities to educate the interested youth both nationals and non-nationals. This strategy is in line with what our government wants to achieve and I believe we can do a lot for the logistics sector,” she continued.

“We want to prepare the new generations for the future and as a country we rely heavily on logistics, trade and our strategic position for transshipments and associated services. Our nationals and non nationals need to be ready for this bright smart future,” she added. n

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Dnata-Wallenborn Accord

dnata joins forces with air-cargo road feeder services provider Wallenborn

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nata has strengthened its position in the cargo logistics industry in the Middle East by joining forces with Wallenborn Transports, Europe’s largest air-cargo road feeder services (RFS) operator.

Wallenborn Transports has completed the acquisition of Agility Global Logistics’ interest in dnata PWC Airport Logistics (DPAL), a Dubai-based premium road feeder services provider, and will now embark on a partnership with dnata through its ownership in DPAL. The partnership will see the companies develop new products and services, and enter new markets.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction. The current leadership teams will continue to manage the business and operations.

“As one of the world’s leading cargo services providers, dnata offers a comprehensive product portfolio, including a broad range of logistics and freight

36 NOVEMBER 2019

forwarding services, to fully meet the diverse needs of customers,”commented Bernd Leo Struck, Senior Vice President UAE Cargo & DWC Airline Services, dnata, and Chairman of dnata PWC Airport Logistics.

“This exciting partnership with dnata will be a game changer for airlines, forwarders and their customers. This new venture supports my long term vision to enhance RFS in the GCC region and make supply chains more effective and efficient. We will extend the range and quality of RFS services from, to and within the UAE and invest in digitalisation and environmental initiatives that will create dynamic and sustainable opportunities for our customers,”remarked Frantz Wallenborn, President & CEO, Wallenborn Transports.

DPAL is a premium road feeder services provider in the UAE. It offers customers a wide choice of off-line routings and quality service at competitive rates. Its fleet of stateof-the-art trailers can accommodate multiple

full-size freighter pallets at a time.

Each vehicle is designed to interface with the loading docks of air cargo terminals to eliminate the need for forklifts during loading and unloading. As well as its physical operations, the company provides class-leading solutions for managing the increasingly complex world of airline operating systems.

Wallenborn Transports SA is a leading provider of transportation services and Europe’s largest air-cargo RFS operator.

Wallenborn has operational bases in Dubai and Sharjah.

Its pan-European road feeder services have been complemented in recent years by a range of special products including GDP (Good Distribution Practices)-certified transport for healthcare products, and TAPA TSR (Trucking Security Requirements)certified secure transport and outsized solutions for aerospace and similar precision industries. n

Etihad Secure Logistics

Etihad Secure Logistics targets Abu Dhabi expansion Valuables management and logistics arm of Etihad Cargo announces armoured fleet expansion

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tihad Secure Logistics Services (ESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Etihad Airways and a member of its Cargo and Logistics Services portfolio, is increasing its vehicle fleet and expanding its services across the UAE capital, citing demand from Abu Dhabi’s government, diplomatic and private sectors.

The valuables management and logistics operator recently announced the addition of three state-of-the-art armoured vehicles to its fleet.

“The premium valuables and cash logistics sector in the United Arab Emirates is a natural focus for Etihad Secure Logistics and this strategic fleet growth adds 30 per cent more capacity, while also providing additional security features and services to our expanding portfolio of loyal clients,” said Vince Hampton, Managing Director, Etihad Secure Logistics.

“These state-of-the-art vehicles boast the latest mobile security technology, including improved monitoring and tracking solutions, to further cement our

Etihad Secure Logistics state-of-the-art vehicles boast the latest mobile security technology, including improved monitoring and tracking solutions position as the partner of choice in the emirate of Abu Dhabi,”he added.

Federally licensed to operate across the UAE-wide security industry by the Private Security Business Department (PSBD) and Security Industry Regulatory Authority (SIRA), ESL offers a broad range of UAEwide services such as cash-in-transit, dedicated armored transport and vehicle services, and luxury goods security at events in the valuables sector.

Increase in pan-UAE operations In addition to the increase in domestic UAE operations, ESL is further enhancing its Abu Dhabi International Airport operations, providing customers with valuable cargo import and export services as well as dedicated landside to airside and aircraft-to-

aircraft secure logistics services.

These services complement its existing 24/7 customs clearance operation at Abu Dhabi International Airport, diplomatic mail security and tracking services, secure and bonded vaulting and storage facilities within the airport, as well as airside security escort and handling services.

Etihad Airways acquired full ownership of ESL in May 2019 and has successfully completed the repositioning of the business under its Cargo and Logistics Services portfolio. Over the past six years, ESL has transitioned from a start-up to become a major player in the UAE’s buoyant secure logistics and valuables management market, and has played a key role in growing Etihad Cargo’s SafeGuard (valuables & vulnerables) and FlyCulture (arts and music) products. n NOVEMBER 2019 37

Digital Technology: Agility Case Study

Digital Technology

is revolutionising the way we conduct our business Agility is harnessing digital and new emerging technologies to its advantage and as a spinoff changing the operations dynamics and functional modules.

Agility’s Chief Digital Officer Biju Kewalram explains how one of the leading Logistics Service Provider is embracing change and thereby adapting to a new logistics and supply chain landscape in the region and internationally.

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igital technology is changing the way the world does business and doing so at an extraordinary pace.

Whatever your part in the supply chain – customer, supplier, or logistics provider – the speed at which new technologies are being developed can be bewildering.

Agility is working with customers and partners to adapt to this fast-changing landscape. This guide is intended to help you identify which technologies your business should be concentrating on right now.

38 NOVEMBER 2019

Keeping pace with change

Agility’s Chief Digital Officer, Biju Kewalram, says the supply and logistics industry is at a very early stage of its digital evolution, and compares it to the period of the Model T Ford in the car industry.

However, just as with the development of the auto industry, some of the areas that attract a lot of hype may prove to be expensive dead ends and some of the less glamorous technologies may turn out to deliver the best returns on investment.

Should you spend heavily on cutting

edge last-mile solutions like delivery drones? Does your warehouse need to be fitted with advanced robotics or augmented reality? Without limitless funds for research and development, how will you know what works for your business?

Staying agile

Success in the digital supply chain will be determined more by fostering the right mindset than making the right bet on a particular technology. The key is to take an agile, experimental approach.

Digital Technology: Agility Case Study

The unprecedented pace of change means traditional ways of evaluating technologies are outdated. There simply isn’t the time for a company to carry out a full-scale trial to study how a technology will affect its entire business.

At the same time, sweeping one-off changes to the company’s entire workflow are likely to be too expensive, and too late.

Instead, Agility recommends continuous incremental change – small trials and pilots on a specific part of your process. This allows the trials to be evaluated using real data on the actual impact on your business, rather than based on intuition or hopes for what the technology might one day do.

Be open to setbacks

Successful tries should be scaled up, and monitored carefully as the technology is spread through different parts of your business. It is also important to be prepared for experiments to fail, and to be able to walk away with small losses. Those failures – and the knowledge of how and why something didn’t work – can then be applied to the next trial.

The success of many technologies will depend on the development of new ecosystems. It’s best to work with trusted partners and other stakeholders to find out how the changes you make affect each other.

There will be no settled end state. We live in an age of continuous innovation.

Ever-changing technology means there will always be a need to keep experimenting.

Technologies that didn’t have the desired effect when you tried them the first time will need to be looked at again and again, as your processes and the environment you operate in evolves.

Four Technologies to watch

This is what Agility is doing constantly: working with partners all the way along the supply chain to test how emerging technologies work in the real world.

We currently have a watch list of 16 technologies that are worth keeping an eye on, ranging from machine learning and the cloud to 3D printing, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles and drones.

BIRD technologies overlap when it comes to how they enhance the way we use data and harness the potential of the digital revolution.

BIRD = Blockchain, Internet of Things, Robotic Process Automation, Data Science

We have identified four of these that everyone in the supply chain should focus on. These are already being used to a greater or lesser degree in certain areas of supply and logistics. We believe they will be the foundation of many of the changes likely to sweep through the industry.

They are the BIRD technologies – Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Data Science. Agility has created guides to each of these that help explain how they work, what they can do, and how they can benefit your business.

The BIRD technologies overlap when it comes to how they enhance the way we use data and harness the potential of the digital revolution.

Blockchain establishes trust in data.

Internet of Things provides a vast quantity of relevant data points.

Robotic Process Automation improves the accuracy of data.

Data Science extracts value.

Companies that successfully integrate these four technologies will be in a strong position to take advantage of whatever comes next.

What the future holds

Imagine a product rolling off a production line. From that moment, it is tracked. Its location, tilt, and temperature are securely recorded on an encrypted ledger that cannot be faked. All relevant parties – manufacturer, exporter, shipper, importer, customs official, wholesaler, retailer – have immediate access to the information they need. That information is automatically processed, and there are no errors. The route chosen has been optimized to be cheap, safe, quick, and with the minimum carbon footprint.

Payments can be made immediately with no need for lines of credit. The end recipient knows they are getting exactly what they ordered, delivered in perfect condition. There have been no holdups for paperwork, document checks, or delays at port. Lower costs, more satisfied customers, better profit margins.

This is all possible using technology that exists today. Within just a couple of years, it will be common across the industry. By adopting these techniques and technologies, your business, large or small, can lead the way. n NOVEMBER 2019 39

Cargo Connect—Dubai Airshow 2019

Cargo Connect to spotlight the future of the Air Freight industry The future of trade mobility will be the focus of the Conference

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argo Connect returns to DWC, the Dubai Airshow 2019 site in November to focus on technology innovations that are disrupting and moulding the cargo industry.

Taking place on 18 November, Cargo Connect is bringing together some of the biggest names in the industry with opening keynotes delivered by top decision makers from Dubai Airports, Emirates Airlines, SkyCargo, FedEx and Etihad Airways.

The one day conference will look at future advancements including next generation freight, automation, e-commerce and digital cargo, while also addressing how Expo2020 will impact the UAE industry.

“There is no doubt that technological innovations can help the air cargo industry take the next big leap forward in terms of efficiency and service delivery,” affirmed Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, Emirates.

“Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and other disruptive technologies hold a vast potential to deliver a number of benefits,” he continued.

The Middle East is in a strategically advantageous position with trade and manufacturing moving eastward towards the growing middle classes of Asia and India. In addition, China is predicted to be a top three trading partner with the UAE between now and 2030.

E-commerce boosts the air freight industry In particular, e-commerce is a one of the sectors within air freight which is seeing substantial growth. In the MENA region, online transactions grew by 44% with the greatest growth coming from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. There have been plenty of commercial investments in this space in the 40 NOVEMBER 2019

Middle East; in 2017, Amazon purchased the local e-commerce platform, Souq.com, investing in a 26,000 square metre fulfillment centre in Dubai ahead of its rebranding to Amazon in the UAE. The e-commerce panel at Cargo Connect will aim to understand where services might need to adapt, or where to invest, to continue driving the air cargo industry forward. Speakers on this panel include Dr. Khalfan Al-Shueili, CEO, Oman Aviation Services; Idriss Al Rifai, Founder and CEO, Fetchr and Abhishek Shah, Co-Founder and CEO, RSA National.

Cargo Connect is a crucial industry event and gathering of the Middle East Region to learn about and get inspired by latest regional and international industry developments “E-commerce business within the GCC region is expected to grow to US$ 24 billion by 2022, mainly driven by service optimisation of last mile delivery, fulfillment, returns and supply centres, as well as business blocks,” commented Shah.

“Dubai is already supporting the e-commerce sector on a big scale. Cargo Connect is a crucial industry event and gathering of the Middle East Region to learn about and get inspired by latest regional and international industry developments,” he added.

Helicopters to make their mark at Dubai Airshow The Dubai Airshow will bring together key players from the world’s leading helicopter companies. Trade attendees can expect to see offerings from this year’s platinum event sponsor, the Helicopter Company, alongside Bell, Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin Company), Leonardo, the Russian Helicopter Company and several others.

Launched earlier this year backed

by Saudi Arabia’s state-run Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Helicopter Company is the Kingdom’s first commercial helicopter operator and is aligned with the Saudi Vision 2030 to provide the best support services to the transportation industry in general, and the aviation industry in particular.

The Helicopter Company plans to use the Dubai Airshow as a platform to develop relationships with contacts in the industry, connect with other players in the local and global aviation and aerospace industry and to introduce its latest Rotorcrafts for VIP transportation within the Kingdom.

“The Middle East’s aerospace industry is a growing market that offers a lot of opportunities,” says Yahya Al Ghoraibi, CEO, The Helicopter Company. “The biggest challenges would be to keep up with the accelerating growth in this industry. Fortunately, this makes room for a multitude of investment opportunities and partnerships for local and foreign partners,” he commented.

Meanwhile, Aura Group of Companies (AGC) will be joining the conference to talk how UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) can support the cargo sector, specifically their product AURA 100. “While the UAE will continue leading drone technology developments in the region, the private sector will become more open towards integrating drones into their operations,” stated Alexander Ostrovoy, Managing Partner, Aura Group of Companies (AGC).

AI and UAVs to the fore Continuing the theme of unmanned cargo, the conference will also host a panel discussion on next generation freight, delving in to potential innovations and implications, including ‘uberisation’ of cargo, AI, significant cost reductions and urban deliveries.

Sharing their insight on this topic will be the likes of FedEx, Natilus (a Californian start-up developing seaplane UAVs to ship

air cargo) and Fero, the company that for the very first time in the MENA Region introduced an AI-enabled voice agent for the logistics industry, a technology that will replace repetitive human interaction and eradicate any room for human error.

The WTO’s 2019 trade predictions see global trade on par with GDP at 2.6% returning to 3% in 2020 and growing faster than GDP. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) NOVEMBER 2019 41

long-term ITF (International Transport Forum) Outlook 2019 predicts global freight demands will treble between 2015 and 2050 with the largest growth coming from the airfreight sector with a CAGR of 4.5%.

“As one of the fastest growing air cargo hubs in the world, Dubai will be the leader in pushing the industry forward to adopt technologies and processes which increase profitability and efficiency. Cargo Connect is the focal point for that leadership,” remarked Rachel Sturgess, Portfolio Director at show organisers Tarsus F&E Middle East.

Cargo Interface The one-day Cargo Connect conference and exhibition will bring industry professionals from across the cargo supply chain together to discuss global trends, regional challenges and the future of the cargo industry.

42 NOVEMBER 2019

Cargo Connect will bring together airlines, airport authorities, port authorities, police, customs, freight forwarders, cargo operators and carriers to discuss the future of the cargo industry. In addition, a wide range of networking and thought leadership programmes will take place throughout the five day duration of the biannual Dubai Airshow 2019 to be held at DWC from 17 to 21 November.

Law Enforcement prioritised In the Middle East region, Bell focuses on Law Enforcement with the Bell 429, Bell 412EPIs and military trainer opportunities for the Bell 505 and Bell 407, plus the light attack helicopter segment with the Bell 407.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Bell 525 super-medium helicopter is disrupting the market with its new

technologies, redefining luxury vertical lift, is a 16 to 19 seat helicopter coming to market. The first commercial helicopter with fly-by-wire controls, Bell characterises it as one of the most advanced commercial helicopters that has ever been developed for oil and gas and search and rescue.

“The Dubai Airshow is the opportunity to meet our regional customers in one place, to continue the engagements we have year round with our operators,” said Patrick Moulay, Senior Vice President, Bell Commercial Business–International.

The static display area at the Dubai Airshow will feature up to 165 aircraft including an AW139 from the Helicopter Company, a Mi-2MSB-1 from Motor Sich and a CH-47F Chinook Helicopter from Boeing, in addition to other helicopter models. n

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Dubai Airshow 2019: Exclusive Interview

Dubai Airshow 2019: Exclusive Interview

Aerospace industry poised for take-off in the Middle East Tens of thousands of top professionals and officials from the global aerospace industry will converge at the upcoming Dubai Airshow 2019 to witness the latest breakthroughs, see up close and personal the newest inventions and discuss the future of the aviation industry.

The 16th edition of Dubai Airshow is set to surpass all previous editions and become the biggest in terms of number of exhibitors, visitors and aircraft displays.

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he international aerospace industry is at a strategic inflexion point as new technologies open opportunities for industrial changes that can be translated into tangible cost savings and growth. When the Dubai Airshow returns to DWC, the Dubai Airshow site from 17 to 21 November, leading aerospace companies will use the platform to launch and exhibit their latest innovations to the market.

Many of the 1300 exhibitors at the event will travel from all corners of the world, demonstrating the global appeal of the Dubai Airshow. Among them will be S&K Technologies from the USA and

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence from Italy, both exhibiting for the first time this year. Returning industry giants will be demonstrating their own advances in technologies across the entire aerospace industry, including Rolls Royce, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) taking place within the Dubai Airshow, will present a comprehensive and interactive discussion on air traffic control in the UAE, the GCC and globally. CAAs (Civil Aviation Authorities), ANSPs (Air Navigation Service Providers), Airlines, Airports and ATM (Air Traffic Management) suppliers will come together to learn more about NOVEMBER 2019 43

Dubai Airshow 2019: Exclusive Interview

Exclusive Interview Michele Van Akelijen, Managing Director, Tarsus F&E, Middle East

how technology can be applied to face the increasing challenge of crowded skies.

The Dubai Airshow will also feature a focus on the space sector, with an exhibition area and two dedicated conferences produced in collaboration with the UAE Space Agency, ‘Women in Space’ and ‘Tech Talks’. Bringing together major decisionmakers from space agencies and the commercial industry these two conferences will facilitate unmatched opportunities to discuss space developments within the wider aerospace setting.

Regional defence spending to reach US$ 100billion in 2019 Meanwhile, Middle Eastern defence spending will reach US$ 100billion in 2019, led predominantly by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to Jane’s by IHS Markit forecast. Out of the top ten defence spending nations per capita, five are in the Middle East as are nine of the top 15 defence budgets per GDP. On average, Middle Eastern countries spend 13% of their fiscal budgets on defence annually with Oman and Saudi Arabia spending close to 20% and 30% respectively. In fact, Saudi Arabia’s 2019 defence budget is US$ 51billion, making it the third largest military spending nation in the world.

44 NOVEMBER 2019

It is a clear sign that defence is high on the priorities of regional governments and is set to increase. The UAE’s defence budget is growing at a 6.5% CAGR and accumulatively over the years to 2021, the country will spend US$ 140.8billion of which US$ 53.1billion will be on asset acquisition.

Expected to attract an even larger increase in attendees, with 87000 aerospace trade professionals attending the event this year.

Global Supply Chain interviewed Michele Van Akelijen, Managing Director, Tarsus F&E, Middle East, organisers of the Dubai Airshow 2019 to get the first-hand perspective and low-down on the progress of the impending mega event.

Global Supply Chain (GSC): How are developments shaping in the run-up to the Dubai Airshow 2019?

Michele Van Akelijen (MVA): The Dubai Airshow has grown every year across its 30-

year history to reflect the innovations and opportunities in the aerospace industry, in the Middle East and globally.

It has been an exciting journey and an honour to be part of aerospace history–from record breaking announcements to the addition of new sectors and features such as space. The Dubai Airshow 2019 will continue to provide the platform for the aerospace industry and a glimpse into its future.

GSC: How is Dubai Airshow 2019 bigger, better than its preceding editions? How are the metrics stacking up?

MVA: Dubai Airshow 2019 will be bigger, better and busier than previous editions.

The growth is demonstrated by the number of exhibitors and trade visitors anticipated at the Dubai Airshow 2019 – an increase of almost 10% on exhibitors to 1300 are expected to attract an even larger increase in attendees, with 87000 aerospace trade professionals attending the event throughout its five day run.

It’s too early to reveal details of the aircraft that will be on the static (and flying) displays at the Dubai Airshow 2019–we do expect there to be up to 165 aircraft in the static. The full list of aircraft confirmed for the static display will be posted on our website shortly–and will be regularly updated.

Dubai Airshow 2019: Exclusive Interview

GSC: What are your expectations for Dubai Airshow 2019?

MVA: The Dubai Airshow truly represents the whole aerospace industry from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Operations), engineering, engine manufacturing, business aviation and defence to name a few. In addition, sectors such as cargo, air traffic control and space will be present in feature pavilions and conferences taking place during the Dubai Airshow 2019.

The show really is the platform and gateway for the industry in the region and beyond. Anyone with any interest in aerospace should be there in November.

GSC: A comment on how the aerospace industry evolving?

MVA: The aerospace industry is at an exciting point as new technologies open opportunities for industrial changes that can be translated into tangible cost savings and growth. When the Dubai Airshow returns to DWC, leading aerospace companies will use the platform to launch and exhibit their latest innovations to the market.

GSC: How are new and emerging technologies impacting the aviation sector?

MVA: The technological advancements in many sectors of the aerospace industry

The Dubai Airshow has grown every year across its 30 year history to reflect the innovations and opportunities in aerospace both in the Middle East and globally. are incredible. The advancements and opportunities are many faceted and most are interdependent for the full benefits to be felt. The Dubai Airshow brings them all together for one week in the presence of industry leaders, truly connecting all aspects of the aerospace industry.

GSC: What will make the Dubai Airshow 2019 a stand-out from its peers and competitors?

MVA: The Dubai Airshow is a truly global event and an integral part of the aerospace calendar, evolving each edition to reflect the changes and innovations in the industry.

The Dubai Airshow really does attract the whole aerospace industry. It has grown every year across its 30 year history to reflect the innovations and opportunities in aerospace both in the Middle East and globally.

From record breaking announcements to the addition of new sectors and features such as space and cargo, the

show continues to reflect all aspects of the industry and there really is something for everyone who is involved in aerospace.

The Dubai Airshow 2019 will continue to provide the platform for the aerospace industry and a glimpse into its future.

GSC: What are the opportunities and challenges for the aviation sector going forward?

MVA: We have convened multiple seminars and forums such as Cargo Connect, Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) and the Space Pavilion; Women in Space and Tech Talks. As the place where the entire aerospace industry networks and does business, opportunities and challenges are often discussed along with solutions and ways to drive the industry forward.

The conferences in particular have been developed in order to focus on new and evolving sectors and address them in a dedicated environment with key industry leaders.

NOVEMBER 2019 45

Dubai Airshow 2019: Exclusive Interview

Both civil and defence have always been a significant part of the Dubai Airshow – and this is reflected in the Delegations Programme every year.

GSC: How significant is the cargo component at Dubai Airshow 2019?

MVA: The Middle East is in a strategically advantageous position with trade and manufacturing moving eastward towards the growing middle classes of Asia and India. In addition, China is predicted to be a top three trade partner with the UAE between now and 2030.

E-commerce is a one of the sectors within air freight which is seeing substantial growth. In the MENA region online transactions grew by 44% with the greatest growth coming from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Many of the exhibitors at the Dubai Airshow are cargo focused, either as a whole, such as RSA Global, exhibiting at Cargo Connect, or as part of a larger aviation presence such as Emirates Airline or OEMs like Boeing. With such opportunities in the industry, it seemed the ideal time to create a focused conference and dedicated exhibition area, which began at the Dubai Airshow 2017, then took place again in 2018 and now will be a prominent part of the Dubai Airshow 2019.

GSC: Expand on Cargo Connect and its implications at Dubai Airshow 2019?

MVA: Cargo Connect returns during the 46 NOVEMBER 2019

Dubai Airshow in November to focus on technology innovations that are disrupting the cargo industry. Taking place on the 18 November, Cargo Connect is bringing together some of the biggest names in the industry with opening keynotes delivered by top decision makers from Dubai Airports, Emirates SkyCargo, FedEx and Etihad Cargo.

The one day conference will look at future advancements including next generation freight, automation, e-commerce and digital cargo, while also addressing how Expo2020 will impact the UAE industry.

GSC: What do you hope Cargo Connect to accomplish and how?

MVA: As a platform for the industry, Cargo Connect has been developed in order to bring the cargo industry together to discuss and drive the future of cargo in an increasingly digital and connected world.

Every aspect and stakeholder in the supply chain has a part in the development of the cargo industry, from freight forwarders and airlines, to airports and OEMs. Cargo Connect will be the place for these voices to be heard. By doing so, it will enable the industry to meet the challenges and opportunities facing it and grow into the future.

GSC: How important are the civil and defence aviation sectors at Dubai Airshow 2019 and what broadly are the indicators for plane orders in each of the segments?

MVA: Both civil and defence have always been a significant part of the Dubai Airshow – and this is reflected in the Delegations Programme every year. The Dubai Airshow Delegations Programme, co-ordinated by show organisers, in conjunction with the UAE Ministry of Defence, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and the Government of Dubai, invites military and civil delegations to participate. In 2017, the show hosted 279 delegations from 76 countries around the world, with that number expected to increase in 2019.

GSC: Give us a peek of the nature of the subjects and scope of discussions at the Space Pavilion at Dubai Airshow 2019?

MVA: The Dubai Airshow will also feature a focus on the space sector, with an exhibition area and two dedicated conferences produced in collaboration with the UAE Space Agency: Women in Space and Tech Talks. Bringing together major decisionmakers from space agencies and the commercial industry these two conferences will facilitate unmatched opportunities to discuss space developments within the wider aerospace setting.

Keynote speakers include Jean-Yves Le Gall, President, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES); Arfan Chaudhry, Head of International Policy, UK Space Agency; Dr. Eng. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General, UAE Space Agency and Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Col. Al Worden, USAF-Ret, among other celebrities and dignitaries. n

World Road Congress 2019-Abu Dhabi

World Road Congress calls for revamp of the global road sector The Congress celebrates connectivity and drives change for sustainability

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Dr Abdulla Belhaif Al Nuaimi and Claude Van Rooten with the delegation from the Czech Republic

he need for driving change for sustainability, connected and automated vehicles and road safety were among the topics addressed at the recently concluded 26th World Road Congress in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

Continuing the momentum of highlevel discussions over a five day-period, hundreds of international delegates including thought-leaders, engineers and academics gathered to reflect back on the success of the Congress as a major step was taken in reshaping the future of the roads sector worldwide.

During the closing ceremony, Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Chairman of the Federal Authority for Land and Maritime Transport, outlined that the important discussions that took place during the Congress’ duration.

“Under our theme ‘Connecting Cultures and Enabling Economies’, we have seen people connect not just through roads but also through intellectual communication.

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H.E. Dr Abdulla Belhaif Al Nuaimi addresses the WRC 2019 This showed Abu Dhabi has succeeded in hosting a successful World Road Congress,” he observed.

Supremo strategy

Claude Van Rooten, President, World Road Congress, took to the stage to explain

the World Road Association’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2023. He emphasised on the importance of Congress’ mission by discussing and sharing knowledge on roads and transport policies and practice and integrating a sustainable transport system.

“Road administration, mobility, safety and sustainability and resilient infrastructure are the four strategic themes that the World Road Congress will focus on during the next four years,” he noted.

According to Mansoor Salem Al Mehairi, Project Manager for the World Road Congress Abu Dhabi 2019 and Director, PR & Communication, Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT), the Congress welcomed more than 3,000 delegates from 144 countries and 45 ministers with over 400 formal speaking engagements and senior bilateral meetings taking place.

A delegation from Czech Republic flew into Abu Dhabi and personally invited the delegates to the 27th World Road Congress which will be held in 2023 at Prague. n

Hitachi Rail-Hitachi Deal

Etihad Rail awards contract for systems and integration to Hitachi Rail STS

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A US$ 436mn contract signed was recently signed between the UAE rail operator and Hitachi Rail STS in Abu Dhabi

tihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway, has approved the award of the systems and integration contract for Stage Two of the UAE’s national railway network at a total cost of AED 1.6billion (US$ 436mn) during a Board meeting chaired by Sheikh Theyab Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Etihad Rail.

Sheikh Theyab and Akihiko Nakajima, the Japanese Ambassador to the UAE, attended the contract signing to award the systems and integration works to Hitachi Rail STS.

The Hitachi Rail STS power system will become the longest distribution network in the country The contract was signed by Shadi Malak, Etihad Rail Chief Executive Officer and Christian Andy, Chief Executive Officer, Hitachi Rail STS, Europe, Middle East and Africa, a fully integrated, global provider of rail solutions across rolling stock, signalling services and turnkey operations.

“We are working with a strong will and determination to achieve a secure, modern and sustainable national railway network, and the awarding of the systems and integration contract is an important step in accomplishing this national strategic project,” said Sheikh Theyab.

Key assignment for Hitachi Rail for Stage Two Hitachi Rail STS will be responsible for the design and build of railway systems related to its subsystems, in coordination with other Stage Two works and contracts, as well as managing uptime and operation tests.

With the signing of this agreement,

Etihad Rail and Hitachi Rail STS officials at the deal signing ceremony.

Etihad Rail reaffirms its commitment to maintaining the highest levels of efficiency and safety in accordance with the latest international standards. The trains will be equipped with the latest European signaling system inside the locomotives (ETCS Level 2), which will ensure that trains can easily move between GCC countries without stopping at the borders.

The network will be equipped with a communications system and modern control center with its main operations in Faya and another in Mirfa to support and provide maximum safety and efficiency around the clock.

The centre can pinpoint the location of a train at any time, and has the ability to control the speed limit and even stop the train when necessary. In addition, Etihad Rail is installing surveillance cameras and is following all necessary security procedures in coordination with the police departments of each emirate in the country.

Longest power distribution network The Hitachi Rail STS power system will become the longest distribution network in the country running for a length of 800 km and handling power of 11 kV (medium-high power). An important technical feature is that the operations center will include a Crisis Management Unit able to communicate with all concerned parties across the UAE when needed, for example the Abu Dhabi Police, Civil Defence and other authorities.

In addition, cameras and temperature sensors will be installed to detect any movement around the train track and route corridors. The network will be enhanced by preventive maintenance, where the system identifies predictions of potential errors before they occur and technicians can be immediately sent to carry out repairs, thus increasing the reliability of the network. n NOVEMBER 2019 49

World Road Congress 2019-Abu Dhabi

Agility and JD Logistics collaborate in the E-commerce domain

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Agreement broadens cooperation, gives JD Logistics freight capacity, local warehousing options

gility, a leading global logistics provider, together with its digital innovation arm, Shipa, has signed a memorandum of understanding with JD Logistics., the supply chain and fulfillment arm of China’s largest retailer, JD.com, to collaborate on logistics in fast-growing e-commerce markets.

Agility and JD Logistics will work together to make it easier for consumers in some of the world’s fastest growing markets to get access to JD’s product range and products offered by JD Logistics’ merchant partners. The new agreement focuses on cross-border logistics, and procurement and retail. It covers markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

In Southeast Asia, Agility will act as a cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) trunk service provider, utilizing its strong air and ocean freight capacity, and will also act a local business-to-business (B2B) warehouse provider.

In the Middle East and Africa, Agility will act as JD’s primary logistics service provider and will handle terminal customs clearance and delivery services for its B2C line, helping JD Logistics improve its local logistics system and build a more complete transportation service network. Jointly, Agility and JD Logistics will build door-todoor cross-border and local B2C services.

In addition, Agility and JD will also cooperate in retail and procurement by

Agility Invests SAR 1 Billion in Saudi Arabia New 900,000 sqm logistics park in Riyadh represents support of Vision 2030 Agility recently announced the opening of a new 900,000 square meter logistics park in Riyadh, part of a series of investments in the country valued at SAR 1 billion (US$ 267mn).

The new facility was developed by Agility Logistics Parks (ALP) and includes 250,000 sqm of built-up, high standard warehousing and logistics facilities. The Riyadh ALP will serve leading multinationals as well as small and medium-sized businesses operating in Saudi Arabia.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is heavily investing in logistics infrastructure, to enable us to compete globally, in line with the goal set out in Vision 2030. The support of key private sector partners, such as Agility, will help us achieve this vision,” stated Dr. Nabil Alamoudi, until recently the Saudi Arabian Minister of Transportation Across the GCC, and in Saudi Arabia, Agility also invests in technology to transform the logistics industry. Agility is an investor in Homoola, a digital loadmatching service that is based in Saudi Arabia and uses technology to improve road freight efficiency by connecting shippers and trucking companies.

In addition, Agility’s digital logistics arm ‘Shipa’ also operates in the Kingdom, providing last-mile delivery services as well as access to the world’s most comprehensive online freight forwarding platform.

50 NOVEMBER 2019

promoting high-quality products made or assembled in the Middle East and Africa to Chinese sourcing merchants, and creating more sales channels for Chinese merchants.

Agility will also help strengthen JD’s international supply chain.

“Agility has a long record of providing specialized services in emerging markets.

By partnering with JD Logistics, we will leverage our respective strengths to make it easier to connect the businesses looking to tap the consumer demand in fast-growing markets such as ASEAN and the Middle East with the vast supplier base in China,” affirmed Henadi Al-Saleh, Chairperson, Agility.

“JD Logistics is committed to bringing China’s leadership in e-commerce through modern supply chain systems, technology and operations, and management experience. By partnering with Agility, we will provide customers with a variety of transportation services for ocean, land, air and rail, helping us design the optimal logistics solution to reduce costs and increase efficiency for customers,” remarked Zhenhui Wang, CEO, JD Logistics.

The MoU was signed at JD Logistics’ 4th Global Supply Chain Summit in Beijing. The summit focused on the impact of advanced technologies on the global industrial economy and examined how artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and blockchain will affect economic and social development. n

GPCA

Third Edition GPCA ‘Responsible Care’ Conference celebrates a decade of industry accomplishments

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Prince Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia attends Conference

he 3rd Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA)’s ‘Responsible Care’ Conference celebrated a decade of excellence by the chemical and petrochemical industry in the Arabian Gulf and globally in the field of health, safety, security and the environment (EHS&S) since the ‘Responsible Care’ programme was adopted in the region in 2009.

Held under the patronage of Prince Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, the conference took place in Jubail in midOctober 2019, attracting 350 senior industry leaders from over 70 companies in nine countries to showcase their achievements, share knowledge and network with representatives from all across the globe.

As the conference patron, Prince Saud Bin Nayef Al Saud attended the event where he met with senior officials, while Yousef Al-Benyan, Vice Chairman and CEO, SABIC and Chairman, GPCA, delivered the keynote address.

In a special recognition ceremony, GPCA honoured chemical industry pioneers who have championed ‘Responsible Care’, the exchange of best practices, collaboration and the highest level of transparency at leading chemical companies in the region, thus raising the EHS&S quality and standards across the Arabian Gulf and contributing to better overall sustainability performance, which over the years raised the region’s profile to an international level.

Convergence of top officials These included Mohamed Al Mady, President, Military Industries Corporation Saudi Arabia and ex-Chairman of GPCA Board; Dr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, President, GPIC, and Vice Chairman, GPCA; American Chemistry Council (ACC), USA represented

by Cal Dooley, President, ACC; Yasser Abdul Rahim Al Alabbasi, General Manager Manufacturing, GPIC, Bahrain; Tahir Jamal Qadir, and Alan Izzard, ex-Directors,

Prince Saud Bin Nayef Al Saud, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province at GPCA officials at the inaugural ceremony.

GPCA; Maher Al-Dughaim, Director, EHS, Chemanol, Saudi Arabia, and Albert Biggs, ex-Director, HSE at Sipchem, Saudi Arabia.

The engaging three-day program covered topics ranging from process safety, circular economy, regulatory collaboration, models of excellence and ‘Responsible Care’ beyond the fence in the form of master-classes, presentations, conference sessions and audience-led Q&As. The conference played host to the 13th edition of GPCA’s ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ programme, which attracted 54 students from across the GCC to network with industry leaders and learn about the benefits of pursuing a career in the chemical industry.

Jubail – chemicals and petrochemicals hub “Celebrating a decade of ‘Responsible Care’ here in Jubail is hugely momentous given the city’s remarkable industrial history and evolution into one of the world’s leading

production hubs for chemicals and petrochemicals. This region is the driving engine behind tremendous economic value added, the creation of tens of thousands of jobs and the fostering of expertise and technological know-how that have carved out the Kingdom’s formidable position as a globally recognized industrial powerhouse,” commented Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA. ‘Responsible Care’ is the chemical manufacturing industry’s environmental, health, safety and security performance initiative, which was launched in Canada in 1984, and is currently practiced in 68 economies around the world.

GPCA adopted ‘Responsible Care’ in December 2009 in line with its commitment to continually advance the sustainability agenda in the Arabian Gulf chemical industry. ‘Responsible Care’ is obligatory for GPCA full member companies and an essential element of an organisation’s license to operate. n NOVEMBER 2019 51

ADP-ADNOC L&S Pact

Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy and ADNOC Logistics & Services sign MoU

Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi (left) and Abdulkareem Al Masabi at the signing.

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bu Dhabi Maritime Academy, an Abu Dhabi Ports company, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s marine and logistics subsidiary, ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S), to offer cadetships to Emirati students, enrolled at the Academy, with invaluable first-hand experience onboard of ADNOC’s vessels.

The MoU, signed by senior representatives of both entities at an official signing ceremony at Abu Dhabi Ports offices recently, will leverage the scope of ADNOC L&S’ extensive maritime fleet to develop the next generation of Emirati marine officers.

Under the terms of the two-year MoU, ADNOC L&S will accommodate cadets from Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy on its vessels to undertake a cadetship programme encompassing the necessary education and training required for a career in the maritime industry. The agreement will also enable them to complete sea service, during which they will be able to practice their newly acquired skills.

Cadets will undertake theoretical and

52 NOVEMBER 2019

Abu Dhabi Ports owns and manages 11 ports and terminals in the UAE and Guinea. practical courses in all areas of nautical science and maritime engineering, and gain invaluable practical experience on a wide range of vessels in ADNOC L&S’ vast fleet on both local and international voyages.

Producing the next generation of mariners

“ADNOC L&S is the ideal partner with whom we can support the next generation of mariners in the UAE, and we look forward to a successful relationship over the next two years,” said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Group CEO, Abu Dhabi Ports.

“This agreement solidifies our

Under the terms of the two-year MoU, ADNOC Logistics & Services will accommodate cadets from Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy on its vessels to undertake a cadetship programme encompassing the necessary education and training required for a career in the maritime industry. continued commitment to the development of ADNOC and the UAE and to delivering in-country value within the maritime industry,” stated Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO, ADNOC Logistics & Services, on this occasion.

The MoU and partnership with ADNOC L&S reaffirms Abu Dhabi Ports’ commitment to the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision which focuses on facilitating the development of industries within the UAE and enabling the creation of a highly skilled, highly productive workforce within those industries.

Established in 2006, Abu Dhabi Ports is a global trade enabler strategically based in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is the region’s premier facilitator of logistics, transport, and trade, bridging Abu Dhabi with the world. Abu Dhabi Ports owns and manages 11 ports and terminals in the UAE and Guinea.

Additional subsidiaries of Abu Dhabi Ports include: Abu Dhabi Marine Services (SAFEEN), Maqta Gateway, Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy, Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), and Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal. n

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Procurement and Supply Chain MENA Summit

Middle East businesses must adopt new technologies to combat challenges in supply chain operations Investment in technology and skills can help firms mitigate supply chain risks

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iddle East businesses must develop their capabilities and embrace new technologies to tackle increasing threats to the global supply chain.

This was the key message from industry experts who convened in Dubai at the recently concluded Procurement and Supply Chain MENA Summit.

Sam Abchampong, Head of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) MENA; Dirk Karl, MTN Group Executive and Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), and Maha Bouzeid, VP Head of Sourcing in the MEA region for Ericsson, were among the line-up of respected industry figures who participated in the Summit.

While the Middle East is relatively wellplaced to weather the worst excesses of key issues such as protectionism and global trade wars, Achampong warned that more needs to be done to ensure the right tools and capabilities are in place for companies

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to deliver industry best practice.

“Technology itself is an enabler rather than a risk,” he affirmed.“However, the lack of readiness to deploy the correct systems and solutions, as well as a shortage of talent with the relevant skills to be able to operate and add value in today’s business environment, is a risk,” he continued.

Multiple technological solutions While the region’s proactive approach to technology puts it in a strong position to adopt the latest solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain, Achampong believes training and development must be prioritised and solutions implemented.

Industry 4.0 technologies provide a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity for procurement and supply practitioners to re-examine what skills are needed, what tasks are crucial and

what activities can be better undertaken by the technology at our disposal. The availability of increasingly effective technological tools allows procurement and supply practitioners to focus on strategic objectives aimed at generating real value and competitive advantage for an organisation,” he added.

He believes there is some way to go and much remains to be done. More efforts are required to ensure that capability development initiatives continue to be in line with the skills required by employees now and in the near future.

MTN’s Dirk Karl agreed that technology has a major role to play in strengthening supply chain management in the Middle East.“There is a lot of investment into cognitive technologies in the UAE and exposure to some of the best conferences centred around technologies such as AI and machine learning, so we are well positioned to implement these to increase visibility

Procurement and Supply Chain MENA Summit

and gain new levels of understanding using data to predict supply chain disruptions and put mitigation measures in place to reduce risk,” he stated.

Be proactive to lessen risks Karl believes those companies which are proactive will be best equipped to mitigate the potential risks for supply chain issues.

“The best way to capitalise on supply chain risks is to be better than your competition at managing them. If you are an organisation that is an early adopter of technology and process, then you are more likely to be able to manage supply chain disruption, maybe even avoid it fully,” he continued.

According to Ericsson’s Maha Bouzeid, companies in the UAE can also draw on the benefits of the country’s safe and stable working environment.“The UAE is well equipped to deal with supply chain risks as it facilitates a base for international companies to establish themselves in the region. Safety, telecoms infrastructure, schooling and healthcare are key factors for companies to choose the UAE over less safe or stable options,” she maintained.

“That is why Ericsson has invested in the establishment of a supply hub in Dubai to support the Middle East and East Africa markets. Businesses need to highlight the safety and the added value of doing business both with and within the Middle East through the UAE,” she stressed.

Bouzeid also urged businesses to have an adaptable, long-term approach. She called for the need for companies to be flexible in their cost base to cope with economic dynamics, and provide true added value

Disruptive technologies which are set to shape the future of the procurement industry include: Artificial intelligence (AI) – higher levels of trend analysis, with risk modelling used to predict risk patterns.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – Simplification of time-consuming repetitive tasks such as supplier qualification and due diligence. Allow procurement to focus on strategic sourcing and adding true value to an organisation Big Data–Utilising massive amounts of data to increase supply chain visibility and using cognitive analytics to support fact-based decision making Internet of Things (IoT)–IoT can be used to send notifications from remote sites and locations, meaning operational efficiencies for spare parts management, less downtime of sites and related benefits.

Blockchain – Main use case here is around supplier authentication, certifications and associated applications..

Cognitive Technologies–Providing real time insights, market information and scenario planning to mitigate risk for customers with affordable products and services.

Advantage—Middle East Karl suggested that the Middle East also has a natural advantage over other parts of the world because of its geographic location.

“A key benefit for Middle East businesses is the ability to access supply chains easily from the East or West, making it potentially less disruptive to make a switch if the need arises,” he said.

Procurement & Supply Chain MENA, in partnership with CIPS MENA, gathered heads of procurement and supply chain to share big picture, business-led strategies on how not only to guarantee supply during industry flux, but become a key value driver, innovator and business partner for any organisation. With over 200+ senior delegates, 50+ superstar speakers

and six topic tracks, the event provided a day of real-life experiences and actionable use-cases for any budget.

The Summit was organised by Ventures Middle East and B2B Connect (Ventures Connect). Attendees included Hani M. Alsaigh, Technical Procurement General Manager, Saudi Telecom Company; Waleed Al Saeedi, Director of Supply Management, Department of Culture & Tourism Abu Dhabi; Mohammed Y. Al-Sogour, Director Global Supplier & Material Management, SABIC; Lisa Campbell, Chair of CIPS MENA Fellows & Director of Procurement, University of Sharjah; Jennifer Muller, Director Regional Procurement Near East, Beiersdorf; Dr. Arafat El Mourad, Vice President - Head of Strategic Sourcing, Emirates NBD; Mina Hakim, General Manager Group Procurement, Al Futtaim Group; and Sulaiman Abdulla, Manager Contracts and Procurement Section, TRA. n NOVEMBER 2019 55

The Dangerous Allure of Supply Chain Risk Management

Black Swan Events

A black swan event is an incident that occurs randomly and unexpectedly and has wide-spread ramifications.

The event is usually followed with reflection and a flawed rationalisation that it was inevitable.

The phrase was immortalized by author and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb as a metaphor for how humans deal with unpredictable events in his 2007 book, ‘The Black Swan’. According to Taleb, a black swan event is characterised by its ability to surprise the observer, disrupt the status quo and be rationalised in hindsight.

In this contribution, Prof.

Omera Khan contextualises this reference to the logistics and supply chain domain and its implications to real-world and real-time reality—Editor.

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or statisticians with an interest in supply chains, the early years of this decade provided a fascinating example of the Poisson distribution in action— an early use of which, you might recall from your statistics lectures, was modelling the number of soldiers in the Prussian army who were killed by horse kicks.

But in this case, we’re not talking horse kicks, but natural disasters—and in particular, natural disasters which disrupted global supply chains.

For in short order, beginning with the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the world’s supply chains were buffeted by one natural disaster after another.

The Eyjafjallajökull eruption, for instance, filled European air space with high-altitude ash clouds, and led to the closure of much of Europe’s air space. Some 95,000 flights were cancelled, causing significant disruption. Thousands of miles away, production was promptly halted at two Ford plants in Michigan, as well as at BMW’s plant at Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Local disaster, global impact Almost a year later came a devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami which hit north-eastern Japan in 2011. Within a matter of hours, large parts of Japan’s automotive industry had stopped production.

Nearby plants belonging to Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Subaru ground to a halt first. But soon, other Japanese automotive plants—even those far to the south—had stopped production, as parts shortages spread.

And as I pointed out in my book, Product Design and the Supply Chain: Competing through Design, other automotive manufacturers—even those who didn’t think that they had any Japanese suppliers—quickly found themselves battling to keep production lines open, as the disruption spread offshore.

Ford, Volvo, GM, Renault, BMW, Chrysler, PSA PeugeotCitroën: around the world, significant shortages of tier-1, tier-2, and tier-3 components became a fact of life. The

Supply Chain Risk Management

disruption lasted weeks.

And then of course, came the flooding in Thailand in October 2011. This submerged seven of the country’s largest industrial zones, with some under two metres of polluted water, again for several weeks.

The New York Times reported that of the 227 factories in the country’s Khlong Luang industrial zone, only 15% had restarted production six months later. And once again, the disruption was global: two of the world’s largest manufacturers of computer hard drives, for instance, had factories in the affected zones.

Wake-up call Coming so close together, such disruption served as a massive wake-up call, which successive events—think of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, the cross-Channel DoverCalais disruption of 2015, and Europe’s 2013 horsemeat scandal—only reinforced. Supply chain planners and purchasing teams began rapidly re-thinking what they could do to mitigate the impact of such events.

Sacred cows were killed. The automotive industry’s reliance on single sourcing, for instance, was quickly abandoned. Lean just-in-time supply chains began to hold rather more just-in-case inventory. Buyers began to realise that a cheaper deal from thousands of miles away wasn’t necessarily a better proposition than paying a few cents more to a supplier just down the road.

And number of global manufacturers— among them BMW and the Ford Motor Company—began deployed sophisticated supply chain mapping and modelling tools, seeking to better understand and minimise the risks in their supply chains. The work of MIT’s David Simchi-Levi has rightly been applauded as an example of this.

But are Black Swans the real threat?

But has all this work, and contingency planning, been chasing after the wrong ‘black swans’—those exceeding rare, but nonetheless real, risks that have been popularised by the work of Nassim Nicholas Taleb?

Undoubtedly, the focus has been on lowprobability, high-impact risks—so-called ‘game-stoppers’ in the jargon. That’s to be welcomed, of course. Anything that enables

It is risks that are internal to the supply chain that cost firms the most. Experts should be worried about white swans, not just black swans. the world’s supply chains to be more resilient is obviously good for world trade and the global economy.

But does a bigger danger lie instead in high-probability, low-impact risks? The sort usually regarded as ‘friction’, or the cost of doing business? These include cargo theft, for instance, or delays or damage caused by labour unrest, violent activism, and invasive vehicle entry for the purposes of smuggling people or drugs.

Increasingly, I think so.

Gimme the facts I’m the first to admit that statistics—to either support or disprove this contention— are hard to come by.

It’s difficult to get a handle on the frequency of delays and disruption, for instance, never mind their cost. Despite that, companies offering same-day expedited freight or priority freight services seem to be doing quite well. Faced with the cost of a shuttered factory or idled production line, chartering an aircraft seems cheap.

Cargo theft is another area where statistics are sparse. The Transported Assets Protection Association (TAPA)—a worldwide membership organisation focused on reducing cargo theft within supply chains—keeps some statistics, but relies on members to notify theft.

Nevertheless, a TAPA-led body, the Theft Protection in Freight Transport and Logistics Working Group, a grouping of several German business associations, reckoned that there were almost 26,000 cargo thefts from trucks in Germany in 2017, which collectively resulted in losses of almost €1.3 billion (US$ 1.446b). 26,000 cargo thefts!

That’s a lot.

And although it’s not a recent figure, a European Parliament estimate of an overall cost of cargo theft in Europe of €8.2 billion US$ 9.117bn) is often cited.

Either way, these are big numbers, entirely supportive of the ‘high-probability’ thesis. And as for impact, TAPA calculates an average incidence of cargo theft costs €53,625 (US$ 59617) in terms of actual goods stolen. Consequential damages, in the form of supply chain disruption

and reputational damage, of course, are generally reckoned to be many times that.

Should white be the new black?

If statistics are sparse, so are relevant academic studies; but those that do exist point in the same direction.

The classical study by Henricks and Singhal saw such risks as the most common sources of supply chain disruptions between 1992 and 1999. Repeating this work with slightly newer data, Wagner and Bode found a similar pattern, using largescale surveys among supply chain managers.

In short, it is risks that are internal to the supply chain that cost firms the most.

Put another way: supply chain risk experts should be worried about white swans, not just black swans.

It might be exciting to plan for large-scale natural disasters. But it’s probably more profitable to spend the money on better locks, secure parking provision, safer routes, and up-to-date travel advisories. n

Prof. Omera Khan NOVEMBER 2019 57

AI & EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

What you should know before you invest

in new technologies

Technology is an exciting space for the international business community that includes trends from artificial intelligence (AI), to smartphones, blockchain, self-driving technologies, the ongoing to trend to software-as-a-service (SaaS), the Internet of Things (IoT), streaming services, and more. It’s an area full of opportunity, but also some risk.

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here is a lot of hype centred around artificial intelligence and emerging technologies that can leave many observers addle-headed. All the verbosity, technical explanations, the benefits and warnings about the threats, may leave you feeling confused.

As emerging technologies continue to evolve, it is certain that the field of procurement will also continue to undergo a transformation. Therefore, it is essential to keep pace with constant technological changes and to fully benefit from this development. However, you don’t have to know everything or how to do it yourself.

Identify the impacts of technologies:

For procurement organisations, it is important to identify those emerging technologies that are impacting or will impact their performance. When looking into emerging technologies, you should also take into account the suppliers, customers and other stakeholders of your organisation.

However, while there is no need to transform yourself into a technical expert, your organisation should still understand and digest all the opportunities and threats that emerging technologies may offer you and your field of operation.

Prepare and plan for utilisation:

It is crucial to plan, prepare and implement any new measures with which you can minimise threats arising from emerging technologies and fully benefit from technological development.

It doesn’t make sense to try and do everything yourself, and nor do you need 58 NOVEMBER 2019

to. It is recommended that procurement organisations search for the most suitable partners by understanding which benefits arising from emerging technologies can be best concretised, and as cost-efficiently and as realistically as possible.

Which emerging technologies will impact procurement and when will this happen?

Robotic Process Automation automates routine procurement processes.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is already impacting some parts of procurement, and it is predicted to be one of the fastest growing emerging technologies in the field of procurement.

RPA is a new technology that automates routine processes in knowledge work. At its simplest, RPA performs predetermined work assignments on behalf of a human in accordance with set rules.

RPA is already widely used in procurement—particularly in automating purchasing and invoicing processes. In the future, RPA will be used more frequently, for instance, in processing procurement needs, approval processes, creating calls for tenders and other procurement documents, handling questions, automating comparisons, checking up, updating and enriching data, and also in informing.

Robotic Process Automation automates routine procurement processes Artificial Intelligence helps procurement predictions and decisions Artificial intelligence (AI) is an activity performed by a machine that would be considered as intelligent if performed by a human. AI’s features may include, for instance, reasoning, learning, anticipation, decision-making, vision and hearing.

In procurement, AI is currently most

widely used in cost management and reporting processes. In the future, AI is predicted to bring a lot of added value to procurement with virtual assistants, communicating interfaces, analyses predicting human behavior and market performance, automated risk management and independent decision-making, for example.

Machine Learning develops better practices for procurement

In machine learning, no predetermined way of acting in each individual situation has been set; instead, the machine independently learns from the data provided to it.

Deep learning is an advanced form of machine learning that utilises neural networks in order to learn more complex solutions.

In procurement, machine learning is currently most widely used in cost management processes. In the future, machine learning will bring efficiency and intelligence to almost every application of new technologies.

The benefits related to procurement are concretised, for instance, through analyses and decision models predicting the market performance of buyers, suppliers, the supply chain and market, as well as in connection with virtual assistants.

Blockchain enhances reliability and transparency Globally, blockchains enable a very effective and trustworthy database that is also decentralised and transparent.

Applications are being developed and, in

AI & EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

the future, blockchains will be a strong driver of change in, for instance, contract (Smart Contracts) and supply chain management. The Internet of Things (IoT), which is already used in supply chains, may strengthen the monitoring of logistics processes.

Natural language processing facilitates communications

In procurement, chatbots using natural language processing (NLP) have already been tested.

In the future, NLP may make communications needs, searches, intelligent user interfaces and virtual assistants related to procurement more efficient.

What opportunities and threats will emerging technologies bring to procurement?

Emerging technologies will help us humans to better perceive matters that are relevant to the success of an organisation and data concerning those things that might not otherwise exist.

Machines will perform routine work and ensure that existing data is utilised in decision-making. Decision-making will be significantly more effective as problemsolving elements are automated and, in

support of which, up-to-date, processed data is generated.

One of the most concrete opportunities is the significantly reduced number of repetitive routine tasks and the cost savings derived from this, to which RPA applications in particular will create added value.

RPA robots will reduce the number of errors and, in many routine tasks and processes, replace human work effort altogether, especially when combined with AI and machine learning.

One practical example of this is automated tendering management, including receiving, handling, assessing and comparing tenders as well as selecting the winning tender. A similar example is automated procurement agreement creation based on data gathered through a competitive tendering process.

new technologies, data can be searched for, found, interpreted and combined in such a way that it can be utilised in more diverse and versatile ways than before—for instance, in analysing, anticipating and monitoring issues and events. This will make risk management and achieving cost-savings more effective and may also generate new potential returns.

Concrete added value is provided, for instance, to planning procurement when buyers’ needs and price development in the market can be tracked and predicted.

Furthermore, supplier management is a great example of how predictive analytics make both supplier risk management and supplier collaboration development more effective.

This means procurement experts will have more time and resources for strategic planning of procurements and for contributing to leadership, development of stakeholder relations and creating new savings and return opportunities.

Data will take management to a new level

From potential threats to the development of procurements

Routine work a thing of the past

Efficiency and opportunities arising from utilising data are stepping up to an entirely new level. With the help of

One of the most frequently mentioned potential threats when talking about new technologies is the concern over whether in NOVEMBER 2019 59

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the future machines will replace humans in the workplace. It is very unlikely to happen in the field of procurement. Instead, the main focus of work will transform from routine work to planning, developing and managing.

However, transferring far too much decision-making power to machines, together with the bad or erroneous decisions that will arise from that, may occasionally become a reality. These potential threats are best controlled by using planned, step-by-step projects concerning new technologies that are carried out in cooperation with professionals.

How will new technologies be best utilised and what should be avoided?

The sooner new technologies are adopted, the sooner results and benefits will be realised. However, the implementation of new technologies should be started with project planning.

Deep learning is an advanced form of machine learning that utilises neural networks in order to learn more complex solutions.

Joonas Jantunen,

CEO, Cloudia Middle East & Africa Joonas Jantunen is a highly experienced global Procurement Executive with more than 17 years of expertise in heading global and regional indirect procurement functions.

He serves as the CEO for Cloudia Middle East and Africa operations.

As a leader in multicultural professional environments, he holds extensive knowledge of general management and global strategic sourcing as well as supplier development in different cultures, in both emerging and mature regions.

Joonas Jantunen has a passion for improving procurement operation efficiencies, delivering optimised endto-end solutions for sourcing processes while empowering procurement teams to deliver extraordinary results and profitable growth.

Data availability is at the core of AI

First, the organisation must take care of basic issues, such as enabling and ensuring that there is enough procurement data.

Even the best learning and predicting AI application is useless if it does not have enough correct data.

Digitalisation of the procurement process paves the way for emerging technologies

The digitalisation of organisations’ procurement processes as well as the use of adequate procurement applications are prerequisites for gathering sufficient and appropriate data. In addition, applications have to be used for a sufficient amount of time in order to benefit from the new technology as efficiently as possible.

Manual gathering of data into an Excel file or some other document is not a solution.

In the procurement planning phase, data on procurement needs and on ongoing and planned procurement projects is collected with the help of applications.

During the tendering process, data on designations to be purchased as well as on prices, properties and suppliers of the offered products and services is collected.

Throughout the contract period, data is collected from agreed contractual terms and from delivering those. Orders provide 60 NOVEMBER 2019

information on costs and, with the help of supplier management, data on supplier risks and efficiency is stored.

In order to speed up data gathering, it is recommended to start using procurement applications at the earliest stage possible. It is important to remember that, in order to ensure the integrity and correctness of the data gathered, applications must be used in all procurement processes.

Solving real needs and problems

When the fundamentals of the procurement organisation are in place—i.e. the procurement process has been digitalised and enough data has been gathered—more detailed identification and planning of how to benefit from emerging technologies may be initiated.

The current procurement process is reviewed, and every stage is documented together with experiences gathered during the process. What are the start and end points of these processes?

Who is in charge of these and how?

What kinds of decisions are made and at which stages?

What data is needed and from where is it obtained? The more data concerning circumstances of decisions is obtained, the better.

The best results are achieved with deliberate, step-by-step progress

Next, those challenges and needs that we are trying to address with emerging technologies are observed and identified.

It is important to do this step by step and to start with the most obvious challenges. When the problem has been clearly defined and understood, faster and better results can also be expected from emerging technologies. It is recommended that the first applications are quantitative.

Later, it is possible to start gradually identifying and creating solutions for more complex and qualitative challenges. n