SOFTWARE

MICROSOFT

ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF MICROSOFT SUPPLY CHAIN PLATFORM

A novel method to shaping supply chains by including sustainability, automation, agility, and changing its users to adapt to changing market conditions

Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President, Business Applications & Platform, shares her vision of how Microsoft aims to change the future of Logistics and Supply Chain by launching this platform. While Microsoft Supply Chain Platform is hoping to hold a broad vision, here is everything you would like to know about the game-changing platform.

Well, supply chain disruptions are not new, but their complexity and rate of development exceed enterprises’ abilities to solve global challenges. Many current solutions are exclusively focused on supply chain execution and management and need to prepare to accommodate this new reality. Correspondingly, Enterprises are dealing with petabytes of data spread across legacy systems, Enterprise Resource Planning programs (ERPs), and custom solutions, resulting in a fragmented view of their supply chain. Likewise, the agility and resilience of an organization’s supply chain will determine how well it can link its data and orchestrate operations across all relevant systems. However, to adapt swiftly to changing market conditions, supply chain software must improve visibility across data sources, foresee and reduce disruption, enhance faster communicational patterns, and fulfil orders – all while being sustainable and safe.

Furthermore, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Supply Chain Platform in November, which enables organizations to maximize their existing supply chain investments by bringing the best of Microsoft AI, collaboration, low code, security, and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications to scalable platform. As part of the new Microsoft Supply Chain Platform, we are also releasing a preview of the Microsoft Supply Chain Center. The Supply Chain Center

helps clients get up and running quickly by providing a ready-made ‘command center’ those interfaces natively with existing supply chain data and applications.

THE MICROSOFT SUPPLY CHAIN PLATFORM – is an open, collaborative, and modular foundation for data and supply chain orchestration. It provides a wide range of capabilities throughout Microsoft to enable companies like Grupo Bimbo, Mercedes-Benz, and Tillamook to create their specialized supply chain solutions. With the past announcement, the platform will be aiding in making it easier for clients to use the Microsoft Cloud to improve their supply chain. The Microsoft Supply Chain Platform provides building blocks across Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, and the Power Platform for customers to adopt capabilities that address their specific supply chain needs. With Dataverse, customers can use hundreds of data connectors to gain visibility and act across their supply chain. And lastly, The Power Platform also enables custom workflows, data reporting, and applications that connect to existing Supply Chain systems.

PARTNERING TO EMPOWER CUSTOMERS IN SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMATION – The Microsoft partner ecosystem will remain crucial in supporting client supply chain resilience and agility. Partners may use Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Teams, and the Power Platform in conjunction with the Microsoft Supply Chain Platform to develop integrated solutions. Accenture, Avanade, EY, KPMG, PwC, and TCS are among the supply chain partner ecosystem’s advisors and implementers. In addition, the Microsoft Supply Chain Platform integrates Blue Yonder, Cosmo Tech, Experlogix, Flintfox, InVia Robotics, K3, O9 Solutions, SAS, Sonata Software, To-Increase, and many more to assist clients in choosing the optimal solution for their supply chain needs.

ACCELERATING BUSINESS AGILITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH THE MICROSOFT SUPPLY CHAIN CENTER – The Microsoft Supply Chain Center is in preview and at the heart of the Supply Chain Platform. The Supply Chain Center offers practitioners a ‘command center’ experience for integrating data from current supply chain systems like Dynamics 365 and other ERP providers such as SAP and Oracle, as well as stand-alone supply chain solutions. In Supply Chain Center, Data Manager provides data ingestion and orchestration to offer insight across the supply chain and push action back into execution systems. Our launch partners C.H. Robinson, FedEx, FourKites, and Overhaul, will provide native experiences within the Supply Chain Center throughout the preview period.

EXISTING DYNAMICS 365 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CUSTOMERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY GAIN ACCESS TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN CENTER as part of their current agreements. The Supply Chain Center includes pre-built modules that address supply chain disruptions across supply and order fulfillment, as outlined below: > The supply and demand insights module adopts advanced Azure AI models to predict upstream supply constraints and shortages through supply intelligence. Organizations can perform simulations using their supply chain network data to predict out-of-stock, over-stocking, or missed-order lines. With smart news insights, which provide relevant news alerts in the Supply Chain Center on external events, supply chain practitioners can make decisions and plan with real-world event information and historical insights for product demands. > The order management module in Supply Chain Center intelligently orchestrates and automates fulfillment with a rules-based system using real-time omnichannel inventory data, AI, and Machine Learning. Organizations can quickly meet future order volumes and fulfillment complexities by extending their capabilities with pre-built connectors to specialized technology partners for order intake, delivery and third-party logistics services. Existing Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management customers will automatically get access to Supply Chain Center and the order management module at launch. > With secure, built-in Teams integration, clients may reduce supply restrictions by working in real-time with external suppliers to obtain new supply sources, fix transportation challenges, and communicate upstream and downstream implications depending on changes. > By incorporating partner modules into the Supply Chain Center, users can quickly access solutions like freight visibility from Overhaul. Because everything runs on Dataverse, the data is consistent regardless of whatever module you use. This eliminates the need to copy and paste information and reconcile which reports have the most up-to-date information.

Additionally, Microsoft announced Daimler Trucks North America, iFit, and Kraft-Heinz as some of their Supply Chain Center preview customers. “Our collaboration with Microsoft is critical to our supply chain transformation. The platform allows our team to be more agile – assessing risk and opportunities faster than ever before. Simply put, it provides the end-to-end visibility we need to keep our products on people’s tables across North America, and there’s nothing more important,” says Mitch Arends, Senior Vice President, Head of Operations, Kraft Heinz North America.

WHY TRADE FINANCE

IS A CRUCIAL TOOL FOR SMES CAPITALIZING ON A MAJOR SPORTS EVENT

Ankit Goel, Senior Vice President, Global Accounts at MODIFI puts down his thoughts on utilising significant sports events as an incentive in Trade Finance

The FIFA World Cup is bringing new opportunities to Qatar and the GCC nations, thus enabling economic growth across a range of critical sectors such as travel and tourism, hospitality, and infrastructure. This World Cup will pave the way for Qatar to enjoy potential near-term economic gains but also highlights the logistical challenges of managing the event, which will likely lead to positive spill over effects for the rest of the region. This trend is expected to continue as these economies are looking to capitalise on the attention that a global event like captures.

OPPORTUNITIES Ever since Qatar was picked to host the Football World Cup, companies in GCC countries have sensed the opportunities which are suddenly presented in front of them, and they are all set to reap the rewards as the mega event kicks in November 2022. Over the past few years, Qatar, along with the countries expected to benefit from this mega event (such as UAE), has been working with regional and global entrepreneurs and innovators to provide solutions which will directly support them in managing the logistical challenges expected to manage a sporting event of such large scale.

These entrepreneurs and innovators are mostly SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) who rely on trade finance to increase the volumes of goods and services they trade, fulfil large contracts and scale operations internationally.

CHALLENGES FOR THE SMES However, opportunities come with challenges as SMEs usually face funding gaps as long credit periods can drain their finance. These companies typically have more difficulty obtaining credit from formal financial institutions. This is

mainly due to information asymmetry, lack of previous credit history, legal documentation and many more., leading to the unwillingness of traditional lenders to provide financing. Even if they get funding, it typically involves lengthy approval processes, requiring hard collateral such as movable property and other onerous documentation. These lenders adopt a risk-averse approach to trade financing that’s likely to continue in the future, especially regarding SMEs who want to trade internationally.

Another prevalent issue for SMEs has been managing their trade documents – packing lists, warehouse receipts, certificates of origin, and export licenses. This whole process is manual and paperintensive. Digitising this entire shipping documentation process can save SMEs time in delivering cargo and eliminate potential shipment delays – ultimately saving money.

Ankit Goel, Senior Vice President – Global Accounts, MODIFI “Digital trade finance tools can help these businesses reduce their credit risk, forecast cash flow and allocate working capital. In addition, having access to a digital trade finance solution can help companies to explore a broader customer and supply base, possibly discovering new channels to buy or sell goods.”

ROLE OF DIGITAL TRADE FINANCE FIRMS FinTech trade finance firms such as MODIFI have emerged to help businesses fund global partnerships and secure digital trade financing through game-changing non-recourse factoring. These companies use technology solutions to identify credit-worthy borrowers and are usually less insistent on borrowers providing collateral. Equally, because their due diligence is technology-driven, it is faster and more accurate than the traditional people-driven approach.

HOW MODIFI MANAGES ITS RISKS MODIFI generally adopt a more customised approach to making lending decisions over a one-size-fits-all process. It leverages data to assess the risks of a growing pool of underserved merchants. For example, digital trade financing can present a holistic view of a seller’s risk profile by analysing multiple operational data points from credit insurance companies and additional, underused sources. Another advantage of a databased infrastructure is that the system continually gets better at identifying the types of information most helpful in determining the risks involved with any particular buyer or seller.

PAPERLESS TRANSACTIONS Fintech firms digitise the entire shipping documentation process, saving SMEs time in delivering cargo and eliminating potential shipment delays – ultimately saving money. One of the most pressing problems digital trades solves is a dramatic decrease in paperwork through digital economy agreements (DEAs), which help SMEs gain access to digital trade opportunities, electronic invoicing, e-signatures, cross-border data protection and digital IDs—ultimately connecting overseas business partners more efficiently and assisting companies to improve productivity and reduce expenses. This also reduces fraud risk through greater control of the original and eliminating the possibility of losing documents. HOW DOES IT WORK By leveraging digital trade financing, small and mid-sized traders can get invoices paid early rather than wait up to 120 days or even longer. Moreover, by leveraging numerous data sources, digital trade financiers have a better understanding of risk for SMEs and can, therefore, not only vet and confirm the buyer’s legitimacy but also ensure the payment of the invoice, even if the buyers were to go bankrupt. This eliminates credit risks that often prevent sellers from offering more favourable contract terms to buyers.

With Fintech solutions SMEs can optimise their cash flow without needing collateral or a Letter of Credit. They can: Apply for finance in 5 minutes and have the cash in their account 48hours later; remove credit risk and trade confidently; reduce payment disputes; make their cash flow more predictable; free up current lines of credit for investing in growth-producing initiatives like purchasing equipment; seamlessly track their shipments.

In conclusion, the renewed collaboration between Qatar and GCC nations will encourage reciprocal trade and foster economic stability for the GCC region. This will provide further opportunities for businesses within this region to grow. FinTech companies can make the supply chain more efficient for these businesses by providing alternative solutions that cannot get traditional financing. Digital trade finance tools can help these businesses reduce their credit risk, forecast cash flow, and allocate working capital. In addition, having access to a digital trade finance solution can help companies to explore a broader customer and supply base, possibly discovering new channels to buy or sell goods.

IS BLOCKCHAIN

A REALISTIC SOLUTION

TO GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN COST AND EFFICIENCY CONCERNS?

NEERAJ SRIVASTAVA, FOUNDER OF

CTO LABS AND DLT LABS, SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON THE SHIFTING DYNAMICS BECAUSE OF BLOCKCHAIN TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE FINANCIAL AND SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRIES

Neeraj Srivastava is a forerunner of corporate blockchain technology and one of the early proponents of utilizing blockchain to transform the financial and supply chain sectors. He is the Founder and CTO of DLT Labs, a global pioneer in developing blockchain solutions leveraging distributed ledger technology. Furthermore, Neeraj managed a team that was one of the first in the industry to introduce Apple

Pay. During this period, in 2011, he stumbled upon the Bitcoin code base and became intrigued, delving deep into the blockchain code. He saw right away that blockchain could be used for more than just bitcoin and could potentially transform financial cryptography. Neeraj has spent the last decade raising awareness of this issue worldwide, beginning with the financial and supply chain sectors.

Here the article takes the reader through how the technology has been scaled up to solve challenges in incongruent systems, Neeraj shares… The once fledgling industry of enterprise blockchain, which was initially closely integrated and associated with cryptocurrencies, has now grown its wings, and flown the nest to revolutionize a score of global sectors from money transfers and financial services to personal identity security, mining, NFTs, healthcare, as well as logistics and supply chains.

Despite the initial doubts and disillusionment surrounding its adoption, several global technology firms, and enterprises – led by our very own DLT Labs – have disproved naysayers with proof of concepts, case studies, and real-life applications transforming industries around the globe.

Although I have witnessed the growth of blockchain from its birth over a decade ago, I have found its journey over the last five years truly fascinating as the technology has been scaled up to solve challenges in incongruent systems such as direct store delivery, invoicing, inventory tracking and more – and no industry has needed these solutions as much as the supply chain sector. The global supply chain sector, which still remains chaotic to a large extent, has not just needed ‘a technological intervention’ to rescue it from a score of challenges and constant disruption, but more importantly, has needed the ‘right technological intervention’.

THE CHASM BETWEEN DATA CREATION AND BUSINESS OUTCOMES In fact, for many years now, global organizations have invested billions of dollars in advanced technologies to create, aggregate, streamline, process, interpret, manage, and forecast data to save an industry wrought with lengthy paper trails, human errors, legacy systems, complicated cross-border payment, clandestine third-party contracts, and so much more.

On one hand, the digital ‘creation of data’ within supply chains has stepped up. Enterprises have begun recording transactional data through ERPs, CRM, SCM, as well as IoT data through RFID, bar codes, X-Ray cam-

eras, QR Codes, scanners, and more.

However, on the other hand, every other step of the process that follows the “creation” stage still lacks the technology support it needs.

To put this in perspective, the global spend on enterprise IoT tech – which aggregates data - is expected to reach a whopping $411.9 billion by 2025, according to IoT Analytics Research 2021. Yet, according to Allied Market Research, global investments into enterprise AI – which interprets, manages, and offers actionable intelligence on data – are a fraction of that, with a projected $22.46 billion by 2026. Hence, the current chasm between data aggregation and business outcomes is evident.

As a result, the supply chain industry remains broken with a lack of traceability and provenance, poor sustainability metrics, and continued consumer impact due to resulting shortages.

BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY To address these supply chain concerns, no other technology has come as close to supporting the supply chain industry as distributed ledger technology (DLT) has – and that’s a fact.

In its simplest form, DLT can be explained as a distributed electronic ledger that is shared between multiple stakeholders within a network, which allows either all of them and/or the ‘permissioned’ ones among them to access and make updates on the ledger without tampering with it.

The fact that the technology offers simultaneous access, validation, and record updating without the need for a central authority, makes it not only distributed but also transparent, immutable, trustworthy, and secure – and each of these facets greatly benefits the fragmented supply chain industry.

For instance, supply chains have historically relied on trusted third parties to cross-check, verify, and validate invoices and contracts, which are both extremely time-consuming and expensive to maintain in the long term.

This wastage of time and money on third parties can be eliminated by enterprise blockchain and distributed ledger technology, which allows stakeholders to keep copies of an invoice, transaction, or payment, which is then digitally verified based on consensus and cryptography, thus ensuring records can’t be counterfeited or altered.

DATA SILOES VS DATA ‘TALKING TO’ DATA Furthermore, the way that most supply chain enterprises store, organize, optimize, and process data in traditional servers and legacy client management systems is far from ideal. Such servers and systems operate with multiple levels of data, broken down storage, outdated data processing software, data locks – where multiple clients can’t access the same data and data siloes – where the data cannot ‘talk to’ other data.

Distributed ledger technology can not only store data immutably but also organize and process data accurately, as well as smart action contracts when data ‘talk to’ data.

For instance, this is how the time-consuming and error-prone process of data reconciliation is simplified remarkably by DLT. In the supply chain industry, processes often grind to a halt when something as simple as an ‘invoice’ and the corresponding “goods received documentation” don’t tally. The reconciliation process is tedious because it is filled with paperwork and takes a long time for experts to fix.

With DLT, this data is sent to the blockchain directly from systems of record. This reduces human error that comes from continuous manual data entry at every point of the supply chain and simultaneously grants visibility to all the relevant participants.

Suppose there is a discrepancy between the documentation of an invoice and the goods received. In that case, the reconciliation process is simple and swift because the blockchain business logic identifies it and can determine the root cause of it, whether it is an error in a unit of measure of the quantity delivered.

Furthermore, DLT also offers automated dispute resolution by triggering certain rules and digital coding to fix the discrepancy data through a consensus. This decision, along with the applied rules, is visible to all stakeholders in the supply chain.

To establish a comprehensive, immutable audit history, all the initial data, the discrepancies identified, the consensus, as well as the resulting decision and action taken is all stored within the distributed ledger blockchain.

“HYPER-AUTOMATION ON STEROIDS” DLT Labs has already brought this idea to life through its partnership with Walmart Canada.

DLT Labs achieved this through its DL Asset Track technology, which allows organizations such as Walmart to store all their data on a single ledger, which then gets deeply integrated with smart contracts. For example, for Walmart to calculate invoices, it needs a bunch of data such as fuel rates, lane charges, load information, discounts, taxes, IoT data, mileage, contractual and payment data, and so much more.

DL Asset Track allowed Walmart and its carriers to store all this data on a single enterprise blockchain and configure a smart contract, which governed the immutable data and made it actionable. This granted great visibility and audit abilities to all users on the blockchain network and in turn, reduced disputes and raised trust.

DLT Labs helped Walmart reduce disputes with its carriers from 70% to less than 1% while simultaneously enabling Walmart – through distributed ledger technology – to pay more than 95% of their invoices without any human touch.

As this “hyper-automation on steroids” using distributed ledger technology gets scaled globally, enterprise blockchain will become a realistic solution to global supply chain cost and efficiency concerns.

DESPITE THE INITIAL DOUBTS AND DISILLUSIONMENT SURROUNDING ITS ADOPTION, SEVERAL GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY FIRMS, AND ENTERPRISES – LED BY OUR VERY OWN DLT LABS – HAVE DISPROVED NAYSAYERS WITH PROOF OF CONCEPTS, CASE STUDIES, AND REALLIFE APPLICATIONS TRANSFORMING INDUSTRIES AROUND THE GLOBE.

THE INFRASTRUCTURE

OF SPEED AND RESILIENCE

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set out on the path to rapid transformation in its pursuit to diversify away from an economy which is over-dependent on oil. Driven by the ambitious ‘Saudi Arabia Vision 2030’ and powered in large part by lucrative revenues from high oil prices, the Kingdom has announced a series of mega-projects, development plans and initiatives, which are unparalleled in scale and unprecedented in what they aim to achieve and deliver.

As recently as October, 2022, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, announced the launch of the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (GSCRI). Under the GSCRI, ‘SAR 10 Billion (USD 2.7 Billion) has been earmarked to support several initiatives, including financial and nonfinancial support for global investors interested in incorporating Saudi Arabia in their supply chains. The initiative will support growth in key sectors and is expected to attract investments of SAR 40 Billion (USD 10.7 Billion) within the first two years of being launched.

The GSCRI is welcome news for the Kingdom’s premier Logistics Real Estate Company LogiPoint, which is making its own investments and launching its own initiatives in the Logistics and Supply Chain sector to facilitate trade and attract investments from local as well as international businesses. As the Kingdom’s leading developer of logistics parks and economic zones and the pioneering organization which successfully launched and developed the Kingdom’s first and the largest Bonded and Re-Export Zone over 20 years ago, the company realizes only too well the far reaching impact a resilience-centric initiative like GSCRI can have in the global logistics ecosystem. >>>

“BLACK SWAN EVENTS ASIDE, THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS, CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SHIFTS, DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPETITION POSE CONSTANT CHALLENGES TO CONVENTIONAL MODELS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT.”

NEED FOR RESILIENCE: First, there was the COVID-19 pandemic; then, there was the Russian invasion of Ukraine; each setting into motion series of events across the globe which snowballed into unprecedented disruptions for the modern business world in general and for the supply chain industry in particular. All along, there was the usual fare of political upheavals, natural disasters, economic uncertainties, technical glitches, system failures, human errors, and so much more that keeps the job of Supply Chain professionals interesting by throwing up new challenges every day.

For the latter group of agents of chaos, the supply chain and logistics industry has evolved practices and processes as well as tools and frameworks, which mitigate, if not altogether eliminate, the effects of disruptions supply chain professionals must grapple with every day. However, when a Black Swan event like a global pandemic throws the proverbial spanner in the works, or when the world’s food and energy supplies are disrupted by an international conflict like the Russia-Ukraine war, conventional supply chains are stretched to breaking point, and sometimes beyond the breaking point.

Black Swan events aside, the dynamics of changing demographics, consumer behavior shifts, disruptive technologies and competition pose constant challenges to conventional models of supply chain management. Pre-pandemic research by the McKinsey Global Institute found that, on average, companies experience a disruption of one to two months in duration every 3.7 years. The fallout of these disruptions is costly both in terms of outlays as well as lost opportunities and so part of the mandate of logistics leadership has always been to design and build supply chains which have the resilience to mitigate and withstand disruptions, the elasticity to adapt and the agility to respond quickly to the changing demand scenarios.

Today, more than ever before, ‘Resilience, Elasticity and Agility’ have taken center stage in the Supply Chain discourse in the boardrooms. Many businesses have learnt the hard way not to treat supply chain resilience as a necessary cost but an investment in competitive advantage. It is in this background that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched The Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (GSCRI).

LOGIPOINT – AN INTRODUCTION. LogiPoint is the Kingdom’s leading Logistics Real Estate Company developing economic zones and logistics parks across the Kingdom. These economic zones and logistics parks provide specialized infrastructure to the supply chain and logistics industry, which delivers operational excellence, efficiency and agility in times of smooth sailing, while enabling contingency planning for resilient supply chain strategy during disruptions.

Farooq Shaikh, CEO LogiPoint, says: “Building an infrastructure to compete in a fiercely competitive world requires substantial and continuous investments into innovative technologies, infrastructure development, value creation, and business development. LogiPoint investments in these areas have traditionally had a multiplier effect on the economy, because we provide proof of concept to global blue-chip companies looking to leverage the Saudi Arabian market and its strategic location. In this way, we help draw valuable and substantial investments into the Kingdom.”

Jeddah Logistics Hub in Modon 1, Jeddah and the 314,000 Sqm Logistics Park, South Jeddah in Khomrah are two examples of such investments, which will help create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. There are exciting new projects in the pipeline, which will see LogiPoint expand its footprint across the Kingdom through strategically located new Logistics Parks and Economic Zones.

LogiPoint began its journey in 1999 as the Kingdom’s first and the largest Bonded and ReExport Zone (BRZ). The BRZ has since gone from strength to strength over the years as it has grown into a multi-award winning logistics hub located inside Jeddah Islamic Port serving a wide spectrum of local and international clients. In many ways, the company crystallizes the Kingdom’s ambition under Vision 2030 to transform into a global logistics hub.

Farooq Shaikh agrees: “With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, we have seen a culture of collaboration evolve across the stakeholders as we work collectively towards the stated common goal of becoming a global logistics hub and we believe in this way the Vision 2030 is playing a pivotal role in helping expedite this transformation. For LogiPoint, it is a matter of privilege and pride that we find ourselves aligned naturally and historically with the Vision 2030.”

THE BONDED AND RE-EXPORT ZONE (BRZ) The BRZ is One Million Square Meters of transformative bonded logistics space located inside the Jeddah Islamic Port. It boasts state-of-the-art logistics infrastructure, including Pre-Built and Built-to-Suit

“WITH SAUDI ARABIA’S VISION 2030, WE HAVE SEEN A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION EVOLVE ACROSS THE STAKEHOLDERS AS WE WORK COLLECTIVELY TOWARDS THE STATED COMMON GOAL OF BECOMING A GLOBAL LOGISTICS HUB AND WE BELIEVE IN THIS WAY THE VISION 2030 IS PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE IN HELPING EXPEDITE THIS TRANSFORMATION.”

facilities, Container Yards, Reefer Zone, and multi-purpose Open Yards. Additionally, a dedicated customs office for BRZ clients expedites the customs clearing procedure and allows clients to achieve a considerably faster turn-around time than average clearance.

Most significantly, the infrastructure is backed by a team of highly qualified logistics specialists who collaborate with regulatory bodies to create and execute user-friendly, industry-specific processes that simplify the whole supply chain for efficiency and agility. These benefits help build resilience into the clients’ supply chains by providing them with costeffective and agile contingency options in case of disruptions and the ability to scale quickly with demand fluctuations.

Strategic BRZ clients have also been provided fenced out non-bonded space on the BRZ premises, since it helps them reduce lead times and achieve faster delivery to client premises because of the central location of the BRZ. BRZ clients are spread across all the major market segments including 3PLs, Couriers and Express Delivery, e-Commerce, FMCG, Automobiles, Metals, Miner >>>

als and Commodities, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, and Projects. Some of the Logistics Solutions rolled out in BRZ over the last couple of years are as follows: Export Distribution Hub: Petrochemicals are the Kingdom’s greatest export, with hundreds of thousands of containers shipped annually to destinations worldwide. LogiPoint collaborated diligently with Saudi Aramco, SABIC, and other high-volume exporters to re-engineer the whole export process and bring customers closer to their markets by shortening the lead time between order and delivery. In this high-volume, high-stakes business, logistical efficiency lends vital competitive advantage to KSA exporters. Cross-border Gulf: Shipments originating in Europe and the Americas, and passing through the Red Sea, typically have a transit time of 8-12 days ahead of them to reach the GCC ports in the Arabian Gulf. LogiPoint introduced the Cross-border Gulf service under which shipments can be discharged in Jeddah and moved to ports and final destinations in the GCC countries via bonded trucking. This helps reduce the transit times by 7-10 days and translates to greater efficiency as well as higher revenues and profitability for the clients. Sea/Air and Air/Sea: LogiPoint have been working extensively with the industry stakeholders and the regulatory bodies to design and streamline multimodal movement of shipments seamlessly. Thanks to the initiatives taken by LogiPoint, Sea-Air and Air-Sea multi-modal shipments have become a reality in KSA. This is an important development in putting the KSA on the world logistics map as a strategically located multimodal logistics hub. Bonded Express Facility: Lightning-fast e-commerce relies extensively on efficient, error-free and high-speed logistics for survival and success. LogiPoint launched the Bonded Express Facility to serve the e-commerce market. This facility, the first of its type in a Saudi port, is dedicated to the clearance and fulfilment of express and e-commerce shipments. Ground-breaking contracts with global e-commerce giants Amazon and with regional and national industry leaders such as Aramex and Naqel highlight the relevance and success of this facility. Value Added Services: LogiPoint has been offering a wide array of Value-Added Services (VAS) over the years. These include short-term storage, packing, co-packing, labelling, bundling and distributing goods, duty deferment (important especially when VAT has become such an important part of the cost for a supply chain), and clearance and delivery support. In addition, the Reefer Village boasts a Reefer Container Yard with 240 plug-in points, Reefer crossstuffing stations, and an ever-expanding fleet of trucks and gensets.

JEDDAH LOGISTICS PARK (JLP) Jeddah Logistics Park is the latest addition to the LogiPoint portfolio. It is being developed on a 314,000 SQM parcel of land located in Khumrah, south of Jeddah, around 20 KMs away from the bustling and busy port of Jeddah.

JLP will be a multi-purpose logistics space, which will boast state-of-the-art warehousing facilities including both prebuilt and Built-to-Suit facilities. Additionally, there will be opportunities for light industrial units to set up manufacturing units by capitalizing on the Kingdom’s strengths in affordable, skilled and welltrained labor, uninterrupted power supply, government support through initiatives such as GSCRI, and lastly global reach and

connectivity to gain a competitive edge over their competition.

Since JLP is planned as a self-contained eco-system, it will also include a sector for staff accommodation and plenty of retail space to cater to the day-to-day needs of the residents. JLP’s world-class, sustainable infrastructure will be built to LogiPoint’s highest standards and will be powered by reusable resources, while reliable, high-speed connectivity will be ensured via scalable and customizable ICT infrastructure. LogiPoint’s commitment to complying with ESG protocols also means that there will be built-in systems to ensure waste reduction, water conservation and sustainable recycling.

The JLP clients will be able to integrate resilience into their supply chains because of the LogiPoint Real Estate infrastructure and the proximity to the Jeddah port. In addition, the clients will be able to incorporate cutting-edge technical solutions into their processes, allowing them to achieve more agility and flexibility in their operations while adhering to ESG norms for sustainability.

JEDDAH LOGISTICS HUB Jeddah Logistics Hub is a BOT (build, operate & transfer) project in partnership with the Saudi Industrial Cities Authority (Modon) in line with objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP). It is a 120,000 sqm, fully integrated logistics platform enabling Modon 1 users to optimise and streamline their logistics operations while adhering to sustainability goals.

Jeddah Industrial City is home to over 1,000 factories and is the beating heart of Jeddah’s manufacturing economy. Heavy congestion in the bustling area led to costly delays, pollution, stress and strife on an ongoing basis. Phase 1-JLP addressed the problem by building a dedicated truck parking zone with 380 parking spaces supported by ancillary services like repair workshops, and facilities for drivers like rest areas, prayer areas and other utilities.

Phase 2 saw the commissioning of the first Built-to-Suit facility to be built outside the BRZ. LogiPoint started work on building a dedicated, first-of-its-kind facility for United Warehouse Company in JLH. The multi-purpose facility will have specialized temperature-controlled zones to handle frozen, chilled, ambient and dry cargoes and is being built over a 15,000 sqm area which includes a 12,000 covered warehousing space. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on November 29, 2022 and was attended by dignitaries from Modon, UWC and LogiPoint. SUSTAINABLE WAREHOUSING – PREBUILT AND BUILT-TO-SUIT (BTS) LogiPoint operates primarily as a Logistics Real Estate company designing, building, delivering and managing elements of Logistics infrastructure like warehouses, container yards, reefer yards, and open storage yards. Warehouses are the most >>>

investment intensive and the most complex of these structures – not to mention the most rapidly evolving in design, structure, construction and utilization. LogiPoint offers warehousing solutions in two ways:

Pre-Built Standard Warehousing, where LogiPoint draws on customer feedback and own past experience, while also anticipating the changing needs of the general warehousing clientele to design and construct Warehousing Villages which have multiple, often identical, units available for short to medium term lease. These units range in size from 500 SQM each in the earliest Warehouse Villages to 2000 SQM each in Warehouse Village 5, the latest and state-of-the-art facility about to be delivered in a few weeks. These facilities are designed as multi-purpose, multi-client facilities and cater to clients whose requirements can be met with standard sized warehouses.

Built-to-Suit (BTS) Warehousing, where LogiPoint builds a tailor-made facility for the client according to the specifications provided by the client. Usually, such facilities are built for a single client under a longterm partnership agreement, where LogiPoint brings the design and the construction expertise as well as world-class LogiPoint standards to the project, while the client designs the facility in line with their operational requirements. LogiPoint have won accolades for building state-of-the-art BTS facilities, which maintain strict compliance to ESG protocols and global safety standards, and for delivering reliable high quality buildings on schedule.

THE CAPTAIN SPEAKS: Speaking about the LogiPoint Warehousing Solutions in the pipeline, Farooq Shaikh says, “These are exciting times for LogiPoint. On the one hand, we are delivering our Warehouse Village 5 this year, which will reset the bar for state-ofthe-art multipurpose warehousing solutions inside the Jeddah Islamic Port, especially with its dedicated Pharmaceuticals section – a first in the Kingdom and a vitally important addition in a post-pandemic world. We will also be delivering our Built-to-Suit facilities to two of our blue chip clients this year, while discussions for an another two Built-to-Suit facilities with a global 3PL organization and an e-commerce giant are in the final stages.”

LogiPoint look at themselves as not only a Logistics Real Estate Company, but as stakeholders in the development of the Kingdom’s logistics ecosystem. Farooq Shaikh, CEO LogiPoint, believes that initiatives like the GSCRI will go a long way to boost interest in the Saudi Arabian market – especially in times when organizations world over are looking at resilience not as a cost, but an essential investment in gaining a competitive edge in the market: “After all, building resilience into supply chains is what LogiPoint specializes in. ‘Resilience’ might be a mantra in a volatile world today, but it has been the primary value proposition from LogiPoint for over two decades. A multi-billion dollar government initiative focused on developing supply chain resilience in the Kingdom makes the world a very exciting place for LogiPoint”, he beams.

Farooq Shaikh, CEO LogiPoint

“RESILIENCE’ MIGHT BE A MANTRA IN A VOLATILE WORLD TODAY, BUT IT HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY VALUE PROPOSITION FROM LOGIPOINT FOR OVER TWO DECADES.”

DRIVE THE NEW WAY

NEW IVECO T-WAY: HIGH PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY ON OFF-ROAD TERRAINS

With a complete line-up of AWD and PWD versions and the the 16-speed HI-TRONIX automated gearbox, the IVECO T-WAY features a host of functionalities such as Rocking Mode, Off-road Mode, Creeping Mode and 4 reverse gears to tackle with ease the toughest off-road conditions. The new architecture of the EBS system, combined with disc brakes on all wheels, greatly improves the vehicle’s performance and the driver’s safety in the most demanding applications.

NEW IVECO S-WAY: HIGH TECHNOLOGY AND EFFICIENCY FOR ON-ROAD MISSIONS

The new IVECO S-WAY, with a completely redesigned and reinforced cab, offers a wide choice of Euro III/V diesel engines, a delivering class-leading power from 360 HP to 560 HP Euro III / 570 HP Euro V and superior fuel-saving devices, such as anti-idling feature, Ecoswitch, Ecoroll and Smart Alternator. 12-speed HI-TRONIX automated transmission with the most advanced technology in its category, electronic clutch and best-in-class torque-to-weight ratio.