Landside logistics company

Durban-based landside logistics
company, Silic Logistics, has
set its sights on the Cape Town
market, according to Warren Sievwright,
operations director.
“We have been running transport in
and out of the Cape for a few years now
on flat deck tri-axles and superlinks,” he
told FTW, “although recently we have
shown more focus on the refrigerated
pantechnicon market for fruits and
frozen fish.”
This is the latest expansion plan for
a business that has steadily developed
since it started in Durban eight years
ago as a cross-border operation handling
project cargo into Zambia, DRC,
Malawi and Zimbabwe.
“It seemed a natural progression
that our experience in handling these
projects would lead into the live event
industry,” Sievwright added.
“We’ve handled the logistics
programmes for all the major concerts,”
he said. “The professionalism of the
industry inspires your best efforts. And,
as usual in all planning, the variables
often lead to ‘on your feet’ thinking
which keeps the pressure on.”
Since those early days, Silic has
become a familiar sight in the Durban
harbour, running vehicles from the
vessel into the storage facilities and then
onward to the client.
“We have paid careful attention to our
clearing and forwarding (c&f) clients,”
said marketing director, Angus Dustan.
“They can now count on us to offer
them a vessel-to-door, and door-tovessel
service.”
The management
team told FTW that
– while they prepare their footprint and
growth plan into Cape Town – they are
being careful to try not to duplicate their
Durban operation.
“The Cape is a different market with
specific requirements,” said financial
director, Nick Fountain, “and we do
not want to arrive there over-promising
and under-delivering.
“Our goal is to introduce
our service to the
Cape by running
from the storage facilities to the
consignee – as we have been. But on a
larger scale in terms of handling
entire contracts.
“We are not interested in competing
with the local companies. We want to
add value through our focused serviceorientated
approach – and have spent a
lot in the last two years on developing
software and systems that add value to
both our suppliers and clients.”
Silic has three transport divisions
– national, cross-border and project
logistics – and Sievwright has been
tasked with marshalling all three into his
approach on the Cape market.
“While they operate as separate
cost centres with divisional heads,
the environment is one where
communication and teamwork allow
the guys to offer a greater service to the
clients,” Fountain said.
The approach is to simplify the
clients’ administration, Dustan added.
“Why phone a reefer company for
reefers, then a cross-border company for
their expertise, when we are an 08610
number away?” he asked. “We believe
that our ‘one phone call, one invoice’
approach allows for accountability as a
service provider, and simplicity
on reconciliation.”