Logistics is where the industry is headed, says Hellmann

IT WAS A birthday with a difference at Hellmann International Forwarders when they celebrated their 10th anniversary in this country on April 1. It was the day on which they made their major move into the logistics management arena.
That is where the future lies and that is the way we are going, says deputy m.d. Chris Higgins, referring to the move into a Johannesburg-based warehouse where they will now undertake the full control and operations.
Hellmann has been active in this field for some time with computer companies, but when the opportunity arose to take over the 27 000 sq m warehouse of one of the country's leading electronics manufacturers, they jumped at it.
Now, with the building under lease to them, they are handling the entire stock management, warehouse control and distribution for the same electronics company - and have capacity to service prospective new clients from the same situation.
The logistics side of freight forwarding and clearing is developing rapidly, says Higgins. Companies are outsourcing their freight requirements, and leaving their logistics projects to experts like ourselves.
In this way Hellmann is now offering a total supply chain, not merely acting as a freight chain, with clients enjoying the resultant drop in costs overall, he said.
With international computer links allowing them full tracking and tracing facilities, they are also offering a money back guarantee on their Hotex time guaranteed service from the United States.
Back in 1988 they opened their Isando head office and general facility with air and sea freight their target. Hot Express was to follow - the Hot' representing 'Hellmann on Time', which was developed further with their own courier service in a door-to-door operation. Hellmann Parcels Systems was opened in 1989 and now operates from its own Isando warehouse adjacent to the company's headquarters, servicing all destinations in South Africa.
From its initial staff complement of 10 in Johannesburg and five in Durban, Hellmann now has 440 employees in its eight South African offices, with full links to the 380 network offices in 122 countries worldwide and a total
employment list exceeding
6 000.
The seafreight division is now expanding to the situation where it is to be moved to Aeroport Park, while the Inter-Africa division, with road and air freight, tackles the entire sub-Saharan continent as well as the Indian Ocean islands.
A contract was signed recently to provide a full export logistics service for a motor manufacturer supplying knockdown vehicles to India.
We tackle everything from small, time sensitive projects to the biggest. Size is no problem, says David Black, Hellmann's director - sales & marketing.
We have always been an equal opportunity employer and introduced our own affirmative action plan as far back as 1989. Staff get overseas training and we are firmly commited to meaningful development. We are now in the process of negotiating a joint venture with a black empowerment group as well.
Hellmann became the first clearing, forwarding and domestic freight company to receive the ISO 9002 award back in 1994, fits snugly into the top five IATA air export agents from this country (excluding perishables) and is among the top five handling imports at Johannesburg International Airport, says Black.
When it comes to perishables, their seafreight reefer division controls some 60% of this market going through Durban harbour. Over all of this, the company has its own insurance brokerage division covering everything from warehouse storage to delivery point.