Poor productivity and high staff turnover in the UK’s logistics industry are adding to costs in the supply chain and undermining the competitiveness of business, according to a government-funded training body.

Skills for Logistics, responsible for training and qualifications in the sector, says the industry has become a low-skilled, unattractive place to work and is often an employer of last resort.

“This is an industry where customer service depends on accuracy and efficiency,” said Mick Jackson, operations director. “Yet 15 per cent of the staff cannot read to acceptable standards and one in five lacks basic numeracy skills.

“If we don’t deliver on time and in full, costs are incurred in making extra deliveries and taking back orders wrongly supplied.”

An incentive of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the study group included a number of academics from Hong Kong Universities, representatives from Cathay Pacific and DHL Express, as well as Bruce Stinson, Executive Director Training and Development, and Anastasia Mak, Program Manager, from the Global Institute of Logistics.

Anne Thiesen, Executive Director, German Industry and Commerce Ltd, was the prime mover of the event and put together an impressive list of visits which saw the group highly motivated and interested throughout the week.

Transiting in Frankfurt after the flight from Hong Kong, the group flew on to Hamburg for the first stage of the tour.

MONDAY

AIRBUS

There was a welcome out at the Airbus entry gate the next morning and the visitors were given a brief presentation of the history of the company which has 16 European sites forming the supply chain for the production of the aircraft with a total of 56,200 employees. The Hamburg plant and associated plants nearby in Germany have the largest number of employees at over 21,000.

Moving through the huge expanse of factory hangars where much of the assembly of the A380 and other members of the Airbus fleet takes place, the study group was able to see huge parts of the outer shell coming together, wings and tail sections being added and each stage of the process to the painting of the final product.

Cameras were not allowed, but a glimpse of the finished A380 destined for Singapore Airlines fleet made up for that as the group prepared to leave.

After a pleasant lunch at the Tulip Hotel, the group moved on to the Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) where the tour was conducted in the bus as it moved through the terminal. 

Imagine that one evening you are relaxing at home

Clearly you are a Motivated Buyer with an Immediate Need.

You show up at the local appliance super center and after some shopping, you find an amazing refrigerator with new features, at a great sale price. Lo and behold! The unit can be delivered tomorrow! You pay for the new refrigerator and return home feeling relieved that a catastrophe has been avoided. Man, you love that super center. How convenient to have them nearby. What a deal! What value!
You love Amerika! What a country!

Promises...Promises.

Mrs. Buyer takes half a day off to wait on the "morning" appointment to deliver her new Super Freezo Deluxe. 10...11...12...1pm. No delivery. Finally at 2 o'clock the delivery van shows up. The delivery men are rude and they smell. They suffer from undersized uniforms and oversized bellies. They don't attach the ice maker correctly and they leave the box in the middle of the kitchen. Mrs. Buyer is beyond livid. Boy, are you going to hear about this one. That great deal you got last night now doesn't look so great. You can plan on hearing about this fiasco for years to come. This delivery was a mess.

GBP 1 billion/Euro 1.4 billion savings targeted to the NHS over 10 years

Around 1,000 new jobs to be created

Under the agreement, DHL will run a division called NHS Supply Chain, on behalf of NHS Business Services Authority, and be responsible for delivering all procurement and logistics services across an initial 500,000 products to support 600 hospitals and other health providers in England. The business will ensure that public health (NHS) authorities can dedicate more resources to patient care and continue to manage their cost base. It will help protect existing jobs and lead to the creation of over 1,000 additional positions.

Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, Inc. (OTCBB: CRGO) (BERLIN: CD6) (FRANKFURT: CD6) (FRANKFURT: 217026) today provided an update on several areas of great interest relating to the Company, its operations and its anticipated future growth.

Jesse Dobrinsky, the Chairman and CEO of the Company, stated that:

"In our continuing efforts to increase the value of the Company to our stockholders, we have taken several recent steps that have improved the Company's financial condition, operations and prospects, including:

Kieran Ring, CEO of the Institute, speaking at the announcement, said:

"The first workshop intakes will take place in Hong Kong. The construction of a corporate culture which reflects the collaborative dynamic has been the focus of the Institute for some time, following the seminal work in this area done by academics such as Sin et al and Panayides and So."

Also present were GIL Council Members Paul Goldsbrough and Wilmer Aguilar.

Mr. Goldsbrough said:

"I am particularly delighted by this development. In fact, the main reason I accepted the role as Chairman of the China Chapter of the Global Maritime Council was that I wanted to see these skills - so important to the industry - passed on."