From: ASAP
APL Logistics has been appointed to lead a new global international logistics service to The Zip Project Ltd (Zip), coordinating and controlling thousands of tons of children’s wear from manufacturing centres throughout Asia to the UK.
Zip is a joint venture children’s wear supply business formed by the UK retail giant Marks & Spencer plc and Desmonds Ltd, Northern Ireland’s largest privately owned company. It provides all of Marks & Spencer’s children’s wear range, largely supplied from Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam. The challenge for Zip’s supply chain operation was to deliver greater control and visibility as well as an overall reduction in inbound logistics costs.
Following a rigorous analysis of Zip’s supply chain, APLL’s solution concentrates on global import logistics, information management and establishing systems and processes that allow the supply chain to respond quickly to changing needs and circumstances – three of APLL’s core strengths. In addition, Zip products will be shipped using multi-modal transportation methods – sea, air and road.
“Zip demands world-class supply chain solutions, which require a collaborative partnership with their logistics services providers, as well as the application of best practice. This matches APL Logistics’ global business strategy,” said Dan Ryan, APL Logistics’ President for Europe. “Our focus on adding value through people, process and technology means we have built, in partnership with Zip, a fully integrated global supply chain solution, which will ensure Zip’s products have a fast, reliable and cost-effective route to market.”
Alistair Jinks, Zip’s Operations and Logistics Manager said, “Zip is determined to be a world class benchmark for leading retailers striving to maximise customer service standards. We selected APLL to partner our development because they demonstrated the experience and capability globally to deliver. It is an exciting opportunity for all those involved.”
Among the prime areas of focus are purchase order and vendor management at origin, driven by strict operational processes and enabled by APLL’s global operating system, which facilitates real time, accurate information flow.
“Our work with Zip has led to a complete supply chain re-design,” said Gary Morter, APLL’s managing director for UK and Ireland. “Whereas Zip used to move mostly factory packed containers, they are now consolidating a large percentage of their product in Asia, thereby improving container utilisation and significantly reducing costs,” he added.
Going further to service Zip’s requirements, APLL is not only controlling the physical product flow to very stringent performance criteria, but is also in the process of implementing value-added pre-shipment services such as quality control and bar-coding scanning in Asia.
About APL Logistics - APL Logistics is a global provider of supply chain management services. The company has some 4,500 employees in 55 countries. APLL is a unit of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global logistics and container transportation company engaged in shipping and related businesses. Web site: www.apllogistics.com
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