MAERSK CONSIDERS RELOCATING MORE TASKS TO INDIA

MAERSK CONSIDERS RELOCATING MORE TASKS TO INDIA    Maersk organizations worldwide are exploring options to shift more administrative activities to an offshore center based in Mumbai, India.
   Maersk’s Mumbai “shared service center” already handles shipping documentation activities for the Europe region. To date, the documentation departments of Maersk Sealand in the United Kingdom, the Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg area, Germany and Scandinavia have been moved to the India-based center.
   Maersk reports that its offshore center, which employs about 400 staff, produces close to 4,000 bills of lading a week for the Europe region.
   The new phenomenon of shared service centers can be thought of as “internal outsourcing,” Maersk said in the company’s magazine.
   “The advantages of centralizing similar tasks are abundant, and the overall performance will hereafter be less sensitive to small staff fluctuations,” the Danish company said.
   APL, P&O Nedlloyd and other ocean carriers have also relocated back-office administrative activities to low-wage countries in Asia.
   The offshore service centers are not unique to shipping. Maersk reports that GE, Citibank, British Airways and American Express are among the major multinationals that have set up offshore centers in India.