Shipping companies must expand supply chain capabilities

Shipping companies must expand supply chain capabilities    Neptune Orient Lines’ president and chief executive officer David Lim said Wednesday that companies limiting themselves to just shipping services face their importance being downgraded to that of subcontractor to companies willing to provide end-to-end solutions.
   Speaking to students at the Erasmus Centre for Maritime Economics & Logistics in Rotterdam, Lim said: “The transportation and logistics industry must be transformed from a series of disparate, component parts to a seamless supply chain in order to address the increasing challenges to moving cargo smoothly.”
   “To achieve this, we need to change the way the supply chain industry is organized — from standalone operations to integrated services; and from piecemeal improvements, to end-to-end solutions,” Lim said.
   Lim believes that companies must continue to seek out new business areas that expand their involvement in the supply chain or face being marginalized.
   “For companies that only provide shipping services, their role may be relegated over time to that of a subcontractor — providing services not to cargo owners, but to other global transport and logistics companies that add on additional services,” he said.
   Lim also warned that mergers and acquisitions among shipping companies is not the single answer to expanding their supply chain capabilities. “The different components of the supply chain have to be aligned and melded to form a seamless service before the benefits of speed, flexibility and control can be obtained,” Lim said.