Andy Martin - YRC Logistics EU

China has raised export tax rebates on toys, textiles and on more than 3,000 other products, moving ahead on promises to counter a slump that is forcing many factories that produce for overseas markets out of business, to read more about how this might affect your business, please go to our News Feed www.yrclogistics-rss.info

Labels: China, Global Trade Management, International Trade Compliance

The YRCL customs compliance has identified that the Commission will be conducting an investigation into human rights issues in Sri Lanka. Should the investigation establish that Sri Lanka has violated core conventions on human/political rights etc, it is likely that GSP plus status will be withdrawn. Unofficial estimates suggest that the investigation will take in the region of twelve months - we understand that Sri Lanka will retain GSP plus during this period. Our compliance teams can provide more detailed information if required.

Labels: Global Trade Management, GSP Plus in Sri Lanka, International Trade Compliance

At YRC Logistics EU we have an online system which allows any client thank you message to be electronically filed, this allows us to use them for internal recognition and for training. Although we aim for perfection, I would not want anyone to think we are not also realistic, and we recognise that not every shipment goes to plan.

Whilst I do not enjoy reading bad news, I believe that we should not just share good news case study’s, but that it is just as important to share case study's of shipments that have not quite gone to plan, so that we show how we have applied the proactive & corrective actions, so that hopefully if a similar situation arises in the future, the risk of the same mistake being repeated is reduced to a negligible amount.

Anyway, I always try to end the day by reading the client thank you messages and one today was extremely satisfying because our recently launched European Transportation service has not only literally exploded but is adding real value to our prospective and existing clients.

The below client message sends me home happy today not only because it shows we are adding value, but the message is from a new client trading with us and have so far only used us for 3 full loads into Europe.

"Morning Dawn,

I just want to take this opportunity to say that in the very short time we have used your service, I have noted the difference in the level of customer service you have provided as apposed to what we are currently receiving from our existing transport company.

The confirmations I have been receiving from you when goods are picked up and dropped off are extremely helpful and much appreciated.

As we can update our customer along the way and pre-empt them chasing us for information, which helps us offer a better quality customer service. One of our customers have commented on your service already. I hope we can carry on building a professional relationship and get more comments like this."

Labels: Case Study, Minimum Service Standard, Service

Whilst in China recently, Linda Yang and myself were introduced to a company of significant size who we are providing quality intra China logistics solutions for. Previously YRCL UK would probably not have been seen as a candidate for their International Forwarding, European Transportation or Customs Brokerage but this company was good enough to allow us to meet back in England. We were able to discuss their needs and identified areas with our relevant Subject Matter Experts, that we can provide solutions for their 30 full loads to mainland Europe per week as well as customs brokerage. I owe my friends and colleagues in China a warm and large thank you for the kind introduction to this client.

On a personal note, pre my trip to China I had been working hard to try and reverse the trend of good living over many years and lose some weight. I was concerned that two weeks of great Chinese food & good company would move me backwards. I probably have never eaten so much food or enjoyed so much good company, but what was even better was that I was amazed to return and get on my scales (with one eye shut) to find I had lost 5lbs in weight.

It was simple really when I look back at what I had eaten, beacuase even though I had consumed much more than I would normally, it was mainly fish and meat. There was no bread, pasta, fish and chips (private joke) or Yorkshire pudding. This is all common sense of course but a lesson I have taken onboard and I have altered my eating habits now I am back home and I am now going in the right direction health and weight wise for the first time in many years. I may even need to get a new photo attached to my blog. That is another thing I have thank my Chinese friends for.

Labels: China, Health

With such a dynamic and fast paced environment, especially in a difficult economic climate when resources are tight, making the most of internal talent is for me very important.

We have been developing Subject Matter Experts (SME) in many areas that support our core services such as international air/sea forwarding, customs brokerage and European Transportation. The SME provides support in many areas like Purchasing Order management via PVPO, Customs compliance, China Business Development, supply chain and trade management. Rather than conducting regional staff training seminars or have local power users (This did not work for us in the past) we have found that encouraging staff to travel to other offices to learn freom the SME's is more advantagous.

For example, a Global Development Manager from YRCL Glasgow recently spent 2 days in the YRCL Southampton with our SME for Purchase Order management. Not only did everyone share general ideas on how to serve the client better, they spent valuable time with a prospect showing the value of the system and then real time in the office watching how the system adds high value to the client. Although it was benficial for the GDM to learn more about one of our services, the real bonus was the teambuilding and the sharing of ideas on 'how to serve your client better'. If the results we see from similar days are the same then I am more than happy to encourage and fund these type of meetings.

Labels: Global Development Managers, Sales, Service, Subject Matter Experts

I am pleased to welcome Brenda Sunley as part of our growing Global Business Development team. Brenda will be based in Birmingham and has over 20 successful years in distribution, freight forwarding, supply chain, vendor consolidation, purchase order management and contract logistics. In her career she has worked with such as EXEL & Eagle Global Logistics. Whilst many companys are looking to freeze employment of new staff, we at YRC Logistics are looking to expand our sales team. Brenda is joining us at an exciting time where she will be able to use her experience and knowledge to provide creative network solutions for clients with a need for global transportation solutions.

Labels: Global Development Managers, Sales, Staff

I am pleased to share the good news that Kelly Taylor from our Birmingham office gave birth on Sunday 5th October 2008 to a beautiful girl. Ellie-Mai Greenhough weighed in at 7lbs 13ozs. Mother and daughter are doing well.

Labels: Baby at YRCL

An area we encourage in our staff meetings and training is understanding the difference between moving clients cartons around the would Vs moving clients livelihoods.

I recall my early days in this industry, before my greying hair and expanding waistline, not really understanding what a carton going missing or damage meant to the client. The terminology I recall in the office was typically 10 cartons rather than 10 cartons containing 600 shirts needed for an order next week.

I was never encouraged to meet or understand the clients business and therefore I did not truly understand I was not just moving cartons but someones livelihood. I also did not understand insurance does not replace our clients losing an order and perhaps losing their client.

This hit home to me when, probably about 25 years ago, I saw a client in tears because a shipment had been lost in transit and she would lose an important order. Although sad for the client it was a great lesson for me and I would rather we train our staff to do 'more than anyone else to support our clients livelihood' than just move cartons.

Anyway the reason for me sharing this story from my past was no matter how much care is taken, unfortunately disaster can happen and it is very important that clients have adequate insurance in place, as most logistics companies conduct business using trading conditions that limit their legal liability.

To highlight this I can share a summary from a recent UK court case where an importer sought to recover £2,252,460 from their Forwarder for the theft, apparently by employees, of cell phones from the Forwarder's premises. The English High Court held the Forwarder vicariously liable for wilful default and negligence but further ruled that the BIFA Standard Terms and Conditions applied and limited liability to approx £25,000.

Labels: Freight, Insurance, Service

In any growing organisation the biggest challenge and perhaps biggest failures seems to be communication.

In our industry, you can have all the systems and training in the world, but if staff are disconnected and unhappy, that will be reflected in the way they answer the phone and deal with a client.

I am not worried to admit that at our HQ in London, we have experienced disconnects from senior management to supervisors and then to all staff. I would be worried if we did not recognise and try to rectify.

I believe the first place to look if this happens is the top and I realise that while I might be involved in lots of exciting projects and developments, I have to ask myself, have I shared these in a clear manner to my direct reports in order they can do they same within their areas. The answer is no, we have tried to rectify by some simple "open to all" staff meetings at HQ. The disconnect was mainly that staff were sometimes frustrated that they want to serve their client in line with their passion and the company ethos of "client first", but growing red tape with accounts set up, global forms, extra security, management, etc was causing difficulty.

The people that really know the score are the staff and we drew a smiling face on our white board as the objective for every supervisor to ensure their staff start and end the day with this type of smile on their own face. Some simple daily functions like a supervisor meeting at 1715 hrs each day to assess workload, what has frustrated staff today, what can we take away, what has stopped you serving the client has promoted much better communication.

This is not the end it is just the start and as things change we have to assess so we are running the business correctly, but nothing is more important than looking after our staff to then look after the client "better than anyone else would".

To summarise, we must never lose sight. The most important people are our staff and anyone in a supervisory or management position has a duty of care to ensure they have the best environment available to serve the client. Being assertive upwards, directly to me if necessary, is a key factor in company success and I am pleased to have experienced this over the past weeks from staff at all levels.

Labels: Core Values, Service, Staff

I have a day booked at our Southampton facility on Friday 3rd Oct, as we are conducting some internal and client training on our PowerView PO System.

It is good timing as I have just seen a 30 day review on a section of new business they handled for a massive global company.

By offering daily air uplift the client has seen an immediate benefit in terms of their turnaround by 1.5% which has significant cash advantages as well as improve client satisfaction.

That seems for a good reason for an evening at Southampton Marina to celebrate.

Labels: Air Freight, Communication, Consultancy, Freight, Service, Staff