Korean companies combine forces via Korean European Distribution Center |
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Seventeen Korean companies combine their forces. The Logistics service
provider acts as facilitator who let the Koreans score points. Their competitive
advantage increased substantially. Faster delivery lead-times and lower
transport cost should convince more Korean companies that the concept enables
them to increase European sales. |
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| More than a year ago, logistics service provider Geodis
Vitesse started to collaborate with several small and medium sized
Korean companies. Geodis Vitesse is responsible for the joint logistics
of these companies: from transport from the Far East till
storage and delivery to the final customers in
Europe. This collaboration is advantageous for all participants.
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| The initiative of this project came from Mr. Sang-Wook Kim,
Managing Director of the Korean Trade Center (KOTRA) in Amsterdam, the non-profit
organization of the Korean government. “It’s a unique
project in the world” says Mr. Kim. “ Small
and medium sized companies from Korea often don’t have the possibilities
to set up a Pan European distribution network. By collaborating with other
shippers they create economies of scale which enable them to distribute
cost effective.” Also Mr. Sjaak Weima of Geodis Vitesse
calls the partnership as remarkable. "The project has a
low entry barrier due to the simple information flows. We don’t need
expensive EDI connections. Order entry can be done fast and simple via the
Internet." |
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| Competitive advantage |
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| The proof is in the pudding as they say. In the last year
10 companies joined the project. “ In total 17, mainly
electronics, companies participate in the project. The outlook is that we
reach 25 companies this year”; says Mr. Kim. The Korean
companies gain advantage of the faster delivery times and lower transport
cost. Stocks are no longer kept in Korea but in the Korean European Distribution
Center (KEDC) of Geodis Vitesse in Rotterdam. This enables the shippers
to supply their customers faster and gain competitive advantage. In the
past it took sometimes up to two months before a new shipment arrived, nowadays
it takes less than one week. Besides that, also the service level has increased
due to a better product availability. The goods are consolidated both in
Korea and in Europe and that reduces the transport cost substantially. |
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“The success of this project is as such that other
offices of Korean Trade Center (KOTRA) have interest in this collaboration.
The Korean government would like to initiate similar projects with
logistics service providers in Miami, Dubai and New York”,
says Mr Kim. |
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