Freight and Logistics Developments for International Group

SINGAPORE – BRAZIL – Plenty of news from supply chain and logistics group Ceva of late as the company introduces a new 1,200 square metre advanced aerospace storage area at its recently opened Logistics Centre the multi-user warehouse located at the Tampines LogisPark, Singapore, where the company began operating in August, whilst continuing to expand its operations in Brazil with several new contracts, including an ocean freight project with Brazil-based integrated oil and gas company Petrobras.

The aerospace engine storage area in Singapore is designed to store both leased and newly assembled engines in accordance with the strict security and specialised requirements of the aerospace sector and is equipped with a 20 tonne overhead crane to ease the loading and unloading of the engines. The facility is humidity controlled by a heavy duty industrial dehumidifier system for high value commodity storage and is built with a separate low gradient ramp and entrance as well as a separate main gate to enhance the security and traffic flow of the area and protect the integrity of the products. Ceva’s Managing Director of Singapore, Alec Ang said:

“We are excited to roll out our first specially built aerospace storage area in Singapore. This investment demonstrates our commitment to meet the needs of our customers in the highly specialised aerospace sector. Ceva’s years of experience and expertise in the aerospace enabled us to design an advanced engine storage space with special features and layout purposed for aerospace customers.”

The multi user warehouse where the aerospace storage area is located, is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified site with advanced eco-design features for environmental efficiency, making it a unique and innovative green facility. From its design, to layout and materials used, the Logistics Centre is built with eco-sustainability in mind, to deliver lower operating costs, reduce waste and conserve energy and water.

Meanwhile in Brazil, Ceva has announced a new three year contract with lifting and material handling equipment manufacturer Terex and a two year extension for customs brokerage for global beauty company Avon, in addition to a new project involving monthly shipments of ‘Christmas trees’ – oversized cargo that is an assembly of valves, spools and fittings used to control the flow of oil or gas in a well – via a RoRo vessel from the port of Tilbury, UK, to the Rio de Janeiro port, Brazil.

The project began in September and goes through December 2014 and will be managed by Ceva’s dedicated team for Petrobras. Eduardo Carlini, Ceva’s Director of Energy and Industrial Sector Director, Latin America, commented:

“Ceva has been the official freight management provider for the Petrobras Exploration and Production Division for the past four years. Based upon our track record of reliability and quality, we were provided this additional project opportunity. We do our best to deliver great performance every single day and have built a solid customer relationship with Petrobras on that foundation.”

In signing a three year contract with Terex, Ceva will manage the company’s integrated hub for parts distribution at a 1,430 square metre area located in Barueri, São Paulo. Services include the entire flow of receipt, checking, storage, orders picking process, packaging and the expedited shipping of approximately 15,000 spare parts necessary to support Terex distributors and customers. In addition, Ceva will manage the distribution of Terex®, Genie® and Demag® products throughout the country.

Specifically for the management of the company’s transportation activities, Ceva has developed interfaces between the system used by Terex with the Ceva Matrix™ Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transportation Management System (TMS) to manage parts distribution. The primary goal for Terex is to improve efficiency in the order delivery process by dispatching 95% of the parts within 24 hours after receipt of the order. Rodrigo Schmidt, Manager, Parts Operations and Sales for Terex Latin America said:

“We made a substantial investment in the creation of the Terex Integrated Centre of Parts Distribution with Ceva. We already have a strong relationship with Ceva in the Netherlands and we are pursuing the same success here. Ceva is a good company for us to work with in providing world class logistics for our products, parts and services in Brazil.”

Ceva has been working with Avon in all regions of the world for more than 15 years, spanning its entire supply chain. Services Ceva provides to Avon include Contract Logistics, Freight Management and 4PL activities such as managing Avon’s import/export operations from purchase order management to import clearance and delivery to their plant. With the new contract in place, Ceva will now include customs brokerage throughout Latin America for more than 50,000 orders per year. Ceva has also expanded its business with Avon for inbound Air and Ocean transportation to Latin America.

The companies’ relationship in Latin America has also been extended to include road haulage services to Central America and expanded domestic operations, in which Ceva delivers freight from port/airport to Avon’s manufacturing plant or distribution centre.

One of the key elements of this extended relationship resulted from a breakthrough cross dock operation in Queretaro, Mexico developed earlier this year. The Ceva team in Queretaro built an effective and efficient operation for all of Avon’s finished products being moved to Central America. The operation is much closer in proximity to Avon’s production facility, saving time (up to 10 hours per truck per day from three to four trucks daily) and reducing transportation costs. Ceva’s integrated transportation solution for Avon also enables greater reliability because Ceva handles operations from pickup in Queretaro to delivery at Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, for export. Brett Bissell, Executive Vice President of Latin America for Ceva, said:

“The growth of our partnership with Avon signifies the value we can provide across the globe. Over the years we have built a strong foundation with Avon based on quality and innovation. With this expanded relationship, we will leverage this foundation by developing a more comprehensive Latin American operation on Avon’s behalf. We are really proud of the work we do for Avon and look forward to helping ensure their continued success in the region and globally.”

Photo: A shot from the Avon Foundation ‘Walk Around the World’ taken in South Africa, join the fight against Breast Cancer by donating HERE.