Welcome to PCW, it’s Thursday the 11th of October. This week I had a quick trip to Hamburg, a city that has been one of my favourites in Europe since 1980, when I started my shipping career in Aarhus, Denmark. Back then I was glad of a chance to practice my German, a compulsory subject in my school. Hamburg is not only a great city, but it is also a fantastic place for shipping and shipping history and I can certainly recommend a visit and a harbour tour if you ever have the time. Seeing almost anything from the ‘water-side’ always beats seeing it from the ‘land-side’. See this video I shot yesterday of the scenery in Hamburg.
I was in Hamburg this week to maintain my network. One’s personal network and contacts these days are paramount for almost anything. How to get attention from employers these days? Perhaps because you studied at Harvard? No, so did thousands of others. Maybe because you possess exceptional IT skills? So do thousands of others, and so on. Networking, in all aspects, is running the world and it’s the old saying that ‘it’s not what you know but who you know’ that decides. Just take a look at some appointees in the political establishment as well as the board of directors of some companies and so on. Being skilled in politics and networking will get you further in big organizations than mere job skills, because you will always be stepping on someone else’s toes, which could make them jealous if you are cleverer. At least, that often seems to the case. You may, of course, also meet people who respect your capabilities, but it is difficult. In freight forwarding and shipping, networks are playing an ever-greater role as a platform through which smaller and medium sized companies can band together and compete against the bigger players who, more often than not, are actually working as banks, financing their customers’ requirements and not being chosen necessarily because they are particularly capable.
So, my advice to anyone is to always maintain and keep your network close as you never know when you might need someone’s help and the people you meet on the way up, you also will meet on the way down. A good rule of thumb is to keep in touch, even when you don’t need help. I have very little respect for people who only approach you when they need help and that goes for both business and private life.
Business in this week’s issue of PCW starts off with an interview with one of the many network organizations out there who are catering to freight forwarders worldwide. We then pay a visit to one of the most popular countries in Asia for tourists and expats, i.e. Thailand, where we speak to a local project freight forwarder. Finally, we do the long-haul on Emirates via Dubai to South America and speak to a company in Uruguay that introduces their capabilities in shipping and also mid-stream operations. Of course, we have the usual intel for you as well as wise words and a rather interesting video from the Taiwan Strait which I recommend you look at.
Until next week, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
The Globalink and Global Value Networks
Interview with Mr. Bill Siemens – President
Tell us about The Globalink Network. When were you established?
We established The Globalink Network in January of 2002, making us a little over sixteen years old and one of the older networks in the business. Due to the Globalink network filling up, we established our second network, The Global Value Network, four years ago and it’s been building nicely. The function is the same for both. Our first function is to help companies grow their worldwide agency business for less money, in less time and with far less risk than doing this all in-house. Our second function is to partner with our members to help them increase capabilities, revenues and profits. Read more…
Yongsun Global Freight – Bangkok Thailand
Interview with Mr. Krai J. Vadhana – Managing Director
There is a lot of competition in Thailand in particular in freight forwarding. What is your specialty and where in particular do you believe that customers would benefit from contacting you?
Fast & committed service. By contacting us, I believe my customers will benefit from our reliable service as we commit to what the customers require. We’re specialized in handling import shipments to Thailand. That is our key strength. One of our customers is Thailand’s second biggest ceramics importer, they trust us to handle five to seven hundred containers a month. Another strong area for the company is the food industry. Our reference customers include Lotte, Jagota Brothers Trading (Thailand’s tenth biggest food importer) and Sunsweet, etc. Read more…
Botisol Supply Chain Solutions Montevideo, Uruguay
Interview with Mr. Livio Di Giovanni – CEO & Mr. Ignacio Weiss – COO
What is your main focus in logistics and cargo transportation?
Botisol Supply Chain Solutions is a freight forwarding and supply chain management services provider. We take pride in providing our customers with transportation and logistics solutions that support the way they want to do business, wherever they are in the world. Part of the group includes Argelan Ships Services (https://argelan-ss.com/), a company created as an additional line of service as both companies are actively interrelated with the operations that take place in our country and the river plate. Read more…
Shipping News
Editors note: NYK is a Japanese shipowner of high repute. However, their chairman has recently mentioned in no uncertain terms that the company will have to reform in order to survive in the future. I wish our politicians (in the EU in particular) would learn from that, as without reform and adaptation, there can be no future. Read more…
Shipping News
Editors note: As we all, forwarders included, scramble to find areas for growth and income potential, one continent springs to mind: Africa. Here is an interesting article about Africa and its maritime potential. Read more…
Shipping News
Editors note: Saving costs is paramount and not least for shipowners who if they could no doubt would be pleased to have ships sailing without expensive captains and crews, here is an interesting article about just that.. Read more…
Plants & Processing
Swedish Tool-Steel Manufacturer Orders Tempering Furnace
JGEF Furnace of China manufactured and installed a protective-atmosphere horizontal tempering furnace for a tool-steel manufacturer in Sweden. The furnace will help the company achieve a pre-vacuum protective atmosphere for tempering, and the atmosphere in the furnace chamber will reduce the oxidative decarburization reaction of the heat- treated workpiece. Read more…
Public Parks & Recriation
Huge Finnish Indoor Activity Park Is Opening It’s First SuperPark In Singapore
SuperPark, a Finnish indoor activity park will be opening in Singapore, and it promises a whole load of fun, rain or shine. With over 20 different activities that requires you to get off your ass and play around, you’ll also be getting some exercise in. Read more…
Oil & Gas
Map Ta Phut Olefins lets contract for cracker de-bottle-necking, expansion
Map Ta Phut Olefins Co. Ltd. (MOC), a joint-venture of Siam Cement Public Co. Ltd. subsidiary SGC Chemicals Co. Ltd. and Dow Chemical Co., has let a contract to McDermott International Inc. to provide process technology for the upgrade and expansion of an existing olefins cracker at MOC’s petrochemical plant in Rayong Province, Thailand. Read more…
Tunnel Boring
China enters high-end machinery making with largest export-bound tunnel boring machine
Chinese firm CCCC Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co rolled out China’s largest export-bound slurry tunnel boring machine (TBM) on Saturday, marking what officials call a milestone in China’s push for high-end machinery exports in a world that has been dominated by developed countries. Read more…
Featured Video
Editors note:
Sunset in the Taiwan Strait Filmed from the bow of the container ship CMA CGM Andromeda by a passenger onboard
Photo of the Week
Editors note: First emptying the bottle then using it as bottle-post is what I would call “full use” indeed. Picture provided by a passenger on a container ship in the Atlantic heading to Panama.
“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do”
– Henry Ford –
“If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan rather than the goal”
– Ancient Vietnamese Proverb –