MMO explains its role in decision making

The Marine Management Organisation hopes to be as clear and transparent as possible in its decision making process, something which past decision makers failed to do.

Last night I attended a meeting of the all-party parliamentary maritime and ports group to hear an update from James Cross, acting CEO of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), on its role in the Marine Planning Process, Marine Works Licenses and Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).

The MMO was formed around 18 months ago to take over the role of the ministry of fisheries but it also took over the role of granting planning permission for marine developments like ports and wind farms – a bit like the role the local planning authority plays for building extensions to a house.

It also acts as decision maker for most marine licensing in English inshore and offshore waters and for Welsh and Northern Ireland offshore waters, although the Department for Energy and Climate Change is the administrator for licenses for oil and gas-related activities.

A marine licence is required for many activities involving a deposit or removal of a substance or object below the mean high water springs mark or in any tidal river to the extent of the tidal influence.

This may be the construction of a port or wind farm, the dredging of a channel or the use of munitions, for example.

The MMO will also give advice on selecting which areas will become MCZs to the final decision maker – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Once the MCZs have been designated, the MMO, along with other bodies, will be responsible for management measures of MCZs.

The main thrust of the questions and answers session that followed Mr Cross’s introduction, centred on past grievances with the manner in which the granting or denying of marine planning permission and licenses had been conducted.

Those present at the meeting – although this might not be a fair reflection of all stakeholders – seemed to feel that in the past, decisions took too long, were too costly and didn’t necessarily reflect the feelings of local stake holders.

One person present pointed out that individuals and local businesses that might be affected by decisions couldn’t afford to initiate wide-ranging research documents designed to influence the final decision like the ones produced by large multinationals or environmental groups with large sums of money at their disposal.

Many of those present – although again this might not reflect the wider community – also seemed to feel government advisors Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee had too much influence over decisions and also the appeals process.

Mr Cross pointed out that decisions had to be made within government framework, statutory guidelines and European policy and that the MMO could exert no influence or express opinions on the nature of these guidelines.

However, he was also very keen to point out that the MMO strived to be a fair, trusted and impartial decision maker that would come to conclusions based on the best evidence available and would take into account opinions offered by all stakeholders as well as conservation objections.

It would also make the decision process open and transparent and the MMO would publish all documents that influenced the final decision online.

He added that while some stakeholders might not agree with the final decision, they would at least be able to understand the decision making process.

Mr Cross also assured those present at the meeting that the MMO would take a more strategic approach to evidence gathering and would invest time into talking to local communities.

He added that the MMO had moved from accepting evidence based on “who it was that gave the evidence” to accepting evidence and data based on whether it was “good advice”.

The MMO would also quality assure evidence – giving it a score out of 100 – and if the organisation was unable to have confidence in any evidence it received, that evidence would be discarded.

There was also a feeling that some decisions took too long, but Mr Cross pointed out that some applications were incredibly complicated and it would be very hard to speed up the process or give guidance on how long the process might take.

However, for more standard applications, the MMO would provide some guidance on time lengths.

Above all, Mr Cross wanted to make it clear that the MMO would be as clear and transparent as possible in its decision making process, something which past decision makers had clearly failed to do.

London, 5^th October 2011 – Leading UK supply chain company Century Logistics warns Christmas shoppers to buy presents as soon as possible as weather experts predict early snow fall – despite the Indian summer that the country is currently enjoying.

Currently the UK is basking in an unexpected heat wave, but forecasters expect the weather to turn before the end of the week and snow is predicted to fall throughout the Christmas period.

Century, which counts 60% of its customers as online retailers, made the warning after shoppers were last year left disappointed when deliveries to warehouses, shops and homes were delayed as ports, airports and roads were closed because of winter blizzards.

Last minute online shoppers were particularly hard hit by the delays.

Century Logistics Managing Director Stephen Basey-Fisher says: “The internet is a great way to do your Christmas shopping as it can save you time and money and there is often a wider range of products to choose from.

“But we recommend that shoppers make their purchases as early as possible in case the weather does cause disruptions to retailers’ supply chains.

“This is especially true for those buying goods online as this type of shopping is often left until the very last minute and the amount of time it takes to deliver is sometimes forgotten.”

Basey-Fisher’s warning comes with just 82 days until Christmas day.

“We can make sure our warehouse inventories are fully prepared in the run up to Christmas, but blizzards can result in parcel companies struggling to make the final delivery,” he adds.

“But we are already in contact with our carriers to make sure they are fully prepared should bad weather strike as predicted.”

Basey-Fisher says the November-December period was already the busiest time of year for online and high street sales, which means supply chains were already under pressure.

Figures from global e-retail organisation Interactive Media In Retail Group (IMRG) and technology consultant Capgemini showed that online retail sales hit £5.46 billion in December 2010, an increase of 17% compared with the same month the previous year.

Meanwhile, overall retail sales by value in December 2010 increased by 0.9% compared with November, according to the Office for National Statistics, although this was lower than expected as the winter weather stopped shoppers making it to the high street.

Basey-Fisher’s warning comes as weather experts forecast another year of difficult weather conditions.

Long-range forecaster James Madden from Exacta Weather warns he expects to see signs of moderate to heavy snowfalls as early as October or November in certain parts of the UK.

He expects November, December, January and February to feature largely below-average temperatures across many parts of the UK, and it is likely that temperature and snowfall records will be broken within this time frame.

Another forecaster, from Netweather, Paul Michaelwaite, warns widespread snowfall could be seen as early as November.

In December last year, blizzards resulted in large sections of the M25 being closed, leaving hauliers stranded overnight, as parts of the UK saw up to 76cm of snow and temperatures plunged to -19c.

Kent was virtually cut off from the rest of the country, while a 32km stretch of the M8 was closed for 48 hours because of snow and ice.

Heathrow and Gatwick airports were also closed for a couple days because of the weather, while the UK’s busiest container ports, Felixstowe and Southampton suffered with delays.

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Notes to Editor

Century Logistics is a privately-owned logistics company with over 400,000 sq ft of warehousing and 140 staff. Century specialise in warehousing and innovative and bespoke after sales services.

Its recently acquired 140,000 sq ft facility at Saxham Business Park near to Bury St Edmunds is one of the largest warehouses in East Anglia and is a joint venture with Dorel, the world’s biggest nursery products company.

Century has established a reputation for problem-solving, using its expertise in rework, product repair, handling customer service calls and selling end-of-line and returned stock via eBay and other outlets, for a wide range of customers.

www.centurylogistics.co.uk

The UK’s logistics company has welcomed the opening of a new deepwater terminal at the country’s busiest container terminal, which is capable of handling the latest generation of container vessels.

The Felixstowe South Terminal will comprise two berths – 8 & 9 – and its owner, Hutchison Ports UK, claims it will be the only facility in the country capable of handling the latest generation of containerships, which have capacities of up to 18,000teu.

Graham Riches, Managing Director, DSV Air & Sea. said: “The opening of this new terminal is great news for the whole of the UK.

“Had the port not built the new berths, which are capable of handling the latest large vessels, the UK could have eventually become reliant on European transhipment which would have extended supply chains and added extra costs to UK exporters and importers and increased emissions for everybody.

“Our customers need a reliable and regular supply chain and it is essential that the freight industry is able to provide business with the option of direct ports of call.

“Offloading cargo on the continent increases the risk of delays to cargo caused during the transfer of cargo onto vessels heading to this country.”

Steve Walker, Chairman of supply chain solutions provider SBS Worldwide, adds: “This development is of national importance. Losing deepsea calls would mean transferring cargo at other ports – this extra handling not only increases prices and extends transit times but also adds risk into the supply chain.

“The extra cost would eventually be paid for by the consumer which is unacceptable in these times of economic uncertainty.

“Customers would build in excessive inventory into their supply chains to compensate for the extended transit times and potential for continental rollovers and it would also drive up the cost of exports, which would make British businesses less competitive abroad.

“It is essential that the country as a whole manages to maintain deepsea calls, and with containerships getting bigger, any country that doesn’t keep pace with vessel developments risks becoming a feeder only destination.”

Currently, Felixstowe handles more than 40% of the UK’s container cargo, with around £60 billion of imports and exports passing through the port each year. The expansion could add a further £20bn to this figure.

Hutchison Ports UK, which operates the port, believes the new berths are the only ones in the UK capable of handling the largest containerships currently on order.

TLMW newswire, a wire partner with an extensive database containing thousands of editorial contacts, searchable by industry, location, media type and outlet, including key bloggers.

London, 7 June 2011.     Companies wishing to distribute news to dedicated trade media effectively and affordably are now able to take advantage of TLMW extensive distribution network through its new news wire service, available immediately as a pay as you go service.

Through TLMW newswire’s national network, press releases reach thousands of journalists online and offline across all media, including key bloggers, through immediate (or timed) distribution. Media distribution may be national or extend across specific geographical areas such as North America, Europe; Asia, or sent worldwide. Sectors covered include air passenger; air cargo; couriers; logistics/distribution; material handling; merchant shipping; international navies and coast guards; offshore energy; passenger cruise ships and ferries; ports; roads; ship building and ship repair; and warehousing. 

Sue Terpilowski, TLMW’s Managing Director said, “We are extending this service to companies and agencies requiring a direct route to media in transport, logistics, material handling and warehousing. TLMW is part of Image line Communications Ltd, one of the leading players in PR for supply chain and logistics. We have been dealing with the media on behalf of our clients for over 23 years and have consequently built strong relationships across all levels. In fact, we have amassed an extensive database of contacts from print, online media and key bloggers nationally.”  

She continued, “TLMW newswire is the perfect wire partner for companies of all sizes.  It was developed to make life easy for companies and individuals working in PR and communications, giving great access to up to date information and contacts. The service is designed to be as flexible as possible, with no long term contracts.  TLMW newswire is a pay as you go service, but with the added benefit of discounted prices for a commitment to distribute three or six releases in a 12 month period.”

Mr David Tarizzo, spokesperson for Linescape confirmed Sue’s comments, saying, “As a user of the worldwide service package, I have had a tremendous response to my releases.  They were picked up by key bloggers and appeared in international trade press, online and offline. What was great was the ease of setting it up and distributing the news.”

TMLW are offering a free one off distribution for new users until June 30th, 2011.  To register interest or obtain further information, please visit www.TLMWNewswire.com, or email info@tlmwnewswire.com or call on + (44) 20 7689 9009.

There is no doubt that it is a time-consuming task to make sure all shipments meet the plethora of security and other regulations that continue to come into force. Obviously we all agree that security and safety are the top priorities, but it can be confusing for exporters and others when rules change or are interpreted in different ways.

For shippers, it is especially vital to be compliant as, in the end, the buck stops with them. It is the owners of the cargo who are ultimately responsible for meeting the requirements and who will be penalised if the requirements are not met.

Read the whole article on  http://www.internationaltrade.co.uk/articles.php?CID=&SCID=&AID=1214&PGID=1

Resulting from Osama Bin Laden’s death – commodity prices have fallen. The Brent Crude price has declined by 5.45% for example and gold by 3.17.

What impact will his death have on the shipping industry (if any)?

With declining oil prices will petrol prices go down? Will shipping companies be able to charge customers less for delivery? Will there be higher security threats and tighter restrictions for air cargo?

What are your thoughts on the situation?

Only time will tell …

·        Ensuring cost competitive and reliable connections from ports to factories and shops is vital to ensuring the competitiveness of UK firms and the UK as a location for foreign firms to do business.

·        There are 4 key mothods of freight transportation by which goods enter and leave the UK:

1.      Container (lo lo) Lift on/Lift off – the transports of containerised freight, which is loaded and unloaded ay gateway terminals by cranes onto containerships and transported by sea.  Container freight is carried by either deep sea services calling directly at the UK from the port of origin or smaller short sea feeder services carrying goods from Mainland Europe.

2.      Roll on Roll Off (ro ro) – freight units are driven on/off sea ferries or on/off specialised trucks at the rail services through the channel tunnel.

3.      Bulk goods – the movement of either liquid commodities e.g. oil and fuel or solids e.g. coal, are transported by sea

4.      Air freight – the transportation of goods in the hold of passenger service of on dedicated freight service

·        Almost one third of all UK port tonnage goes through Greater South East Ports – those lying between Southampton and Felixstowe

·        For most journeys the distribution chain consists of multiple organisations which in turn creates challenges for optimising the supply chain from end to end to ensure the efficient movement of goods.

·        Containerisation is the movement of goods in standard size shipping containers that are loaded onto containerships, road trucks and rail carriages.

·        Dedicated container vessels were first introduced in the 1960s when the container shipping and ports industry realised the vast potential of the container transport mode.

·        Transporting goods by container have become an increasingly inexpensive method of moving freight despite rising fuel costs.

·        The standardisation format of container transport has enabled increased economies of scale in shipping and discharging, lowering costs of importing and exporting goods.  Furthermore lower manufacturing costs in China and India have contributed to a surge in container trade from the Far East to the West, although this has seen significant slowing in recent months due to the global economic decline.

·        Container growth in the UK is predicted to increase by on average 4% per annum between 2005 and 2030.

·        Port capacity is a function of a number of variables including the number and length of available berths, draught clearance, crane performance and yard space.

·        Berth capacity, ship size and the volume of container traffic to load and unload determine the number of ships that can be processed through the port during the course of the day.

·        Southampton and Felixstowe dominate container traffic in the UK.  These ports have the terminal capacity to accommodate the largest vessels and they are closer to the Asia/ North West Europe shipping route making them attractive destination vessels calling from East to Northern Europe.

·        Refrigerated containers or ‘REEFERS’ which are used to transport temperature sensitive commodities are insulated and rely upon an external power supply.  During onward land distribution, containers transported by road are powered by a diesel generator on the truck. There is no equivalent power supply for rail transportation meaning that all REEFER wagons must move either by road or sea.

·        Shipping lines are required to declare the contents of all containers arriving and departing to/from UK to HRMC when the goods have originated from or are destined for outside the EU.

·        Some shipping lines operate in alliances such as the New World Alliance (MOL, APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

·        The Suez Canal in Egypt links the Med and Red sea enabling a passage between Europe and Asia.  The largest vessels capable of passing through the canal are termed ‘Suezmax’.

·        A Suezmax vessel would measure approve 14,000 TEU, be 400 metres long, more than 50 metres wide and have a draft of 16 metres such as the Emma Maersk.

·        The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Largest would be called the ‘Panamax’.

·        Direct call traffic travels through the port of destination without the goods changing ship en route.

·         Transhipment traffic calls at an intermediate port en route to its ultimate destination and is discharged and reloaded onto a secondary vessel for final shipping.  This serves as a more cost effective way for shipping lines to maintain long distance, deep sea operations of their largest vessels and allows containers to be shipped by smaller vessels to ports incapable of handling the larger ships due to draft clearance or operational constraints.

·        In order to maximise productivity and turn around times the largest vessels will seek to call at ports with minimum deviation from the global shipping line.

·        When a vessel calls at a port the containers bound for that port are discharged to the quay and moved to be stacked, loaded containers for export are then loaded on to the vessel and finally empty containers are loaded.

·        Straddle carriers – cranes designed solely to transport and stack containers in ports.  Straddle carriers can stack containers up to five high.

·        The Department of Transports Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate (TRANSEC) is responsible for implementing the International Ship and Port facility Security Code (ISPS Code) in the UK. The ISPS Code mandates the minimum security requirements for ships and ports.

·        Ports are responsible for meeting the requirements of the Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods code. HMRC are responsible for operating the equipment at UK points of entry (seaport, airport and international rail terminals) and for the detection of any imported nuclear or radiological material.

·        The Container Security Initiative (CSI) was introduced in 2002 by US Bureau of customs and border protection.

·        Goods are declared by shipping lines to customs prior to the arrival of the vessel, however only a small proportion are moved to temporary storage to be physically checked.

·        Port Community Systems control the movement of import/export freight at most UK ports.  These provide a means for traders to submit declarations to the UKs electronic declaration processing system. The CHIEF system handles over 21 million import and 5 million export declarations per annum and relay release messages via the community system on each container.

·        Distribution of containers within the UK is a key component of the end – to – end journey.

·        Golden Triangle – prevalence in distribution centres and accessibility to the rest of the UK. The Midland’s is advantageously placed for distribution by roads as it is served by the M1 and M6 to the North and M40 and M1 to the South.

·        Operation Stack is a traffic management system implemented when port stoppages result in a build up of traffic.  Initially vehicles are stacked in port holding areas.  When these are full, Operation Stack is invoked and vehicles are queued on key roads close to the ports. Operation Stack has been criticised by shipping lines and road hauliers for the inefficiencies realised when port conditions return to operations. At this point, vehicles move to the port in the order they were ‘stacked’.  Those at the front of the queue leave the stack and therefore arrive at the port first, not accounting for those vehicles which are required in the port to meet ferry/rail connections most urgently.

·        All major UK container ports have a Vehicle Booking System (VBS) for the HGV collections and deliveries. VBS is an online booking system requiring hauliers to select a designated slot for container delivery and collection to the port.  VBS aims to spread the load for vehicles throughout the working day, minimising congestion from hauliers. A charge is incurred if the haulier does not arrive at the designated time.

I attended the Social Media World Forum exhibition on Tuesday 29^th March. 

Here are the key points/messages taken from the ‘changing role of PR in the social media environment’ discussion.

The discussion was monitored by Danny Rogers, Editor of PR Week. Members of the panel included; Nick Sharples, Director Corporate Communications Europe, Sony; Colin Douglas, Director of NHS Communications, Department of Health and Pete Devery, EMEA PR Lead, Microsoft.

·        PR is about reputation.

·        In PR – relationships are important.

·        A lot of relationships are broken – you feel distant from your bank manager and Mobile Phone Company.  Social media can help rebuild those relationships, making you feel closer and a more privileged customer.

·        A brand is a promise. A reputation is the perception of how the brand keeps that promise. You need to protect that reputation and enhance it.

·        Has the role of social media changed PR. To an extent yes.  Technology will always change it. Radio changed PR, and then TV changed PR … now social media.

·        Social media = significant

·        PR departments need to relinquish some control – individuals are becoming brand advocates.  In today’s age it is not just PR Agencies speaking on behalf of brands, in the virtual world everyone is commenting. Companies have to be aware that there are both positive and negative comments being thrown about that they have to take notice of.

·        Common mistakes – for a large organisation to remain on the side, there is a big wall between PR and customer service.  If somebody complains about your product it damages your brand. PR teams see this pollution and want to jump in and help as you can’t just sit there unnoticed.  A new role needs to be created between customer service and PR – a fixed role where they know how to speak in a public space and deal with complaints

·        Social media has started to break down barriers

·        The debates over who should own social media space are irrelevant; instead everyone should be using it to market your campaigns.

·        It is not always how you respond to the customer, it is how you develop that response and change your product.

I found this discussion very informative, provoking many thoughts:

Has social media changed the role of PR?

Do brands have to consider the way they interact with individuals to provide better customer service?

Who should be in charge of customer service, where does the PR role end and customer service begin?

Is social media significant?

What are your thoughts on this?

We organised for Mike King to interview JF Hillebrand’s MD David Mawer. Please see the discussion below.

What sort of volumes is Hillebrand responsible for shipping each year?

We handled 268,000 containers in 2009 and this increased to more than 300,000 containers worldwide in 2010.

Do you move much by air?

Air freight is a relatively small sector and not commonly used for beverage logistics owing to cost. However, it does offer extremely fast transit times, allowing access to any wine market in the world in less than a week – vital for urgent orders, exhibition samples, and in helping to avoid stock-out situations.

How do you view the potential for further growth this year?

Tough economic conditions, more competition and higher fuel costs will be challenges faced by everyone involved in global transport, but we are confident our expertise in the wines and spirits market and the specialist services we offer will stand us in good stead. We are seeing growth in demand from Asia and the Middle East for wines from all over the world.

How has the beverage logistics market evolved over the past 10 years, in terms of the demands of retailers and consumers?

We launched Axis, our supply chain software, in 2000, which immediately offered a step change in the amount of information UK importers could access about their wine shipments. We are now rolling out Axis 2, which is accessible to all parties.

It monitors every aspect of the supply chain from vineyard to shelf as well as internal order management processes so it helps customers identify opportunities to improve performance and reduce costs. It offers on-line booking, an almost infinite variety of multiple search and report options, and automatic report scheduling.

Axis drills into the supply chain so customers can see an array of processes, including average order-to-ready times and early to late-delivery status. The system links directly, in real time, into our technology and holds two years of data for each customer. This gives a completely accurate assessment of their total supply chain performance, with fully customisable reports, filters and viewing screens.

Not only can customers filter and view their shipments by 145 categories – everything from country of origin, supplier, importer and type of wine to order reference, customs filing and delivery status – they can also export all data to Excel and create dedicated reports for themselves and their own customers.

How do you persuade beverage suppliers to produce to forecast, rather than order?

Recent research conducted across 71,000 consumers in 21 countries showed that customers have little patience for ‘out-of-stocks’. On average, 56% of customers faced with an out-of-stock convert to an absolute ‘lost sale’ with nearly a third deciding to buy elsewhere. Disturbing statistics no-one can deny, especially if you are the supplier of the out-of-stock product.

One solution is the tactic of holding high inventory levels to overcome this problem. But generally this process is uneconomical, even to the extent that the fix is more expensive than the problem. So it is obvious that the supply chain can play a crucial role in turning a company’s buying and marketing strategies into reality, in terms of the customer experience.

Through adoption of collaborative forecasting, planning and replenishment with all stakeholders within the supply chain, many benefits can be gained for all parties to ensure that only the right amounts of the right products are readily available in the right place at the right time to meet all customers’ demands.

Have you won any new contracts recently?

Waitrose, the food division of retailer John Lewis, has awarded us a three-year contract to manage all its wine and spirits imports into the UK. The decision to extend the use of our supply chain management solution to cover the entire business follows successful implementation across a selection of trade lanes over the past four years.

How does your VinLiner product work and what has been its impact on supply chains?

VinLiner is a multipurpose insulation system, made from an aluminium-coated, woven polyethylene fabric. It is placed in dry containers or over pallets and can reduce the effects that thermal shocks, potential contamination, odours and humidity infiltration may cause to sensitive cargo in transit. VinLiner’s ability to protect products will offer a low-risk solution to the amount of damaged/waste product.

To view more click here:

http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/searcharticle.htm?artid=20017860565&highlight=true&keywords=mike+king&phrase=

A devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan today and triggered a massive tsunami has reportedly forced all of Japan’s ports to close and all of the countries airports to divert flights or shut completely.