BIFA Awards
platform that manages products, people and processes, and provides full end-to-end visibility and management of the planned – and actual – supply chain. “Normally we would integrate the shipping lines into One World, and then be able to provide visibility of the goods they are carrying, although we would not be able to control them or their ships,” Cobbing explained. But during COVID-19 “there were serious struggles with the capacity, reliability or certainty that our customers needed to run their global businesses. “We therefore decided to launch our own shipping line and brought into service our own containerised ships, providing an express service from China and Vietnam to the UK.” Within six months, Uniserve captured 5% of the China-UK market and 7% of the Vietnam-UK market. Ship operators The company set up a dedicated team of ship operators in the UK, operating licences, and geared up small port operations to quickly and efficiently handle landside services at origin and destination – avoiding the larger, more congested gateways. “We integrated all ships’ operational software with the One World supply chain management platform, giving full visibility and operations management,” Cobbing added. Having attached its own shipping line to its supply chain management capabilities, Uniserve is now able to ensure that its customers’ products are delivered by sea with consistency and confidence. “Our strategy has been a complete change of direction from the traditional services,” Cobbing said. “We reduced port-to-port transit times between Asia and the UK (Tilbury) by an average of 14 days. Door-to-door transit times were reduced by anything up to 30 days.” In 2022 UniOcean was operating nine ships, with more joining its fleet in 2023. Its shortsea and transatlantic services around Europe were launched in the last quarter of 2022. Europe, China and Vietnam, obtained all the necessary
In 2022 UniOcean was operating nine ships, with more joining its fleet in 2023
Why Uniserve launched an award-winning line
When the Asia-Europe supply chain collapsed during COVID-19, Uniserve Group solved the problem by setting up its very own shipping line. The bold move was hugely successful and was recognised in the 2022 BIFA Ocean Services Award
“ To overcome the issues that the shipping lines were experiencing, we had to think differently
programme was the fulfilment of over two years’ hard work and investment to provide our clients with the fastest, most reliable and cost-effective seafreight product between Asia, the UK and Europe. “UniOcean harnessed an infrastructure investment of over US$1.5 billion through the contracting and purchasing of our own fleet of vessels and 25,000 brand new containers, plus Uniserve’s existing in-house software, One World,” Cobbing said. One World is a real-time
T he COVID-19 pandemic starts to fall apart under pressure, resulting in chaos, delays and high costs. This was clear in the shipping industry, which faced challenges such as product availability, landside operational closures, equipment misplacement, port congestion, schedule disruption and much more. Service levels demonstrated that a fragile and risky supply chain quickly Not only did this result in rising costs, it led to a drop in service levels and availability for seafreight customers, said Gary Cobbing, Uniserve’s chief operating officer. Cobbing recalled: “To overcome the issues that the shipping lines were experiencing, we had to think differently. The UniOcean
Ocean Services Award
Port Express was established in 2004 to provide a comprehensive range of container transport services to the supply chain industry. Specialising in UK container haulage, Port Express works in partnership with its clients to provide innovative cost- effective supply chain solutions. Due to our ongoing investment and development in new equipment and technology, Port Express operates from strategic locations throughout the UK ensuring the level of service we deliver remains among the very best in the industry. Port Express operates to the highest standards and is committed to the health and safety of its employees, customers and visitors.
16 | November 2023
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