A three-year contract for transport services has been awarded to Imperial Logistics group company New Century Transport (NCT) by new client Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, South Africa’s leading producer of flat steel products, structural steel and vanadium slag.
NCT’s knowledge of tipper operations and the coal industry as well as the company’s competitive rates, contributed to the company being awarded the contract says divisional CEO Thinus Erasmus.
NCT, which is part of Imperial’s Industrial division, will undertake the inbound transport of all raw material.
Erasmus says while coal is the main raw material that will be transported, other commodities to be moved include manganese, silicone, dolomite, iron ore and coal duff, which is a fine powder form of the mineral. New Century Transport will deliver a 24/7 service, to ensure compliance with the client’s loading and offloading times.
Safety and quality management are key elements of this contract and Erasmus notes that NCT will be adhering to stringent health, safety and quality standards that are continuously reviewed and refined, to keep pace with advances in technology, new industry trends and legislation.
“The RTMS (Road Transport Management System) accreditation that NCT has attained for its entire fleet also reflects our unwavering commitment to safety and to maintaining the health of employees and the quality of our vehicles,” he adds.
RTMS is a nationally recognised, self-regulating scheme for heavy vehicle road transport that is aimed at creating a safe, equitable and competitive heavy vehicle logistics value chain. It encourages consignees, consignors and transport operators engaged in the road logistics value chain to implement a vehicle management system that preserves road infrastructure, improves road safety and increases the productivity of the logistics value chain.
NCP Alcohol
The second contact notched up by Imperial Logistics is with NCP Alcohol which has outsourced its supply chain management and road transport requirements to Imperial Logistics.
Reduced transport costs and a boost to the business’s bottom line are among the benefits being reaped by the fermentation alcohol producer as a result of this partnership, says Imperial Logistics chief business development officer Cobus Rossouw.
Outlining the history of the group’s relationship with NCP Alcohol, he says that Imperial group company, Tanker Services, began working with the organisation more than 25 years ago. “During this time, Tanker Services entered into various contracts with NCP, eventually purchasing NCP Alcohols’ fleet of tankers and trucks and taking over the bulk movement of its products.”
The Imperial relationship was expanded when group company Resolve was contracted to assist NCP Alcohols in analysing its entire supply chain and business process.Rossouw notes that this undertaking was highly detailed and all-encompassing, covering all aspects of NCP’s supply chain.
“The culmination of this project included, among other things, a tender process for all logistics services to be outsourced. Tanker Services was successful in retaining the liquid bulk business with the award of a three-year contract that will see the company transporting more than 45-million litres of fermentation alcohol for NCP per year.”
Tanker Services is already realising transport cost savings for NCP Alcohols through improved vehicle planning and in-depth analysis of cost drivers, Rossouw adds.
NCP Alcohols’ three year contract with Resolve will see the company assisting NCP to build a resilient supply chain for the future in order to maximise the company’s profitability. It has been dubbed a “build, operate and transfer” project and the unique commercial model proposed by Resolve was among the factors that led to NCP selecting the company over other service providers.
Expanding on the exceptional aspects of the contract, Rossouw explains that the costs of IT investments relating to the build, operate and transfer logistics project will be shared by Resolve and NCP.
“Resolve will also charge a percentage of the total net savings at the end of each year. This remarkable concept brings the parties together into a partnership, rather than a traditional consultant and client relationship and both parties stand to gain or lose. It reflects Imperial’s commitment to driving our clients’ competiveness by customising our experience in outsourced value chain management,” Rossouw concludes.