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Redfern International
Logistics Ltd
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Nick Jones started his career in the UK domestic freight transport industry but headed for more distant
horizons when he decided to set up his own business, Redfern International Logistics Ltd. While working
for P&O in Australia and Hong Kong he met a number of importers who became the initial customer base of
the new business, which started in 1997. His early training at Exel Logistics had convinced him of the
importance of adding value to core services and this was central to his strategy.
One of Jones’ first challenges was to find a system that would allow him and his small start-up team to
handle the high business volumes that Redfern International was successful in attracting. “We had high
ambitions right from the start”, says Jones “and were not planning to be a small local forwarder. We needed
a system, implemented quickly, that would support high levels of efficiency in managing our customers’
freight and give us the opportunity to provide them with added value”. Jones was looking for a Unix-based
system with good documentation capabilities and made a quick decision to install FCL’s ForwardOffice
system. “Our export services to Asia and Australia required that we produce a range of different documents
and certificates. ForwardOffice did this job well and had the added bonus of integrated e-Mail, Fax and
telex capabilities”, explains Jones.
As well as providing the functionality for day-to-day freight management, ForwardOffice also gave Redfern
the ability to keep its customers in Asia and Australia advised of the progress of consignments within its
care. “All our first customers were based overseas”, says Jones. “We saw the tracking capabilities of
ForwardOffice as a key source of added value”. Advice to customers about the status of shipments was
generated automatically by the system. When a new event occurred (for example, consignment booked,
consignment shipped on board), it was recorded by Redfern International’s operational staff in the system,
which in turn automatically generated a status update message for the customer. This allowed us to keep
customers up-to-date with the progress of their cargo. Because the messages were generated automatically
by the system and did not require re-keying, we were able to do this in a highly accurate and efficient
manner”.
Although Redfern International had started in export forwarding, it had always aimed to move into import
trades as well. “Our business plan was to achieve 50% of our revenue from the import trades within 5
years”, explains Jones. “We also wanted to apply the same philosophy of adding value that had succeeded in
exports”. Redfern International’s growth was very rapid: for four years the company generated 88% annual
sales growth, an achievement that saw it included in the HG Capital Finance list of fastest growing
logistics companies in 2000 and in the Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100, a list of the fastest growing
unquoted companies, in 2001. Growth is still rapid; sales rose by more than 30% in 2003. Redfern
International is very clear about the type of import customers it is looking for. “Our main targets are
retailers and wholesalers with complex logistics requirements”, says Jones. “This complexity includes
multiple origins, multiple suppliers and product variety. Our aim for these customers is to bring their
goods to market more efficiently and cost effectively than the competition”.
A key issue for Jones as Redfern International moved into the import market was how should visibility
be provided to the end customer? Should agents and suppliers at the origin points be communicating direct
with the importer or should this data be pulled together by Redfern International? Jones decided to pursue
the latter route. “The first reason for doing this is that we are close to the client”, he says. “The
second is that the Purchase Order (PO), which initiates the whole process, is generated here by the
importer”.
The next issue was how best to make tracking data available to the customer. Redfern International’s
customer base is large and diverse and while some customers prefer to look at tracking information
through a web browser, other importers want Redfern International’s systems to send the data by EDI to
allow seamless updating of their own systems. In the early days of Redfern International’s import
services, a number of customers used FCL’s WebTrack, which provided an online statement of the status of
all an importers consignments. Jones is now looking to FCL’s new ForwardVision Order Tracking system to
improve this data provision.
ForwardVision enables users to record and monitor the progress of Sales or Purchase Orders, down to Line
Item detail. Orders, which can be created and maintained through a variety of interfaces, are monitored
and managed through milestones and events which can be defined and set up according to the customer’s
specific requirements. Most of the data to drive the milestone management comes directly from the
Operations area of FCL but ForwardVision also allows the user (provided they have the required access
level) to input new data or make amendments. ForwardVision can be accessed as a Web application that
allows users to review the status of particular purchase orders, as well as their full details, and to
monitor their progress against critical paths. A traffic light system (green for complete, amber for
imminent, red for overdue) helps the user to see immediately whether a consignment is on schedule or not
and any variance against planned milestones.
Where customers want the data pumped into their systems, ForwardVision includes a bi-directional data
exchange capability, based on a variety of different EDI formats, including XML. This EDI capability
also allows the download of PO data from customers and consignment status updates from carriers.
“Real time order visibility allows customers to improve the planning of deliveries, production schedules
and cash flow”, says Jones. “It also helps us to be more proactive in managing our customers’ cargo flows
and to provide more useful and timely reporting”. All this will add more value for Redfern International’s
customers.
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