Daily Maersk: Container on time – or get compensation

Maersk has unveiled a new revolutionary service, Daily Maersk, on the Asia–North Europe trade lane which will dramatically change the way shipping is done. The service offers a daily departure, at the same time every day, seven days a week, and a daily arrival at the exact same time between four ports in Asia – Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian and Tanjung Pelepas – and three ports in Europe – Felixstowe, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven.
The news service will start on 24 October 2011.
Daily Maersk has committed 70 vessels to operate a daily service that amounts to a giant ocean conveyor belt for the world’s busiest trade lane.
To underline how firmly Maersk Line believes in the Daily Maersk concept, the company offers to pay a compensation if the customers’ containers should not arrive on time. This promise is a first in the shipping industry.
If cargo availability is delayed by 1-3 days, Maersk Line will pay USD 100 per container. If delayed by four days or more, Maersk Line will pay back USD 300 per container.
Currently, transit times are approximate and counted from vessels’ departure to arrival at destination. Only approximately every second container in the world arrives on time and there is no compensation if shipment arrives late.

“We set out to design a service that takes the stress out of our customers’ lives, tochange shipping from the weakest to the strongest link in the supply chain. After all,shipping is only around two percent of our customers’ total cost. And yet ourunreliability has until now forced them to shape their production plans and inventoryaround it,” says Maersk Line CEO, Eivind Kolding at the launch on 12 September 2011.
Today, shipping creates anxiety, not boredom. As a general rule, shipping lines serving the Asia–North Europe trade are unreliable, in effect providing customers with an uncontrollable conveyor belt. 44% of all containers are late. 11% are more than two days late – and even as much as 8% are more than eight days late.
“The lack of on-time delivery costs our customers large sums of money because itmakes shipping more of an art than a science. Companies have to make up for anunreliable supply chain; they are forced to build a buffer in their supply chains and loseincome when goods are not on time,” Kolding explains.Before Daily Maersk, Maersk Line was already best-in-class with 75% of its vessels onthe Asia–North Europe trade arriving on time. But this was still not reliable enough forcustomers to plan their supply chains in an optimal manner.
Head of logistics at theelectronics giant Pegatron, Andy Tron, explains:“Reliability should be a key performance indicator for all carriers. Today, 10% of all ourshipments are more than two days late, so we are of course doubtful any carrier canprovide guaranteed reliability. But if it is possible and if it is combined with morefrequent departures to meet our production schedule, it would allow us to lower ourinventories and significantly lower our costs.

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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