Logistics company expands SA operations

13th September 2019

Hong Kong-based logistics company Tigers Global Logistics South Africa officially opened a dedicated e-commerce centre last month at its Johannesburg, South Africa, warehouse facility, as the online retail market continues to grow globally.

The centre is equipped with the Tigers-developed ScanPak application that allows staff to conduct scan checks while packing shipments and create waybills for packages to ensure efficient handling of goods.

“The new e-commerce facility will take Tigers to the next level, as the online retail market continues to be a key focus for us,” says Tigers South Africa MD Paul Lawrence.

He adds that with the ongoing e-commerce revolution and digital technology transforming the way consumers shop, Tigers finds itself in a “good strategic position” to further enhance and grow this vertical for the company.

“As with most Tigers solutions, ScanPak is replicable, and we will roll out the same solution in Cape Town by the end of August.”

The e-commerce centre is the first of its kind for Tigers in South Africa, and the move coincides with the recent announcement about freight rate quote engine shipping service provider Doozee being rolled-out across Tigers’ global internal network.

Doozee works with existing rate management platforms, and incorporates a built-in rate management platform, to generate quotes in less than a minute for all types of freight, including air, ocean, ground, and local charges.

“E-commerce is a key market for Tigers, particularly as digital technology and online retail continues to drive innovation in the logistics and supply chain sector,” says Tigers CEO Andrew Jillings.

The new dedicated e-commerce centre in South Africa is an important investment for the future direction of Tigers and is a testament to the hard work of the team in South Africa in developing the new facility, adds Jillings.

Further, Tigers expanded its collaboration with Doozee, at the beginning of August, by rolling out the freight rate quote engine across its internal networks in Europe and the US in time for the upcoming shipping peak season.

He adds that Tigers is working directly with Doozee and became the first company to benefit from this new technology, says Tigers group business process director Patrick Diesing.

Tigers has been working with US-based Doozee as the official launch customer since March of this year.

“Doozee is a great partner for Tigers because the team is happy to collaborate and develop the platform in a way that works for freight forwarders and offers an end-to-end solution.”

The next stage for Tigers is to support the implementation of Doozee with key partners, such as freight forwarding service DEAN World Cargo and transport company Ewals Cargo Care, to ensure a seamless integration of services across Tigers’ global network.

“At Tigers, we believe in collaboration and embracing digital technology to stay ahead of the game as the supply chain industry evolves,” adds Jillings.

He concludes that Tigers is now extending the benefits of Doozee to its core partners and will bring the company one step closer to incorporating instant freight rate quoting into Tigers’ flagship platform, SmartHub:Connect.

SmartHub:Connect is a combined freight, e-commerce and logistics portal, a cloud-based platform providing visibility across the supply chain.

The platform delivers customisable solutions including its virtual warehouse, which will support customers post-Brexit by allowing them to split stock over two distribution centres and routing orders to the correct hub for fulfilment.