The Hindu Business Line : Logistics industry working towards standardisation

Hyderabad, Nov. 27 The Global Institute of Logistics, headquartered in New York, is set to launch Container Terminal Quality Indicator (CTQI) Standard 2007 by early 2008 and announced its move to create a global integrated database for the logistics industry.

The Chief Executive Officer of Global Institute of Logistics, Mr Kieren E. Ring, said the global logistics industry is fragmented and requires standardised approaches that would enable companies to leverage a standardised data.

Therefore, Mr Ring said: “We have embarked on a project that seeks to create a common database which would enable companies to better monitor container movement from anywhere in the world through a Web-based interface.”

“We expect the entire project to be completed by the end of 2008 as this would bring about synergies within the system and thereby streamline the container flow,” he said

Providing an overview of the logistics sector, Mr Ring said the total merchandise exports for 2006 was $11.76 trillion and growing rapidly. As per estimates, about 85 million containers are moving across the world now and this number is expected to triple to 243 million by 2025.

An analysis of various trade patterns shows that in 1974 about 24 per cent of those employed in the US were engaged in the manufacturing sector and this has changed to a services driven industry. The manufacturing sector now employs barely 12 per cent. This reflects two trends that the manufacturing has shifted shores calling for efficient logistics systems.

BOARD of advisors

The Global Institute of Logistics and representatives from Marine Terminals Corporation and other officials flew to Hyderabad to announce the induction of Mr Palem Srikanth Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of Four Soft Ltd, as a member of the institute, and announced other members on Board of Advisors.

Mr Ring said Four Soft portfolio combined with Mr Srikanth’s experience as a logistics provider would play a key role in developing a common database for the logistics industry.

Mr Srikanth said the company would initially take up a pilot project to build various elements for the unified database project. This would be then developed into a full blown project with the cooperation of the various industry players.

The idea is to create a large data centre that would aggregate all the logistics information and provide restricted access to such database through a Web-based interface.

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