Acting as a bridge between the academic world and the world of business, the GIL strives to educate the global supply chain community on the latest in academic thinking while balancing and correcting the various hypotheses emanating from the academic community with the real experience of early adopters.The foundations for the Institute’s modus operandi were set by founding Chairman and industry visionary Bob Delaney (1938-2004), who ascertained that relationships will carry the industry into the future, a statement aligned with economic theory. Research into strong relationships between partners in a supply chain reveals a number of beneficial operational outcomes such as reduction of inventory, transportation, ordering and warehousing/handling costs.

The Institute’s research programs identify how companies manage the logistics of global trade and determine how the most adaptive are coping with its challenges. In particular we research how logistics service providers in the maritime container logistics supply chain respond to the demands of Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCO’s) The aim of our research is to establish accepted best practice , create ‘benchmarks’ and to promote standard operating procedures and their adoption across the global maritime container logistics supply chain.

The research is leveraged to support our mission to develop a community of thought leaders from across the world who we have identified as committed to building strong relationships in pursuit of a logistics system fit for purpose. Logistics systems are the arteries of trade and central to the success of globalization in the 21st century. These systems rely heavily on collaboration between stakeholders across continents. Notwithstanding the practical advantages of strong relationships, collaboration leads to reductions in inventory, lower costs for shipping, storing, sourcing and handling products

BEST IN CLASS

Our research identifies individuals and corporations that are “first movers” or “thought leaders” in their approach. In some cases the Institute will accredit these companies and individuals with “thought leader” or “best in class” status. The pre-eminent criteria leading to accreditation is that that the organization or individual identified demonstrate an exceptional level of regard for the role and function of relationship excellence in the development of their business and can be demonstrated by a significant level of operational and strategic integration.

METHODOLOGY

We deploy a mixture of primary and secondary research tools in our work.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Our primary research is based on knowledge missions to the areas in which our research is being conducted. There we use a combination of:

• Formal/ informal interviews
• Direct observation,
• Participation in buying missions & logistics negotiations
• Attendance and participation in conferences
• Focus groups with various stakeholders

to build up a detailed picture of the environment.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Our secondary research is desk based and is driven by report reading, telephone conversations and online surveys.

• Collect the widest possible range of viewpoints
• Identify the key organizations, agencies and individuals
• Create an industry wide consensus
• Identify the benchmark operator

In order to improve any system one needs to be able to manage it, and in order to be capable of managing a system one first needs to capable of measuring it.The Institute’s founding Chairman Bob Delaney developed a methodology for measuring the cost of logistics as a percentage of GDP, which he presented annually in his State of Logistics Reports until his death in 2004.

His co-author, Ms. Rosalyn Wilson, has continued his work in publishing these annual reports.Bob’s objective with the report was to quantify the logistics-productivity gains resulting from deregulation and to bolster arguments against re-regulation. His logistics-efficiency ratio showed that US logistics costs as a percentage of GDP peaked at more than 16 percent in the early 1980s, before steadily declining to their current level of below 10 percent.
Bob’s essay “The Disunited States: A Country in Search of an Efficient Transportation Policy” helped lay the groundwork for logistics policy in the US for years to come. In the essay Delaney begins by noting how, during the period of 1980-4, the impact of deregulation on the trucking industry resulting in savings in excess of $50 billion.
Delaney argued that deregulation would lead to public policy allowing the nation’s producers, distributors, and transportation companies to form innovative, cost- effective partnerships that could move goods through the supply chain efficiently.

MORE ABOUT THE  LOGISTICS COSTS RESEARCH PROGRAM

A shift in power is taking place in global supply chains and the Global Institute of Logistics believes that it is the quality of the relationships between cargo owners and their logistics service provider partners that will determine the winners.

There are three main drivers of this phenomenon.
The move towards demand-driven supply chains is undeniable, and this means cargo owners — as the players who are closest to end-consumers and, therefore, in the best position to interpret demand — are taking control of their supply chains now. It is they who are making the decisions on when and how their products travel around the world.
The contrast between this new model and the old one, in which service providers carrying out different functions failed even to build relationships with each other, is stark. Cargo owners are now co-ordinating all the activity across different modes of transport. One of the benefits for them is that the new set-up will help them make popular products available to consumers in any part of the world much more quickly. Speed, of course, is another differentiating factor between supply chain winners and losers in the twenty-first century.
The third driver derives from a further benefit to cargo owners from the new model. If they are in charge, the likelihood will diminish of terminal operators and land-based logistics service providers being asked to move partly empty containers, and of carriers being asked to transport them across the oceans of the world. ‘Shipping air’, as this practice is known, will become a thing of the past.
In this our first research program, the Global Institute of Logistics will demonstrate that this change is already taking place and that thought leaders in the industry are already changing the way they work to adapt to the new model.
MORE ABOUT THE COLLABORATION IN GLOBAL LOGISTICS RESEARCH PROGRAM

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RESEARCH FOCUSSED ON IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICE AND ITS THOUGHT LEADERS

To understand how the most adaptive companies coped with the challenges of global trade, we conducted our first research project in Shenzhen, southern China between 2004 and 2006. We focused on how the US Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCO’s) from the consumer goods and retail sectors were coping with this region’s particular logistical challenges.

Our research focused on Consumer Products from the Chinese Market and specifically focused on the Trans Pacific Trade Lane and the Containerized Shipping Mode of Transport. We looked at ports at both sides of the Pacific Ocean as well as the internal Chinese logistics market.

The Institute’s first research project “Follow the Shipper” proved that the seaport was the key to making logistics global and would become increasingly relied upon to drive global trade. Joined-up thinking between all stakeholders in the container supply chain can lead to significant operational improvement. Ports and terminals can gain significant competitive advantage by engaging directly with the cargo owner.
Our findings led to the formation of the Institute’s Global Maritime Logistics Council in 2005. The network and experience gained in convening focus groups as part of our research was used as the building block for the council.
MORE ABOUT THE BENEFICIAL CARGO OWNERS RESEARCH PROGRAM

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RESEARCH FOCUSSED ON IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICE AND ITS THOUGHT LEADERS

The evolutions in supply chains and logistics models urge container terminal operators to re-think their function in the logistics process.Terminals will develop an increasing ‘power’ in the design of supply chains and are to be considered as strategic assets. To that end the Institute’s research department focuses much of its attention on how Container Terminal Operators are responding to this new opportunity and responsibility.

International supply chains have become complex. Logistics models have evolved continuously as a result of influences and factors such as the globalization and expansion into new markets, mass customization in response to product and market segmentation, lean manufacturing practices and associated shifts in costs.

The evolutions in supply chains and logistics models urge container terminal operators to re-think their function in the logistics process.Terminals will develop an increasing ‘power’ in the design of supply chains and are to be considered as strategic assets. To that end the Institute’s research department focuses much of its attention on how Container Terminal Operators are responding to this new opportunity and responsibility.
MORE ABOUT THE CONTAINER TERMINAL RESEARCH PROGRAM

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RESEARCH FOCUSSED ON IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICE AND ITS THOUGHT LEADERS

Globalization means that more and more goods flow between continents and subsequently the traditional role of container ports in the wider supply chain context is being subject to a process of radical review. In broad terms, the traditional port system is being replaced by a model which focuses on logistics service quality which in turn has brought the performance of ports and their communities in to sharp focus.

Port customers, whether they are shipping companies, importers/exporters, terminal operators or logistics service providers, judge a port not on the basis of any one port stakeholder’s individual service – but rather in a combined way, as after all logistics is a combination service. In essence, the port is only as strong as its weakest link, and therefore its reputation depends on the level of Coordination, Communication and Control amongst port stakeholders.
Across the world “First Mover” Port Authorities and their communities alive to these new challenges have devised and developed a myriad of strategies and programs designed to deliver a seamless integrated logistics product to their customers. Since 2003 the Global Institute of Logistics has enjoyed a direct relationship with a diverse range of global port authorities and their communities, people and places that we have identified as First Movers, Thought Leaders and Early Adopters of the logistics model of port development. In essence, communities committed to the ‘Relay’ rather than the ‘Delay’ of cargo.
Researching the development of these port communities, identifying their best practices and, in some cases, building international standards of excellence around these experiences has been the work of the Institute for the last 12 years.
MORE ABOUT THE CONTAINER PORT RESEARCH PROGRAM

RESEARCH FOCUSSED ON IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICE AND ITS THOUGHT LEADERS

The Global Institute of Logistics “The Role Of The Independent Freight Forwarder In Global Logistics” report which is to be published in September 2016, has come about in response to the increasing trend by Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCO’s) to outsource the management of their container traffic to independent freight forwarders.

The independent freight forwarding sector is now more vibrant and successful than ever, despite the global economic woes of the past few years. The rise of the independent agent has now been borne out by a whole range of statistics and data that prove that far from shrinking, the independents are growing faster and taking market share from the multinationals.
Latest figures from Drewry show that 41 per cent of all ocean freight is now controlled by 3PLs or forwarders and by the end of the decade analysts are predicting that the market share will rise to 50 per cent – a remarkable switch in business practice by BCO’s over the past two decades. 20 years ago some 75 per cent of all sea freight volumes were booked directly with carriers.
Even more remarkable is that it is independent freight forwarders and not multinational 3PL’s are expected to make up the lion’s share of this total at some 30 %
This trend by BCO’s to outsource the management of their container traffic to independent freight forwarders, is being driven by increasing frustration with the lack of service, price volatility, schedule unreliability and onerous credit terms experienced in dealing directly with carriers in the sea freight industry.
Cariers due to the huge downward pressure on container rates (largely due to their own misguided strategies) are being forced to increasingly commoditize their product. As a result carriers are increasingly incapable of meeting shipper’s needs through direct relationships as they lack the end to-end service supply chain capabilities, focusing instead almost entirely on cost. Sales and customer service teams have been slashed as the fight to the bottom on rates continues. The advent of super alliances has further eroded the personal interfaces between the shipping lines and the end customers.
This move away from direct booking with carriers by BCO’s is a great opportunity for independent forwarders to gain significant new business and volumes. For the logistics industry this is also a positive development and will help to further integrate the global supply chain.
MORE ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT FREIGHT FORWARDER IN GLOBAL LOGISTICS RESEARCH PROGRAM

RESEARCH FOCUSSED ON IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICE AND ITS THOUGHT LEADERS

KIERAN RING
CEO
GIL
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The Role of the Freight Forwarder Has Becomes More Important in
Managing the Supply Chain and Ensuring End-to-End Visibility
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Best in Class : The highest current performance level in independent freight forwarding, used as a standard or benchmark to be equaled or exceeded.

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The Institute has begun identifying qualifying independent freight forwarders to join its benchmarking group, G50, on best practice and business development in the sector. The benchmarking group is being formed as a result of a clear recommendation arising from the Institute’s research program on the role of the independent in global logistics, which has been ongoing since March 2016. Participants qualify by first being accredited ‘Best in Class’ by the Institute.
Best in Class accreditation denotes the highest current performance level in independent freight forwarding, used as a standard or benchmark to be equaled or exceeded. Members of the G50 represent separate and distinct territories and disciplines to ensure the highest levels of interaction and collaboration.
The G50 will commit to the adoption of best practice and by working together will accelerate the adoption of uniform standards and practices particularly in the area of IT. The aim of the group is to help organize complex processes in an efficient and effective way and in so doing identify the best ways to capture value for beneficial cargo owners. Widespread adoption of best practice will ultimately reduce costs and improve the global supply chain. G50 participants will also share with, learn from and benchmark with other members their respective experiences in Business Development strategy. Global account acquisition and participation in cross-border e-commerce will inform the working agenda.
The group will oversee the publication of a first ever guide to independent freight forwarding which will give beneficial cargo owners an insight into the growing role of the sector in global logistics. The guide which will be available online and in book form will include case studies and profiles on the members of the G50.
G50 is an important addition to the Institute’s benchmarking work. Global container terminal operators and port authorities already convene within the Institute and have contributed significantly to the development of their respective sectors.
While benchmarking groups convene in the first instance to share best practice amongst themselves the groups also collaborate with each other to build greater mutual understanding which in turn leads to joined up thinking across the supply chain.
The first 5 members of the G50 have been successfully accredited with Best in Class, they are Quick Cargo Service representing Germany, AIT Worldwide Logistics representing the USA, PGL representing Brazil, Tri-Ad International and Aramex representing Canada.
Members of the G50 will be announced throughout 2017/18. The first meeting of the group is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 6th, 2019 in Long Beach California. The meeting is scheduled to coincide with the annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference which brings together over 3000 logistics professionals from across the world.

GIL: NETWORKING THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY