Supply Chain Asia Publications

Global 3PL of the Year
(The category is open to 3PL and 4PL companies only)

• Size and scale of global network
• IT know-how and systems
• Level of customer service
• Client partnering/track record in understanding and collaborating well with customers
• Launch/upgrade of new products and services on an ongoing basis to match market demand
• Reliability of service and value for money
• Ability to handle specialised shipments
• Level of local knowledge of developing Asian markets
• Approach to sustainability and CSR issues
• Approach to security and risk management

Asian 3PL of the Year
(The category is open to 3PL and 4PL companies that have originated in Asia or The Middle East and have their global headquarters in Asia or The Middle East)

• Size and scale of network
• IT know-how and systems
• Level of customer service
• Client partnering/track record in understanding and collaborating well with customers

• Launch/upgrade of new products and services on an ongoing basis to match market demand
• Reliability of service and value for money

• Ability to handle specialised shipments
• Level of local knowledge of developing Asian markets
• Approach to sustainability and CSR issues
• Approach to security and risk management

Airfreight Forwarder of the Year

• Size of service network
• Level of customer service
• Timeliness and reliability
• Value-added services available
• Cost of services
• Partnering initiatives with air cargo carriers
• Standard of warehouse facilities
• Application of IT in service delivery
• Knowledge of local markets in Asia
• Approach to sustainability and CSR issues
• Approach to security and risk management

Seafreight Forwarder of the Year

• Size of service network
• Level of customer service
• Timeliness and reliability
• Value-added services available
• Cost of services
• Partnering initiatives with shipping lines
• Standard of storage and distribution facilities
• IT know-how and systems
• Knowledge of local markets in Asia
• Approach to sustainability and CSR
• Approach to security and risk management

Container Terminal of the Year
(The category is open to container terminals located in Asia)

• Handling charges
• Level of customer service
• IT know-how and systems
• Size of liner network
• Level of communication with lines and other customers
• Quality of storage and distribution facilities
• Overall efficiency of facilities
• Ability to handle specialised shipments
• Security standards

Air Cargo Terminal of the Year
(The category is open to air cargo terminals located in Asia)

• Level of customer service
• IT know-how and systems
• Overall terminal efficiency
• Airline network coverage
• Quality of ground transportation links
• Handling charges
• Ability to handle specialised shipments
• Specialised storage and handling facilities
• Launch/upgrade of new products/services to match on an ongoing basis to match market demand

Shipping Line of the Year
(The category is open to Asian and global container line operators)

• Size and span of network
• Schedule reliability
• IT know-how and systems
• Level of customer service
• Client partnering/track record in understanding and collaborating well with customers
• Launch/upgrade of new products and services on an ongoing basis to match market demand
• Reliability of service and value for money
• Approach to sustainability and other CSR issues
• Approach to security and risk management

Air Cargo Carrier of the Year
(The category is open to Asian and global air cargo carriers)

• Size and span of network
• Reliability of service and value for money
• Range of specialised products and services available
• Reliability of guaranteed services
• IT know-how and systems
• Level of customer service
• Launch/upgrade of new products/services on an ongoing basis to match market demand
• Ability to handle specialised cargo
• Approach to sustainability and other CSR issues
• Approach to security and risk management

The Education & Training Award
The Award is intended to recognise an organisation that has proven itself a leader in the field of education and training in the supply chain and logistics industry in Asia.

• Nominees can be from the public or private sector
• Nominees can be educational institutions, training bodies, industry associations or private supply chain service companies with top rate education and training programmes for staff
• Nominees should have a strong pedigree in education and training in supply chain and logistics in Asia
• Nominees should have demonstrated innovation and creativity in the development of solutions to meet regional supply chain and logistics human resource challenges
• Nominees should have a track record of publishing thought-leading opinion and research in the area of supply chain and logistics human resources

The Supply Chain Risk Management Award
(The category is open to shippers and supply chain service providers)

• Nominated companies should have a deliberate and structured approach to risk management
• Nominees should conduct risk analysis on a systematic and ongoing basis and include adequate follow-up and review procedures
• Detailed contingency plans to deal with risks should be in place and subject to regular updates
• Risk analysis and contingency plans should cover areas including production risks, quality risks, environmental/natural disaster risks, political risk and   economic risk
• Risk evaluation of key suppliers should be undertaken on a regular basis
• Risk mitigation should include education and training for staff and risk contingency plan drills

Best Supply Chain Consulting Partner
(The category is open to supply chain service providers only, including logistics and transportation companies, management consultants and supply chain software providers)

The Award is intended to recognise companies that have demonstrated outstanding ability to partner and collaborate for the deliverance of improved supply chain performance.

Finalists in the Best Supply Chain Consulting Partner category will be requested to submit a case study detailing a successful partnership and collaboration between two or more organisations resulting in improved supply chain performance. The partnership can be ongoing or for a specific project with a specific timescale.

Case studies should include details of the scope of the project including objectives, timelines and technologies employed, as well as details of how the two organisations involved succeeded in creating a successful partnership to reach the desired outcome.

• Nominees should be supply chain service providers, including logistics and transportation companies, management consultants and supply chain software providers
• Nominees should have a strong track record in collaboration and partnering to deliver improved supply chain performance

The Green Supply Chain Award
(The category is open to shippers and supply chain service providers)

• Nominated organisations should outperform any generally accepted official national and/or global environmental guidelines covering the industries in which they operate
• Nominees should have implemented substantial new measures to improve and develop their environmental record over the past year. Details of these measures should be publicly available
• Nominees should be generally recognised as making sincere and deep efforts to fully integrate environmental awareness into all areas of business strategy and operations
• Nominees should have a clearly defined environmental policy with objectives supported and implemented from the very top of the organisation
• Nominees should have a track record of directing suppliers and business partners towards better environmental standards

The Supply Chain Innovation Award
(The category is open to shippers and supply chain service providers)

Nominees for The Supply Chain Innovation Award will be requested to submit a white paper/case study detailing an innovation in supply chain operations. White papers will be passed to the panel of Awards judges who will choose the outright winners in each category. Please note that Innovation is the focus of the Award, which is open to companies of any size.

The Award is intended to recognise a lasting and high value innovation in supply chain operations. Nominated companies should be those that have over the past twelve months undertaken one of the following:

• A significant restructure of supply chain processes and/or operations leading to major value gain for the organisation in terms of cost savings and efficiency gains and improved customer service
• Successful completion of a major supply chain/logistics project with unique and specific challenges within the past twelve months. Results of the project should be quantifiable and should represent an innovation in the practice of supply chain management
• Application of a new or existing technology (or technologies) in an innovative manner resulting in major value gain for the business in terms of cost savings and efficiency gains and improved customer service

Britain’s largest retailer, Tesco, plans to open 23 new hypermarkets in China in this fiscal year, nine of which will be in new ‘lifespace’ malls.

“We will continue to expand in locations where we already have a presence and into other parts of the country. From Shanghai, we are pushing out west to Nanjing and managed to settle in Anhui last year,” a senior Tesco executive told Supply Chain Asia Magazine.

The retailer – which has a 30 percent share of the UK grocery market -- currently has 81 hypermarkets and three lifespace malls in China, as well as eight convenience stores in Shanghai. Lifespace malls are multi-storey outlets of Tesco stores and other stores and services.

Tesco has said it will spend US$3.9bn over the coming five years on its expansion in China.

Read more: Editor's Blogs - Tesco goes for centralised distribution to support China expansion

Several leading global brand owners have taken the downturn as an opportunity to get closer to customers and better understand demand. Dell, LG Electronics, Sony Corporation, P&G and Levis are among global brands putting more focus on mining point-of-sale data for better demand planning in their supply chains in the wake of the recession.

Read more: Editor's Blogs - Recession boosts point-of-sale data analytics among major global brands

It’s fair to say legal and regulatory risk associated with doing business in emerging markets is under more scrutiny these days. After a series of very large and globally-publicised supply chain failures, many of the organisations we are in regular contact with are being more proactive in assessing and limiting costs and potential costs from risks such as under-developed regulatory and policy environments, corruption, lack of respect for rule of law, supplier compliance problems, and labour violations along the supply chain.

Read more: Editor's Blogs - Coming to grips with the many uncertainties of risk

The role of technology in supply chain development and transformation is approaching a new dawn as new systems such as cloud computing are increasingly looked to by organisations to support their supply chain processes, according to the head of Accenture’s global supply chain practice.

“My feeling is that we’re going to see technology emerging again in a much more sustainable way than we have in the past and lead elements of supply chain development,” said Mark Pearson, Global Managing Director of Supply Chain Management with Accenture.

“We have been very quiet on the technology side in the past ten years. Now you have some very interesting developments emerging around SaaS and Cloud. We’re seeing companies – particularly in the transportation and warehousing space – increasingly looking to systems like Cloud to source processes.”

Read more: Getting above the clouds