I was on the guest list for last night’s Maersk Line reception in London, UK that took place to mark the launch of the company’s new corporate film.
Launched last year by Maersk Line, the Daily Maersk service operates on the Asia-Northern Europe trading lane bringing produce from ports such as Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian and Tanjung Pelepas in Asia to Felixstowe, Rotterdam or Bremerhaven in Europe. In the past, delivery times varied and it was difficult for manufacturers or retailers to rely on a date for receiving their product such as fresh fruit, fresh meat, frozen seafood, or commodity items.
Now, the dedicated Daily Maersk team coordinates all its container ship schedules to allow it to guarantee a delivery time for manufacturers. It applies a daily ‘cut-off’ time at the port of origin, and from that moment offers a 34 day guaranteed delivery time. If the delivery is up to three days late, Maersk Line will cough up US$100 per container – and up to $300 per container for delays of four days or more.
“We set out to design a service that takes the stress out of our customers’ lives, to change shipping from the weakest to the strongest link in the supply chain,” said Eivind Kolding, CEO, Maersk Line. “Shipping accounts for around 2% of our customers’ total cost, and yet our unreliability has until now forced them to shape their production plans and inventory around it.”
This celebrated service is just one of the new initiatives being embraced by Maersk as it bids to raise not only its own profile but also a more positive attitude to shipping in general. The company plays a leading role in the sustainability arena (see the February issue of Food & Beverage International for more information) and has recently joined the New Vision for Agriculture initiative to work with its key customers, governments, and NGOs to advance economic, social and environmental objectives in global food supply chains as part of its bid to help feed the increasing world population.
These moves and others underpin the company’s new $2.1m corporate movie – ‘We are Maersk’ – created by Maersk Line in conjunction with the director, Christoffer Boe, and the cinematographer, Manuel Claro. The film is condensed from a total of 200 hours of footage in order to capture the company’s identity and mission. That’s a lot of money in any estimation – but with its beautiful lighting & cinematography, the film really does make for compelling viewing and with the heartfelt comments of employees punctuating the narrative throughout the world, ‘We are Maersk’ is a very impressive piece of work. In the words of Maerk’s young scientist making the impossible possible in oil fields to the young mother in Vietnam helping to build the economy of her country, Maersk Line has a very influential role to play in all areas of our global society.
I’m happy having chatted last night to some of the team members working behind the scenes at Maersk Line that they are taking this role seriously and are committed to bringing sustainable and efficient working solutions to the food & beverage industry as well as others. I’m far more excited about shipping than I ever have been and look forward to discovering more about it as Maersk Line and its counterparts globally take positive action to bring shipping in line with the industry’s and the world’s needs.
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