PLAYA DEL CARMEN.- What do companies like El Palacio de Hierro , Dliver and Alfaro Easy Logistic have in common ? Their representatives recently attended TOP Flotillas and LOGEX , where their main objective was to find the necessary suppliers to apply in their transport and logistics operations.
Both events, held simultaneously, brought together just over 400 negotiators, including representatives of purchasing and supplier companies, who held one-on-one appointments previously arranged , under a versatile dynamic in which, within a set time of 20 minutes between each of them, the first steps for closing a possible business deal are initiated.
“These sessions serve as advice for me to know what I should focus on, what I have to evaluate, how to compare the participating suppliers, and this is a first filter for future business relationships, which are mostly always very good,” Raquel Garcilazo, a buyer at El Palacio de Hierro, told T21.
One of the objectives of the representative of this department store chain was to find telemetry providers for its own fleet transportation operations, a market trend that is becoming increasingly stronger due to the benefits offered by obtaining detailed information on the movement of goods for improved decision-making and, therefore, investments.
For Erik Guzmán, fleet coordinator at Dliver, the logistics and transportation supply unit of Grupo Estrella Roja , this was the first year in which he attended these events organized by RX México , where his goal was also to find suppliers of both heavy vehicle units and telemetry , the latter point focused on strengthening security in their operations.
Dliver is a company that has diversified its markets served. In this case, it has a fleet for refrigerated, dry and fuel transport , and also adds units for last-mile merchandise delivery activities, which in total accumulates around 700 assets.
“(The company) is in full growth and we are renewing the fleet with the new management that arrived (Francisco Toscano). In addition, we have the upcoming opening of a new yard in Tepotzotlán,” said Guzmán, in an interview with T21.
The transport specialist said that the company’s fleet currently has an average age of between seven and eight years, and a renewal of 10 to 15% of it is planned for next year, which will include electric vehicles as part of the trend towards decarbonisation of its activities.
“The company’s intention is to seek renewable options , because our clients, including one of the largest supermarket chains in Mexico, are also already asking us to take these measures,” he said.
Meanwhile, Alejandro Alfaro, partner at Alfaro Easy Logistics, a logistics and transportation services provider, told T21 that the intention of his attendance was also to find suppliers of transportation units “of all kinds.”
This company, focused on providing specialized services for merchandise in international transit, specifically on the northern border of Mexico, has 50 transport units, of which at least 20% are leased , and the idea is to increase this percentage in the near future.
“I have spoken with suppliers such as Volkswagen, Scania and International. The proposals they are offering me are good,” he said.
On the other side of the suppliers, José Manuel Rodríguez, manager responsible for the commercial area and customer service of Mecánica Tek , a company specialized in comprehensive vehicle maintenance for primary and secondary distribution fleets, attends events such as TOP Flotillas and LOGEX is an essential opportunity to expand the presence they have been building in the country.
“There are few of us involved in the maintenance sector and we have been in this segment for more than 15 years , where we have already developed an infrastructure and capabilities that allow us to offer these services,” said Rodríguez, who indicated that his main bet has been to install his operations within the workshops of the transport companies themselves, where there is a lack of trained personnel.
This specialization of technicians has become even more complicated given the introduction of new technologies into the market , as well as the incorporation of companies of Asian origin into the country.
“The issue of spare parts is critical when talking about the maintenance issue in a comprehensive manner (…) we try to find the way to better optimize the response time. However, with so much variety, we suddenly find that it has to come from China or from the other side of the world,” he told T21.
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