so as to get as close to the
consumer as possible.
Interestingly, it has brought
SEKO full circle. The company
started out as an airfreight
forwarder in Chicago in 1976
and it has lately seen a rise in
airfreight shipments, driven
primarily by the demands of
e-commerce.
The demands of
e-commerce are also refl ected
in SEKO’s own decisions on
warehousing. In the UK, for
instance, it has a site at Milton
Keynes in the centre of the
country, close to the main
hubs of the major express
RUSSIAN CARRIER SIGNS UP WITH ALIBABA
Russian airfreight carrier
Volga-Dnepr Group has signed a
memorandum of understanding
with Alibaba’s freight arm, Cainiao
Smart Logistics Network. The two
parcels integrators; but it has
recently established another
at Egham, near London’s
Heathrow airport, so that it
can load consignments on to
long haul aircraft as late in the
day as possible.
When e-commerce fi rst
emerged as a major force
around 20 years ago, some
predicted that it would favour
the express integrators at the
expense of the traditional
forwarders, but that hasn’t
proved to be the case, Bourke
argues.
“Forwarders are able to
adapt very well and build
companies will form a partnership
to work on a number of joint
projects in cross-border trade, with
Volga-Dnepr guaranteeing access
to its network and Cainiao Network
making Volga-Dnepr its preferred
carrier. They will also work to
develop an optimal scheduled route
network within Asia, Europe and
Russia.
at the logistics departments of
many of our customers.”
It does also provide its
own to-the-door delivery
service, majoring on big and
bulky or white glove items,
including products where
a degree of installation or
setting up is required. This
partly refl ects the heavy
degree of competition and
commoditisation in the basic
“dot to dot” delivery market.
The E word, then, is here
to stay – and if the above
comments are anything to go
by, the market is adapting well
to its global presence.
competitive end-to-end
solutions, and we can react
faster to changing demands,”
he says, adding that it is less
easy for an integrator with
heavy investment in sorting
hubs, aircraft hubs and so on.
SEKO is also very happy to
work with postal authorities or
regional couriers, for example
printing address labels and
injecting goods into local
delivery networks around the
world. In fact, the forwarder
has become a vital component
of e-tailer planning, says
Bourke, who says: “We talk as
much to the marketing people
www.airlogisticsinternational.com February 2019 27
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com