Tirupur : When it comes for fashion-related shipping, DHL is looking pretty good. The global logistics and express delivery services provider has been working diligently at launching various DHL Fashion and Apparel Centers of Excellence throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

According to company officials, the objective of these centers is to develop customized solutions at origin and enable fashion shippers to better manage the product flow further upstream in their supply chains-including steam tunnel, pick and pack, and sewing and ticketing services-as well as resources also allocated towards IT tools focused on visibility, reporting, and exception management-including a track-and-trace system to enhance shipment visibility and electronic data transfer between DHL’s system and customers’ ERP systems.

DHL currently has seven Fashion and ApparelCenters of Excellence, with four new locations opened in the last year: February 2009 in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India; Hong Kong, China in May 2009; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in June 2009; and Karachi, Pakistan in November 2009.

In an interview with LM, Amadou Diallo, Chief Executive Officer, DHL Global Forwarding South Asia Pacific and Angola, explained there were various drivers for DHL to open up these centers. Among those drivers was the fact that the global fashion industry is a $3.9 billion per year sector in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We conducted a study in June 2008 with about 100 customers across Asia that had operations in the U.S. and European markets, with a goal of finding out what their specific logistics and supply chain needs were,” said Diallo. “What we noticed was that many of them were working with multiple freight forwarding partners and that they needed more visibility into the markets they served, whether it be for things like shipments going into and out of distribution centers or retail outlets.”

These findings-and others-said Diallo, got the ball rolling for DHL to open up its centers.

Another main service offering from the centers is succinct and readily-available Customs-related information, including trade modeling and management, for all the countries in which DHL customers have operations, noted Diallo.

Since the DHL Fashion and ApparelCenters of Excellence opened in January 2009, Diallo said DHL has moved 43,000 tons of air freight for its customers, and 18,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU).

Other services provided by DHL at its centers include:
-distribution center and transportation solutions design and management;
-global supply chain management, including vendor management in origin countries;
-Customs management including trade modeling and management
-Pan-Asia fashion network for hanging and boxed goods;
-value-added services including garment processing and preparation, reverse logistics and replenishment;
-specialists in the delivery of Department Store services, with wide product ranges;
-in-store logistics expertise to manage the flow of goods to the shelf/rack, including pre retail processing, shopping centre consolidation and replenishment, bespoke technology solutions and refit merchandising;
-supply chain consulting and simulation/optimization planning;
-partnership approach to investment and benefits delivery; and
-manufacturer services such as inbound logistics management, shared-user and dedicated warehousing, multi-temperature and bonded operations and network and facility redesign and restructuring.