AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

MARSHALLING

20th September 2007
Page 50
Page 52
Page 50, 20th September 2007 — MARSHALLING
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Simon Marsh has taken SMS from a one-man van operation to a 65 vehicle, three-division operation. Colin Barnett finds out how he did it

The story of the SMS group can be summed up in a nutshell: white van man quits job to buy his own van, takes a few easy years of self-employment before deciding to expand and before long is running 65 vehicles turning over £5.5m per annum.

SMS began in 1998 when van driver Simon Marsh, today's managing director and still only 32, became a self-employed van operator. His commitment to offering a year-round, 24/7 service soon saw him gain a major just-in-time contract in the automotive industry in the face of big-name competition.This round-the-clock availability eventually led to JIT contracts with Land Rover and ICI and the firm soon had three vans on the road. Other work followed. including short-notice express works for companies such as ExellDHL Motorsport.

In 2003, customer demand saw Marsh move into the temperature-controlled sector, which still makes up a large part of the group's business. Today though while vans are still important, a growing proportion of SMS business comes from its modern fleet of artics.

SMS Group Logistics is split into three divisions, but with common management. Some 70% of the present £5.5m turnover is generated by SMSTime Critical, which specialises in automotive JET. high-value goods, aerospace and general freight. Another 20% comes from SMS Temp Critical, working mostly in the pharmaceutical sector hauling bulk vaccines and clinical trial material.The remaining 10% is provided by SMS Special Services, a warehousing and pick-and-pack operation. However, by the end of the 2008/9 financial year, this ratio is expected to change to 45/40/15 based almost entirely on forecast growth in the SMS Temp Critical division, with a corresponding increase in turnover to £10m, It's expected the company will be split into two distinct operations to keep it manageable.

SMS began operating from a small site at Paddock Wood in Kent, but space constraints and demand for a more secure depot led to the move in 2006 to a new 1600,000 location at Lympne airport, near Folkestone, a few fields away from the Channel Tunnel terminal.

Many of the firm's drivers are Polish, but only UK drivers are used on the pharmaceutical and more sensitive areas of operation.The Polish recruits are of a high standard, with tanker or ADR experience,and are predominantly used on the daily European parcel line haul routes.They tend to work four weeks with a four-week break back home.A company house is provided locally for those who need accommodation.All drivers are fully employed by the company, with work records checked back to school and licences regularly checked with DVLA. A programme of practical training in all aspects of the job is being introduced, and the main office building has plenty of classroom space available.

SMS is fundamentally an international operator. Some 95% of its journeys cross a national border. and the firm isn't interested in ca botage, not even within the UK. As a result it makes around 20,000 Channel crossings a year, and last year reckons to have been P&O's seventh largest shipper out of the UK. SMS will do domestic work on special request to help existing customers, but marketing boss Eric Reimann readily admits that there are too many good competitive domestic hauliers capable of this work. Some 40% of the work is specialist haulage carried out for forwarders. often multinationals.

Competitive backloads Empty running is kept to a minimum and a daily summary of the fleet's running plans is e-mailed to regular customers so they can capitalise on competitive backloads. But the firm is never afraid to say no to unprofitable work —"we're not going to be busy fools," says Reimann.

The Frankfurt base (see panel) means loads such as international mail can be regrouped and used as return loads to the UK.The aim is to carry pharmaceuticals both ways, but all suitable return loads are considered. Fresh food is never carried, but packaged products such as fruit juice are targeted as backloads if pharmaceutical shipments are not available. The increasingly wide variations in ambient temperature in regular destination countries such as Greece make expansion of the chilled operation inevitable.

Probably the most interesting part of the SMS operation is the pharmaceutical work, the UK being a major manufacturer of drugs, with another major manufacturer just across the water in northern France.The firm's commitment to a true 24/7 operation, with pre-agreed quality standard agreements and real-time customer-visible satellite tracking, is a prerequisite for the sector. It gained one particular early contract after the previous haulier had a load stolen in Madrid then was unable to trace the van.The SMS driver never hands over responsibility for the load until he sees it go into the recipient's cold store.

Many consignments have a rigid temperature window of between 2`-' and 8c.C, with some of the vaccines transported becoming potentially lethal if kept outside that window — too cold can be more dangerous than too warm .To enhance chiller security, locking cabinets and auto-start devices in the event of ferry plug-ins becoming disconnected are being phased in.

Tracking loads sms is fully convinced of the benefits of ISO 9001-2000 accreditation, but only if accompanied by the tick mark of United Kingdom Accreditation System compliance. It's developing a combined operations manual incorporating the largely reactive ISO and the more preventive Good Distribution Practices pharmaceutical processes. A custom-designed smart logistics software package integrates with Euroscan on-board telematics to enable SMS management and customers to fully track loads. Subcontracting is never allowed on pharmaceutical work, but some pre-qualified subbies are used with the express permission of customers on line-haul operations.

The SMS operation doesn't seem to cut corners, and this applies equally to its vehicles. The fleet is almost entirely Mercedes-Benz-based, swearing by the German !inns backup in the form of Kent dealer Sparshatts, although having a branch of Volvo dealer MCTruck and Bus within sight has seen a couple of Swedish tractors being bought for driver evaluation. To date, feedback on vehicles and dealer has been very positive.The vans are all Sprinters, many of them fitted with sleeper conversions between cab and loadspace.As well as the white vans, some them unliveried, it has an increasing number of silver Sprinter curtainsiders with rear air suspension.These are used mainly in the firm's aerospace operation, allowing loads such as a small jet engine to be carried more economically than in the usual 7.5-tonners.

Apart from the new Volvos, the tractors are all M-B Actros left-hookers, including two Black Edition V8s painted white. In line with the firm's operating standards, safety equipment is to a high level.-Rvo external cameras monitor the front and passenger side blind spots, while SMS is the only UK operator we know of, apart from the McLaren Fl team, to specify MeresTelligent Proximity Control and retarder, these two features adding £7,000 to the cost of each unit.

The trailers, all on five-year rentalssare mostly Lamberet double-deck multi-zone reefers, fitted with underslung tail-lifts. The first SMS trailer came with a column lift with a view madded security, but this caused more problems at unloading docks than it solved and it was soon converted to the current spec. The fleet also contains a few Schmitz Cargobull singletemperature double-deckers, but SMS prefers the easier repair potential of Lamberet's GRP bodywork.

Security is a key part of the operation, and its provisions are extensive. For example, each artic combination contains three independent satellite tracking systems. Other than in the general haulage operation, all artic journeys are double-manned and no loaded vehicle is ever left unattended on the road.The cost of double-manning is seen as low compared with other running costs. Vans are also doublemanned if customer requirements dictate. Specific operational procedures are able to identify and deter hijack situations, and there is even the ability to remotely immobilise a vehicle at a safe point when this is permitted by local laws. Membership of the Eurowatch truck security scheme is seen as a valuable asset.

Thief-proofing

With delicate temperature-sensitive loads, security extends beyond mere thief-proofing. Just having a potential thief open the doors to check the contents could ruin an entire expensive consignment. Heavy-duty Bulldog locks are fitted to the trailer rear door locking bars to provide an extra level of dissuasion.

Each reefer trailer contains six temperature recording probes with full data logging. The five-year data records have helped the company in the past, proving the cold chain when an individual pallet's built-in temperature recorder has malfunctioned. A] though normal fridge system servicing, carried out under Carrier's Golden Cold contract, calls for annual calibration, SMS insists on each probe and door-opening sensor being calibrated at each service. The calibration equipment has to be freshly calibrated at the same time.


comments powered by Disqus