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Overview of FIG Freight Network
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june 2009 handbook
Freight International Group
UK Office: 163 London Road, Waterlooville, Hampshire, PO7 7RJ United Kingdom
www.figgroup.net
Mr Jan & Mrs Anni Veje Henriksen
Transocean Shipping Agency - Fig DENMARK [email protected]
Lighthouse Transport AB - Fig SWEDEN [email protected]
"Having been a FIG member for some months, I just wish to share our positive findings. We have met with a friendly and helpful attitude from whomever we have been in contact with among the members. Trust and confidence have been the keywords from first contact - and isn't that what we are all looking for when we have to do business in a new country for the first time? We are happy to have joined the 'family' " Jan Henriksen - Managing Director Transocean Shipping Agency - FIG Denmark
Welcome to Freight International Group...
"Having been a FIG member for some months, I just wish to share our positive findings. We have met with a friendly and helpful attitude from whomever we have been in contact with among the members. Trust and confidence have been the keywords from first contact - and isn't that what we are all looking for when we have to do business in a new country for the first time? We are happy to have joined the 'family' " Jan Henriksen - Managing Director Transocean Shipping Agency - FIG Denmark
6
index
about us 1 communication 2 fig gold standard 3 standards (general) 4 rules 5 toolbar 6 annual conference 7 fig news 8 board of members 9 payment protection 10 message from CEO 11
picture:
Colin Christie The Clover Shipping Company Ltd Fig UK
1: about us Formed in September 2004 in Queensland, Australia, FIG has grown in spec-tacular fashion. The FIG Organisation is now represented by over 100 offices in over 80 countries and has a group turnover in excess of USD$1.5 billion. Our FIG Partners move in excess of 250,000teus/PA making the FIG ‘family’ a sig-nificant global force. FIG Admin has recently established a second administra-tion facility in the UK. FIG continues to grow and through innovative initiatives has established itself as the “Network Everyone is Talking About…!”
FIG Administration selects only ONE exceptional forwarder to represent the FIG ‘family’ in any country - except where geographic diversity requires additional coverage.
Each FIG Partner is selected through a comprehensive procedure to ensure that all FIG Partners are credit worthy and reliable.
It is a significant condition of joining the FIG family that each forwarder is pre-pared to route a minimum of 25% of his freight volumes through FIG Partners. If Partners do not achieve this criteria FIG Administration may take the decision not to renew membership.
Members are constantly scrutinized for performance, prompt payment and gen-eral activity. There is a reporting facility to ensure that FIG standards are main-tained throughout the network.
As well as promoting the FIG brand through various media, FIG has always pro-moted communication between FIG Partners (see ‘Communication’). Our latest innovation in this area is our online meeting scheduler which allows FIG Part-ners to fix a time and date to have a detailed discussion at a time convenient to both Partners.
The FIG Annual Conference is an ideal opportunity to meet FIG Partners ‘face to face’ through both informal functions and pre-scheduled ‘one-on-one’ meet-ings during our conference. Naturally there are also opportunities to relax and unwind during your time as our guest.
FIG will continue to grow through hard work, innovation and a policy of constant improvement.
picture:
Eric & Gilberte Voyame ITS Transport & Shipping Co Ltd Fig SWITZERLAND
2: communication Communication is the key factor in ensuring that FIG Partners gain maximum business benefit from joining the FIG Network. Our most successful FIG Partners are those who communicate to good effect.
Our FIG Rules and Regulations clearly state that “ALL en-quiries MUST be replied to within 24 hours.” There is a good reason for this, aside from common courtesy and the fact that Partners may lose business. We have declared that our goal is to compete with multi-national forwarders. If we are to do so, we must be capable of performing at least to the same standards in response times – if not better!
FIG TOOLBAR: Contact details of our FIG Partners can be found in the secure area of the FIG website – although we will be moving contact details to the ‘public’ area very soon. A quick method of mailing FIG Partners is through the ‘FIG Toolbar’ (see page 4:).
FIG NEWS: Our monthly publication ‘FIG News’ brings the latest FIG news and items of interest to all Partners and their staff. This is a great method of promoting your company through ‘news items’. New FIG Partners are also ‘introduced’ through this medium.
SKYPE: For some years, FIG Administration has actively promoted ‘SKYPE’ as a free method of communicating worldwide to any broadband user. Communication can be through ‘chat’ or ‘VOIP’ telephone. There are significant de-velopments in this technology and we would recommend that new FIG Partners investigate this method of communi-cation. Skype now offers video conferencing simply by con-necting a web cam to your PC.
INSTANT CHAT: FIG Admin has recently introduced ‘Instant Chat’ allowing FIG members to ‘chat’ instantly rather than wait for a response to an email. The full ‘chat’ facility also shows when members are online.
COMMON IDENTITY: We have made significant progress in establishing a ‘seamless’ method of communication. Export-ers/Importers and Shippers will be presented with a simpli-fied email system. Addresses in directories will appear as eg; [email protected] giving a greater sense of identity and promoting the FIG brand. Mail will automatically be forwarded to your listed email address. This initiative will be launched shortly.
SKYPE Website >> http://www.skype.com
Instant Chat with FIG Admin >> http://figgroup.24im.com/live/d1
3: fig gold standard
GOLD 75+ Points
Gold Standard can only be achieved by attending the FIG Annual Conference.
SILVER 60 - 74 Points
It is expected that the majority of FIG Partners will achieve this standard.
BRONZE 50 - 59 Points
Bronze should be considered the minimum standard. Members with scores below 50 points may be re-fused renewal of membership.
Reply to all enquiries and communica-tions within 24hrs COMPULSORY 25 Points
Prompt settlement of accounts COMPULSORY 10 Points
FIG Membership fees paid BEFORE due date COMPULSORY 10 Points
Participation in FIG Annual Confer-ence EXPECTED 20 Points
Appropriate levels of trade within the FIG Organisation. NB: Excludes ‘received’ orders.
Points awarded by FIG Admin 1 - 20 Points
General support , encouragement and promotion of the FIG family.
Points awarded by FIG Admin 1 - 15 Points
FIG Administration takes great care to select dedicated, reliable and finan-cially sound forwarding companies to join our FIG family. New and existing Partners are continually measured to ensure that FIG’s high standards are maintained.
Our standards are clear and fair to all FIG members and are based on the following criteria:-
picture: (left) Mr & Mrs ‘SP’ Maniam APP Global Logistics Consortium Sdn Bhd Fig MALAYSIA
(right) Mr Uwe Schaedler TSI GMBH Fig GERMANY
4: standards (general) • All Partners will support fellow FIG Partners to the fullest ex-
tent and be active in sales activity for mutual benefit.
• Partners will respect the customer base of each FIG Partner. All privileged information will be treated in the strictest confi-dence.
• All Partners must be able to offer a full range of services in-cluding air and ocean forwarding and customs clearing unless agreed at the time of joining.
• All stated international shipping advice must be adhered to by Partners.
• Partners may only promote offices through FIG resources which have been awarded to them as exclusive territories by FIG Administration.
• Partners will be offered exclusive territories only when offices are fully owned or operated by them (not agencies).
• All communications and quote requests should be answered within 24 hours.
• Monthly Accounts must be settled within 30 days of month end unless otherwise agreed.
• Partners must attend the FIG Annual Conference within 1 year of joining unless exceptional circumstances prevail and with the prior agreement of FIG Administration.
1 All Partners will have equal standing within the FIG Organisation and no bias or favouritism will be shown by FIG Administration or any FIG Partner.
2
All fees invoiced by FIG Administration will be set-tled before the due date. Similarly, FIG Administra-tion will undertake to make payments or rebates to Partners promptly. Fees may increase from time to time but by no more than 10% in any given year.
3
Partners will undertake to offer an exemplary ser-vice in respect of other FIG Partners and clients and will conduct themselves in a professional and considerate manner at all times. No abusive or de-famatory remarks will be tolerated through any me-dium.
4 Failure to attend two consecutive Annual Confer-ences without the consent of FIG Administration may result in expulsion from the FIG Network
6
Non-payment of inter-network invoices by a Partner should be flagged to FIG Administration for media-tion. If a FIG Partner is deemed to have defaulted on a payment to a fellow FIG Partner, FIG Admini-stration reserves the right to notify all Partners. FIG accepts no financial liability for non-payment by FIG Partners
7
Partners may leave the FIG Organisation at any time. Fees will not be refunded. Should FIG deem that a Partner is in breach of FIG Rules/Standards and expel that Partner from the organisation, fees may be refunded at the discretion of FIG Admini-stration.
8 All FIG Partners are required to dedicate a mini-mum of 25% of their annual sales volumes to FIG Partners
9 These Rules and Standards may be added to or altered without consultation.
5
If a Partners leaves the FIG Organisation for what-ever reason, the use of the FIG name or logo should form no part of that company’s promotional material. Nor shall that company continue to claim membership of the FIG network. Should this situa-tion occur, FIG will consider this act a Breach of Contract and will prosecute accordingly
5: rules
picture:
Frank Xu Penavico Shenzhen Logistics Ltd Fig CHINA
6: toolbar The FIGToolbar is sheer genius… With a click of your mouse, you can have access to ’breaking news’ from the freight industry and around the world, numerous useful tools and resources and of course, access to the FIG Directory of trusted and ap-proved global partners...
The content of our toolbar is regularly reviewed as we can see from our statistics report, which are the most popular items and where the toolbar is being used. As you may have guessed, the toolbar is usually situated at the top of your desktop (screen) horizontally (ie. not as shown here).
Let’s take you through a few of the features (from the top)…
• Click on the FIG logo to visit our website • Use the ‘Google’ search engine to ‘surf the net’ • Visit ‘links & resources’ from the FIG website >> • Find and contact a FIG Partner with two clicks! -
either full directory or quick list. >> • Login to the ‘secure area’ of the FIG website. >>
You will need your username & password. Don’t have one? Just ask Emily… [email protected]
• Visit the locations of our FIG Partners on ‘google
maps’. >> • ‘Live Chat’ with our FIG Admin staff >>
• TV News in five languages - yes, real streaming TV! - a very popular recent addition >>
• Ship Finder - Allows you to locate any cargo vessel anywhere in the world in real time! >>
• There are numerous additional features which can
be ‘customized’ to suit each user.
• Once you have the FIG Toolbar on your desktop,
we can send you ‘News Bulletins’ which will flash-up on your screen for a few seconds...
To download your FREE FIG Toolbar
http://FIGBAR1.ourtoolbar.com
7: annual conference Each year FIG Partners meet in a different country for our FIG Annual Conference. Our 2009 conference was held in New York (previously - Bangkok, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur & London). It is expected that ALL FIG Partners will attend our conferences and it should be noted that to achieve the FIG ‘GOLD’ Standard, FIG Partners MUST attend the FIG conference. The FIG Annual Conference is not just the highlight of the FIG calen-dar but a great opportunity to meet and do business with FIG Partners from around the world all in one room! FIG Admin has developed be-spoke software to allow Partners to pre-schedule ‘One-on-One meet-ings’ during our conference. Check the AGM page regularly in the ‘secure area’ of the FIG website to find full details of our next conference.
Encore Forwarding Inc. Fig USA
Yaniny Ochoa [email protected]
Teresa E Wickham
Cintia Ochoa [email protected]
Wendy Inscoe [email protected]
8: fig news Updates on membership and advancements in tech-nology are regular items in ‘FIG News’ and FIG Part-ners are encouraged to submit newsworthy stories for publication. This is a great way to raise the profile of your company within the FIG Organisation. We are particularly keen to publish stories which show collaboration between FIG Partners.
New FIG Partners are encouraged to submit a brief profile of their company by way of introduction to the FIG family.
Should you have a news story (preferably with pic-tures) just email the copy to Emily.
We look forward to hearing from you...
picture:
Stephane Gely (left) & Franck Nascimbeni Easy Freight Fig FRANCE
9: board of members
Board Member Bernard Lavery FIG UK
Board Member Jali de Silva FIG AUSTRALIA - Sydney
Board Member Rolf Bramann FIG CANADA
FIG Administration is proud to have a FIG ‘Board of Members’ drawn from the membership of the FIG Organisation. Our ‘Board Members’ will assist FIG Admin where technical input is required or where an unbiased opinion is required to resolve any dispute. We are pleased to report that our ‘chosen men’ have rarely been called on to perform duties in this area. Please feel free to approach any of our Board Members for impartial advice or guidance.
picture:
Tony Udagedera (left) - Wings Logistics
Fig INDIA
Terry Sweeney (right) - S
eabridge
Fig IRELAND
[email protected] Adedeji Atewogbola
Matt-Bim Travelling & Shipping Co Ltd
Fig NIGERIA
10: payment protection One of the most common questions we are asked is “Do you have a Payment Protection Plan?” Well, the simple answer is no. The reason is because they just don’t work! Let’s look at the options…
Full blown Credit Insurance is expensive. For a group like ours, it’s even more expensive because with hundreds of mem-bers trading with all the other hundreds of members, the risk is increased exponentially (according to the insurers). Additionally, in these troubled times of financial uncertainty ALL companies involved in global transport are considered ‘high risk’ and can enjoy higher premiums as a result. As with most insurers, the time and cost of claiming and retrieving your money can take months and more $’s.
Next option to consider is a Self Insured Payment Protection Plan. We have over the years examined these products as of-fered by some other freight networks. Basically the members of these groups pay an additional ‘premium’ to the network which accrues interest and (in theory) will be used to ‘payout’ in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation. The wording of these agree-ments is always aimed at protecting the owners of the network (who are earning interest on this ‘pot’ of ‘insurance’ cash). The protection plan only covers members - not ‘ex-members’. Nearly all these schemes will only payout… say 80% of the total fund (shared between all ‘injured’ parties).
This is what we do… Firstly, we make sure (as sure as we can be) that our members have a solid financial foundation and a sound reputation among their peers. Additionally, we may request a ‘second opinion’ from a reputable ‘credit score’ agency. These actions ensure that we have already minimized any risk of bad debt. Because we appoint only ONE representative in each country, any risk is automatically reduced. We can focus on quality rather than quantity.
In the event of reported late payment, we intervene and arbi-trate. If unsuccessful, we notify our members of a ‘bad debt situation’ and threaten to list the company on various online websites for bad payers in this industry. The threat is usually enough to ensure payment although we will follow through if necessary and will use our international collection agencies (no win - no fee) to collect any outstanding debts through legal means.
It works! FIGGROUP has used this system for five years and had only three cases of bad debt totaling less than USD$5000.00 Selahattin Ayture
Inci Lojistik
Fig TURKEY
Uri Yaron
Delta Novel srl
Fig ITALY
11:message from ceo Many of our FIG Partners have been with us for a number of years and I am proud to consider them my friends and my extended ‘FIG’ family. FIG has grown in spectacular fashion over a five year period. At our first annual conference, we had just 11 members and today we have repre-sentatives in more than 80 countries with a real-istic target to achieve global coverage (100+countries.) in the near future. As well as growing larger, we continue to strengthen our membership. With the introduction of the FIG ‘Gold Standard’, we can monitor members to en-sure that our simple standards are achieved and that most importantly the FIG members continue to build professional relationships through ‘old-fashioned’ values of trust, pride and reliability. I am delighted with the standard of members joining our organisation and can report that we receive on average 10 applications to join our group each week. Because we appoint only one representative in each country, most of these applications are unsuccessful. This ‘exclusivity’ means that there is real value in being a FIG member and that our FIG Partners can take pride in displaying the FIG logo on websites and in stationery. I would like to re-confirm my commitment to our FIG family to work tirelessly to bring innovation and fresh opportunities to all. We are always de-lighted to receive your suggestions and com-ments. Remember - keep in touch!
Peter Wang Billion Logistics Co Ltd
Fig THAILAND
Mr & Mrs Tony de Livera
Wings Logistics
Fig SRI LANKA
Chris Humphrey FIG CEO
At the time of publishing this FIG Handbook, we are in the process of launch ing ‘ In ternat iona l For -warder’ (interforwarder) - a web-based directory of ‘approved’ service providers to the freight industry. From express parcels to air & ocean char-ter, users can search free of charge to find trusted global partners in specific disciplines.
A small annual fee is payable to be listed on the directory - USD$250.00 + USD$ 250.00 Application fee.
Users and listed companies are in-vited to attend an annual conference (which will follow the FIG conference).
ALL FIG Partners can be listed com-pletely FREE of charge on the Inter-forwarder database bringing addi-tional sales opportunities.
12:interforwarder
Jose Antonio Perianez
Transped Shipping
Fig SPAIN
Semih Benkarmona
Delta Novel srl
Fig ITALY
Martin Deventer Main Freight Carriers BV Fig NETHERLANDS
Tom Leonaers
Embassy Freight Services
Fig BELGIUM
George Jeng
Top Royalty Express
Fig TAIWAN
Fig HONG KONG
Ghadeer Yassin
East West Logistics
Fig JORDAN
Sahat Sianipar Jadi Cargo Fig INDONESIA
Nick Olsen APA Olsen Pty Ltd Fig AUSTRALIA Melbourne
