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Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN):
Getting Together to Enhance Business Opportunities in Project Cargo
By Albert Alba
The so-called “little guys” in the project cargo business have “organized”
themselves and created a network of experts in order to enhance business
opportunities.
These ‘experts’ vary from their respective fields of expertise, including
their familiarity with the geographical location and terrain of the origin
and destination of the cargo. Although dominated mostly by freight
forwarders, its membership includes service providers such as air charter
brokers and insurance providers.
The Global Project Logistics Network or GPLN is an assembly of small and
medium sized privately owned companies engaged in the business of project
cargo, mostly in the oil and gas sector. This is the sector where a lot of
big and heavy “out-of-gauge” cargo is usually transported from point A to
point B.
With an average of 25 years or more of experience in the project cargo
business, the 70-member strong network boasts of a lot of local knowledge of
a particular place in which an equipment needs to be shipped in or out.
“The strength of the network is that almost every member knows each other
and has already been recommended by somebody in the network,” said Gary
Dale, GPLN Executive Director.
“And these people are really Projects people who really know what they are
doing. They deliver on-time, on-budget and undamaged cargo for their
clients,” Dale adds. In order to enhance their familiarity with each other
and discuss business opportunities, the group meets annually with some
regional meetings within the year. “It is in these meetings that people get
to know each other better on a personal and professional level. And in such
occasions, people are made aware of each others capabilities and help each
other grow their business,” Dale explained.
The first annual meeting of GPLN was held recently at the Metropolitan Hotel
in Dubai.
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