Within a few years China will have the largest Internet community in the world. Online business-to-consumer (B2C) trade is growing at a rate of 64 percent per year. And all those goods ordered online have to then be delivered to their purchasers. Here an efficient transport management system is essential. At transport logistic China 2008 the world´s leading suppliers will be presenting communication and logistics solutions for optimising electronic trade and global delivery.
The forecasts are compelling: In China online B2C (business-to-consumer) trade will reach a value of around 18 billion US dollars in 2010 – in 2006 that figure was just 2.5 billion. However Internet trade between companies (B2B – business-to-business) dominates. In 2006 B2B trade was worth 644.6 billion CYR (89.7 billion US dollars) – that´s 95 percent of all online-trade transactions.
In online sales China is heading for world leadership. Modelled on the 3D Internet system ‘Second Life’, China wants to create a three-dimensional shopping world via which customers, even worldwide, can make contact direct with Chinese manufacturers, and order their goods. The figures are gigantic – 150 million ‘avatars’ (virtual persons) are expected to register in this public-private partnership, of which seven million can be online at any one point. The platform has the potential to become one of the most important and largest online marketplaces in the world. And that is also its declared aim.
However regardless of how large the Internet platform is and how reliable the virtual flows of information may be – for private individuals and companies what counts is that the goods ordered online should then reach their purchases reliably and punctually. Only online traders who have a good logistic and transport management system will be able to keep their customer base long term.
Global leaders in telematics systems and transport and logistics services will be presenting the latest solutions and technologies at transport logistic China, which takes place from 17 to 19 June 2008 in Shanghai.
Chinese firms like Evinsoft Co. Ltd. and Gillion Technologies Ltd. have made a name for themselves not only in Asia but worldwide for their information systems. Recently Evinsoft signed a contract with Guangzhou Port Group Shipping Ltd. to supply South China´s most important ocean port with its latest software for cargo management (Cargo 2000). The port is ranked among the top ten in the world.
Another exhibitor at transport logistic China, Riege Software International, is presenting 'Scope', a new, multifunctional, highly integrated air and ocean cargo solution. Scope manages and controls entire logistics processes including all the subsidiary and associated work processes in handling air and ocean cargo. This system closes the gaps between the different areas that led to breaks in cargo processing, and prevented continuous electronic processing, such as customs clearance, web-tracking etc. Scope also fulfils the quality standard for the global air freight industry, Cargo2000.
Communication for ships will also be a topic at transport logistic China 2008. Becker Marine Systems will be presenting its new broad-band satellite service, ‘umc.connect skylink Fleetbroadband+’. This innovation from the Hamburg-based company presents a global and universal communications infrastructure for shipping companies, ports, terminals, dockyards and mariners. The service was developed as a cooperation between Inmarsat and Thrane & Thrane. This system enables, for the first time ever, large volumes of data to be exchanged with ships, in a rapid, safe and cost-effective way. This represents a significant saving on communication costs such as from Inmarsat Fleet or Sat B systems.