END-TO-END (e2e) Supply Chain Management Ltd provides a one-stop solution to the logistical services needs of companies, ranging from trucking, customs clearance, warehousing and shipping.

With a network of 14 offices in all the country’s major cities, as well as two offices in Bangladesh, four in Afghanistan and one in Singapore, the company will be starting its operations in Dubai from the middle of next month.

Of the around 1,500 registered logistics companies, most are engaged in segmented operations. Around 10 to 15 of them are operating on modern lines and provide one-window services to their customers.

The chief executive officer of e2e, Abid Butt, said after having acquired foreign experience in logistical management and operations, he moved to Pakistan in 2005 to venture into this business.

“I had always strongly felt that there should be a Pakistani brand in this strategic trade segment for safe and timely movement of goods and services from the country,” he recalled while talking to this writer in his office in the 5-Star building in Clifton.

‘Pakistan enjoys a strategic location, and logistics has significant growth and investment potential. Global trade is fast shifting to Asian countries, and around 60pc of world trade activity takes place in Asia’

Foreign companies with the know-how and modern systems dominate logistics services the world over, making it very difficult for local firms to survive or move into this trade. “So I felt I should establish a Pakistani logistics services brand that could also compete beyond the geographical frontiers of the country.”

The e2e Supply Chain Management provides dedicated truck fleets on a long-term basis (for no less than three years) to the corporate sector. This one-window service includes drivers and the vehicles’ maintenance. The fleet management business is being run by 15 to 20 companies, and e2e is the fifth-largest in this segment.

In the past, companies largely depended on the market for transporting their goods from one place to another, or used to have their own fleets.

Butt said the trucking business is mainly divided into two categories — full truck load (FTL) and less-than-truck load (LTL).

Around 170,000 trucking companies are engaged in the FTL cargo segment and only three in LTL, with e2e holding the second position, he maintained.

Responding to a question, he said there are around 240,000 trucks and lorries in the country, and these are owned by 170,000 individuals or companies. This puts ownership at 1.4 trucks per person or company, on average.

The haulage capacity of vehicles varies from one tonne up to 50 tonnes. Taking the average loading capacity of 5-10 tonnes per truck, the country’s total haulage capacity at any given time works out at around 1.2m-2.4m tonnes.

The CEO disclosed that at the instance of the company’s US customers who also buy textile goods from Bangladesh, e2e set up offices in Dhaka to provide logistical services. Similarly, taking opportunity from the large movement of IT equipment from Singapore to Pakistan, the company recently set up an office there as well.

Talking about future prospects, he said Pakistan enjoys a strategic location and logistics has significant growth and investment potential. Global trade is fast shifting to Asian countries, and around 60pc of world trade activity takes place in Asia.

He said his group also owns the Pakistan Terminal Operators Pvt. Ltd (PTO), a certified cleaning station for ISO tanks which are widely used for transporting liquid items like chemicals, sugar, oil and other hazardous and non-hazardous liquid cargo.

Butt’s group also recently entered into the business of rice bran oil, which is popular for its high smoke point of 232 degrees Celsius. The oil — which is less sticky and has a mild flavour — is extracted from the hard outer brown layer of rice after chaffing (rice husk) and is used for high-temperature cooking, including deep-frying.

After failing to convince farmers to adopt logistical services that could save their produce from losses, the group launched a new company, Agri Mundi. It hopes to introduce various methods to reduce farm losses, which are estimated to be as high as 40pc of each crop.

Answering another question, Butt said his group’s annual turnover is around Rs6bn. Pakistan is lagging far behind in logistics services, and he sees a huge, untapped potential for the segment.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, December 1st , 2014