The Speedy Gonzales among the specialists for urgent transports and complex logistics solutions has founded the first national independent company in China, named time:matters International Freight Forwarding Ltd. Based in Shanghai, the newcomer is the very first Lufthansa group company which does not piggyback on a local Chinese partner, as normally demanded by the authorities from foreign investors.
Three huge speed logistics markets will be interlinked
Or to put it less emphatic: It’s a first step in the high performance and speed logistics expert’s strategy to penetrate the Asian market and link it closely with both Europe and – shortly after
- North America.
Step two follows immediately: the opening of an estimated five to ten offices at Chinese business metropolises accommodating industries in constant need of ultra-rapid and highly reliable
transport solutions. When asked which locations these are that are targeted to become new knots in time:matters’ fast expanding international network, Mr Kohnen and his colleague, COO Lars Krosch
remain tight lipped. Both managers confirm however, that the city’s names will be revealed within the next couple of days.
Intra-Asian day to day services
Once the Chinese network is established, time:matters will start offering the market 24/7h door-door transport of urgent goods between Europe and China. This will be followed by establishing an
intra-Chinese and pan-Asian network, including South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. It will enable the speed expert to start “day to day services spanning the different market places in the Far
East and link them with our established European network,” says Mr Kohnen.
Role model for the upcoming project is the network time:matters has already established between Europe and North America, including Mexico. More than 120 stations on both sides of the North
Atlantic have been interconnected meanwhile. In the medium term, the offices in Far East and North America will also be linked, ensuring fast transports across the Pacific.
Time and quality are the key issues
But time:matters keeps their feet on the ground: “This will not happen until we have ensured the production quality of our Chinese stations and we have established cooperation with more reliable
carriers in addition to Cathay and ANA serving Transpac routes,” Mr Kohnen emphasizes.
Speaking of quality, a big leap forward was made through the acquisition of both CB Customs Broker and the handling entity Customs Broker Cargo Handling in mid-September 2018. It greatly enhanced
the existing service portfolio and fine-tuned tailored transport solutions offered individual customers. MD Murat Odabas of Custom Broker says, putting it in a nutshell: “In our specific
business, speed and quality are the most important parameters. Both can only be optimized on the ground and not in the air.”
Heyworld might be another product supporting time:matters
time:matters parent Lufthansa Cargo’s launch of ‘heyworld’, a new modular service offered to the fast expanding e-commerce market, assuring rapid transports, high reliability and simplified
customs procedures, might be beneficial for time:matters as well. “There are many overlaps with our own business model,” states Mr. Krosch.
Of help to further speed up ground processes might also be the January 2019 incorporated time:matters Courier Terminals GmbH, that’s active in Munich and Frankfurt. “This daughter company ensures
that our already outstanding product quality will further improve,” states Mr. Krosch.
This is also expected following the company’s ISO 9001:2015 certification. It confirms the consistently high level of time:matters’ quality management system for organizing transports, and the
constant monitoring and tracking of time-critical, customer-specific shipments.
Heiner Siegmund