Services

Logistics consultancy
When enterprises big and small wish to venture into new markets, the first thing they will always have to figure out is how to do business in those markets, and how to move their products into the new markets smoothly, using the most cost-efficient modes and methods. But understanding the infrastructure of the new market as well as negotiating through a maze of new information such as local culture, political environment, investment requirements, competitors in the market, only signifies a beginning. Once there are potential customers in the pipeline, enterprises can find themselves now thinking about how to not only move the products into the market, but also the quantity of each product to store in each market, where the ideal locations are to store the products, and which service providers to engage with in order to ensure a smooth supply chain from origin to the customers doorsteps. Enterprises will also then need to figure out how to get the products out of the market if they have to, and what types of regulations are involved in those processes. Examples will be returns, or products which may need to be repaired in countries outside of the country of sale. Most of all, how information from each step in the supply chain can be obtained is also critical to managing the business. Red Beacon is at hand to assist in not only providing the most ideal supply chain solution with the enterprises (and their customers) requirements in mind, but also assisting on the following segments.

Carrier Evaluation and Management
There are many logistics service providers in each of the countries in Europe and choosing a provider depends on a variety of factors:
1. Scale of logistics activities intended in each market in Europe
2. How many countries in Europe do those activities involve?
3. Are there specific services that are required? Examples would be time-sensitive deliveries, special transportation tools, and security requirements above standard (such as GPS tracking), just to name a few

The process of selecting carriers can be a long and tricky one. Without understanding which providers are the best in each market and which ones provide regional coverage, companies venturing into a new marketplace usually find themselves making the decisions based on the wrong factors (such as the lowest price) and could sometimes pay a high price for that mistake when there is a need to switch due to miscommunication of requirements and performance expectations, amongst other things.

Red Beacon can scope out the exact requirements from our customers and shortlist a number of providers who we think can fulfil those requirements in any of the countries or regionally if need be, and put out an Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ) in consultation with the customer. Upon receiving submissions from the service providers, the process of analysing and scoring the responses as well as shortlisting finalists to the RFP/ RFQ as well as final selection, can also be part of the package that Red Beacon provides, if the customer so wishes.

Implementation and Project Management
Once the supply chain concept is finalized and service provider(s) are selected, the next step would be contractual negotiations as well as devising the project implementation plan with all parties within the supply chain involved. This requires extensive work and coordination, and Red Beacon can manage and lead the project implementation as required by the customer, depending on what resources are available to the customer at the time of the implementation. Once contracted, Red Beacon will see the project from the beginning stages all the way to the first days of the project go-live. This involvement can be extended well into the go-live if required but is agreed upon with the customer prior to the project implementation.

Account Management
The profile of our customers are largely (but not limited to) enterprises with limited or no presence in Europe and do not want the hassle of setting up offices all over and employing full-time staff just to support a few projects that they might have in Europe, or may want to be prudent and wait till there is enough revenue stream before risking a large investment on human resources and infrastructure. In the interim, Red Beacon will be able to assist on managing our customers on a need-to basis, being an account manager representing our customers.