GAC Group has come a long way since its humble origins as a shipping agency in Kuwait in 1956. Fifty years on, it is now the world’s largest independent shipping, logistics and marine service provider with 200 offices worldwide employing a staff of over 6,500. With its unique combination of services, the group provides a single source for companies’ shipping and transport requirements – from traditional ship agency services to offshore support and supply chain management.

Even as it expands its worldwide network, it is in the oil rich Middle East that GAC is enjoying its biggest growth. Based in Dubai since 2002, the group, with its considerable knowledge of the region, coupled with close co-operation with strong local partners, has physical representation in almost every port and terminal across the region.

GAC has leveraged on Dubai’s well-developed logistics infrastructure to provide integrated supply chain solutions for clients such as Marks & Spencer, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, 3M, ExxonMobil and African and Eastern. At the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ), the cornerstone of Dubai’s logistics development, GAC has established its flagship distribution centre (DC).

Built and equipped at the cost of US$40 million, the 120,000-sq. metre centre is the most advanced in the region with web-enabled inventory management systems supporting complete stock management and supply chain visibility. Andy Bradbury, GAC’s Market and Sales Manager for 3PL, said it has the added advantage of having on site both the Dubai Customs and the Saudi Arabian Standards Organisation (SASO).

Dubai Customs has its office at the DC since it became operational in 1993, while SASO, the agency vested with legislative authority by the Saudi government to oversee labelling and other requirements, established its office in 2006. As Saudi Arabia has stringent requirements especially for food, personal care and health care products and pharmaceuticals which must be inspected and certified by SASO prior to entry into the country, its presence at the DC is a definite plus for GAC customers.

Demand for the DC has strengthened in recent years thanks to the robust economic growth in the Middle East and Central Asia, which has fuelled the demand for consumer goods. The DC had to be retrofitted with new racks installed to cope with the increase from both existing and new customers in the retail and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors.

“The VNA is good for FMCG. In the design of the facility, we designed around the VNA. We retrofitted and extended the VNA on the back of FMCG contracts,” said Mr Bradbury. “We also required multi-tier racking as the retail side of the business is growing. Sofas and outdoor furnishings, they don’t fit into VNA racking.”

SSI Schaefer LCC was contracted to provide additional racks totalling 3,276 pallet locations and multi-tier racking with VRS Shelving with 318 bays.  The multi-tier racking, which extends over five levels, offers a versatile solution to meet GAC’s storage needs. Outdoor furniture and mattress are stored at the ground level while the VRS with its adjustable shelves for light industrial purposes are placed on the upper tiers to maintain stocks for 3M. Access is provided by a cargo lift and staircase.

GAC also ordered the Regal Lite Shelving – Schaefer’s most recent development designed to provide single tier bolt-free shelving – to maintain its archives. 

With the expansion the DC now has 72,000 pallet positions making it the largest in the region. Mr Bradbury said it has now reached its limit, as the generator which maintains temperature at a comfortable 22 degrees centigrade even when temperatures outdoors hover above 45 degrees centigrade, has reached its maximum capacity.

To accommodate the strong demand for storage, the company recently acquired another warehouse in the newly developed JAFZ south zone with 38,000 pallet locations. GAC also operates six other facilities for customers.

From the JAFZ, consumer goods are despatched depot-to-depot or door-to-door by air, sea or land to countries in the Gulf, Levant and Central Asia. For the retail trade where every inch of store space is required for sales because of high rental cost, replenishments are often made daily. African and Eastern wine and spirits requires GAC to deliver to the its Dubai stores everyday, twice a week to Bahrain and three to four times a week to Kuwait. And for Marks & Spencer, deliveries are made by DHL to shops across the Middle East daily to replenish items sold.

With the need for more frequent replenishments in modern retail, GAC has capitalised on the comprehensive land transport network and simplification of custom formalities amongst Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to provide less than trailer load trucking for less time sensitive shipments. With the GAC Xpress, goods can arrive in Bahrain in three days, Kuwait and the Saudi cities of Dhahran and Jeddah in four to five days. Introduced in June 2006, it offers a cheaper solution to airfreight and a quicker and more flexible solution to sea freight. The company has plans to extend the service to Iraq, Iran and the Levant countries.

By developing solutions to enhance customer service, GAC is helping to secure its position as the foremost organisation in international shipping and transport.