For almost ten years, HP Inc. and A.P. Moller - Maersk have developed a partnership that enables the multinational company to connect its global supply chain and bring its portfolio of technology products and services to people worldwide in a timely, efficient and competitive way.
By Jesper Toft Madsen
Whether you are reading these lines on a laptop, your mobile device or in a printed magazine, there is a good chance that HP has played its part.
The global technology company is well-known and recognised for its world-leading position on PCs and printers, but few people realise what it takes to make these everyday products available and affordable to people, organisations and communities all over the globe.
The world of transport and logistics makes global trade tick like clockwork, connecting producers and suppliers with consumers through global supply chains. It is a complex machinery with many gears and wheels that need to connect and work in tandem to move products seamlessly from A to B.
This is why HP have worked closely together with Maersk since 2010 to streamline its supply chains.
“HP and Maersk have had a long-standing and trusted relationship,” says Rod DeGesero, Global Director for Procurement & Partner Management at HP Inc., and continues:
“We use Maersk to ship globally – from Asia to the U.S., from Asia into Europe and Latin America. The challenge that HP has is that we do not want products to sit in our warehousing – we want to move it efficiently to our customers. Maersk helps us do this with a network of cross docks in the U.S. and we think it’s critical to our success.”
Supply chain as competitive edge
HP want to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere by engineering experiences that amaze each and every one of its customers. To achieve this in a very competitive technology landscape, having best-in-class global supply chains represents one of the key differentiators.
“We want the right inventory at the right location at the right time as we continue to do things faster, better and cheaper. And we think Maersk has the ability to provide us a global reach and support us end-to-end acting as one partner who helps us accelerate the delivery and create less hand-offs and complications,” says Rod DeGesero.
We think Maersk has the ability to provide us a global reach and support us end-to-end acting as one partner who helps us accelerate the delivery and create less hand-offs and complications.
Covering six continents and with dedicated HP operations in at least 16 countries, Maersk’s experts today support HP with shipping and supply chain services from ocean freight, trucking and warehousing to customs house brokerage, air freight and control towers that manage supply chain operations at origins and destinations. The latter allows HP to improve own cost-efficiency and offshore support, while gaining clear visibility on performance and opportunities for improvement.
According to Rod DeGesero, the relationship has developed “from a vendor to a partner”. In the past, HP would just purchase a slot on a vessel and then pick up the container without any integration with Maersk. Now, the collaboration is fully integrated from when the container leaves the port in China to it is ready and available for pickup by a carrier in the U.S. or in Europe.
“This solution has been very positive to our supply chain,” he says.
The value of the global integrator
Maersk’s vision is to become the global integrator of container logistics, connecting and simplifying customers’ supply chains. The collaboration with HP shows the potential of the vision coming to life, says Randy Wheeler, Maersk’s Global Key Client Director for HP.
“This collaboration demonstrates how we can become a trusted partner who creates real business value for our clients. A customer like HP might not need to tap into the full end-to-end offering that we can offer every time, but it makes them comfortable to know that we have the capabilities and potential within our network to support and improve their operations on a global scale,” says Wheeler.
Becoming the global integrator means taking full accountability for the end-to-end services that Maersk delivers to its customers, by controlling critical assets in the delivery network and by integrating data flows across the value chain.
Rod DeGesero believes that the two companies have the potential to form a seamless engagement that truly makes HP’s supply chain tick like clockwork – to the benefit of HP’s business, its customers and global trade.
“We believe there’s an opportunity to continue to evolve and have our product in and out in less than 24 hours. I value Maersk because they have the capability and the future potential to integrate all these solutions in a seamless manner for HP,” he says.
“Together we are finding better solutions to beat the obstacles in our business.”
In 2018 and beyond, Maersk is looking to further integrate HP’s supply chain and set it up for future digital transformation.
HP and Maersk
Since 2010, Maersk has worked with HP to create more efficient supply chains. From initial cross-dock and transload programmes in the U.S. to global expansion and growth in ocean, supply chain management, warehousing and drayage across six continents. Over the years, HP has managed to bring down costs of its operation and improved the customer experience, and the company is now exploring how to tap into the digital opportunities in global supply chains, together with Maersk.
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