A unique logistics partnership between New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra and global shippers Maersk has saved both companies millions of dollars in supply chain costs. But the relationship has gone beyond a transactional transport contract to become a deeper strategic relationship, the companies have told SupplyChain Review.
And both sides say the partnership remains largely untapped as they talk of a "paradigm shift" in the manufacturer/supplier relationship. "It’s not small figures," Maersk’s Key Client Director Jacob Moe says of the savings to date.
Fonterra exports 95 percent of its milk to almost 150 markets. As its logistics supplier Maersk has worked in-house to manage the increasingly complex distribution task and compare notes on mutual challenges like rising costs and talent shortages.
The companies are now considering more fundamental change, including consolidating operations and infrastructure and forming a unique ‘value sharing’ arrangement for mutually-beneficial results. Fonterra’s Richard North, the Strategic Supply Manager on the Maersk project, says the relationship has moved beyond a simple container-by-container rates structure.
"It’s about how we utilise our joint assets and joint expertise around the world," he says. "There’s a big difference between procurement and a strategic partnership. We’ve tried to move quite quickly towards a strategic partnership."
And both sides say the partnership remains largely untapped as they talk of a "paradigm shift" in the manufacturer/supplier relationship. "It’s not small figures," Maersk’s Key Client Director Jacob Moe says of the savings to date.
Fonterra exports 95 percent of its milk to almost 150 markets. As its logistics supplier Maersk has worked in-house to manage the increasingly complex distribution task and compare notes on mutual challenges like rising costs and talent shortages.
The companies are now considering more fundamental change, including consolidating operations and infrastructure and forming a unique ‘value sharing’ arrangement for mutually-beneficial results. Fonterra’s Richard North, the Strategic Supply Manager on the Maersk project, says the relationship has moved beyond a simple container-by-container rates structure.
"It’s about how we utilise our joint assets and joint expertise around the world," he says. "There’s a big difference between procurement and a strategic partnership. We’ve tried to move quite quickly towards a strategic partnership."