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News > Features > 01/27/2010

SCL LEADS TRADE MISSSION TO CHINA - by Allan Janssen
01/27/2010

China is a land of great opportunity for those with the skills and initiative to forge the necessary business relationships.

That’s the key message from participants in the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Canada’s first-ever trade mission to the People’s Republic.

SCL president Bob Armstrong, who led the expedition of 15 supply chain professionals in December, says Canadian providers of logistics technology are in a particularly good position to reap rewards in China.

“Technology is an area of great opportunity for us,” he told Logistics Magazine shortly after returning. “Not only did we learn more about what’s going on in China in their supply chain and logistics management practices, but we discovered there is a demand for Canadian know-how and supply chain management skills.”

The Canadians on the tour visited Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, and Zhengzhou to see port facilities and distribution centres, as well as attend business conferences and round tables. Throughout the eight-day trip, presentations were made on the St. Lawrence Seaway, CentrePort, and a host of Transport Canada initiatives.

Chinese audiences were also told about ongoing infrastructure improvements in Prince George, B.C., through Initiatives Prince George (the Economic Development Authority), the Prince George Airport Authority, the Prince George Global Logistics Park, and CN Intermodal.

While the return on investment is not immediately measurable, Armstrong said face-to-face meetings are critical in forging business relationships in Asia.

“To do well in China you have to go there, and you must go more than once,” he said. “The Chinese are much warmer on your second visit,” he said.

Diane Gray, president and CEO of CentrePort in Winnipeg, said the trip afforded her a chance to make connections with people who are operating comparable distribution and logistics hubs.

“Not only did we get to tour some of those facilities, but I was able to have some discussions with senior management there,” she said. “There was a lot of interest from the Chinese in CentrePort, and what we’re building here. They understand inland ports because they’re developing them in China as well.”

She was particularly struck by the amount of government money being pumped into infrastructure projects.

“There are billions of dollars being spent on multiple ocean ports as well as inland logistics hubs,” she said, “and that is very impressive to see.”

Michael Rodyniuk, senior vice president and COO of the Winnipeg Airport Authority, said the true value of the trip was cultivating new business contacts and seeing the latest products and services offered by Chinese companies.

“The extensive use of automation in their warehousing was very impressive,” he said. “And they’re moving rapidly toward lower cost practices, one of which was RFID. The scale with which it is being deployed in China gives me the sense that RFID is indeed something we had better be more focused on in North America.”

Selling Canada as the gateway to North America was a recurring theme of the trip, he said.

“One of the key messages that came across – and Bob Armstrong was the one who consistently drove the point home – was that as the world economy becomes more and more tied together from a product perspective, the real differentiation is in how efficiently you can get commodities to market,” he said. “Closer ties with Canada mean closer ties with North America.”

“There’s that perception that Canada is a small market,” says Armstrong, “but when we include the U.S. market on our doorstep, their eyes really open. We talk about Prince Rupert being so much closer to China than any U.S. port, and how well our rail system works from the ports to Chicago and Memphis. We definitely have selling points.”

At the same time, however, other countries, including the U.S., are trying to ingratiate themselves to the Chinese.

“The U.S. has its trade missions to China and it is selling its ports and services,” said Armstrong. “We’re in a competition. There’s no doubt about it.”

That’s why SCL has already begun preliminary plans for another trade mission in the next year, one which will focus more closely on Canadian supply chain technology.

“I have to congratulate Bob Armstrong and SCL Canada for organizing the mission,” said Gray. “It was a very intensive program, with lots packed into it. It was also an excellent networking opportunity for the Canadian mission participants. We got to know one another better, as we are all working toward a common purpose – to promote Canada and its transportation capabilities for supplying North America."

The trip was part of a reciprocal arrangement with the Chinese Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, which sent a delegation to Canada last spring.

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