Swift Freight International, a leader in freight logistics, is expanding the Swift 2 warehouse, located in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The L-shaped expansion will provide an additional dry storage area of 5,450 sq m, with over 12,500 pallet positions and variant temperature possibilities. Part of the new facility can be converted into a cold store offering 4,500 pallet positions, with temperatures varying from -18 deg C to +18 deg C. In addition, part of a new two-storey office block will be available for leasing.
The company says 2006 was a busy year as it opened new facilities, introduced new products, and entered new markets in India, Africa and the Far East.
Due to the success of its weekly groupage service to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, Swift commenced a weekly groupage service to Lusaka, Zambia, with a transit time of approximately 28 days. The consolidation is done at Swift’s customer service centre in Rashidiya, close to the Dubai International Airport.
Swift’s logistics presence in Dubai was further strengthened with the opening of its fifth facility in the Emirate, located in the Mamzar area. Conveniently situated near the airport, as well as retail and wholesale markets, the 30,000 sq ft open-yard facility is designed to meet customer demand and improve shipment turnaround times. A dedicated team at the Mamzar site facilitates full container loading by receiving and stuffing full container loads (FCLs) and less than full container loads (LCLs).
In addition to the new facility in Dubai, the Swift Group added a number of new offices across Africa, India and the Far East. In August, Swift Global Logistics (Hong Kong and China) opened new offices in Shanghai and Yiwu. After establishing itself in Hong Kong and Guangzhou in 2005, these new offices in northern China have been positioned to serve customers and offer them better reach.
Swift Shipping and Freight Logistics (India) also opened a New Delhi office. This branch joins Swift India’s existing network of offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Cochin to provide quality customer service and competitive logistics solutions. 
This year also saw the opening of a Swift office in Dakkar, Senegal, to serve West Africa.

New Products
With a presence in 17 countries and a spread of 35 offices, Swift introduced this year two distinctive products. Both Swift Perishable Logistics (SPL) and Sea Air Model (SAM) capitalise on Swift’s strong position in Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. 
SPL maintains an unbroken cool chain for temperature-sensitive cargo such as cut flowers, plants, chilled and frozen fish, and fruits and vegetables. This perishable traffic is among the top exports from Africa into the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
In July, SPL successfully handled its first two shipments of cut flowers. They were shipped from Nairobi to Rome and Japan via the Dubai Flower Centre, where SPL has its headquarters and was one of the facility’s first tenants.
Sajan Nair is operations in-charge of  SPL and Jack Mwaura is its general manager.
The second launch, SAM, defeats space constraints for air shipments from the Far East to Africa by using sea freight from the Far East to Dubai. In Dubai, Swift transfers these shipments to Dubai Airport for airfreight to onward destinations in Africa. This multimodal transport operation is a cost-effective alternative for shipments to Africa, offering competitive rates and fixed schedules and utilising reliable carriers. Swift has decades of experience in sea-air combined transport to Europe, and has now applied that expertise to Africa in order to create the first logical, multimodal transport solution for the continent.
Since its inception, the SAM service has performed beyond initial estimations, serving landlocked African countries, especially in West Africa. The company now plans to launch the product in India, as well as in the Far East markets such as Singapore, Taiwan and Korea.
Swift will continue to serve the African continent through regular charters into Africa and by opening new offices in Angola, Sudan and Mozambique. 

ERP System
New ERP software was put in place, linking the organisation’s operations across its worldwide offices. The software was designed specifically for Swift to automate internal business processes, maximise operational efficiency and improve customer response time.  The new system has been implemented in Swift’s offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, China and India, with final implementation in Africa scheduled for early 2007. The worldwide ERP implementation enables a seamless flow of business information between the Swift Group’s offices, with shipment details from origin to destination being available online for access across the network, among many other features.
 
Awards and Recognition
 In April 2006, Swift’s chairman and CEO, Issa Baluch, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Air Cargo News. Baluch is immediate past president of FIATA (the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations) and the author of “Transport Logistics: Past, Present and Predictions.” 
The award was presented at Air Cargo News’ annual Cargo Airline of the Year Awards in London.
“I am honored to be awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Baluch. “This is a great privilege and honour which I accept on behalf of myself and the many in my organisation and family who have sacrificed so much to make it possible for me to perform at peak and be recognised in this way.”
“We look for someone that not only has shown initiative in the air cargo business over a sustained period of time but has also dedicated energy to the industry at large,” says Ray Crane, chief executive of Air Cargo News. “Issa Baluch amply fits that bill, having given his time and energy to FIATA and TIACA, as well as writing a book on air cargo. We have been proud to nominate this award over the past few years and there is not a more fitting candidate than Issa.”
Swift was further recognised in July, when one of its employees, Vishal Joshi, won the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award for the Africa/Middle East region. Joshi is sales and operations in-charge for Swift Global Logistics in Accra, Ghana. The award is jointly sponsored by FIATA, IATA, and the TT Club.
Swift Freight International is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company with headquarters in Dubai.  It draws on a network of 35 offices in 17 countries and provides comprehensive supply chain solutions. Services include sea freight, airfreight, overland transport, multi-modal transport, warehousing and distribution, removals and relocation.