Ensuring Value Added inventory Management at Love Uganda Logistics. 

Overview

At Love Uganda Logistics, we believe that high performance transportation services are the driver to competitiveness. In such a dynamic and volatile, there is always need for logistic companies to offer not just transportation services but rather value added services. The more the goods are transported in the shortest time possible, in their natural setting and in a carbon-free way, the higher the chances of these goods serving their purported purpose. 

There is more to deliver than just goods whether the cargo is moving by road, air or water. The difference between a good supply chain management company and the good one lies in value addition. The two might receive the same good at the same time and from the same sender but it is not news that the two companies can deliver different goods to the receivers. The secret lies in value addition. Value addition in this case has nothing to do with changing the product from its natural shape, size or color but rather ensuring that the receiver gets it in its original shape, size and color. Love Uganda Logistics has designed a complete flow of goods from the time they are received up to the time of delivery. 

What do we do to ensure that your cargo / goods maintain their original shape, color and size irrespective of how many borders they cross?

The same way human beings get tired when they travel long distances, goods may be affected while they are being transported from one destination to the other. From one container to another, from one plane to another and from one ship to another, goods if poorly handled might end up losing their original shape, color or size. Take an example of perishable goods such as flowers and agricultural products such as milk and fruits. These if not dealt with care, they may end up going bad. Other products such as pharmaceutical and other industrial products may expire or react if subjected to particular conditions such as air, temperature, to mention but a few. 

To ensure safe, reliable and cost effective transportation of goods from one destination to another, Love Uganda ensures the following measures; 

• Quality & quantity check: At love Uganda Logistics, we ensure that we measure the quality and quantity of any goods before transporting them. This helps in identifying other requirements for maintaining such goods in their original shape up to the time of delivering them. 

• Repacking & labeling as appropriate: In addition to measuring the quantity and quality of the goods, we ensure that goods are repacked in versatile packaging tools and appropriate labeling is made. This ensures the safety of goods and enables easy identification during the transportation. 

• Dynamic allocation of pallets / case locations: We also ensure that pallets and cases containing the goods are dynamically allocated during the transportation process. 

• Secured area for sensitive products: We ensure that sensitive products such as explosives and perishable goods are stored in the best places possible. The stores have necessary gadgets to maintain recommendable storage conditions such as temperature regulation. 

• Cycle counting: During the transportation of goods, our trained personnel ensure cycle counting from the time of the start of the journey up to the point of delivery. We count these goods while they are being transferred from one plane to another, one car to the other and one ship to another. 

• Multi-criteria inventory reporting: Love Uganda Logistics ensures that there is multi-criteria inventory reporting during the process of transporting goods from one destination to another.

• Expiry date management: While transporting goods from one destination to another, Love Uganda logistics ensures that they do not exceed their expiry dates. This is done through ensuring that we do not receive expired products for transportation. 
• Inventory replenishment: Our Inventory replenishment systems help manufacturers, retailers and distributors to have more balanced product levels, according to demand, avoiding shortages and excesses of stored items.

These are some of our full range and downstream services offered across African countries;

• Handling of multi-suppliers’ orders
• Management of specific customs systems and regulatory compliance
• Management of spare parts flows, optimizing customer and repair lead times
• Customs and regulatory compliance
• Tailored packing solutions.
• Port handling
• Pre dispatch inspection

What type of goods do we transport?

• Food and Beverage goods: From the time of our establishment, Love Uganda Logistics has been transporting cargos that contain food and beverage products. From our experience, we believe that perishability does not mean that food cannot be moved overseas. It is all about dealing with the right logistics company.

1. 1. Energy Logistics: Transporting dangerous and hazardous goods is always not an easy task, therefore you need to entrust that role with a professional and trusted handling provider with a proven, tested record of cargo shipment.
      Love Uganda Logistics presents competitive door to door services that ensure successful transportation, handling and shipment of hazardous materials. Our services range from safely packaging of stuff with appropriate brands and labels, clearing and forwarding dangerous goods, and handling customs documentation and storage facilities.
   2. Health and care logistics: With support from our professional partners, we transport pharmaceutical products such as drugs for both animals and humans. We ensure that they are stored in their respective recommendable storage conditions and facilities. This helps us ensure that these products reach their destinations in the right shape.
   3. Manufacturing and engineering goods: With the increase in the number of manufacturing companies in Africa and the world on a daily basis, there is an indication that in the near future, companies will be importing and exporting manufacturing goods. Love Uganda Logistics is available and ready to transport all forms of these goods maintaining their original shape and in the shortest time possible.  While the modern manufacturing industries become more complex and capital intensive Love Uganda Logistics (LUL) remains an inbound and outbound supply chain solution to all manufacturing and engineering companies across Africa.  We help you transport Automotive Machinery & Mechanical Equipment, Chemicals & Petrochemicals, High-Tech, Telecom, Energy Technologies’ equipment.
   4. Aid and relief Logistics: As the world changes, new challenges that face societies and economies set in. Non-governmental organizations and other funding partners have a common goal of not just giving help but rather helping in the fastest time possible. For instance the Covid-19 response equipment required to be delivered in the shortest time possible. Some of these goods have to reach to deeper parts of different countries from where the target populations are. To make this possible the way you transport those goods matters a lot otherwise they will be deemed useless. Love Uganda Logistics (LUL) offers customer sensitive services and ensures that irrespective of where goods are going, they should be delivered in the shortest time possible.
   5. Fashion Logistics: Who does not want to cope-up with the modern trends! The world being dominated by the youth, the fashion and design industry has grown faster across the globe. Economies have invested in these businesses meaning there is a lot of demand and supply of these goods from one continent to another. Love Uganda Logistics ensures that these sensitive goods reach their destinations in their original shape.
   6. Automotive Logistics: Irrespective of what your market segment is, Love Uganda Logistics (LUL) will ensure that your automotive goods are transported in the right manner. Our professional teams spend a great deal of time dealing with your spare parts and after-market products maintain their good shape so that they can serve their intended purpose.
   7. Perfumes and Cosmetics Logistics:  Perfumes and Cosmetics industries across the world are ever changing and seasonal in nature. They rely on customer needs and require a fast-responsive supplier. This implies that anyone dealing in such an industry requires a very fast supply chain management. This is why Love Uganda Logistics (LUL) is here. We ensure that these goods are packaged in different variations so as to meet the needs of those with low and high demands at the same time. 

• Flavors and Flagrance Logistics: This industry is one of the complex industries in Africa and the World as a whole. This is because the industry combines both people and science. Companies in this sector have specific manufacturing processes that require a fast moving supply chain management agent. This is why Love Uganda Logistics (LUL) comes up with flexible and convenient transportation methods that ensure smooth running of such businesses. 

Conclusion: Love Uganda Logistics Ensures that all the sectors in different economies get access to easy, customer-friendly and cheaper ways of transporting their goods from one destination to another. This is aimed at fostering economic growth and development across African countries and the world as a whole. There is more to give to clients than just transporting goods from one location to another. 

Sustainable transport and logistics chains in East Africa – the role of inland water transport in the development of East African economies. 

Overview

While East African countries continue to develop, markets become wider and demand for goods and services across the countries increase in number. Especially with the recent official entry into East African Community (EAC) by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there is need for these countries to pay more attention to water transportation than before. This is because of the direct access on both the Indian Ocean (on Kenya and Tanzania side) and the Atlantic Ocean (on the DR Congo side). It implies that trade will increase as a result of the free movement of both humans and goods across the borders. It is on such grounds therefore, that Love Uganda Logistics is giving an insight on inland water transportation. This form of transportation is not restricted to transportation of goods but also transportation of human beings from one location to another. We of course expect people to migrate from one country to another since movement across these countries has been made easier. In this article, we answer questions that involve the past, present and future trends of inland water transportation. Additionally, we look at cargo and freight forwarding particularly on the waters. What differences exist between shipping goods on Indian Ocean and shipping goods on Lake Victoria? We also look at water transportation as an industry rather than just a service and the ways of shaping it to become an outstanding industry among East African countries and Africa as a whole. 

Why Should East African Countries put more effort on Inland water transportation?

Love Uganda Logistics believes that there are multiple of reasons why East African countries should direct their efforts towards developing inland water transportation. This is because; 

• Inland waterway transport is a competitive alternative to road and rail transport. 
• Inland water transportation offers an environment-friendly alternative in terms of both energy consumption and noise emissions. Its energy consumption per km/ton of transported goods is approximately 17 % of that of road transport and 50 % of rail transport. 
• It is another way of utilizing the abundant inland water bodies in Africa. East Africa has one of the major water bodies some of which are world’s top. Talk of River Nile, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, River Congo, Lake Turkana, Lake Kivu, to point out but a few. All these are reliable business and trade points. Their potential to support economic growth in their respective countries as well as East Africa as a whole can be achieved by improving transport.  
• Inland waterway transport ensures a high degree of safety, in particular when it comes to the transportation of dangerous goods. 
• It also contributes to decongesting overloaded road networks in densely populated regions.

What is the current state of Inland water transportation in East Africa?

East Africa has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, lakes and channels.  Freight transportation by water is highly underutilized in the region as compared to developed countries. East Africa’s hinterland connectivity is mainly based on road and rail with domestic waterways— both coastal shipping and inland waterways—playing a limited role. Waterways are found to be cost effective as well as an environmentally friendly means of transporting freight.  In East Africa, Inland Water Transport (IWT) has the potential to supplement the over-burdened railways and congested roadways.  In addition to cargo movement, Inland Water Transport sector also provide a convenient function in related activities such as carriage of vehicles on [Roll-on-Roll-off] (Ro-Ro) mode of cross ferry and tourism.

Despite the immense benefits of the transport system to the economy, Inland Water Transport in East Africa has a long history of neglect by both the governments and private sectors. Little effort had been made to develop inland water transport facilities in the past years. This stems largely from policy inconsistency, limited private sector involvement and conflict by agencies involved in water transportation among East African countries. Much as some governments and other stakeholders have tried to make the sector boom, its development remains on tenterhooks for quite a number of years.  

According to Nile Basin Water Resource Atlas (http://atlas.nilebasin.org/treatise/inland-waterway-transport/), nine of the eleven Nile riparian countries have navigable water bodies, and a total of 72 inland water ports between them, with Egypt and Uganda having the highest number. The main areas important for inland water transport in East Africa are Lake Victoria which provides a vital transportation link for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with the main ports being Jinja and Port Bell in Uganda, Kisumu in Kenya, and Mwanza, Musoma and Bukoba in Tanzania; Sections of the White Nile in South Sudan, and the Main Nile in The Sudan and Egypt. 

Generally, with all the number of water bodies available in the East African region, inland water transport is one of the least developed sectors in East Africa. The three main lake ports are:

1. Kisumu for Kenya, located in the North Eastern corner of the Winam Gulf, fronting Kenya’s third largest city,
2.  (ii) Mwanza South for Tanzania, located within a natural shallow bay on the Eastern shore of Mwanza Gulf, and 
3. (iii) Port Bell for Uganda, located at the end of Murchison Bay, South-East of Kampala. 

These are directly included in the regional multimodal trade routes, namely the Northern and Central Corridors. 

Services that need to be considered while East African Countries focus on improving Inland water transport

The services below group comprise of establishments which are primarily engaged in providing inland water transportation of passengers and/or cargo on lakes, rivers, or intracoastal waterways. 

• Barge transportation, canal (freight)
• Canal barge transportation (freight)
• Intracoastal transportation of freight
• Lake freight transportation  
• Lighterage  
• River freight transportation
• Ship chartering with crew 
• Shipping freight 
• Towing service 
• Canal passenger transportation
• Car lighters (i.e. ferries) 
• Intracoastal transportation of passengers
• Lake Passenger transportation  
• Water shuttle services
• Water taxi services

What are the major hindrances of Inland water transportation in East Africa?

The list of the hindrances of water transport development in East Africa and Africa as a whole is endless, however, we have listed a few; 

• Policy inconsistency
• Duplication of regulatory functions
•  Infrastructure deficit
•  Insecurity and political instabilities in some parts of the region
• Floating vegetation such as water hyacinth 
•  Inadequate human capacity 
•  Low investment  
• Poor technology 
• Competition from other means of transports such as road transport and air transport
• Presence of rapids and falls on some water bodies
• Climatic changes
• Inconsistency in the water levels on the water bodies
• Substandard barges and boats, 
• Inadequate equipment at jetties
• High cost of operations
•  Currency devaluation 
•  Under-exploitation of the waterways transport sector.

What are the benefits of having a well-developed inland water transport sector in East Africa?

The benefits of having a vibrant inland water transport system are countless, but we would like to point out a few. These include;

1. Revenue generation and availability of finance
2. Trade and commerce
3. Promotion of tourism
4. Employment and job opportunities
5. Enhancement of industrial growth

What is the future of Inland water transportation in East Africa?

While East African countries continue to drive towards political and wholesome economic integration, they ought to put inland water transport into consideration. All advancements in technology, infrastructure, security, name it should have a certain percentage directed towards improving inland water transport.  Actually with the development of inland water transport there is need for a collective effort. That is Stakeholders from across the world, representatives of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), national governments, development partners, civil society organizations,  industry practitioners, academia and the private sector, should come together to discuss how to promote inland waterway transport (IWT) and regional short-sea shipping routes (SSS). Such inclusive round table discussions create a sense of belonging ness in the hearts of the whole population. This makes the journey of improving and developing inland water transport an easy venture. 

The future of inland water transport entirely depends on reviving projects that had faded and supporting those that are already in existence. There is also need to establish water transport that fits in the modern trade and commerce; enhancing the integrated resource management; including water; enhancing waste management; and building knowledge and sharing competences. The ever increasing trans-border trade amongst East African countries is likely to bring about congestion on road and transport thus the need for an improved water transport system.

While all the East African governments are embarking on industrialization and mass production of agricultural products. The question remains, how will these products reach both local and international markets if transport systems are not improved? Countries that have a share on Lake Victoria (the biggest lake in East Africa) have places that are only accessed using either air or water transport. Air transport remains the most expensive and less used (domestically) means of transport among East African countries. This means that if goods and services are to reach to the island areas such as kalangala (in Uganda), there is need for a well-developed inland water transport system.

On the global scale; inland water freight transport market is expected to grow from $15.91 billion in 2021 to $16.71 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.0%. The market is expected to grow to $19.34 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%. This is according to the Inland Water Freight Transport Global Market Report 2022 (https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/04/04/2415381/0/en/Inland-Water-Freight-Transport-Global-Market-Report-2022.html). Where does this leave East African countries should be one of the major questions in the minds of every stakeholders. 

Additionally, the recent Covid-19 pandemic, Ukrainian war and hiked fuel prices, economies have been hit strongly and East African countries are not exceptional. This implies that people are likely to resort to the cheapest method of getting things done. One of the methods is using the cheapest means of transport. In such a scenario, do not be shocked when in five to ten years from now, you see inland water transport being among the most common used means of transport for both goods and human beings. This is a call for governments to think beyond the horizon and act accordingly in regards to improving and developing inland water transport. 

Conclusion

Love Uganda Logistics believes in integrating the past with the present to create a reliable future. We believe that if East African countries include Inland Water Transport (IWT) in their development agenda. There will be a great step towards economic integration alongside development. This does not of course mean neglecting other means of transport such as road and railway but rather an added advantage and a way of creating a diversified economy.