Fresh Provisions
Ship Chandelling’s main service is delivering fresh provisions to ships and vessels at docks. Ship Chandlers are experts in giving clients the best selection of national and international brands products. The best ship chandlers are characterized by having the best range of products because they understand the demands of their clients.
Offering the best fresh provisions or a wide variety of products is not enough; Ship Chandler’s need to have a well trained staff that can manage the logistic chain in a proper way.
Ship Chandler’s core business relies on food supply or fresh provisions. It is a 24/7 job because of the high traffic and different time zones; therefore the staff needs to be prepared in different areas.
Fresh Provisions logistics
One of the most important areas a ship chandler must dominate in order to deliver fresh provisions is logistics. This is because fresh provisions must go through a quality process before going to the port. Even in the transportation, the truck must be refrigerated so any fresh provision doesn’t be ruined.
The best Ship Chandler’s have the highest standards of facilities including freezing and chilling chambers, all of which are supported by a fleet of refrigerated vehicles capable of delivering fresh provisions in optimal conditions to vessels, shrimp farm, cruise lines etc. Ship suppliers compromise is to deliver products that are fresh for the crew so they don’t have to worry and keep doing their jobs.
Other area that ship suppliers must dominate, in order to offer good prices for the fresh provisions or any other article, is the commercial relationships. Having long relations with their supplier is very important for ship supply companies. By having a history with suppliers they can offer better competitive prices for the products.
Being available is a huge part of the business. As it was mentioned before, this is a 24/7 business where the Internet takes a big role. Ship Chandelling companies are in constant contact so they can coordinate the fresh provision delivery in an optimal manner. That is why communication is key in this line of business. Several ship chandelling companies invest in both manpower as well as technology in order to be available for your costumer no matter the time.
Fresh Provision supply
The warehouse and team must be structured in a way that they can anticipate their costumer’s requests, so they always have everything available in case it is required. Their warehouses have the space to store fresh products in the temperature they need to be so the quality won’t be jeopardized.
Of course there are some chandelling companies that don’t have all this structure and organization. There are some companies that go and buy the products after the request or even before the delivery because they don’t have space or don’t have the installments to store fresh provisions or frozen products. This is why delays occur or even an incomplete order.
A serious ship chandelling company’s team integrates their operations systems where they can manage their inventory in an optimal way. By doing this companies assure their team that everything they may need in order to fulfill a costumer’s requests will be found in storage.
By having storage capacity they can be competitive in prices as well. Fruits and vegetables’ prices always tend to fluctuate along the year. Their prices are variable depending on the season, the harvest, the producer etc. Because of the storage capacity, some companies are able to buy products at convenient prices when the demand is low or when the offer is too high. By doing this they have a better margin meaning they can offer more standardized prices for their client base.
As you can see, there are many factors involved in the supply of fresh provisions. From the quotations to the delivery there are many parties involved and processes that happen before the provisions are on board. That is why the best companies have their different departments working in coordination in order to deliver a premium service.