A luxury cruise line came to Hellmann Worldwide Logistics in Doral with a complicated question.
Like all cruise lines, this client needed to buy a wide range of food, beverages, equipment, spare parts, furniture, etc., from a host of vendors to supply its passenger vessels.
The line was expanding its fleet and needed a more efficient way to store the large volumes of goods it stockpiled, and manage purchases and deliveries to its ships. It also had to make sure that each vessel received the time-sensitive supplies it required at ports of call, including Miami.
To assist this client, Hellmann designed a package of solutions. Within 45 days, Hellmann provided a distribution center that the cruise line could use as its cargo operations base, storage depot and delivery center for vendors. As a result, Hellmann now supplies the client with all merchandise and equipment transportation, warehousing and IT services for its vessels. It also provides customs brokerage services for imported goods and dedicated on-site personnel, while applying its own system for managing cruise line logistics.
Hellmann’s end-to-end supply chain services allowed this customer to meet its goals while improving its systems and reducing costs.
This is one example of what Hellmann does for customers on a worldwide basis.
“Our business here over the last 20 years has grown with Miami, and has expanded beyond traditional freight forwarding services,” said Roger Haeussler, Hellman Regional CEO for the Americas, and Christopher Dale, the COO for Hellmann U.S., in a joint reply to emailed questions. “We now provide contract logistics solutions and specialize in the cruise and perishable industries. We’ve further expanded our services to support Latin America through our Latin America Gateway Desk, which serves as the main hub for exports and imports for the USA and the world for Latin America,” Hellman’s two top Miami-based executives said.
Contract logistics involves designing and setting up supply chains and facilities like warehouses, transporting merchandise, distributing goods for customers, handling vendors, managing inventory, etc.
Hellmann, which provides a complete line of air, sea and land shipping options, supply chain and logistics services, eCommerce as well as courier, customs clearance, warehousing and consulting services, began operating as a freight forwarder and logistics provider in the United States in 1988. By the mid-1990s, the German logistics giant saw the potential for opening a major facility in Miami.
“With the emerging Latin American market and the influence of Miami’s vanguard status, Hellmann relocated its U.S. and regional Americas headquarters to Doral in 1996,” the Hellmann executives said.
Today, Hellman has three facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The curved white building on Doral Boulevard (Northwest 41st Street) is the headquarters for Hellmann’s Americas Region and for the U.S. It also is the Miami branch and perishable logistics head office, with 134,000 square feet of warehouse space and 65,000 square feet of cold storage. This building also houses the Latin America Gateway Desk and the Global Network office for companies that partner with Hellmann.
Hellmann also has a foreign trade zone warehouse (230,000 square feet) in Sweetwater, and a major logistics fulfillment center (267,000 square feet) in Weston. This is Hellmann’s largest warehouse in South Florida, and it is used to receive, store, package and ship merchandise and equipment for customers.
Hellmann has more than 230 direct employees in South Florida, and 1,500 in Latin America. These figures do not include temporary employees or workers at companies partnering with Hellmann in other countries who handle Hellmann business.
Americas regional CEO Haeussler has more than 30 years of experience in the transportation and logistics industry.
Dale also has been working in transportation and logistics for three decades. Before joining Hellmann, he worked with UTi Worldwide logistics, Schenker, Danzas/AEI and Panalpina.
Hellmann’s South Florida operations specialize in serving the cruise industry and moving perishable items (cold chain plus time- and temperature-sensitive shipments), but the company also handle commodities, clothing, high-tech equipment and oversized cargo.
Most of Hellmann’s exports from Miami go to Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America.
Hellmann’s operations here are an important part of the company’s global network, since Miami is a strategic geographical location. “Miami allows us to access many parts of the world by leveraging its multiple [nearby] airports and seaports, which in turn makes it easy to partner with major carriers both for air freight and sea freight,” the two executives said.
“Being in Miami also has given us the advantages of a centralized hub to support the Latin America market.”
Hellmann’s executives said the Miami operation performed “quite well” last year, and the outlook for 2016 is very positive. For the Americas, Hellmann expects about 15 percent growth in ocean container traffic, 10 percent in air freight tonnage, with a 30 percent increase on overall shipments and a 10 percent increase in revenue. For the U.S. division, the company projects a 10 percent increase in revenue and an impressive 41 percent increase in overall shipments, with 16 percent growth in ocean freight and a 10 percent increase in air freight tonnage.
To continue competing effectively in the crowded logistics market, Hellmann “provides custom-made solutions while maintaining a key element — our people,” the executives said.
“We have over 145 years of logistics experience. We operate as a family and deliver solutions to our customers as family, as partners. Our customers know that we always go the extra mile for them.”
