Viva Brazil - APL Opens Offices in Brazil

15 Apr 2004 - Sao Paulo, Santos, Manaus, Brazil - If you drank a cup of coffee or a glass of orange juice this morning, chances are you've come in contact with Brazil. The country is the world's top exporter of coffee beans and concentrated fruit juices - and it's now the home of three new APL offices.

APL has served Brazil since 1996, but always through Atlas Maritime Ltda., a steamship agency. The new APL offices, in the three cities where APL does 70% of its Brazilian business, opened their doors on Monday, November 17 2003 under the name, APL do Brasil. APL's other 11 offices in Brazil will continue to be operated by the agency.

Alex Mac Lennan, APL's new general manager for Brazil, says the main benefit will be closer relationships with customers, along with improved service and the ability to use APL's e-commerce offerings in a market where most transportation business is conducted on paper.

"Most of our customers here are companies we serve in other parts of the world," Alex explains. "We'll be bringing them a higher level of service in line with APL's global standards."

Those companies include household names such as Philips (APL's largest customer in Brazil), Honda, Goodyear, Toshiba, Newell-Rubbermaid, Nestlé, Pier 1, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Wal-Mart. Many are in Manaus, far up the Amazon basin in Brazil's northern interior. It's the site of one of the world's most vigorous free-trade zones, where significant manufacturing takes place in consumer electronics, auto parts and other goods.

Manny Fernandez, head of APL-Latin America, echoes the customer theme when he talks about APL's Brazilian venture.

"We were one of the few companies that didn't have their own offices in Brazil," Manny says. "We wanted to have our own presence there, to demonstrate our stability and commitment to our customers."

Alex and Manny both consider the biggest challenge to be automating the paper-intensive method of shipping documentation that is currently Brazil's main style of doing business. APL's large customers are already familiar with the benefits of electronic commerce, but others will need to be convinced.

Even so, Brazil's growing north-south trade provides confidence for the APL's expanded presence. Despite the emergence of China as the world's super-supplier, Brazil remains a strong global manufacturing source. Last year's Brazilian trade with the United States, Mexico and Canada expanded by 20% over the previous year's level, and this year's growth is expected to be the same or higher.

"The Brazil market is one of the most promising emerging markets in the world," Manny says. "We are seeing increasing sourcing from Brazil as global companies seek to diversify their supply chains in electronics, automotive parts, footwear, furniture, refrigerated goods and other sectors. We also see growing investment in manufacturing and assembly operations. As the Brazilian economy strengthens, demand for consumer goods and industrial products there will also increase."

Starting up the office took teamwork from both the northern and southern hemispheres. In particular, Alex compliments the work done by Eric Swett of the Oakland (California)-based APL legal staff, who worked with local attorneys to secure the many governmental approvals necessary to open the business. APL's information-technology (IT) group also put in days of effort to get the company's computer systems are up and running in the three offices.

Members of the IT group have also been training the 24-member staff (in all the offices combined) in the company's software and business processes. Around half of Brazilian employees are already familiar with APL, having been dedicated to the company's account at Atlas Maritime.

Alex, who was formerly APL's sales manager for the East Coast of South America, is eager to start building an organization from the ground up.

"I'm excited about the possibility of creating our own atmosphere and our own culture in Brazil with a very young and enthusiastic group of people," says Alex, who reports to Pedro Nevarez, APL's managing director for South America. "And I'm excited about the potential in the Brazilian market for a company like ours that has high standards and that likes putting customers first to achieve our goals."