Militzer & Münch Dubai: Strong in ship supply

About five years ago, the Militzer & Münch Dubai team moved from the city’s airport to the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) at the western end of Dubai, one of the largest free trade zones in the world. The move was the result of the country unit’s strong growth, which is still ongoing: Militzer & Münch Dubai is continually expanding its range of services and its customer base is growing. The supply of ships on the water is developing into a particularly successful line of business.

At the location in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, the Militzer & Münch Dubai team focuses on the transport of ship spare parts. For some time now, there has also been an increasing demand from customers for the complete supply of ships. In addition to spare parts, this includes the delivery of further technical equipment, consumables, bonded goods, food for the crew and maintenance services. Militzer & Münch is responsible for the procurement of equipment and goods, their storage, and delivery on board the ships – even beyond the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Growing market segment in the port of Fujairah

Thanks to the strong commitment of the Ship-Spares-team, led by Business Development Manager Kiran Kumar, the local company has seen a significant increase in orders for ship supplies at the Port of Fujairah. Located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the port is a major hub for shipping in the Gulf region and the Fujairah Offshore Anchorage Area (FOAA) offers 133 berths for incoming vessels as well as a wide range of maritime services.

“Our aim is to offer our national and international customers an all-inclusive package with real added value in ship handling, from spare parts in transit to catering for the ship’s crew” says Anil Manath, Managing Director of Militzer & Münch Dubai.

Militzer & Münch not only handles ships moored at offshore anchorages in Fujairah but also ships in transit. For this “midstream” supply, Militzer & Münch exclusively delivered more than 200 shipments in UAE waters by using hired supply boats and made over 50 round trips in 2023 – aside from deliveries to local agent’s boats. The ships served by the Militzer & Münch Dubai team currently come mainly from international waters while passing through the OPL (outer port limits) and inner anchorages of the United Arab Emirates during bunkering and maintenance.

“The port of Fujairah has become an important location for us and we expect a further increase in the volume of orders for ship supply”, says Anil Manath. “We will continue to expand our local presence in the future so that we can provide our customers with a central one-stop-shop for the optimal handling of ships round the clock.”

“I have to constantly reinvent myself”

Lauriane Boyer joined Militzer & Münch France eleven years ago. As Air & Sea Director for Militzer & Münch France, she is constantly tackling new challenges in the sea and air freight industry. We asked her how the company copes with the challenges, what opportunities are opening for the industry, and what makes Militzer & Münch a good employer in times such as these.

 

How is the sea freight business in France doing at the moment?

The French sea freight market cannot escape global problems. We too are seeing a decline in global volumes, particularly on the Asia-Europe trade lane, due to consumer restraint and inflation. I also expect the current attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea to have a major impact on our industry in the coming weeks and months. We at Militzer & Münch however expect positive business development in the sea freight sector, albeit in a difficult business environment. Competition is tough, but this difficult environment also holds opportunities for our company.

 

What are the main goods Militzer & Münch France (Air & Sea)  transports?

The Militzer & Münch France teams mainly transport general cargo and dry freight, such as mechanical equipment, electrical goods, textiles, and various materials for local production. On a spot basis, we mainly transport pharmaceutical products, hazardous goods or dry foodstuffs. This is also where I see growth potential for the future.

Militzer & Münch France currently counts some 1,000 customers. Most of them are medium-sized companies, which allows us to spread our business risk. Our most important customers come from the humanitarian sector, from label and adhesive film production and from the freight forwarding industry.

 

What were the most important milestones for Militzer & Münch France (Air & Sea)?

For almost ten years, we at Militzer & Münch France have been pursuing an investment plan. Over the past few years, we have implemented a number of measures to strengthen our global organization as well as sales and marketing, to expand our team and, above all, to improve our results. We put a lot of effort into promoting the Air & Sea product internally so as to make sure everyone within the Militzer & Münch France organization is familiar with it and to convince our existing and potential customers to place their orders with us. We can be proud of this achievement, which will help us to continue growing in the future.

 

What plans does Militzer & Münch France have for the future?

In the context of Militzer & Münch France’s diversification strategy, we expect Air & Sea to become one of our main products in the coming years. This is why we are building our Air & Sea development plan around several themes. They include the development of intra-group partnerships between Militzer & Münch and TransInvest to strengthen our own network, as well as the acquisition of agents in countries where the Militzer & Münch Group is not yet active. We are also planning to develop pure Air & Sea consolidation products (Air & Sea LCL). The Southwest Europe & Maghreb region is to be promoted with combined solutions between the Maghreb and the rest of the world via France, and our sales activities in France are to be strengthened. All these measures will help us navigate through these challenging times.

 

Are there any important projects in the pipeline for Militzer & Münch France?

There will be numerous challenges for our company in the area of digitalization and data management. To give an example, we need to embrace artificial intelligence as an opportunity and a serious tool that will help us to improve and speed up our decision-making processes.

 

What is your career background and what are your tasks at Militzer & Münch?

I have 15 years of experience in our industry. I started my career as a customs agent at a renowned company in France that focused exclusively on air and sea transportation. I later became a forwarding agent and team leader there. The start of my career coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, and I quickly learned that I had to constantly adapt and reinvent myself in this profession.

In April 2024, I will celebrate my 11th anniversary at Militzer & Münch France, and I can say that I have never been bored. Today, as Air & Sea Director, I am responsible for the organization and development of our product. I work from our office in Pusignan, Lyon, and head my own team there. I regularly visit all our offices in France so that I am always where the action is. Militzer & Münch France Air & Sea employs 30 colleagues in eight offices. We operate from ten customs airports and six ports in France. I also regularly support our subsidiaries ACTE International and ITPL with Air & Sea issues.

 

What do you like about your job? What makes Militzer & Münch a good employer?

In our industry, we are all driven by passion. This motivates us in our daily work, which is all about solving problems and mastering unexpected situations. What I like best is that there are always surprises. Routine is just not my thing! I enjoy spending time with our teams. I truly value the trustful and transparent cooperation with committed managers. At Militzer & Münch, teamwork and flexibility are very important, and we cultivate a real pioneering and family spirit. We promote innovation, and decisions are made in a fast and direct manner.

Most of our competitors are paralyzed by their large and cumbersome organizations. With us, this is not the case. Militzer & Münch’s global structure is dynamic and offers lots of opportunities for career development and mobility. When I participated in our Talent Management Programme, I noticed that this attitude is shared by many within the Group. No matter which country we come from, we all have the same values. This makes Militzer & Münch a successful company – and a great employer.

 

 

From Japan to Turkmenistan with 200 excavators and bulldozers

M&M Militzer & Münch Turkmenistan is involved in a major national transport project between the State Committee for Water Management of Turkmenistan and the Japanese trading company Itochu Corporation.

Between October 2022 and December 2023, the Militzer & Münch team participated in the transportation of a total of 200 earth-moving machines from Japan to Turkmenistan by sea and land. The 167 excavators and 23 Komatsu bulldozers were first shipped from Japan to the Turkish ports of Izmir and Derince on ro-ro ships. From there, they were transported by truck through Georgia and Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan. Spare parts and oils for the Komatsu machines were shipped by container from Japan to Turkmenistan via the port of Poti in Georgia.

The vehicles are intended for projects of the State Committee for Water Management of Turkmenistan. This involves the water supply of agricultural areas, the creation of additional water reserves, the construction of new barrier lakes and the expansion of the capacity of existing reservoirs.

In this major project, Militzer & Münch not only handled the transport, but also the inspection of the cargo, unloading, arrangement of import customs clearance and additional services on site as requested by the customer.

“We already have experience with transport projects for government agencies in the region. The renewed participation in a government project proves the reliability and excellent service of M&M Turkmenistan.”, says Nikolaus Kohler, Regional Managing Director Middle East / Central Asia. “I am more than convinced that with our experienced team we will be able to win over more customers and partners to place their trust in Militzer & Münch in Turkmenistan.”