CHRW launches new group focused on chemical sector

Global logistics services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW) said this week it has rolled out a new division focused on providing logistics services to global chemical manufacturing and distribution customers.

Entitled ChemSolutions, CHRW officials said that the new division provides various services, including chemical bulk shipping, safety and sustainability, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, vendor and supplier compliance, global trade management, and multimodal transportation.

And the company added that ChemSolutions has earned RC14001 certification, which combines Responsible Care and ISO 14001 certifications into a single process based on an international standard globally accepted by chemical shippers.

In an interview with LM at this week’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference in Atlanta, Taylor Nicks, CHRW’s ChemSolutions manager, said that the company’s customer base expressed interest in expanding their relationship with CHRW, with chemicals being an area they wanted to see CHRW expand into.

“One of the ways some of our large chemical shipper customers said they wanted to see us do it was to get Responsible Care certification from the American Chemistry Council,” said Nicks. “That was more than a two-year process…and in December 2011 we received that certification. It is something we are really proud of, because we are one of the first 3PLs to get the RC 14001 certification. We are endorsing the same guiding principles and processes as actual shipper companies that are specific to the chemical industry.”

When the certification was secured, Hicks said CHRW took steps to focus in on the chemical sector to create new opportunities for the company in the form of the new ChemSolutions division.

Through the new division, Hicks said CHRW is taking steps with individual customers to see where it can best provide value to them and augment their transportation and supply chain efficiency.

“It also comes with a broad range of services,” he said. “Not only can we take the science of chemical logistics as an inherent risk with certain types of movements, it really can help and impact the safety and security of the environment in many ways, so what you need is to have a precise combination of knowledge, expertise, and specialized equipment to be able to execute for each customer. We are viewing this service in terms of executing transportation globally and also from a global perspective and a management perspective and offering complete end-to-end services through things like optimization and delivery and freight payment services.”

This new offering, explained Nicks, is able to leverage a specific knowledge base geared towards chemical manufacturers and apply it to other sectors such as global forwarding to accentuate and expand on the services it is already providing to its customers.