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Published on January 2, 2008

Nopporn Thepsithar, senior vice president for logistics and export, said the move was one of several planned distribution changes.

The country's second-largest cement producer has a capacity of 12.5 million tonnes a year, of which 7.6 million tonnes are sold domestically.

Nopporn said the company would encourage its distributors to offer services to SCCC clients, such as cement agents.

Lorry carriers, he added, would be divided into zones.

"Inland carriers should take care not only of SCCC, but also its clients - cement agents - nationwide," he said, adding that doing this would help develop carriers - mainly locally owned companies - into third-party logistics-service providers.

Nopporn said if cement agents faced problems, the company would, too. The company will benefit if distributors can meet cement agent demands quickly.

He said the company helped carriers manage routes and timetables with a Bt20-million software program that linked all concerned with transport information. He said without the technology, it would be more difficult for distributors to connect with clients.

Apart from SCCC, the lorry carriers can provide services to other clients more efficiently.

Key factors for success for distribution are consistency, reliability, quality, human resources and technology, said Nopporn.

SCCC earlier asked distributors to seek certification by both the International Organisation for Standardisation and the Thai Industrial Standards Institute.

Sasithorn Ongdee, The Nation