Running a business in the fashion industry is a considerable challenge, and success in this industry often depends on a good understanding of its specifics and the ability to adapt to its needs. The same applies to the business partners you choose to support you in this industry. High and diverse customer expectations, frequently changing needs, seasonality, assortment diversity, and the need to respond flexibly to market demands should all be well understood by fashion business partners.

Our aim as a supply chain partner for the fashion industry is to take as many duties off the customer as possible so that they can concentrate on their core business and rely on us not only for transport and logistics but also for many other additional supply chain services.

Besides our standard services for all types of custom transport, warehousing, customs formalities, and so on, we also offer a whole range of additional services that support unique fashion industry demands.

These value-added services can include:
• Unpacking goods, attaching hangers, and placing in the correct arrangement on hanging racks or shelves
• Labeling and tagging
• Applying an alarm button to each item of clothing
• Kitting
• Preparation of size packs in foil sleeves
And many other tasks depending on our customers’ needs.

We also offer additional services for high-value fashion products. These can include but are not limited to securing products with silk paper, extra shipment security, adding labels to packages, and any other added-value our customer requires.

Our team has a wealth of supply chain experience and understands this market’s needs and characteristics, so we can offer you a service perfectly suited to your needs. We aim to provide you with the kind of support that will enable you to focus on your business and rely entirely on us for all of your supply chain needs.

Contact a Ziegler fashion supply chain specialist and find out how we can support you in your business.

Ziegler was founded 113 years ago in Brussels, Belgium. Since then, a lot has changed. The company has grown and developed. Ziegler now has branches in more than 15 countries. Belgium, however, is still where the headquarters is located as well as the operational activities of several branches.

Learn more about the characteristics and specialization of some of the Ziegler branches in Belgium.

Ziegler Aalst

Ziegler Aalst serves customers in a wide variety of industries including fashion, food, automotive and technical industries. It also helps with transporting goods such as textiles, food, clothing, lingerie, and wine on a daily basis. They transport goods mainly between southern Europe and Belgium. You can count on their daily arrivals and departures in Spain and Italy and at least two departures a week to Portugal and Greece. Ziegler Aalst has its own fleet of 50 trucks which are all equipped with loading ramps.

The wide variety of customer industries served by this branch has resulted in a high level of flexibility in the ability to adapt the warehousing conditions to the needs of each customer.

Contact:

Wijngaardveld 3

9300 Aalst

+32 053 / 78.71.72

jean-pierre_caignau@zieglergroup.com

Ziegler Kortrijk

Ziegler Kortrijk is known for their daily shipments for groupage, FTL, and LTL to France, Switzerland, and Italy thanks to a combination of direct back and forth transports and an extensive network of freight correspondents.

They cooperate with companies in a wide variety of industries, from heavy industrial machinery, general machinery, and machine parts for medical equipment, through to wood, glass, construction, and textile products. They also have extensive experience in transporting chemicals and hazardous materials as well as storage and full logistics services of these products. The warehousing solutions are always tailored to the needs of the product and the customer.

Contact:

Transportcentrum LAR – Blok B1

8930 Menen-Rekkem

+32 56 / 43.12.20

ziegler_kortrijk@zieglergroup.com

Ziegler Gent

Besides regular departures to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, Ziegler Gent has the most frequent transport operations with the UK and Ireland, which is still true in 2021. Even now after Brexit you can benefit from their daily road departures to the UK and export/import for groupage, LTL, and FTL.

Ziegler Gent is equally experienced in the transportation and storage of harmless and dangerous chemicals, machinery, textiles, and medical devices.

They also offer dedicated supply chain solutions for their partners.

Contact:

Wiedauwkaai 7

9000 Gent

+32 09 / 264.08.11

z_gent@zieglergroup.com

Ziegler Welkenraedt

Ziegler Welkenraedt specializes in supply chain management for companies mainly in the construction, manufacturing, clothing, and automotive industries. They transport nearly all types of goods with the exception of chemicals and dangerous goods. Their own fleet, including special vehicles such as carriers and seedlings with tailgates, and almost a hundred employees at the branch enable them to offer daily departures for groupage, LTL, and FTL within Belgium and to other European countries.

Contact:

rue Mitoyenne 897

4840 Welkenreedt

+32 087 / 59.22.11

ziegler_welkenraedt@zieglergroup.com

It is worth keeping in mind that Ziegler Group operates a close-knit global network with 154 branches in more than 15 countries. In a further 80 countries, it cooperates closely with partner companies. This ensures close cooperation between the branches within a country as well as between countries. This results in a continuous exchange of experience, shared order processing, and division of tasks. This way, regardless of which Ziegler branch you contact, what industry or country you operate in, you can count on a comprehensive supply chain service and an offer that is always completely tailored to your needs.

Rail freight was historically the most popular form of goods delivery. With the growth of ocean freight and the introduction of air freight options, it is no longer usually the first choice of customers. But it’s worth taking advantage of the benefits it offers, especially with the reduced capacity of sea and air transport.

With rail freight between China and Europe, we can offer a fast and reliable alternative to air and sea freight. You can benefit from high departure frequency, increased flexibility, and often shorter transit times compared to sea transport. Rail transport is also more cost-effective and offers greater capacity than air transport. It is also the most environmentally friendly of all transport solutions.

Get answers to the most frequently asked questions about rail transportation.

How many departures are there per week?
This varies depending on the country. Usually, there are several departures a week on specific days of the week (for example, in Belgium, there are three or four departures a week depending on the season). In other countries, departures are planned on an ongoing basis depending on seasonal demand. Your Ziegler consultant will be happy to provide you with all the details.

What kinds of goods are transported to and from China with rail freight?
Everything except dangerous goods can be transported this way.

Is it possible to transport with controlled temperatures?
Yes, rail freight offers temperature-controlled conditions.

What is the maximum volume that the trains can handle?
The maximum volume is 41×40 HQ per train (max. 23 tonnes per container).

What kind of cargo consolidation do you offer?
We offer both Full Container Load (FCL) and Less-than-Container Loads (LCL).

Are there any stops between the departure point in Europe and China?
Yes, for formal reasons, there are two border stops in Poland and Kazakhstan.

Is it also possible to carry rail transport to other countries in Asia?
At the moment rail transport is only available between Europe and China.

What is the transit time?
Usually around 16 days.

Is the Track and Trace option available for the customer?
Yes, goods are tracked by GPS and all data is updated daily.

If you’re looking for economical and time-efficient transport for your goods, rail transport can answer your needs. Transit times are at least half those of ocean freight, and the price is often virtually the same. Contact a Ziegler rail-transport consultant and discover how rail freight can help your business.

Anyone who deals significantly in trade between the UK and the EU has been waiting for the beginning of 2021 apprehensively. The transition period for the UK’s participation in the European Union Customs Union and European Single Market ended on December 31, 2020, creating a new European reality. A reality made all the more problematic as it is fraught with insecurity and many question marks.

Until today, only some of the conditions for cooperation between the European Union countries and the United Kingdom have been definitively established, and there is still uncertainty about all applicable regulations or documents concerning imports and exports. The situation is changing very dynamically. Every day new agreements between the countries of the EU and the UK are being signed, and new regulations and rules are being introduced.

Trade, transport, logistics, customs, and tax management under these conditions is a great challenge. At Ziegler Group we have been working continuously for many weeks on solutions to enable the smooth flow of our customers’ goods between the UK and EU countries. Ziegler’s logistics expert groups in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and other European countries work continuously to analyze changing regulations and to exchange knowledge and experience. These multinational team efforts help us to analyze regulations from different sources, compare agreements, and develop a coherent system of document circulation and procedures. Although with such a rapidly changing situation, it is difficult to establish procedures of any kind.

That is why we have appreciated our business flexibility and ability to adapt dynamically to new situations. We would like to assure you that within Ziegler Group we are doing our utmost to keep our knowledge of the regulations and required procedures related to import and export to the UK up-to-date, and are continuously adapting our solutions to match current regulations to provide you with efficient and effective services.

We are aware that there are still many efforts, challenges, and work to do ahead of us in this area. However, with our multinational teams working together to adapt and deliver the best possible solutions, we are confident we can help you navigate all your import/export needs between the UK and the EU in 2021. If you wish to consult us on anything relating to transport to or from the UK, please contact our experts at our European branches.

Belgium brexit_BE@zieglergroup.com

France brexit_FR@zieglergroup.com

Germany brexit.DE@zieglergroup.com

The Netherlands brexit_NL@zieglergroup.com

UK:

Durham Brexit_UK_Durham@zieglergroup.com

Gateway Brexit_UK_LondonGateway@zieglergroup.com

Bradford Brexit_UK_Bradford@zieglergroup.com

Warrington Brexit_UK_Warrington@zieglergroup.com

Tamworth Brexit_UK_Tamworth@zieglergroup.com

Northampton Brexit_UK_Northampton@zieglergroup.com

Newport Brexit_UK_Newport@zieglergroup.com

Peterborough Brexit_UK_Peterborough@zieglergroup.com

Portsmouth Brexit_UK_Portsmouth@zieglergroup.com

Please also visit our website where we share our current knowledge related to Brexit.

In English https://www.zieglergroup.com/brexit/
In French https://www.zieglergroup.com/brexit-fr/
In Dutch https://www.zieglergroup.com/brexit-nl/
In German https://www.zieglergroup.com/brexit-de/

We are grateful for your trust and understanding and believe that by continuing to work hand-in-hand on this topic we can work out optimal solutions.

Special edition of the magazine on how the Ziegler Group is adapting to offer new digital solutions to customers and support their business even better through innovative products.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit many industries and companies hard and painfully. It has brought anxiety to our professional and personal spheres. However, like any crisis, it also offers important lessons for us to learn and opportunities to take advantage. For the Ziegler Group, it was an excellent opportunity to accelerate our digital transformation and adjust our roadmap to support our customers and partners better in this changing environment.

For most other freight forwarders, increasing efficiency and productivity is the main goal of their digital transition. However, our primary focus in this process is customer-centric. We strongly believe that the development of our digital capabilities must contribute to making our customers successful.

We are happy to release this special edition of the Ziegler Group magazine, fully dedicated to the theme of the ongoing digital transformation that is occurring within our organization. We still have significant changes ahead of us. As we modernize our operating practices, we are looking to also raise the bar for the rest of our industry.

December is often the time for summaries. As the year draws to an end, we are tempted to reflect and recapitulate. This year it has so much meaning because the year was so unprecedented. Unexpected, but also bringing new possibilities; challenging, but proving our strength; unpredictable, but allowing us to emphasize our flexibility.

Today, as 2020 draws to a close, and we reflect on all the wonderful work we have done, we wish to thank all Ziegler employees and associates. We are grateful for the enormous commitment, positive attitude, and ways in which we together proved we could change and adapt to every new situation. These attributes of our company are of priceless value.

Our knowledge and experience were used to help fight the pandemic. We delivered millions of face masks and other medical supplies to hospitals, pharmacies, and enterprises. We leveraged our rail freight capability to mitigate air freight and ocean freight capacity shortage.
In this hard time, we did not stop in our efforts to further develop. In May we moved into a new headquarters in the UK, and a month later we strengthened our position at Liège Airport (LGG) by acquiring Transports Rademaker with an excellent location in Grâce Hollogne at the end of the Liège Airport runway. Then, in October, we moved to new facilities at the Brussels airport.

This year, we also took great steps towards the digitization and further expansion of the Ziegler Group through the creation of the new ZieglerLabs in Poland – the center of excellence for digitalization and innovation.

There are no words to express our gratitude to our customers and partners, who have been standing by us through the year, working hard and looking for the best solutions side-by-side. You have made it possible for us to give as much of ourselves as possible, you have not lost your confidence and kept a positive mindset with us. This is our united success!

2021 will be a year of further interesting developments for the Ziegler Group, which we look forward to with excitement.
Meanwhile, for the upcoming festive season, we wish you a lot of peace and rest. May this time allow you to break away from the daily chase, and may it be full of joy and time spent with your loved ones. And let the New Year bring only good news!

Alain Ziegler                                           Diane Govaerts
President                                                Chief Executive Officer

According to the most recent market intelligence, about two-third of companies are affected more or less by supply chain disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic. That number is expected to rise.

Production capacity in China and other Asian countries is slowly increasing and shipping companies are trying to compensate for the container imbalance by sending empty containers back to Asia.

At Ziegler, we will help you to better manage your supply chain and adapt to the disruption that may occur. We have a few tips to help you manage this difficult supply chain situation.

1. Market conditions in the area of customs, shipping costs, and space availability are currently changing rapidly. Our Ziegler experts are up to date and in the best position to assess your needs and find the best solution for your business. We recommend that you use their help.
2. Try to plan and book your freight as much in advance as possible, as this will help to secure the cargo space of the aircraft/sea. It is recommended to book cargoes at least 2-3 weeks before the expected due date. This will help to manage the cargo flow and add a buffer for possible delays.
3. Explore our warehouse and logistics centers that can help you potentially ship your goods faster to the point of sale or simply store them until possible dispatch.

To find out more about our offer, that may help you to create end-to-end solutions tailored to your needs, please contact us.

The rail connection between Zhengzhou ( Province of Henan ) and Liège and back ( silk road ) was resumed by the end of March. Ziegler offers 2 departures a week in both directions with a transit time of 15 days ( calendar ). This offer concerns FCL and LCL shipments and in both ways ( Westbound and Eastbound ).

Furthermore, we offer an end-to-end service including:

• pick up/delivery in China and Europe
• customs operations
• consolidation
• palletization
• B/L

In these difficult times , we see that the rail offer from or to China is a real alternative to air or sea. More and more customers have tried the rail solution with China and they are satisfied.

For rate inquiry and other questions, please contact us.

As a partner of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) since 2007, Ziegler Wine & Spirits Bordeaux is in charge of the packaging and transport of wines that will be presented in various events all over the world.

With 80 events in 15 countries and 134 renowned members, the Union des Grands Crus is with no doubt the most important institution dedicated to spreading the reputation of the wines of Bordeaux.

Many times a year, the delegation gathers its members to events all over Asia, America and Europe. For several days, estate owners and directors of operations meet with professionals and amateurs of the wines of Bordeaux.

Each event leads to a tasting in which the wines are served in a precise order, depending on which wine estates are represented and on the consumption habits of the country.

Yearly tastings in 65 cities

‘In New York for example, we would start with white Graves, before following with wines of Pessac. Then we continue with the East of Bordeaux, we go up the Medoc region and finish with the Sauternes. The wines thus need to be set in a certain order and well separated in order to be served at the right temperature’, project manager Olivier Crombez illustrates.

The preparation is done in the warehouse of Ziegler Wine and Spirits in Bordeaux. A few days before the departure of the delegation, they receive all the vintages that will be presented throughout the tour. That’s about ten thousand bottles for the United States alone, with a hundred participating estates and up to twelve tastings per week.

A meticulous organisation

Ziegler’s mission? Prepare for each step of the tour one or several pallets containing the exact number of wines needed for the tasting. In order to do that, Ziegler sorts out and repacks all of the bottles. Each UGCB cardboard box gets a specific label, edited by Ziegler W&S, that states its content and the exact position of the bottles in it.

At the end of the process, the pallet for the Sotheby event in New York opens on a cardboard box containing white Graves and ends on Sauternes, in accordance with the instructions sent by the Union.

Centralised informations

The Primeurs Week organised each Spring in Bordeaux is the peak of this perfectly organised race. ‘Since the wines are still in the ageing process, the châteaus only withdraw their samples 24 to 48 hours before the tasting. We thus need to centralise the wines and sort them all within a very short period of time, knowing that we organise tastings in various places every day”, Olivier Crombez explains.

This sorting and identification task done by Ziegler offers the Union a great visibility on the entire supply chain, with checks at every delivery and many possibilities of pallet control.

Once the delegation has left for Los Angeles, Hong-Kong or Vietnam, the estate owners can come to Ziegler if they’re worrying about an eventual omission. ‘There is always something unexpected that comes up in the event industry, especially when hundreds of potential clients are gathering in a prestigious venue on the other side of the world. But in terms of tastings, there is no margin for error’, Olivier Crombez sums up.

‘This perfectly organised logistics process is the result of many exchanges between the UGCB and our offices in Bordeaux. We are proud to share this accomplishment today’, Ziegler Regional Executive Manager Quentin Grandière comments.