Dimerco Express Group
Connecting Asia with the World

November 21, 2022

By

Richard Armstrong & Jenny Sun

Key Personnel:

Mr. Jeffrey Shih, Chief Executive Management
Ms. Catherine Chien, Head of Digital Marketing & Consultant
Mr. Jack Ruan, VP for Investment and Investor Relations Management Ms. Wendy Chien, Managing Director of Contract Logistics
Mr. Michael Law, Director, Contract Logistics

Dimerco Overview

Dimerco is a strong international freight forwarder with extensive integrated operations mainly in Southeast Asia and China. With 51 years of history, Dimerco now has over 2,000 employees worldwide, 300 offices, 150+ company owned offices and 80+ logistics centers in 67 countries, with 76 operating units in Greater China, 37 self-owned networks in Southeast Asia, 15 operating units in Northeast Asia, 16 in the U.S., 3 in Canada and 10 in Europe.

Dimerco expanded its revenue by 79% in 2021 growing to $1.4 billion on a mix of air and ocean freight, value added warehousing, intra-China and Southeast Asia transportation management and other 3PL activities. The three main segments of Dimerco’s business – air, ocean freight and contract logistics account for 55.2%, 38.2% and 6.6%, respectively, of its total business. Dimerco has a very strong foundation in Southeast Asia and has been building its global networks, especially in North America and Europe. Asia accounts for 76% of its total revenue, mainly in Greater China. North America, its second largest market, generates 19.6% of its revenue. Near 45% of its revenue comes from high-tech customers, mainly in the semiconductor, electronics, and med-tech industries.

Dimerco is an Asia-centric digital freight forwarder with U.S. and Europe reach, focusing on the high-tech industry, as well as providing comprehensive and integrated services to help customers react to the constantly-changing and unpredictable market on a timely manner.

  1. With its focus on “Connect Asia with the World”, Dimerco is a great choice for companies, especially high-tech companies, with supply chains that run through Asia. Its credentials include being named:
  • A top 20 forwarder by volume with all major Asian airlines, including Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Eva Air, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines while having block space agreements (BSAs) with these carriers, providing Dimerco with additional capacity to support its continuous and time-critical air freight services.
  • A top 25 global air freight forwarder by volume by Armstrong & Associates, Inc.
  • A top 10 Asia-based air freight forwarder by volume by Armstrong & Associates, Inc.
  • Airfreight Forwarder of the Year for three consecutive years by Air Cargo Week.
  • A top 20 forwarder by volume with major Asian ocean carriers, including COSCO Shipping, Evergreen, ONE, SITC, Wan Hai and Yang Ming, while competing well on ocean lanes originating in Asia.
  1. Focusing on the high-tech industry with a large high-tech customer base:
  • Dimerco has over 350 active customers in the semiconductor industry alone, with many more (including the very largest players) in related high-tech sectors.
  • Dimerco’s multi-year average for on-time delivery of time-critical shipments in the tech sector stands at 98+%.
  • Dimerco provides full product lifecycle support for tech customers, from vendor managed inventory (VMI) inbound logistics solutions that feed components to the manufacturing line, to after sale service parts distribution solutions where it operates service parts depots across multiple continents.
  1. Dimerco’s digital freight forwarding and logistics technology “Dimerco Value Plus System®” has a full suite of supply chain management applications in the cloud while Dimerco has a secure, cloud-based global operating system installed across all Dimerco locations allowing clear, real-time communications with all data and documents residing in the system as well as automated workflows with highly accurate, paperless processing. With a continued focus on the digital transformation of the supply chain, Dimerco keeps strengthening IT capabilities and successfully received both ISO 27001 and NIST CSF certification for Cyber Security in 2021.
  • Dimerco invests 3.5% of net revenue yearly to maintain a highly advanced visibility and reporting portal (MyDimerco).
  • Dimerco’s in-house development team has milestone updates that feed directly into the customer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system (via simple API) so the customer does not have to access multiple systems to manage its supply chain.
  • Mobile apps used by truckers and warehouse personnel ensure more real-time visibility throughout the distribution cycle.

4. Dimerco provides an integrated air/ocean/customs brokerage/contract logistics (especially bonded warehousing across the Asia Pacific) solution while most providers are focused on the transportation only. More and more customers are looking for that integrated solution to streamline their supply chains and achieve better visibility.

Customer Case Studies

Here are some client examples of Dimerco solutions:

  • One large, China-based auto parts manufacturer was challenged to quickly establish a supply line from its China factory to its client’s giga factory in Austin, Texas, including an inbound/outbound warehouse with an assembly line, within one hour to the factory. Dimerco identified an ideal space (50,000-60,000 sq. ft.) near the factory in the tight U.S. real estate market with a customized IT solution, an integrated sea freight solution, and warehouse management.
  • For the world’s largest power supply product manufacturer, Dimerco provided guidance on the customs duty and tax implications at a new factory in Bangalore, India. Based on Dimerco’s advice, the company was able to cut 10% off an Extra Duty Deposit — a six-figure net savings — and enjoy hassle-free movement of all machinery from China to India without a physical examination or customs queries.
  • One of the world’s leading semiconductor parts manufacturers had a shortage of a critical raw material which was temp-controlled, dangerous goods. This situation put the customer at the edge of shutting down the production at its Philippine factory. The customer asked Dimerco to handle a shipment that other freight forwarders couldn’t address at that time. The pandemic flight restrictions required multi-leg, multi-carrier air routes and this shipment needed a maintained temperature of -18°C during the trip from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila and Cebu. With Dimerco’s coordination, the shipment arrived in six days preventing a production shutdown for the customer.
  • Many factories shut down in Vietnam with the COVID outbreaks in 2021. When production ramped up, demand was far exceeding supply. The holiday season sales for a fast fashion clothing brand were threatened by 2-3 weeks delay in air shipments from Vietnam to the U.S. Dimerco secured new capacity out of the Bangkok Airport and coordinated the cross-border trucking from the Vietnamese factories to the airport, avoiding millions of dollars potential loss for this customer.
  • During the COVID outbreaks in 2022, a freight partner’s operations system shutdown created a sudden need for Dimerco to manage an additional 450 shipments in two weeks. The quick turnaround by Dimerco’s U.S. team helped satisfy all the inbound shipment needs of this customer.

We expect Dimerco to have consistent growth over the next decade and continue to be a major 3PL further connecting Asia with the world.

Sources: A&A Primary Research, http://www.dimerco.com/