UNIVERSITÉ CÔTE D'AZUR & THANG LONG UNIVERSITY Master of International Trade INTERNSHIP REPORT on A MARKET EXPANSION STRATEGY TO LAOS FOR LOGISTICS SERVICES OF SMARTLOG - NORTHERN BRANCH Submitted by: Nguyen Viet Phuong Class AMI11B (2019-2021) ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR COMPANY SUPERVISOR Dr. LE THANH BINH Mr. NGUYEN DUY HONG Dean of International Relation Office Chief Executive Officer – Northern Branch Thang Long University Smartlog Hanoi, October 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First, I would love to take this opportunity to thank Professor Le Thanh Binh for her knowledge, diligence and support. I cannot imagine how hard it is to complete this internship report without her amendment.
Secondly, I am so thankful to Smartlog’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer - Mr. Nguyen Duy Hong and Ms. Ngo Phuong Thao – Project Manager of Smartlog for giving me assistance to keep on track of the project and the internship. Also, all the colleagues in Smartlog company assist me with the culture of the company, the products, the customers, and other related issues.
No guide, no realization, I am showing my appreciation to all the MBA course professors. They are all great lectures who enlightened me from the zero-starting point to the MBA graduating student. Special thanks to all of them for their great knowledge, practical experiences, unconditional support and indulgence, I and my classmates have learnt a lot from their manner. Besides, I express my thanks to all the officers in Thang Long University, especially the International Relations Office for bringing this MBA course to Vietnam and supporting us with class schedules.
Finally, I am giving my thankfulness to all my MBA classmates for assisting me with all the difficult lessons and exercises. Also, my family and my friends always encourage me through this MBA hard time contributing to the success of this internship report. Thư viện ĐH Thăng Long ABSTRACT My internship lasts 4 months from June 01st 2021 to September 30th 2021 in Smartlog supply chain solutions joint-stock company. Expanding the business to new markets is necessary for every company to attract new customers, advertise the products, strengthen its reputation and brand.
Laos is bounded to the east by Vietnam and the market is quite the same, that is why I choose the topic “A market expansion business strategy to Laos for logistics services of Smartlog” During the internship, I have learnt a lot from Mr. Nguyen Duy Hong and Ms. Ngo Phuong Thao, especially for their management styles from critical thinking to problem-solving skills. As an intern of the research and development department, I also have the chances to attend several meetings of the company and provide some thought about the project.
My internship includes 5 chapters: Chapter one is the company background information. Chapter two is the detailed company structure and how it is organized. Chapter three is my mission and goals, the assigned tasks at the company. Chapter four is the development in which I will apply my knowledge to analyze and develop the topic.
Chapter five is the conclusion in which I provide my summary and the advantages together with drawbacks during this internship. My knowledge is still restrictive and the time for this report is limited; therefore, some mistakes still appear, and I will do my best to complete my report. Table of contents INTRODUCTION. History of development.
Vision and mission. Smartlog Transport Management (STM). Smartlog warehouse management system (SWM). Smartlog transport exchange system (STX).
Container optimization solutions platform (COS). COMPANY STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHART. General meeting of shareholders. Board of Management (BOM).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The intern’s position. THE MISSION - ASSIGNED TASKS AND GOALS. Tasks that are assigned.
The link between the subject matter and the intern’s mission. The goals to reach. The contribution that I can bring to the company. The Master course's subjects applied to this internship.
Political and Legal factor. 23 Thư viện ĐH Thăng Long 4. Poster’s 5 forces analysis. The threat of new entrants into the industry – Medium.
Bargaining power of suppliers – Low. Bargaining power of customers –Medium. The threat of substitute products - Low. Competition in the industry – High.
Contribution to the company. 39 List of Table. 40 List of figure. 41 INTRODUCTION Recently, with the development of 4.0 technology, every business field is being upgraded and fostered.
With the help of information technology, the world is conversing from traditional, manual ways of doing business to automation, digital transformation. We could name some of the apps that facilitate the industry: Grap, LOCA, Be (transport), Shopee, Lazada, Amazon, Taobao (E-commerce), Intercom (customer engagement), etc. As neighboring countries, Laos and Vietnam have many similarities such as politics, climate, society, etc. Moreover, with the landlocked strategic location in Southeast Asia, Laos is to become a developing country with an expanding scale of business especially transport and logistics.
The logistics industry – the backbone of the economy which helps to deliver products to customers is going to bounce strongly after the Covid-19. However, the price for logistics in Laos is still expensive. Smartlog with the success of its logistics products and services in Vietnam is going to find a new market for expansion. With those standpoints, I decided to choose Smartlog and Laos to develop the topic named: “A market expansion strategy to Laos for logistics services of Smartlog - Northern branch”.
This report is the result that I gained from my internship time. 1 Thư viện ĐH Thăng Long CHAPTER I. COMPANY BACKGROUND In this chapter, the background information of the company including the history of development, the company’s products and services, the target customers, and the basic financial data will be provided. Key information1 - Name of the company: Smartlog supply chain solutions joint-stock company.
- Abbreviated name: Smartlog - Established date: 08/04/2015 - Registered Charter Capital: 19.000 VND - Scope of business: Transport Management System including: • Smartlog Transport Management (STM) • Smartlog Warehouse Management (SWM) • Smartlog Transport Exchanges (STX) • Container Optimization Solutions (COS) - Number of staff: approximately 100 employees - Branches: ➢ Southern Regional Branch: District 2, Ho Chi Minh City (Head office) ➢ Northern Regional Branch: Ha Dong District, Hanoi Capital - Contact ➢ https://gosmartlog.com/?lang=en ➢ hr@gosmartlog. History of development In this industrial revolution 4.0, all services and products from producing to distributing are aimed at automation. However, the logistics sector remains unchanged in Indochina in general, and in Vietnam in particular. That is why Smartlog appears to upgrade the normal transport ecosystem to a digital, automatic, and optimized one.com 2 Milestone: 2015 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Joint Stock Company was established Jan 2016 STM - Smartlog Transport Management system solution was officially launched.
August 2016 Smartlog had called and received investment. December 2016 250,000 orders were transacted on Smartlog system. 2017 20+ Large enterprise, Third Party Logistics (3PL) used Transport Management System solutions (STM). March 2017 SWM - Smartlog Warehouse Management system solution was officially launched.
December 2017 1 million orders were transacted on Smartlog system. 2018 Artificial Intelligence (AI) was officially launched in Logistics with a team of 5 experts in algorithms and AI. 2019 STX - Smartlog Transport Exchange system solution was officially launched. March 2019 60+ Large enterprise, 3PL third party logistics used Smartlog ecosystem.
April 2019 The only Logtech Vietnam enterprise was honored with Sao Khue Award 2019 with STM Smartlog Transport Management Solution, reached the milestone of 15,000 trucks and containers circulating on the STM system. Jan 2020 Smartlog launched the optimal solution for empty containers: MT- REUSE, MT-RETURN June 2020 The only Logtech Vietnam unit to be honored with Sao Khue Award 2020 with SWM Smartlog Warehouse Management Solution. September 2020 100+ Large shippers, 3PLs used Smartlog logistics ecosystem solution. April 2021 Container Optimization Solutions platform (COS) won the title of Sao Khue 1.
Vision and mission 1. Vision Smartlog has a desire to become “the first integrated platform and ecosystem for logistics operations with the largest coverage in Vietnam and Southeast Asia” (Smartlog). The target of 3 Thư viện ĐH Thăng Long property in the upcoming 5 years reaches $100 million through the products/services of Smartlog and the chances of investment. Mission “Improving efficiency for all stakeholders in the supply chain by leveraging technology, people, and assets” is Smartlog’s mission (Smartlog).
By providing and storing the data on cloud computing technology at a low cost, Smartlog facilitates the transport process of other enterprises to be automated, flexible, optimal and easy to collaborate. Products/ Services Smartlog logistics platform has 4 main services that support the logistics customers, are Smartlog Transport Management (STM), Smartlog Warehouse Management (SWM), Smartlog Transport Exchanges (STX), Container Optimization Solutions (COS). These parts below will include definitions, procedures, roles and customers of each platform. Smartlog Transport Management (STM) Smartlog Transport Management STM is the comprehensive transport management solution on cloud computing technology service for two main customers including logistics firms, and enterprises with transport management.
The procedure of the service: Order management -> truck planning -> monitoring (track&trace) -> Document management -> KPI monitoring -> Billing/ Report -> Fleet management Figure 1. Description of STM system STM Product owners Drivers/ The transport process STM supports customers’ firms to manage, observe, automize the transport activities and minimize the cost of transport. STM also deploys and builds the solution to tackle the issues related to transport management and provides free upgrades for enterprises. Moreover, the system provides the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) from order, dispatch vehicle, monitoring, managing documents and payments.
With STM, the customers can manage transport activities easily, a business can track the whole transport efficiency with just one click. 4 The range of STM customers are: - Product owners: Indocean, Manuchar, Nutifood, etc - Third-party logistics (3PLs): Interlog, Gemadept logistics, TBS logistics, Vinafco, Sotrans, TMS, Tra-Sas, etc - Carriers: Giao Hang Nhanh, Tan Cang Shipping, etc 1. Smartlog warehouse management system (SWM) Smartlog warehouse management system is the platform that helps the product owners, warehouse owners manage their commodities effectively. Description of SWM system SWM Product owners Warehouse/ products SWM will track the goods through its transport process: Receiving the goods -> checking -> cross docking -> classifying goods -> packaging -> releasing goods.
SWM system also supports the customers to manage goods throughout the transport process: import, export, inventory, suggestions, automate tactics, optimize space and reduce errors. Especially, SWM helps to categorize goods by commodity codes, manufacture - expiration date by applying Average Cost (AVCO), First in First Out (FIFO) or Last in First Out (LIFO) methods which are practical improvements for warehouse management. Thanks to SWM, the status of inventory is constantly updated. Smartlog transport exchange system (STX) STX platform has the role of connecting the product owners (who want to transfer the products but have no vehicle) and the vehicle owners (the carriers).
Description of STX system STX Product owners Observe Vehicle owners 5 Thư viện ĐH Thăng Long Procedure: Receiving the order -> Checking -> Cross docking -> Classifying -> Packing -> Delivering. The goods will be observed 24/7 via the GPS tracking system and mobile app. The paying process of the customers is no longer than 45 days from order. The owner of goods, the owner of vehicles and the drivers could communicate through the STX system anytime.
Using STX, both product owners and vehicle owners can save cost, tracks the process easily and guarantee the orders to be on time. Container optimization solutions platform (COS) Finally, COS is the IT platform linking importers with exporters to minimize the number of empty containers, therefore, reduce shipping time and costs. Description of COS system COS Importers Exporters The procedure of COS service: Registering the platform - > Sending reuse container request from platform -> Approving requests by our partners The leading roles for COS users are to save the cost of empty containers, minimise the time of delivery, and improve the ability of goods transfer by empty containers.