Netlogix freight logistics founder Chin Abeywickrama is among finalists for New Zealand’s top entrepreneur award.
The 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards is to be held on September 27 at the Cordis, Auckland.
Abeywickrama quit what he describes as a comfortable job at Fonterra and sold his house to finance his new venture, Netlogix in 2012.
The technology-based freight logistic company services clients across Australia and New Zealand.
Netlogix’s foundation customer was Carter Holt Harvey and current clients include Oji Fibre Solutions, Fletcher Building, and Steel & Tube.
The business shifts more than three million tonnes of freight a year through more than 300 corridors.
It operates by collaborating with freight owners and carriers, targeting “inherent inefficiencies” in the freight-forwarding transport market.
Abeywickrama says his company brings “sustainable freight efficiencies that owners and carriers cannot bring acting on their own”.
Freight can be moved via rail, road or coastal shipping.
It also shifts significant numbers of trucks off the roads by “directionally and seasonally optimising the freight across New Zealand”.
The system works for both large freight-forwarders and small to medium-sized businesses.
Netlogix offers a centralised freight desk where operators can access a network of carriers with a single point of contact.
Netlogix’s freight network gives carriers greater operational certainty and better use of assets and truck allocation.
Abeywickrama says the business has seen significant growth in the past five years.
In 2013, the business serviced 35 transport operators and just over 100 customer sites. Today, there are more than 500 customer sites and 200 carriers on its books.
