Why B&H Worldwide remains a leading provider of logistics solutions across the aviation industry
Focused exclusively on the aviation and aerospace market, B&H Worldwide (B&H) is a leading provider of comprehensive time critical logistics solutions across the globe. With more than 35 years of experience, B&H is recognized as the independent market leader, delivering a suite of services designed to meet bespoke customer requirements.
As an independent business, B&H boasts the ability to work with each client to select the optimal network for express or freight requirements. Because B&H is not limited to specific suppliers, B&H’s customers can choose networks to best suit their specific service requirements. To learn more about the advantages of working with B&H, we sit down with Gary Wilson, Group Managing Director.
“B&H has been delivering time-critical logistics solutions to the aerospace and aviation sector for more than 30 years, serving a range of customers from airlines to OEMs and lessors,” Gary opens. “With a global footprint, we work around the clock, seven days a week, to provide our valued customers with a range of services, including time-critical shipments, warehouse and inventory management, onboard courier, charters, and trade compliance services to assist our customers within an ever-evolving regulatory environment.
Customer-centric service
“As we are 100 percent dedicated to the aerospace and aviation market, we like to think of ourselves as the thought leaders of the industry in terms of solutions we offer. We’ve built in-depth knowledge of the industry over the years, which enables us to truly understand the problems our customers are facing and the solutions they’re looking for. We’re a very customer-centric organization and we deliver genuine value to our customers through mutually beneficial longstanding partnerships.”
With global uncertainty over the last few years, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation, and geopolitical tensions, the aerospace and aviation industry has navigated its fair share of challenges. “To thrive in this sector, businesses need to do two things – remain agile and be consistent,” Gary states. “Firstly, the ability to adapt and pivot is crucial, especially as market demands and expectations are constantly evolving. Being consistent is equally important; we strive to ensure that our customers can rely on us around the clock, and we can only do this by consistently delivering high-quality services.
“Another way we’ve stayed ahead of the market is by adopting innovative technologies. We have our own proprietary platform, FirstTRAC, which has been built from the ground up specifically for the aerospace and aviation market. The feedback from customers has been excellent; the platform is very easy to navigate and focuses on what’s important to those working in the industry.
“FirstTRAC gives us a key advantage over our competitors, providing customers with greater visibility, availability, and efficiency, as well as enabling better inventory management. We’re continuing to develop and improve the platform, and we’re currently working to make it available for mobile devices to offer greater functionality.
“Discussions about ‘big data’ are still relevant, but we must also consider the ways in which we can interpret data and use such information to make meaningful, data-driven decisions,” he continues. “It is also important that our industry remains driven by solutions. At B&H, we appreciate that all our customers are different, operating with varying strategies and requirements, and our ability to adapt and support customers in whatever way best suits them is key to our success.”
Strong partnerships
In recent months, B&H has won several new contracts with a number of customers including Unical Aviation, Advantage Future Tech, and Flair Airlines. “These contracts are great examples of how we provide tailored, bespoke solutions to our customers,” Gary says. “We’ve provided mainly freight time-critical shipments for Flair Airlines, whereas Advantage Future Tech is utilizing our warehouse facilities in the US alongside the FirstTRAC platform. Lastly, for Unical Aviation, we’re providing a combination of both freight solutions and warehouse facilities. Although these three contracts are new additions to our portfolio, we’ve already formed strong partnerships as we do with all our customers.
Price and performance
“The majority of players in the industry are grappling with the service versus price dilemma, questioning whether they prioritize cost over quality. We must recognize this debate and try to find a balance between price and performance. Reliability is crucial in this sector and most of our customers are willing to acknowledge that in some cases, quality must override price. However, we must also provide competitively priced solutions that simultaneously deliver exceptional quality and value for money.”
With this industry dynamic in mind, Gary turns to B&H’s plans for the future. “It’s all about maintaining our competitive advantage,” he states. “We’re investing heavily in innovation, people and growth strategy. For example, we’ve successfully automated our manual invoicing process, which now means that around 70 percent of our supplier invoices are untouched by human hands, enabling greater efficiency and accuracy. We’ll continue to develop other technology platforms and processes around automation and embrace new technologies as they emerge to keep us moving forward. We also plan to expand our footprint across the globe and we’re currently tracking emerging markets through a channel partner program.
“Having bounced back from the financial crisis and a global pandemic, the aviation and aerospace market has shown itself to be incredibly resilient,” Gary concludes. “We have a solid three-year plan based on three pillars: people, innovation, and growth. These factors will guide us in our goal to be the clear market leader in our field within the next five years.”