Standardization of supply chain equipment 'vital'

China needs to speed up the way its supply chain is being standardized if the efficiency of logistics is to be improved and costs reduced, said the head of a leading US logistics company.

Slowing economic growth in China makes efficiency more necessary than ever, said Peter Mackie, group president of Chep Pallets, a logistics solutions company specializing in the management of standardized unit-load equipment.

"Logistics in China is very fragmented," Mackie said. "So you have a very large number of single operators who operate with pallets and trucks of very different shapes and sizes.