HP Blazes a New Route Out of China

Tired of dealing with slow ships and congested ports to get your product out of China? Why not take the train? That's what Hewlett-Packard Co. did. In fact, the consumer-electronics giant forged a whole new path for getting manufactured goods from its Chinese factories to markets in Western Europe. The move followed a shift by the company of factory capacity into inland and western China, a response to growing congestion within the country's industrial zones along the coast. Then HP had to overcome the additional cost and logistical complexities of sourcing from a remote region of the Chinese interior. The answer: placing its containers aboard the Trans-Eurasia Railway, for a journey of more than 6,700 miles. Ronald Kleijwegt, HP's director of logistics for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explains how the company came up with the innovative plan, and what it has saved in logistics costs and time to market.