An established entity in China and a growing force in the U.S., Amass inaugurated inbound services from India and Peru to the U.S. in recent months. The company plans further expansions in the near future.
Amass, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Shanghai, operates a network of 53 offices and 13 inland hubs in China servicing the less-than-containerload trade into the U.S. as well as other destinations globally. After four years of working the U.S. trade through agents, the company opened an office in Los Angeles in 2008 and a New York office in 2011.
"We are the largest neutral consolidator from China to the U.S. market," said Bryan Jay, national sales director of Amass International Group (New York) Inc. "But we are not as well-known as our competitors, although we have more sailings and more direct services than any other NVO plying this trade." Amass handled nearly 32,000 LCL shipments from China in 2012 to 13 direct destinations in the U.S.
The India and Peru expansions were developed in response to customer needs and "made good sense," said Jay. "We found agents that matched our view of the market and we decided to cooperate with them." The India service started lat December and the Peru began in August of last year.
India, of course, is the bigger opportunity for Amass and came as "customers were looking for an alternative service out of India to add to the other NVOCCs operating there," said Jay. "They liked the level of service they saw from us in the China business and wanted to see if we could fulfill their need for an additional inbound from India."
Amass prides itself on the service levels it provides. "We have our own offices in China, our own brand, and our own products," said Jay. "We provide a high level of service from origin to destination. Amass employees handle the whole process and our computer systems are linked so that information is flowing through the whole time."
Amass also manages over 120,000 square meters of warehousing space in China and "we are one of the few NVOCCs that offer dangerous goods consolidation from Shanghai," said Jay.
Amass' services in India are handled by Airmark Logistics, a company which has "a fairly thorough inland network in India," said Jay. Textiles are the dominant product coming in from India. Amass provides inbound services from India to New York and Los Angeles.
"Peru is more of a niche market," said Jay. "Some of our customers were interested in a new service and we joined forces with agent down there that made sense."
Amass' future plans include an expansion into Europe. "We are working on relationships there that will give us a much broader reach," said Jay, "while we maintain the high level of service we demand for our company and our customers."
