DHL-Oxford delivers millions of textbooks to 3,000 schools

THE DHL-Oxford University Press (OUP) partnership has delivered two million textbooks to 3,000 primary schools in Papua New Guinea.
The OUP is the key textbook provider contracted by the education department which also won a grant from EuropeAid to revamp the national primary school English curriculum.
The first shipment departed from the Yantian China Oxford Hub, sailing through PNG’s ports of Lae and Port Moresby to the delivery points at the provincial headquarters.
The delivery was completed within three weeks – faster than the estimated two to three months it would typically take to deliver 56,000 cartons.
Vice-president of international supply chain at DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific Garrick Pold said DHL’s
extensive global network and logistics capabilities enabled the swift and successful delivery of the textbooks.
“We are pleased to partner with OUP and contribute to PNG’s national effort in revamping the primary school curriculum,” he said.
Due to the challenging nature of the rural environment, DHL used waterproof materials such as wax paper, individual plastic bag wrapping and waxed boxes to transport the textbooks.
Special 10ft containers were also used to resolve the challenges of the inaccessibility of transport vehicles in such rural areas.
OUP supply chain manager Malcolm Fairbrother said being a leading publisher of educational materials, “we take pride in producing strong, diverse reference resources for a global audience”.
“We have been in partnership with DHL for five years. The textbooks will support the educational needs of so many children,” he added.