Managing the forces of supply and demand for Macau's booming economy is critical for profitability and jobs. Most hotel and casino visitors probably don't think too much about supply chain management. They might not even know what it is. But any business manager will tell you it is crucial to success. Supply chain management is the art and science of getting materials and products from one place to the other most efficiently. Every truck on the roads, container on a ship or train, or towel hanging in a hotel bathroom is part of a complex system of supply and demand. Managing director of logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel (Asia-Pacific) Management Andy Weber said the rapid boom in Macau's economy, driven by the gaming industry, had placed immense pressure on the city's ability to keep pace. Mr Weber said the needs of Macau's traditional textile and shoe manufacturing industry, were vastly different from those of the hotel and gaming sector. 'In the past, Macau was very much geared to service its export industry,' he said. 'There is now a dramatic change where the majority of logistics moves are for importing pre-opening and replenishment supplies for the hospitality and gaming industry as well as its supporting vendors.' Mr Weber said the region's infrastructure, human resources and logistics capabilities were all pushed to the limit. This was made even more difficult by the growth in demand for food and beverages. Faced with outdated infrastructure and limited suppliers, Macau's hotel and casino operators have been forced to import massive amounts of equipment and hotel supplies. This included everything from construction materials, custom-made furniture, fixtures and equipment, gaming supplies, food, beverages, room amenities and textiles. Kuehne + Nagel began in Hong Kong in 1961 and has grown to 131 offices in 20 countries. The Macau office opened in 1997 and has seen massive growth. Mr Weber said there were numerous challenges facing the SAR to keep up with growing demand for goods. First, due to its size, there was not a lot of choice in Macau when handling cargo and in warehouse facilities. Second, transport infrastructure was stretched to its limit. A major part of the supply chain is the movement of materials. Most customers prefer sea freight as it is cheaper, but time constraints mean many goods are air freighted. Mr Weber said due to the large number of direct flights and cargo connections, a lot of goods were handled through Hong Kong. He said Macau's relatively shallow port did not offer sufficient capacity or enough direct connections. Increased globalisation has led to a massive growth in commerce between nations, and China is the world's workshop. Besides China, Kuehne + Nagel also sources goods for its Macau customers from a range of other countries worldwide, including the United States, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Australia and Japan. 'As in many other parts of the world, there is an increasing trend for hotel and gaming developers in Macau to source from China, in particular South China,' Mr Weber said. 'Our company has a specialised hotel logistics team not only in Hong Kong and Macau, but also worldwide, and that differentiates us from the competition.' The majority of cargo trucked into Macau is brought across the Lotus Flower Bridge at Cotai. According to the Macau Statistics and Census Service, in the first six months of this year there was a 15 per cent increase in traffic flow between Macau and the mainland. The border gate recorded 82 per cent of the 1,826,936 movements, while there were 329,713 vehicle trips, the majority being trucks, on the Lotus Flower Bridge. According to Mr Weber, there is a very high demand for cross-border trucking services. Mr Weber said the challenge was developing sufficient local storage facilities as there were only a limited number of sites available in Macau, mostly in older multistorey industrial buildings. 'There is a high demand to provide local storage for less-than 24-hour call-offs to site which are not possible from the Zhuhai-based facilities,' he said. 'For highly sensitive and valuable items, such as gaming equipment, there is a demand to keep these locally in Macau with the tightest security level.' Efficient systems, which ensure that hotels, restaurants and casinos have just the right amount of stock, that building sites have the materials they need, that ports unload the right amount of cargo, rely on sophisticated applications and computer software. Mr Weber said specialised information systems including KN Login were used so customers could access information on delivery, verify the status of an item, order online and expedite arrival if needed.