Today is day 10 and we had our last company visit at G.A.P Vassilopoulos. It was started by the father of George, Aris, and Petros who named the company after them. The company started as a shipping company and has grown since they were established in 1964. They are a vertically integrated company which means they provide a variety of services to their customers so that their customers only need to go to one company for all their needs. G.A.P calls this their complete service package. This is very unique to the way that US companies operate because most just focus on one part of the supply chain and outsource for other products and supplies that they need. They are involved in shipping, insurance, transport logistics, airlines, hospitality, international couriers, financial services, Larnaca and Paphos airport management, merchandising, business solutions technology, Limassol port management, and consumer. They have their own warehouses, provide distribution, international courier services in partnership as UPS and their own courier services. I think it is very crazy that they can be involved in so many different services but they do not lose sight of their company values and always provide their customers with the best service possible.

Dr. Vassilopoulos one of the 3 board directors and the P in G. A. P discussed with us a lot of different aspects of G. A. P’s supply chain and how logistics are involved in all aspects of it. He explained that G.A.P’a supply chain is both lean and agile. The lean aspect is everything that is standardized or is scheduled. For example if deliveries are always scheduled on Monday Wednesday and Friday this would be the lean part of the supply chain. The agile part is whenever the company would have to deviate from it. For example if they had to also deliver on a Tuesday this would be an example of how the company is also agile. Dr. Vassilopoulos explained about how logistics is very important throughout the company and that efficiency is key to have a lean supply chain. If there isn’t efficiency then there would be more waste and it would cost more. Customers main desires however are to find the cheapest and highest quality product. I found his presentation extremely engaging and informative. I was so thankful that he took the time out of his day to speak with us and share the vast knowledge he has about running a company and dealing with logistics in supply chain management.