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A consortium of nine manufacturing and logistics firms is looking to challenge Asian manufacturing by offering European customers manufacturing, packaging, supply chain management and delivery services of hi-tech products.

The Vialog venture, which is based near the French port of Le Havre, has been two years in development. It is the brainchild of Bruno Beliard, the managing director of logistics firm Euro Channel Logistics and Alain Verna, the general manager of Toshiba in Dieppe.

The core objective is to challenge the growing dominance of the Asia's manufacturing industry, giving European businesses a faster, 'greener' and more cost-effective alternative, Vialog said.

In the UK, sales are being headed by Andy Wells, who told Packaging News: "We are looking primarily for industrial manufacturing companies who don't necessarily use their own manufacturing facilities. So the target market is companies that are using or considering using Far East or Asian labour."

Wells said he was excited about being involved at the start of what promised to be an innovative and progressive scheme.

However, he admitted that Vialog had a challenge on its hands to persuade companies that there was a potentially more cost-effective alternative to outsourcing manufacturing, packaging and distribution processes to the likes of China.

Vialog, which opened its doors for business on 1 March, is in talks with a number of potential clients, Wells said, including a vending machines firm, a manufacturer of photographic processing units and a maker of glass recycling machines.

Vialog services can be tailored to the needs of individual companies, including the breakdown and recycling of products and the refurbishment of mid-life items.

Companies that have joined the consortium include vending and pre-pack supplier Audis, ferry company LD Lines, electronics group Alcatel, industrial coatings provider SEIM, plastics moulding firm Innovex and metal working services company Dumont.

For customers with supply chains outside the European Union, Vialog has brought on board distribution company Gondrand.

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