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An immaculate fleet, an impressive turnover and the flexibility to
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deliver goods locally or at hundreds of miles' distance—just three qualities that separate the men from the boys in haulage. Amsterdam-based fleet operator Wegtransport has these three strengths in spades but, as Tim Maughan discovered, heavy investment in information technology has paved the way to success.
Visitors to the headquarters of Dutch haulage firm Wegtransport are greeted by an immaculate, spacious office building. The atmosphere is one of efficiency, and you get the feeling that a consignment transported by this Amsterdam-based firm is going to reach its destination in perfect order. From the well-turned-out receptionist to the clean glass windows, professionalism is in the air.
We are greeted by Bryan Douglas, manager, European distribution. A minute later we join Jan Hunze, vicechairman of Wegtransport. Hunze's office is more akin to an architect's studio than to the room of a haulage boss: interior glass panels and expansive windows flood the area with light.
Innovation
The cool image projected by Wegtransport has substance. Behind the scenes lies a haulage outfit with a fleet of 15o CVs, state-of-the-art IT equipment and the business contacts to move goods anywhere across Europe.
"It was all started in the early 1950s by IM van't Schip," says Hunze. He began in Amsterdam. and concentrated on general haulage. His first customer was Remington: the work involved carrying typewriters." Today J M van't Schip's son, Ron van't Schip, is the company's president. m p. Work was restricted to the Amsterdam area until 1985.
A' For 30 years the firm had fielded 25 vans, which came E and went through the city streets. But in 1985 the picture g, changed, as Douglas explains: "We wanted to offer the g same high quality of service, but throughout Holland.
E The business had reached the point where we wanted to expa rid into wider distribution."
In 1985 the firm recruited a team of IT staff to handle that "wider distribution". Wegtransport was something of a pioneer in the IT field, and today continues to invest in this technology. Hunze proudly says: "We were the first haulier in the Netherlands with on-board computer systems. the first with mobile communications, the first with tracking and tracing on a bulletin board system and the first with this information on our Internet site."
Douglas adds: "Now everyone is using track and trace and the Internet. Nowadays everybody sees the importance of technology." Today a staggering 95% of everyday communication between customer and firm is by elec. 0
tronic means. Hunze mentions the word "efulfilment". "This the total system of ordering and delivering to the customer," he says.
The firm uses the in-house IT system, Wegtransport Information and Control System (WICS). Created by the firm and a software company, it is a valuable tool for classifying consignments and their whereabouts. "Our IT equipment is always developing; we are looking at cost analysis systems as well," says Hunze. Technology is important, but it incurs considerable expense: W ICS cost Elm (i600,000) to put in place. Only a load on a truck actually generates cash.
Definition
General haulage accounts for 3o% of business; the rest of the work is the carriage of high-cost goods, most notably electrical products, curtains and blinds and cosmetics. Perfume is often carried. Hunze explains that Wegtransport HGVs collect perfume from Cologne and deliver it to the firm's depot in Helmond, Holland. Perfume is also hauled from France to the Wegtransport depots in Tern at, Belgium, and Breda in Holland. This is done by French hauliers.
The separate roles of trucks and vans are clearly defined: the HGVs carry out the long trips, and the too vans concentrate on local deliveries, hauling from the Wegtransport depots to shops.
The firm fields an impressive fleet, but the men behind Wegtransport understand that the formation of alliances is essential if you are to compete with the big players. Enter EuroExpress, an operation which is, literally, Continental in its scale. Ten fleet operators, including Wegtransport, make up the consortium; other members include Italy's Bartolini, Denmark's Haugsted and Britain's Lynx. There is no language barrier between the parties: business is conducted in English. As Hunze says, English is commonly spoken in Holland. 'It is an advantage to us Dutch that at meetings conversations are in English."
The Continental scale of the operation means a lot of coming and going. "On a daily basis, both day and night, the partners drop goods to us, and we take goods to them," reports Douglas. Wegtransport uses its HGVs for trunking out of its six depots. Conversely, its vans distribute loads locally from the depots. Five depots are in Holland, and the sixth is in Belgium. "We service Luxembourg from our Belgian depot," says Nunn.
Strategy
He sees Euro Express as a powerful strategic tool. "To be able to offer a pan-European distribution service, you have to work with other firms," he asserts. Taking on giants such as Deutsche Post is only possible with partnerships, he believes.
Douglas says the major players in Continental parcel work are unwilling to take on different consignments, and this can play into the hands of firms like Wegtransport. He says: "As you will see, they are not really interested in moving larger goods—they are not geared up for it. But we can offer our customers deals to carry goods of all sizes."
The ability to take on such a mixture of loads necessitates investment in the right accommodation. Storage facilities are taken seriously at Wegtransport, and in Amsterdam alone there is a 3o,000m2 warehouse as well as a 6,000rn2 distribution hat "Nothing stands for more than a day in the distribution hall, because it is in the system," explains Douglas.
Wegtransport delivers a staggering ro,000 consignments a day, each weighing some 70kg, in the Benelux countries. It is a hive of activity, and Hunze restates how invaluable IT is. "It has become an industry standard. Customers are talking to transport firms only if they do things electronically," he says.
So with a sound infrastructure in place, would Wegtransport follow the lead of the Betz and Dentressangles of this world and set up in Britain? Hunze's response is delivered in quick time. "No, not ourselves; Lynx does that." Moreover, with a successful formula in place. Hunze believes strongly that there is simply no point in such expansion.
CM wonders how the powers that be in Holland treat its haulage industry. After all, so far neither Hunze nor Douglas has mentioned that topic, which is on every haulier's lips in the UK.
"In general, the government is OK to hauliers," says Hunze. But for some the grass is always greener: "It could be better, though," he adds.