Fewer car parts, more lavatory paper
Massimo Faggin and his brother Christian Faggin are the second generation of their family to manage the Mannheim-based German logistics company Alpensped. In our interview Christian Faggin talks about why he considers the automotive industry’s share of Alpensped’s portfolio to be too large, his firm’s successful fight against cargo theft and niche opportunities.
Alpensped has grown continuously in recent years, Mr Faggin, but not massively. Is there a long-term strategy behind this?
Absolutely. We experienced a phase of strong growth through to 2009. As a result, we had to adapt our processes to our new size. This development is still continuing. In recent years, therefore, we’ve always grown by 3 – 5%. More would be difficult, because we would be hard-placed to find enough staff, and our quality standards would also suffer.
Does Alpensped feel the lack of personnel particularly intensely on account of the economy in the Mannheim region flourishing so strongly?
This is positive really, isn’t it? It’s true that large companies such as SAP and BASF are amongst our strong competitors in the labour market. The reason why we succeed and do well is that our staff is loyal, so we experience little fluctuation. Recruiting new employees, especially dispatchers, is nevertheless challenging.
Last year Alpensped transported 65,000 consignments. Do you expect business to continue to develop at this pace?
I do, yes. In the automotive logistics segment we’ve observed increasing demand for small consignments. This is a general trend, which means that the total volume increases less strongly than the number of consignments. Of course, we always try to combine shipments with the same destination into one – if it’s possible!
Talking about automotive logistics – what role does this segment play for Alpensped?
Almost too big a role! The automotive industry’s share of our business is around 35%. We’re thus set to try and reduce our dependence in the coming years, by strengthening other sectors. A balanced portfolio of industries and customers is important for our business health.
The automotive industry is important in southern Germany, however. So why have you chosen your approach?
If there’s an economic downturn in the coming years, then the automotive industry is likely to suffer first. People will always need food and toilet paper, however, as I like to say. So we’d do well to work more in other sectors as well.
Alpensped’s roots are mainly in the Italo-German transport sector, with Southeastern Europe being added later. How are you positioned today?
Of course Italy remains important; 25 years ago the routes accounted for 100% of our activities; today they stand at a mere 12%. At the moment we serve 22 countries.
We’re open to all business; a project simply has to generate a certain volume. We recently launched a pilot project to and from Ukraine. The initiative came from a customer. If we manage to establish this trade, then we’ll try to generate further additional customers through marketing activities.
Alpensped had some problems with cargo theft in Romania; but now you say that you’ve got them all under control again. What happened?
We’ve been on the road for Volkswagen in Romania since 2003. Three years ago a Volkswagen task force found out that massive theft was taking place in Romania. So the issue was carefully examined. It immediately became clear to me that we would open up completely and take up the fight against cargo theft.
So we implemented a series of measures, for example, that drivers may only take their breaks in guarded laybys, and that the tarpaulin has to be re-checked after every stop. Within a year we managed to reduce theft by around 70%. A tool developed by the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences was one of the means to this end.
What kind of a tool is this?
One that helps us to collect a lot of data in connection with cargo theft. It revealed anomalies that helped us to implement our security concept.
What’s the current status in this regard?
One measure we took is to certify our 200 drivers. All drivers working for Alpensped in Romania are set to undergo a security check by the end of this year. We’re also checking the option of introducing video surveillance of particularly sensitive transport orders, such as airbags.
I get the impression that other transport companies consider the issue of cargo theft to be slightly less important. What’s your motivation to work on this issue?
Since the pressure to act is greatest in the automotive industry, we’re perhaps more sensitive to this issue. We also hope to gain a competitive advantage if we can position ourselves as a particularly safe operator in Southeastern Europe.
Alpensped is a medium-sized family business managed by you and your brother. Is there any danger that the firm will be sold one day?
We’re now working on Alpensped’s strategy for the years to 2025, with a special focus on digitalisation and specialisation. We want to continue to grow in niche markets. I’m convinced that there’s sufficient demand outside mass business, and that smaller players – including Alpen- sped – have a future too. We still see great potential in project logistics and heavylift operations, amongst other things, including consultancy services.