< PreviousADVERTORIAL 40JANUARY 2020 | LOGISTICS MIDDLE EASTwww.logisticsmiddleeast.com Al-Futtaim Logistics has charted a growth plan and is rapidly expanding its op- erations to other parts of the GCC. Al-Futtaim Logistics has started operations in Sohar and mainland Oman, providing end-to-end supply chain services from retailers to dis- tributors in diverse sectors. Meanwhile the company has also expanded fur- ther in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia opening its second warehousing facility in Riyadh, and now has over 15,000m2 of warehouse space in the city. Al-Futtaim Logistics has started a clearance and delivery service in KSA. Raman Kumar, managing director, Al-Futtaim Logistics says: “Our diverse industry specialisa- tion ensures a reliable solution for every industry sector using technology and artificial intelligence to enhance customer experience and provide them with end-to-end solutions.” The firm has ambitious plans to extend its foot- print within the region, focusing on cold chain solutions and enhancing speed to market for better customer experiences – it already has a state-of- the-art cold storage facility in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, opened last year, with multiple temperature- controlled storage solutions. Growth beyond As with all Al-Futtaim Logistics’ expansions, the facility is equipped with the latest technology, including a world-class warehouse management and temperature monitoring system. “We are focused on offering custom solutions for our portfolio of customers,” Kumar adds. “The value-added solutions enable customers to extend their footprint in the MENA region. With the experience in providing lead logistics solutions to current and new market entrants, Al-Futtaim Logistics aims to increase its market share as a 3PL service provider.” Sustainability remains a key theme of Al-Futtaim Logistics’ expansion plans. The firm was awarded the GFA Label – Leaf 2 green carrier certification in 2019. “Al-Futtaim Logistics has also been pioneering the use of biofuel, while managing fuel consump- tions, driver habits and improving its transport management technologies. These initiatives have led to closer cooperation with other major organisations that focus heavily on the overall carbon footprint of services,” Kumar concludes. Al-Futtaim Logistics’ new facilities are becoming extensions of its partners businesses in the MENA region Al Futtaim Logistics is rapidly expanding.TRUKKIN | INTERVIEW 41LOGISTICS MIDDLE EAST | JANUARY 2020www.logisticsmiddleeast.com Talk us through Trukkin and what you bring to the logistics industry Trukkin is a techno-logistics platform, we provide full-scale land transportation services throughout the GCC region, and beyond. We are enabling thousands of trans- porters, whether they are independent or they are part of any transportation company. We are facilitating busi- nesses for the shippers and the transporters. What would you say are some of the key factors that are holding back creative digitisation at this time in the region? I think there are few challenges in the region. I think, first and foremost, if you look at from the transporters’ point of view, the cost of data is pretty high. Bringing down the cost of data would certainly help push digitisa- tion forward. We are already tackling a lot these issues in terms of preparing multilingual digital platform as a lot of transporters come from various parts of the world, from the subcontinent in Asia and India and Pakistan, from neighbouring countries. I think the single biggest challenge has been the cost of data. Also, when we are dealing with cross countries, in the region, there is always a cost of roaming charges when you go from one country to another. These are probably, I would think, some of the challenges which are limiting the growth from digitisation point of view. Nonetheless, we are still tackling them from innovative points of view. One of the key advantages of Trukkin is that it in- Techno-logistics platform is seeing strong client retention and growth in the GCC market, according to Janardan Dalmia, CEO of Trucking Middle East TRUKKIN ON Trukkin enables thousands of transporters and reduces reliance on a single company. IM A G E c re d it : P h o to by M a rc in J o z w ia k o n U n sp la shINTERVIEW | TRUKKIN 42JANUARY 2020 | LOGISTICS MIDDLE EASTwww.logisticsmiddleeast.com creases efficiency and reduces costs for the ship- ments. Can you talk us through about how it does that? What we do is we remove the dependence for any shipper or manufacturer on a particular transportation company, and we open a huge plethora of availability in the market and match the load, which is more app for the transporter and the shipper. We have been able to reduce costs from 15% to 20% to 25% in many instances across our clientele who we serve. Similarly, we have been able to increase efficiency for a lot of our transporters. For example, when they go from point A to point B, we are able to provide them back load. Instead of waiting for number of days to find another appropriate load for the transporter, we are able to service them and provide them with the load very, very quickly. This is how we continue to increase efficiency both for the companies and for the transporters. The prevalence of these kinds of great aggregators has grown quite rapidly in this region in the last year or so. How are you maintaining the competitive edge? I think the competitive edge is about our service. At the end of the day, service is something which brings back your clientele. I’m proud to say, we have 100% client re- tention rate. Once you provide an excellent service for the client and you think about you know how to keep on improvising, that service level keeps on attracting the clients back. You obviously have to provide competitive prices and amazing service, and that is what we focus on. We don’t like to focus on the competitors or others. We like to focus on our customers, and that has been the driving force and the DNA of our business. Tell us about your operations in Saudi and the UAE? Trukkin is servicing throughout the GCC region and beyond. When I say beyond, it means, on a daily basis, our trucks are kind of going throughout the GCC region and Egypt and Jordan and Iraq in certain instances. We consider both Saudi and UAE as our home markets because we started in both the places simultaneously. Saudi, obviously, remains a very, very large portion of the market share in the region. We are proud to say that we are very strong operation- ally in both the regions. From the Saudi, we have been servicing both the east and west and northern and southern regions and have been sending our movements or been facilitating the move- ments across the borders as well, and we are looking to scale further. We have been able to reduce costs from 15% to 20% to 25% in many in- stances across our clien- tele who we serve. Simi- larly, we have been able to increase efficiency for a lot of our transporters.” JANARDAN DALMIA, CEO OF TRUCKING MIDDLE EAST Trukkin enables thousands of transporters and reduces reliance on a single company. 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