Eric Hémar, CEO and chairman of ID Logistics comments, ‘Our activities in South Africa have experienced solid growth in 2016. We opened our network in 2014 with one customer, Danone. Now we have become the second largest provider in the chilled / perishables market, with a multi-client approach and the confidence of big branded names in South Africa. Our team has strengthened its infrastructure, consolidated and expanded its client portfolio and offering. We are excited to continue to welcome some more world renowned multi-national brands and some more South African brands into the fold during 2011.’
Etienne Juillard, MD of ID Logistics SA, expands, ‘Our challenge is to continue to build on the perishable platform, extend our warehouse facilities and convince clients in other sectors – such as retail and FMCG, where centralisation and insourcing is prevalent – to outsource these services and enjoy the benefits of faster turnaround times, cost savings, global quality standards and innovation. It also opens new opportunities, such as collaborations between suppliers and other providers. We are developing and growing our services in other vertical markets, namely e-commerce, cosmetics and fashion, leveraging our experience from other countries. What is also important is to upsell to our existing client portfolio and offer more value-added services.’
Juillard adds that in line with the group’s commitment, the South African subsidiary is investing in new technologies and innovations with the objective of increasing productivity and improving experiences for clients. These include route optimising software, in-truck live navigation and delivery status, digitalisation, narrow aisle and flexi-reach trucks. Hand-in hand with these innovations is the upskilling of personnel to handle the new technologies.
The group’s global standards have had a positive impact on upping the bar in terms of skills in South Africa. ‘We deploy overseas resources to share and support these processes. What hope to achieve is a good balance of local and international skills, which ultimately benefits our clients and the industry at large,’Juillard adds.
The establishment of ID Logistics in South Africa with an anchor international customer was the springboard for developing a comprehensive multi-customer, multi-channel and multi-category operation and as such, the group’s engagement and investment in South Africa was for the long term.
He also emphasises the importance of enhancing the company’s B-BBEE scores to achieve a Level 4 rating in the next few years, pending promulgation of the latest legislation scoring system.
Highlights of ID Logistics SA’s recent financial year include:
- Extending the Danone contract until the end of 2022
- On-boarding 11 new clients in the FMCG perishable sector including:
- Henties
- Mayo
- BRM
- Sir Fruit
- Crisp
- Okin Foods
- Deneys Swiss Diary
- Woody’s
- Completing 75 cost-saving initiatives to enhance their network; and achieving global quality standard certification of all five local sites.
ID Logistics’ CEO, Eric Hémar, shared the group’s 2016 financial results, which were recently announced. ‘Through organic growth and acquisitions, ID Logistics achieved revenues in excess of €1 billion in 2016 and has solid growth in store for 2017. The group has managed to diversify its client portfolio by stepping up its presence in e-commerce, penetrating new business sectors such as healthcare, fashion and automotive, and attracting new clients that are world market leaders in their field. These investments made in 2016 will drive our growth over the next few years to achieve our aim of becoming a leading name in contract logistics in Europe and Africa,’ he concludes.
