A profile of Gefco

"Last year we put a spurt on" says Louis Define. President and Director General of the ( efco Group in a wide ranging interview with ITJ Editor-inChief Ursula Schmeling. Turnover is up 32% to EUR 2.3 billion (1999: EU R 1.7 billion), of which ELJR 934 million (1999: EUR 658 million) was attributable to external non-PSA Group customers."

Acting proactively
With a diploma in engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure, Define had a career in industry and the civil service before turning to logistics. "What astonished me at the beginning was the lack of standardisation in production and the lack of planning. In the past, the forwarding industry has been content to be reactive, not proactive. The French haulage and logistics industry remains very strongly wedded to the national market, including overseas departments and territories, and not orientated toward the European or the world markets. (With the exception of Geodis, which occupies the #3 slot in European overland traffic — Ed.),>> said Define.
“My first priority at Gefco was to introduce standardised procedures. establish production norms, introduce the same quality standards (ISO 9001) in all affiliates and set up a uniform company-wide IT system and a pan-European overland transport network.>>
A tall order, as Define is the first to admit: < The groupage division handles an average of 45,000 shipments a day. That adds up to 200,000 packets and nearly 12,000 tonnes of merchandise. In the full truckload business, the shipments are running at a daily average of 2400 or around one truckload every 20 seconds. "This year in the groupage division, we launched an internet-based track and trace systenl in 12 countries that monitors individual packets. The loading and unloading of trucks is optimised by an internet-based electronic marketplace,
Genistic. that can be accessed from all our Eur opean offices. In addition to electronica lly processing invoices, tariffs and contracts, Genistic is enables online administration of charter queries and spot bids. By 2002 this is to he extended to all European countries where we are present, especially in Eastern Europe, where we have recently expanded strongly, particularly in Poland,>> says Defline.

Intercontinental scale
His plans for expansion are by no means restricted to Europe. The overseas subsidiaries were able to increase their turnover by 68% in the year 2000. Over the last few months, we were able to strongly develop our businesses in South America and North Africa. But not just in these markets. We are also growing in Iran and China. In Brazil, we already offer our clients
management of their groupage, LTL and FTL traffic.
Wherever our parent company PSA goes, we follow. That being said, PSA is not automatically obliged to turn to us for its logistics services. There are cases I could mention where we did not get the contract. But once we have been contracted by a PSA factory to assure smooth inbound and outbound flows of goods it is natural that, as a second step, we should look around for other contracts from suppliers if we are responsible for procurement logistics, or that we try to extend our range of services to embrace pre-assembly, picking and packing, etc. In distribution and spare parts logistics, we are of course prepared to supply dealer networks and authorised repair workshops with products from competitors. For this reason, we are in direct contact with other car makers. We thus transport Volkswagen, Fiat and Toyota models. Last year we shifted a total of 2.8 million new cars," says Define. In spare parts logistics, especially in France, Gefco’s package of services is practically unbeatable. Parts ordered before 18:00 hours are at the authorised dealer at 08:00 hours the next morning.
<> he said, rapidly firing off a list of the firm’s business areas. Gefco has 16 dedicated workshops across Europe for preparing and reconditioning vehicles. <> says Defline. This service is also
destined for transplantation overseas, to Brazil, for example (cf. ITJ 40/2001. p. 68—69). < he says with a smile of satisfaction.
In the face of external competition, Define can always point to official references from the parent company, a customer that sets the bar very high in terms of quality and, increasingly, environmental standards. "We would gladly increase the volume that we ship by rail; but it is not that easy,>> says Detline. A rail transport axis linking Spain—France— Germany is planned, for example. But last year, rail’s share of transport volumes fell again, and it is now down to 20%. <> Intra-European and intercontinental seaborne traffic represented a 20% slice of the total goods traffic cake.

Staying innovative
Competitive pricing is a must for Gefco. < customers aware that there is a direct relationship between what they are prepared to pay and the quality of service that they receive. Our service is an integral part of the client’s product and thus of how the make is perceived. This deserves to be recognised. The focus of all our efforts is to create added value for the customer,>> says Define. With his background in engineering, he is always on the lookout for innovative approaches to enhance this capacity to add value. From Gefbox (leasing and management of reusable plastic boxes, through standard scanners for capturing barcodes on the loading ramp for groupage shipments and in the logistics warehouse to a common database for all staff members in the Supply, Automotive and Network divisions — the list of investments is long. The proof that Gefco does not penny pinch is that its budget for the development of IT projects is around EUR 16 million. <> concluded Define with a smile.