TAKING A NEW TURN

Before joining Maersk Logistics at the beginning of 2009, Dutch national Rolf Habben-Jansen was CEO of DHL Global Customer Solutions, just one of the positions he held in a long career at DHL (including acquired companies).

A division of the A P Moeller- Maersk group, Maersk Logistics has more than 12,000 employees in 90 countries around the world, off ering third-party logistics and (through the Damco brand) freight forwarding services.

Q: What attracted you to join Maersk Logistics?

A: First of all, the A P Moeller-Maersk group is one of the most respected names in the industry. The formal separation last year of Maersk Logistics from Maersk Line also makes it a very interesting time to come into the job, as the company can now control its own destiny. There’s also the fact that at DHL my last position was in a commercial role and I was keen to get back into line management, which is what I have been doing for most of my career.

Q: Your initial impressions of the company?

A: It’s a healthy business, with a solid customer base and a good global footprint. We are also quite strong in Asia, having been on the ground here for many years and for longer than most of our competitors. For instance, we’ve been in China sincethe 1970s.

Q: What are the competitive strengths of Maersk Logistics?

A: While we may not be as big or present in as many as sectors as the DHLs or the Schenkers, our delivery capability to customers is extremely robust. I believe our internal culture and the fact that we don’t come from 25 different acquisitions is a major asset. People know what to expect from each other, what to expect from the customer, and we can be responsive and move quickly.

Our client list includes some the most demanding customers you can possibly have; you don’t get and keep customers like WalMart if you cannot deliver good services at a competitive price. The retail industry is still our main customer segment on the supply chain management side, and we do need to broaden and expand further into other sectors over the next few years.

Q: In Asia, Maersk Logistics as a 3PL “brand’ is perhaps not so well known as some of these other companies?

A: Yes, I would definitely agree that we’re pretty much unknown in this part of the world. In fact, when you meet prospective customers, many of them are surprised that we’re present in over 100 countries, have a complete portfolio of forwarding services, and one of the best SCM offerings in the industry.

But you must remember that we have only been an independent company since the beginning of 2008, and it’s only since then that we could start to think about branding. We may not be a “marketing machine” like some of our competitors but we do have a solid foundation that we can build upon as we begin to build brand awareness.

Q: How concerned are you about the economic slowdown?

A: Of course, there is a serious bump in 2009, but if you look a bit beyond that, and certainly at economies in places like India and China, which will continue to grow at a very nice pace over next few years, it is not a totally bleak picture. I am probably more upbeat than most people aboutthe economy. There is so much emotion in the market right now,like the whole world is falling apart.But when sentiment turns then therecovery will come.

Interestingly, if you look at our supply chain design teams, who work with clients looking to take inefficiencies out of the supply chain, they probably have never been so busy as they are today, as companies strive to drive inventories out of the system and slim down their supply chains.

Another positive: because of our history, we have are used to transporting things on sea rather than by air, which gives us a specific position towards our customers. So while some of our competitors will have a natural bias towards air, we are more neutral, and if anything, would recommend slower and cheaper to customers, in the current environment.

Q: Are you taking any special cost management measures?

A: We do what everyone does – adjust our resources to the amount of work that we have. You do need to be more cost conscious than in times when the market is growing in double digits. We are a relatively asset-light business so we don’t need to do any major divestments. So on the one hand we do need to prepare for these tough times, but on the other, it is really important that we keep our eyes open for the opportunities that will undoubtedly come.

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Q: Overall, you are excited by this opportunity to lead Maersk Logistics?

A: Yes, I am. I have been out to most of the regions already and talked to many customers. There are fairly mixed views about how good or bad things are going to be in the short term; in fact, I can never remember a time when it’s been so difficult to predict what’s going to happen in the next few months. Running a global business like this, you need to be aware of all the possible scenarios. But I am confident that Maersk Logistics is a great company and that logistics is a great industry that’s going to see significant growth over the next fewyears.