‘Logistics management is all about adding value’

Selling into the busy and highly competitive freight market in Gauteng needs a product that offers advantage to the customer, according to Deon Botha, owner of Globogistics and Services. “Logistics moves and management of cargoes is not just about a move from point A to B, but ultimately value must be added to the process,” he said. Put into practice at Globogistics is what Botha described as “a simple, yet effective” model. “This,” he told FTW, “defines value-adding as a function of speed, quality and flexibility, at a specific cost. In others words, there are questions that we frequently have to ask ourselves. “Are we increasing speed and quality and flexibility to our customers, while at the same time reducing costs? If the answer is “Yes”, then keep on doing it and do more of that. But if the answer is “No”, then simply stop doing it.” It is simply not good enough, explained Botha, to “go through the motions”. A company has to constantly take the initiative and explore every new opportunity to add value. This, according to Botha, to not only ultimately meet the customer’s expectations, but in fact, to exceed them. “Value-adding forms an integral part of each individual’s performance agreement.” According to Botha’s calculations, on average, one new value-added initiative is implemented by his company every week. “Cost saving initiatives implemented, for example, currently show that we are well on track to record a seven-digit saving for a major customer,” he said. “Given this, we are convinced that our value-added strategy is working.”