European express delivery and time-critical logistics specialist In TimeExpress Logistik is looking to expand geographically and move beyond its specialisation in theautomotive sector after recording growth of more than 50% last year.
The Hanover-based company saw year-on-year sales increase by 59.5% to€104.9 million, with the number of shipments rising by 50.8% to 371,000, driven by the sustainedrecovery in the automotive industry, which traditionally makes up the company’s biggest customersector. The automotive sector’s lean supply chain and order-related production model means thatmanufacturers are dependent on specialist logistics providers to prevent supply shortages and avoidcostly production shutdowns, In Time said.
The rapid recovery last year meant the company’s sales and volumes hadincreased well above their previous peak of 2008 – the year of its acquisition of competitor RSLogistics – when the company achieved sales of around € 83 million.
“The rapid recovery has exceeded all our expectations,” says In Timemanaging director Gerd Röttger. “In order to meet the demand, we had to expand significantly, notjust our cargo capacity but also our planning capacity.”
The number of available vehicles it used increased from around 1,600 toabout 2,500. These include almost 1,100 so-called ‘A-vehicles’ of subcontractors, which are closelylinked to the company and equipped with specific tracking and telematics solutions. The companyincreased the size of its own fleet from 34 to 40 units, and the number of employees increased to414 – the highest level in the company’s history, and surpassing the number the previous year byalmost 100.
Röttger said he expected a high level of momentum in the market placeagain this year, and said industrial customers appeared to be increasingly separating their courierand time-critical shipment contracts from their main freight-forwarding contracts.
“In addition to the renewal of framework agreements, several largeindustrial customers have already made their first new contracts, suggesting a trend for separatetenders for shippers’ special transport needs,” Röttger said. Traditionally, the courierservices were often awarded in a package with other freight forwarding services to serviceproviders. “Customers often find that they can reduce their special cargo spending if they opt forthe separate contracts,” he added.
Strategically, the focus for In Time in the coming years is on increasedproduct and customer diversification and expansion in Europe. Since November 2010, the company hashad a dedicated site in the Czech Republic for the first time.
Röttger said dedicated sites would also be set up inother eastern Europeancountries, probably through the acquisition of local service providers. After consolidating thenetwork in central and eastern Europe, the company would continue to back the expansion of itsactivities in western Europe – closer to the centre of its operations, Germany.
In the product area, In Time said it had recently expanded its services byproviding temperature-controlled transport and secure air cargo transport for a major customer,areas that it intended to build on. “The primary goal is to develop special shipping services inother industries outside the automotive sector,” the company said.
In Time has 20 branches in Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden andHungary.
