Special speed logistics provider time:matters is broadening its product portfolio and buildingup new partnerships as it develops its business in a tough environment, CEO Franz-Joseph Miller
told CEP-Research in an interview.The German-based company, 49% owned by Lufthansa Cargo and 51% by investors, is growing steadilyand winning new customers, he said at the recent Transport Logistic fair in Munich. In 2012,time:matters increased revenues slightly and transported more than 665,000 time-critical shipmentswith total weight of about 11,580,000 kgs. In 2011, its turnover had reached €74 million while ittransported some 722,500 shipments weighing 11,400,000 kgs in total.
“It’s been a very stable development over the last two years. The market was difficult but we’veremained stable. We’ve grown our shipment and customer base. The volume per shipment has fallenwhich is why our revenues have remained flat. So I’m quite positive because we’ve been successfulin customer numbers and shipments,” he said.
Customer satisfaction is also rising and the company has now achieved a high 65% Net PromoterScore rating on a scale from -100 to +100, he pointed out. The company’s key markets remainautomotive/aviation, semiconductors and healthcare.
Alongside its core activities of ‘special speed logistics’ for specific customer transportationneeds and time-critical deliveries, time:matters is aiming to develop customer solutions intotailor-made concepts for specific industries or added-value services.
“We’re looking to becoming more specialised in some new niches,” Miller explained. One exampleis the recent partnership with Greek maritime logistics company Golden Cargo offering urgentdelivery of spare parts for ships on a worldwide basis. “They are experts for the maritime businesswhile we have an attractive network,” he commented.
Time:matters is actively seeking more partnerships, both in terms of geographical coverage andsector expertise. “We are looking for attractive partnerships. But it’s important to find partnerswith the same mindset. It’s not a question of volumes, but of service quality,” Miller pointedout.
New products are also on the agenda. At present the company’s service portfolio ranges fromcourier deliveries, spare parts & service logistics, and same-day & emergency deliveries,to tailor-made and industry solutions.
Time-matters is aiming to expand in a medical logistics niche market, for example. The companyhas set up a new ‘Medical On-Board Courier’ service in cooperation with a large German customer,with all shipment status reports integrated into an IT platform. “These shipments are absolutelyurgent and there is zero tolerance,” Miller explained. “Our customer wants full transparency in thesupply chain. Time-matters is the only company which was able to provide complete transparency,” heclaimed.
Transparency and zero failure tolerance are also crucial in the spare parts industry. Heretime:matters distributes urgent spare parts at night and within just a few hours on their dedicatedcharter network in Europe. “The technicians can see when the spare parts will arrive based oninformation from 14 check-points along the transportation chain,” Miller explained. “This might benormal for integrators with their standardised processes but not in our market,” he stressed.
One general new service being tested at present is a ‘Customs Escort Service’, aimed inparticular at German SMEs exporting to countries with complex customs regulations and procedures. “This is a new solution to provide technicians with a customs service in difficult countries,”Miller explained. A locally-based time-matters customs expert is available to customers to providespecific local expertise and contacts in order to speed up customs clearance. The service is beingtested in eight countries at present.
Miller stressed that the company’s core business of same-day deliveries remained attractivealthough it had been volatile in recent years due to the economic environment. “We still seegrowing demand for same-day in segments such as healthcare and spare parts,” he said. In Germany,the company is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its IC Courier service in cooperation withDeutsche Bahn, under which it uses the high-speed German rail network for courier deliveries.
As a Lufthansa group business, time:matters has preferential capacity access to the flights ofLufthansa, its subsidiaries such as Swiss and Austrian Airlines, as well as a diverse range of StarAlliance carriers, German-based leisure airlines and other European airlines. In total, it canaccess more than 3,000 flights by 20 airlines to over 500 destinations in 90 countries.Time:matters, with some 160 employees, has 140 service stations worldwide, including 14 servicedesks and nine offices outside Germany. It also cooperates with 500 logistics partners to ensurebroad international coverage.
