Katoen Natie August 2019

Katoen Natie: maximising value through holistic transformation

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Katoen Natie: digital and operational transformation to drive value for the customer WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

CHARLOTTE CLARKE

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Anton Colpaert, President and CEO at Katoen Natie Thailand, discusses how the logistics company is maximising the value of its services with holistic transformation and a people-led operational focus

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atoen Natie, one of the world’s largest international logistics service providers, is resolutely ‘people first’ across its global

operations. In Thailand, a hub for the company’s 04

Asian presence, the focus on both employees and customers runs through the core of the firm’s reputation for maximising the value of its services.

For Anton Colpaert, President and CEO at Katoen Natie Thailand, the push towards Industry 4.0 is a continuation of the company’s longstanding track record of innovation in the market. “If you look at how we changed the logistical approach in the petrochemical and chemical industry, you can see that we have already been bringing innovation for 25 years,” he explains. “We want to make sure that our customers continue to see that we value that continued effort within our company, and that we certainly want to stay ahead in that number one position.” Colpaert adds that digital transformation offers an opportunity to push the boundaries of Katoen Natie’s customer-centric ethos.

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“ We’re very decentralised, so if you can attract the right people you can create smaller, flourishing islands of operations”

“Digital transformation is certainly very

— Anton Colpaert, President and CEO, Katoen Natie Thailand

transformation takes its employees

important, but we are actually focusing on transformation as a whole. We’re adopting radical changes to try and reorient the organisation in a new direction and take it to a new level of effectiveness,” he says. This broad, holistic approach to transformation is ultimately grounded in the efficacy of its internal culture and change management.

True to its motto, ‘our people make the difference’, Katoen Natie Thailand’s into account at every level. “The strategy has been, from an early stage, to avoid having a heavy corporate structure.

We’re very decentralised, so if you can attract the right people you can create smaller, flourishing islands of operations where people can go wild with their ideas so long as they’ve proven to be adding to our efficiency, and adding to or creating that maximum value for our customers,” says Colpaert.

This attitude, coupled with a pragmatic approach to modifying operations, helps to ensure that new technologies and strategies are applied with care, simultaneously minimising disruption and ensuring that the added value is maximised. “We should not forget the

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ENTER INTO THE WORLD OF KATOEN NATIE (THAILAND)’ 07 core and basics of what we do,”

important to make sure that the proof

explains Colpaert. “We try to empower

of concept is well thought out and well

our employees as much as possible,

tested, and that we are able to roll it

but often using these tools can let

out quickly. On top of that, we place

them forget the basics of their work.”

focus on testing and retesting, and

He stresses that this potential for

still auditing the system as well.”

cutting corners is counterintuitive to

An area where great strides have

the transformation process and

been made from a technological

purpose: if value added by technology

perspective is automation, particularly

is offset by lost value from employee

regarding administrative processes.

input, the transformation has failed.

For a company with clients as diverse

“We have to be very vigilant. Even if

as Katoen Natie, automating physical

you train them well, they can start to

logistics processes throws up big

rely on the system too much in which

questions about flexibility in terms

they think they can take shortcuts. It’s

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘KATOEN NATIE SINGAPORE FIRST DRIVERLESS TRUCK’ 08 changes in product types, weights and

desks where truck drivers can check

dimensions. “From a pure automation

themselves in, and we’re pushing to be

point of view, that’s a big challenge,”

completely paperless in our warehouse

says Colpaert. “It’s a little bit easier if

operations,” says Colpaert. “We opened

you’re on a production site because

up a new terminal in the Rayong region

you have a very defined and under-

which is so small-scale that it offers

standable flow.” While these challenges

a controlled environment to apply and

are being addressed through the

test these new technologies.” Shifting

development of smart, artificial

to paperless operations offers a whole

intelligence (AI)-driven solutions,

host of benefits that range from greater

Katoen Natie has elected to take a

efficiency to a mitigated environmental

step-by-step approach to applying

impact. Not only will the company be

automation across its admin flows

able to significantly cut its paper waste,

and shifting to paperless operations.

but the fuel consumption and associated

“We’re working on automated reception

costs of sending and receiving paper

documentation are also brought down.

of solar panels and thereby generating

Paperless operations also slash the

more electricity than it uses. “In Thailand

margin of error of paper documentation,

we have more than 450,000 sq m of

improving safety, accuracy and quality.

roof surface, and at the moment we

Colpaert enthuses about Katoen

have only installed panels on around

Natie’s wider sustainability strategy,

10,000 sq m,” says Colpaert. “We are

particularly in terms of the progress

certainly open to further investment.

made with its solar panel initiative and

Once legislation changes, we should

its role in the Operation Clean Sweep

be able to put our solar-generated

programme. Thai legislation currently

electricity onto the grid.” With regards

limits the extent of the project as

to Operation Clean Sweep, an

surplus electricity cannot be offloaded

international effort to curb the amount

to the national grid, but Katoen Natie

of plastics entering the oceans, the

is nonetheless actively pursuing a

firm has been investing heavily in its

furthering of its recent 1MW installation

infrastructure to mitigate the volume

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Anton Colpaert, President and CEO Colpaert holds a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of BioScience at Ghent University. In 2004 he entered the Katoen Natie Management Trainee Programme, after which he joined the Supply Chain Engineering business unit where he acted consecutively as project manager, terminal manager, project director and VP engineering while working in four different countries.

He also supported Katoen Natie’s ambitious growth and investment projects in North America. He then moved from Houston to Thailand to become the CEO and President of Katoen Natie Services (Thailand). He hopes to safeguard and contribute to the further expansion of the company while continuously raising the bar of the offered services.

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“ We should not forget the core of what we do and the basics of what we do” — Anton Colpaert, President and CEO, Katoen Natie Thailand

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13 of plastic spills and waste; and subsequent potential effluent this generates.

Over the last few years, money has been pumped into redesigning a host of operational equipment, including sweeper trucks, wet cleaning devices, pellet skimmers/screens and more to reduce the amount of plastic spills.

â‚Ź2.bn

Approximate revenue (EUR)

1854

Year founded

Not only that, but Katoen Natie Thailand is also engaged in local initiatives such as beach clean-ups and recycling.

Looking forward, Colpaert says that the firm’s next steps from a technological and transformational perspective

14,000+

Approximate number of employees

are rooted in the needs of the customer. w w w.ka to e nna tie. com

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“We do not produce anything; we generate a service for the customer and we can only ensure we are doing that in the best way by opening up and listening to them, understanding their needs and seeing how their – and consequently our – world is evolving,” he says. “It’s essential to keep track of that customer heartbeat and understand them fully.” Katoen Natie is aiming to ramp up its use of Big Data and advanced analytics to leverage customer insights in a more direct and actionable fashion. “At this 14

stage, we are trying to interlink programs across the company so that we can build a complete view of the information itself and maximise the data’s value,” explains Colpaert. Given the extent of Katoen Natie Thailand’s stellar customer centricity and internal culture, it will be very interesting to see how it pushes customer value to even greater heights through such innovations.

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Katoen Natie info@katoennatie.com www.katoennatie.com