B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W
Per Zandren, Chief Operating Officer at Aditro Logistics, discusses the company’s forward-thinking logistics development strategy.
Written by Anna McMahon | Produced by Jennifer Davies 2
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ADITRO LOGISTICS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS (3PL) SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE NORDICS.
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ased in Sweden, the company was formed around 20 years ago, offering a broad service portfolio to its customers including warehousing, transportation, customs handling, and staffing. With more than 1,000 employees and annual sales of around 100 million euros, Aditro Logistics was acquired by Posti Group in February 2020. Per Zandren is Chief Operating Officer at Aditro Logistics. He explains, “As COO, I am responsible for all of our warehousing businesses, our customs business and our transportation business. I am very much focused on our logistics development strategy, which is based around a number of pillars. The first of which is standardisation. We believe that by developing standards in different segments, our customers will benefit. These include Fast Moving Consumer Goods, so we are building a FMCG concept, with targeted automation and visibility as part of our IT side.” Furthermore, Aditro Logistics is also building a concept for ecommerce and another for retail, bringing the total number of concepts to three. Per adds, “We are building standard-to-size concepts for these three pillars. Through them, there
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is automation and digitalisation running like a red thread.” Technology therefore plays a key role in the company’s logistics development strategy, but Per prefers to differentiate between technology as information technology and technology in the physical sense, as he explains, “There are two sides to technology. We are investing heavily in a physical autostore in Arlanda, north of Stockholm, with robots helping us to pick the goods. We are also investing in automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for the FMCG concept, so technology is an important part of the concepts. On the IT side, we are developing a tech hub – an IT department which sits outside our normal operational IT. There will be four of five highlyskilled IT development workers, solely focusing on developing technology and systems for tomorrow.” Taking the ecommerce concept, Per talks about the changes that have recently taken place in the logistics industry and the demand to meet customers’ evolving needs. He says, “There has been a lot of transformation in the industry. Historically, we delivered goods to stores on half or full pallets. Ecommerce growth has really put pressure on the logistics chain. 6
We are now picking for every individual. Instead of a pallet of knives or tables, we are picking one knife and one table, which is a lot more intense in terms of picking. This, in turn, has driven us to invest more in robots and pushed us to innovate.”
“THE AUTOMATED SOLUTION WILL COVER 90 PER CENT OF WHAT WE DO, BUT WE ALSO HAVE BACK-UP IN TERMS OF OUR MANUAL SOLUTION, WHICH CAN BE EASILY SWITCHED ON IF NEEDED” But, there is a downside to having an automated solution, such as the use of robots, as Per explains, “With automated solutions, you cannot easily scale up the capacity for a peak of a week or two because the capacity sits in the speed of the robot, not in the amount of people. That is why it is important for us to have manual picking alongside our automated 7
“B2B IT HAS BEEN HELPING ADITRO LOGISTICS TO DEVELOP ITS IT SOLUTIONS, WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AS WELL AS ITS INTERFACES WITH CUSTOMERS’ IT SOLUTIONS TO ENABLE A TRANSPARENT TRANSACTION OF INFORMATION WITH CUSTOMERS”
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processes. The automated solution will cover 90 per cent of what we do, but we also have back-up in terms of our manual solution, which can be easily switched on if needed. Humans and robots work alongside each other in this way. We still need humans to put items on the robots and take things from them.” The ownership of Posti Group has meant a huge increase in investment for Aditro Logistics around automation, especially on the ecommerce side. Per says, “Posti Group has been very positive about putting finance behind what we are doing. It has
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been encouraging to have Posti Group on board, with their solid finances and willingness to invest. It is important to invest a bit ahead of the curve. We need to invest first and then put our customers in place. You can only do that by having a strong owner.” Speaking of investment, a new site is currently being constructed, which will be the company’s seventh warehouse in Sweden. Per adds, “The building is under construction in Vaggeryd, with our FMCG concept in operation, so we are investing in a brand-new site with this automated concept.” One successful concept of development that was put in place a couple of years ago was Aditro Logistics’ gamification strategy. Per explains, “Our pickers and warehouse workers have an avatar in a virtual place, a bit like a game. That game is connected to their performance on the floor, so when you pick 50 pieces, for example, your avatar gets a score based on your working performance, and you can compete with your colleagues in this gaming environment. You can also put up a team and compete with another site. As your avatar improves, you can earn virtual money and buy cool stuff! It is a way to make the work more fun.” 10
“IT IS ABOUT THE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION OF THE INBOUND GOODS FROM CUSTOMERS’ WAREHOUSES, TAKING CARE OF THEM OUTBOUND, AND ALSO THAT LAST MILE. A SEAMLESS SUPPLY CHAIN FOR OUR CUSTOMERS!” Per Zandren, Chief Operating Officer
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“WELAND SOLUTIONS HAS ASSISTED ADITRO LOGISTICS IN BUILDING ITS ECOMMERCE SITE IN ARLANDA. IT IS VERY SOPHISTICATED AND EFFECTIVE IN TERMS OF SPACE, AND THE PICKING DISTANCE IS ZERO BECAUSE THE PICKER STANDS STILL, RESULTING IN HIGH PRODUCTIVITY”
The gamification principle also generates data to analyse performance for business purposes. Per adds, “Efficiency has increased, but because we have been developing our operations, it is hard to pinpoint the exact source. Certainly, the gaming environment has been very well-received and we are seeing higher motivation. It makes us more attractive as an employer.” Per has found that great teamwork is fundamental to working as part of a group. He says, “We work in teams and groups, and having close
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partnerships within the group, as well as with the management team, is essential. We cannot really perform on an individual level. It is about working as a group to get things done.” What’s more, choosing the right partners is increasingly important for an industry that has seen such rapid change over the last 12 months or so. Per adds, “In terms of development, you cannot do it all by yourself, so having strong partners is key. There is a difference between partners and suppliers. A partner helps you to develop and can see your needs. You work together for the long-term.” One such partner is Weland Solutions, which has assisted Aditro Logistics in building its ecommerce site in Arlanda. It is very sophisticated and effective in terms of space, and the picking distance is zero because the picker stands still, resulting in high productivity. At the moment, we are in the process of signing a new deal to further expand our capacity in these elevators, so Weland Solutions is a very important partner for us.” 14
B2B IT is another key partner on the IT side. The company has been helping Aditro Logistics to develop its IT solutions, warehouse management system, as well as its interfaces with customers’ IT solutions to enable a transparent transaction of information with customers. When asked about the future, Per says he is looking forward to launching and defining the aforementioned concepts, as well as helping Aditro Logistics’ customers to lead and be in the forefront of developments in the logistics industry. He adds, “We are aiming to be a fulfilment company as part of our strategy. We pick, we pack, we have warehouses, and we have a transportation department, but we are now looking to take care of our customers’ supply chain all the way to the end customer. It is about the seamless integration of the inbound goods from customers’ warehouses, taking care of them outbound, and also that last mile. A seamless supply chain for our customers!” For further information about Aditro Logistics, visit www.aditrologistics.com 15
www.aditrologistics.com
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