Heavy-duty customised logistics

The GLS Foppiani Group is one of Europe’s most successful third party logistics providers and transportation companies.Its strategy of continuous improvement and dedicated added-value customer services has ensured that the company continues to see strong growth and expansion beyond its domestic market borders. Philip Yorke reports.

The GLS Fioppani Group is made up of five transportation companies each with its own specialist expertise, which cover the full range of transportation requirements in the industrial marketplace. The group’s services include consultancy, integrated logistics, packing services, warehouse handling and industrial moving. This is in addition to other key services such as domestic transportation and heavy haulage on both national and international levels by road, rail or air.

GLS Services acts as a key logistics partner for large companies with complex logistics processes that call for close integration and fully customised services that range from operational functions to reporting and invoicing. The company is able to meet the diverse needs of companies in various sectors through its efficient and flexible computerised systems and experienced, highly professional staff.

In this respect, GLS is not a transport company but a full service company that is able to handle any volume of traffic by identifying critical issues and operational priorities, while respecting an individual company’s commercial constraints. The infinite variety of shipping companies with which GLS maintains close contact guarantee punctual, safe and economical transportation in line with competitive market prices. Management of the entire volume of inbound and outbound air and ocean and ground traffic, means that the company can provide a global vision leading to the benefits of synergies, costsavings and optimisation of lead times.

Delegating logistics to a partner such as GLS that is competent in all sectors of the supply chain and that acts as an extension to the customer’s company is the right move for maximising productivity and reducing operating costs.

Exceptional transportation

Although many of the services offered are spread across all the various companies of the group, the main entities dealing with ‘exceptional’ transportation, such as heavy equipment for the energy industry, are Foppiani Transport and STE. Combining their equipment, they have become leaders in the provision of customised transportation for every conceivable type of merchandise. The client list of GLS Fioppani includes some of the biggest players in the energy business, such as ABB, General Electric, Ansaldo and ENI.

The company operates mainly in the industrial plant, oil and gas sectors offering its customers customised services that range from transportation, storage and mobile cranes, to packaging and the painting of industrial products.

Today the group has one of the largest fleets of road haulage units, specialised trailers and heavy mobile cranes, as well as over 35,000 square metres of covered storage facilities. Working frequently with major energy multinationals, the group is adept at moving heavy, bulky equipment such as completed plants, and transformers, as well as being able to cover the more traditional transportation of goods and providing storage facilities and packing services.

Adding value

With its diverse range of logistics services, the company strives to provide added value across the board. A company spokesman told Industry Europe, “The aim is to add value to our everyday services through a programme of continuous improvement, which is a strategy that we share with our customers in order to optimise all the relevant processes and enhance our contribution to their day-today activities and fiscal results.” With the continuing success of the group, the company is expected to incorporate both major exclusive contracts and tailor-made connections with domestic partners and is investing considerable funds into specialised equipment, skills and infrastructure. One recent investment involved the purchase of specialised trailers for the transportation of wind turbines and another for the purchase of advanced IT software for client-specific bar-coding for advanced track and trace capabilities.

With investments and strategic market development already paying dividends the company is set to continue to meet its ambitious targets for growth. A company spokesman added, “What the global economic changes in the past few years have proved is that you cannot accurately predict what will happen in business, so we are fully committed to taking as much control as possible over the logistics chain, so that both our customers and ourselves will be able to realise the most effective channels. We support our customers in every way we can and this long-term contribution is reflected in our consistent and positive results.” n

For further details of GLS Fioppani Group’s extensive logistics products and services visit: www. foppianigroup.it

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