SUCCESS STORIES IN BELGIUM
INTERVIEW WITH
Catrien Scheers, co-owner
COMPANY
Fast Lines Group REGION
Flanders Founded: 1991 Location: Antwerp Number of employees: 150 worldwide. 10 in Belgium Turnover (2019): EUR 30 million Growth (2019): even level Investments (2019): new equipment EUR 1,5 million Start of exports: as from 1991 Share of exports in terms of turnover: 85% Prizes, awards: 2017 Fast Terminals won the Economic Award of the City of Szczecin Website: www.fast-lines.com
Founded in 1991, Fast Lines is a 100% family-owned company with its headquarters in Antwerp and branch offices in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Poland. Fast Lines is a total logistic service provider with a horizontal focus on the transport chain by offering breakbulk, forwarding, chartering, terminal handling, project cargo, shipping agency services, container handling and logistics consulting on a worldwide scale. Fast Lines is very versatile. “We know how a terminal works, because we have our own terminals, and we know how ship handling works, because we have our own fleet of vessels. This means we can look at things from different angles and are able to provide added value for the customer,” says Catrien Scheers, co-owner of the company since 2003.
SOFA STYLE SERVICE
I N
T R A N S P O R T
The added value is reflected in the company’s tagline “Sofa Style Service”. The customer explains what goods need to be transported, when and where. The Fast team will look for various options and guide the client through the entire transport chain. “Our well-trained team, our architects
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“We do business with our heads in the air, but with our feet on the ground. We take risks, but we limit them. If you don’t try things, you’ll never progress.”
of transport as we call them, will look at the multimodal side of transport and provide an overall view on the logistics chain.” Fast Lines “prethinks” the whole transport and logistics chain, mostly in break-bulk operations, says Scheers. It is a niche market where she claims that her company can make a real difference compared to the big shipping lines. “Every company can load steel coils in a container, but the coils have to come out of the ship in the same shape as they were inserted. For example, if a customer wants to ship coils out of Shanghai, we will present him all the options and our advise to ship in breakbulk, but if he wants to ship the coils in a container then we will make this possible too,” she explains.
