Mr. Yuksel Kahraman Managing Director at Origin Logistics of Turkey did an interview about the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator with Hapag-Lloyd. In the interview, he shared his experience with the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator, how the tool becomes a one-stop solution to access information, and helps to follow the shipments from beginning to end on a live online platform.
1) Mr. Kahraman, can you please briefly describe your business and your role in the company?
Origin Logistics, founded in 2013 and with seven offices in Turkey, is one of the fastest-growing companies specializing in container shipping and project cargo. As a local company, we offer global logistics services in collaboration with our worldwide partners and agents.
The business world is undergoing radical change and everything is becoming digital. The developments in online platforms will provide many opportunities and lead to significant changes in the container shipping industry. We aim to be a strong player in this changing world, which is why we are investing in digital products and data management solutions. In this way, we can respond to customers’ needs with our real-time cargo monitoring dashboards.
I am the co-founder and Managing Director of the company and one of the oldest members of the team.
2) How do you usually keep an overview of booking-related information from carriers? What are the main challenges in this process?
We usually follow the information about the booking from various carriers via email. We process the alerts via email and the information flow for the relevant booking. The greatest challenge here is that there are too many mails for too many bookings and this makes it difficult to keep track of the process in the limited time available.
3) What is your experience with the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator?
Even though the Navigator is a new product, we have used almost all of its functions from the start. Nevertheless, every now and then, the efficiency of the system, its capabilities, and smoothness of the interfaces still surprise us. Considering our local market and customer needs, we realize that handling things manually will be one of the hardest habits to change. Yet, with the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator, we will have the power to adapt our partners and customers to the digital world faster than before.
The Navigator is very user-friendly and easy to use. We can obtain the rates and charges or the booking details in a very short time.
4) How do you use the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator in your daily business and how does it help in these challenging times?
The nature of our business means that we need to be live 24/7 in order to guarantee customer satisfaction and smooth operation. The Hapag-Lloyd Navigator becomes a one-stop solution for us to access and follow our shipments from beginning to end on a live online platform, which increases our turnaround speed. The integrity and correctness of the data are of tremendous assistance in ensuring the transparency of supply chains, and having all this information in the palm of your hand is simply great.
The option of buying free time (Additional Freetime) also have considerable importance for our activities and may be of great help to customers, especially if their cargo is arriving in peak season or during long holiday periods.
The market needs have changed and are still changing and so you have to provide easy access and be quicker than the competition in today’s world. It is not the big fish that eats the small fish but it is the fastest fish that eats the big one.
5) How do you think the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator will assist you in conducting your business in the future?
In today’s world, digitization is one of the key success factors. We are offering almost the same services as many other rivals in the market. Our biggest competitive advantage, though, lies in our IT systems and our ability to use digital tools, and this will help us to stay ahead of potential competition.
What we believe is that the companies who can forecast their business will have continuous growth. As far as our operations are concerned, the Navigator tool will certainly help to make doing business easier.
6) In your opinion, how could we improve the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator even more?
One of the key elements of decision-making is the information on the daily business. To be live 24/7 and to reduce front office density, the Hapag-Lloyd Navigator needs a Live Chat option. All kinds of amendments could be able to handle via the Hapag-Llyod Navigator instead of manual actions.
