Ritra Cargo speaks at information meeting “Digitisation in the freight forwarding industry”

23 May 2018

Blockchain, Big Data and iSHARE. These are just a few tech terms that are becoming increasingly popular in the freight forwarding industry. Because a growing number of freight forwarders have started to wonder what these technologies will mean for them, trade association Fenex organised an event on “Digitisation in the freight-forwarding industry” on 25 April. Ritra Cargo has been involved with the Tech revolution for years, which is why one of our colleagues, Ad Schoenmakers, was invited to talk about what digitisation means for Ritra Cargo.

People and ICT are the driving force of our organisation

“Automating business operations” was the title of Ad’s interactive break-out session, which he headed together with Fenex’s Wout. In this session, Ad explained the role played by digitisation in Ritra Cargo, as well as sharing how the organisation deals with new technology, before discussing the issue with the participants.

Digitisation plays a central role at Ritra Cargo. Ad: “People and ICT are the driving force of our organisation.” That’s why we’re always working on improving processes, taking the needs of our customers and employees as a starting point. Ad: “We ask our employees: what do you need for your work, which process would you like to change? At Ritra Cargo, you can influence your own world, which makes the people here happy!”

It’s important to know that not a single idea is filtered out. Every idea is implemented, pure and simple. It goes without saying that not all of these ideas and developments have an equally wide application in the organisation, but that isn’t important. All that matters is that the idea makes someone’s work more enjoyable. The point is that everyone can feel heard, and this approach has proved to work well in practice. People haven’t stopped communicating, and now, the employees just want to keep making changes. Briefly put, it’s a vision that has started to pay off.

The ICT freight-forwarder

“At the core, we are an ICT company that also transports freight”, says Ad. Ritra Cargo has found it useful to work with a single system. All internal processes are interlinked, allowing for better mutual communication. The system also allows for individual links to share data with external partners, including suppliers and customers. Because the entire system is managed by Ritra Cargo, it’s very easy to make changes.

A great example is the “Traffic Control System” (TCS), Ritra Cargo’s Supply Chain Management Platform. Ad: “The needs of customers who use TCS are front and centre. This platform gives clear insight into KPIs, for instance, but the KPIs in question depend on the customer. Do they want to see KPIs per order, or even per unit? We develop what the customer asks for.”

It’s clear that the role played by freight forwarders is changing, both internally and externally. Ritra Cargo’s flexible structure with regard to implementing process improvements ensures that we’re always thinking of and working towards the future.

Linking the ICT budget to gross salary

Facilitating the central role of ICT requires a budget, of course. As such, one of the more pressing questions was: “How do you determine the size of your ICT budget?” Ad was able to give a clear answer: “At Ritra Cargo, the ICT budget is linked directly to the gross wage budget. This is an obvious choice for an organisation that considers its people and ICT solutions as its key driving forces. By setting the ICT budget at a fixed percentage of the gross wage budget, it can grow alongside the organisation. This allows for constant investment in innovation, our users’ wishes and, of course, the necessary maintenance.”

Do you have any questions after reading this article about digitisation in Ritra Cargo? Please get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you.