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| Giuseppe Fontana, managing director of NYK Logistics Italia |
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“We’ve become one of the leading logistics providers in the Italian market,” explains Giuseppe Fontana, managing director for NYK Logistics Italia and coordinator for the company’s southern European activities.
“NYK Italy’s dedication to its customers and their businesses, as well as the quality of services has contributed to the company’s success and the increase in the number of clients we are servicing,” he says.
The company has taken to heart the Japanese philosophy of kaizen to improve the quality of output and take care of its employees and customers.
“I think we have succeeded in setting this philosophy in motion. But now despite a tough period for the economy, we are achieving growth and profitability,” says Fontana.
In 2006, NYK Logistics expanded its activities in southern Europe to include not only sea and air delivery of goods, but also freight forwarding and transport brokerage activities.
“This is a new service we’re offering our customers. We’re able to make full truck-load transports throughout southern Europe. This is an exceptional competitive advantage for our company,” he says.
Compared to the rest of Europe, Italian logistics companies are smaller. But that scale does not reflect the value of the industry.
“Small to medium-sized family-owned businesses are the backbone of the Italian economy. The dimension of the logistics business here is much smaller than in some other European countries. But Italy still has a lot of potential because of the vast amount of goods being exported,” he explains.
NYK Italy’s customers are mainly fashion-related since the industry comprises the largest percentage of exports from the northern Italian region.
“We have opened logistics operations for the distribution of products from Pioneer, Blockbuster, Fujifilm, Puma and most recently Prada,” says Fontana.
On the future, Fontana hopes to establish new trade lanes, primarily through the recent enhancement of road freight forwarding activity within Europe.
“We’re looking to eastern Europe. We have already established companies in the Czech Republic and Poland, and we will soon extend our activities in Slovakia and Romania,” he says.
www.nyklogistics.com |