When you made a general assessment of 2020, how did OMSAN Logistics act in a structure and strategy with the pandemic?
With our customer-oriented understanding during and after the pandemic, we have given more importance to new business models, sustainability, digitalization and efficiency than ever before. We have accelerated our growth by being different from the competition with our solution partner approach and the sensitivity we show in meeting customer needs. We quickly adapted to the pandemic period with our technological infrastructure investments. As a result of our data analytics studies, we have achieved business results that create value for our customers. We’ve redefined our methods by creating end-to-end contactless processes to reduce or completely remove all touchpoints throughout the supply chain. During this period, we managed an uninterrupted process in terms of customer relations, and we were able to provide service at any time. We have been able to respond quickly to the expectations of our customers, who have experienced fluctuations in different sizes depending on the volume of the sector we serve in different sectors. We alleviated the compelling effects of the period for them by putting customer satisfaction first, and we stood by them with our solutions.
While designing contactless processes for the continuity of the workflow, we created new kiosks and automation points in the fields. We continue to work on the integration of image processing systems to control the distances between the personnel in the field.
The serious increase in demand experienced with the pandemic was tried to be met with urgent solutions such as increasing the area in e-commerce warehouses and additional employment. Within the scope of the storage service, we decided to expand the allocated usage areas by renewing the contracts with some of our customers in different areas. With all these efforts, we, as OMSAN Logistics, have once again demonstrated that we are a reliable solution partner where our customers can get support in difficult times by offering integrated, digital, environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions.
When we look under the heading of technology and digitalization, what has been the contribution of OMSAN Logistics to Turkey’s export and import processes, and therefore to the economy, especially after the recent technological innovations? What are your goals in international rail transport?
In our digitalization processes, which are the requirements of the new era, we are among the companies that adapt the fastest to the transformation in the sector, taking into account the cyber security elements. With our significant investments, which we have realized with the vision of carrying our logistics services to a global dimension beyond keeping them local, we provide the advantage of having a say in a much larger geography, closely following sector trends and acting with the right strategies. In this sense, we focused on our international railway transportation services, which gained importance especially during the pandemic period. We carried out the world’s first intercontinental rail car transportation from Europe to Asia via Marmaray. We made history as the first company in the world to carry cars at this depth under the sea, with this transportation we carried out over Marmaray, which has the world’s deepest immersed tube tunnel used by rail systems with a depth of 60 meters. The railway will be one of the most preferred alternatives in the coming period. As OMSAN Logistics, we will make significant contributions to Turkey’s export and import processes, and therefore to our economy, with the launch of Marmaray, which has strategic importance for our country and our industry, with full capacity in transportation. After this successful expedition, we continue our preparations for the organization of new international train services.
The fact that the pandemic process has made contactless and digitalization a rising value has led to a huge growth in online transactions and e-commerce sector. Considering the development in your technological infrastructure, what are the future of the Turkish logistics industry and OMSAN Logistics’ goals for 2021 and beyond?
In the coming period, digitalization will be the focus of our investments. Adhering to our company’s medium and long-term strategy plans, we will continue to be the pioneer of innovative practices in the sector and contribute to the development of our sector. By expanding our service range, we will continue our sustainable growth with the aim of becoming a global logistics service provider rather than a national logistics company, by keeping our focus on digitalization, customer satisfaction and trained human factor in all our business processes. In addition, we think that consumer habits will not change in a short time and companies positioned in e-commerce will increase their market shares in the ongoing process. As OMSAN, we plan to further expand our customer network in this context.