Dalibor Hofmann, Head of Contract Logistics, responsible for the Czech Republic and Slovakia at Yusen Logistics

What is the secret of Yusen Logistics' success? What makes the company special and sets it apart from others?

Our way of working is based on a deep understanding of our customers' needs. This understanding is crucial for the effective cooperation and management of our suppliers, dealers and partners. In addition, our team is a relevant key factor for our success. In our Czech branch, we employ more than 650 people, many of whom have been with Yusen for a long time. This is unusual in our industry, which is why we invest in our employees and promote a sense of community within Yusen. Our customers benefit from this, as we also support their processes and activities. These factors are key to our success, both in terms of business expansion and future growth.

How important is cooperation with suppliers such as Kögel Trailer for your success?

The cooperation between Yusen and Kögel is certainly crucial. We pass on our customers' feedback to you and you implement the desired changes individually, as with this trailer series. This gives us a competitive advantage and sets Yusen apart from the competition. The small but decisive improvements to the trailers serve as a reference point for our customers. They see how such changes affect their everyday life after a few weeks, months or even years. It is therefore important to obtain their feedback.

Do you think this approach will become even more important in the future?

I believe that in our highly competitive sales environment, it is crucial to clearly define and communicate our value proposition well. We therefore need to ensure that we understand this promise and our differentiators and communicate them effectively to our customers. Once customers perceive the added value that a particular supplier offers them, they are often willing to accept a slightly higher price. At Kögel, you obviously also take a customer-centric approach, responding to customers' needs and meeting their requirements.

Do you have a preference for Kögel trailers? Is there anything that distinguishes our trailers from trailers from other manufacturers?

Our cooperation is very good. This means that when we have new ideas or requirements, Kögel responds to them and makes appropriate adjustments. This is why we have chosen Kögel as our partner and trailer supplier. At present, almost 80 percent of our fleet consists of Kögel trailers, almost 300 in total. We have chosen you as our partner because you meet our requirements and we can therefore supply our customers with excellent trailers. This partnership is very important to us.

Which industries do you transport products for?

We are active in six key industries. In the Czech Republic, the automotive industry is the most important industry for the whole country. Our trailers are used in all automotive plants.

Can you give us a brief insight into your plans for the coming years?

We are aware of the changes in the market - scarcity of resources, labor shortages and instability caused by suppliers from third countries. The situation in the Red Sea, for example, is creating a very volatile market and we are preparing to mitigate the impact on our business. Our strategy for the coming years is therefore to reduce uncertainty. As work processes and the workload of employees are increasing, we are looking for opportunities to automate. We plan to invest in digitalization and processes in order to streamline and optimize our workflows. Our aim is to identify new automation potential for our customers.

The unstable political situation underlines the importance of supply chain management, especially for our automated customers. We want to continuously improve in this area and offer our customers unique solutions in addition to our standard processes in the contract logistics branches.

Our main focus is on the automotive industry. However, we are also interested in expanding into other sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, SMCG, retail and IT technology.

How do you define a good partnership?

For me, a good partner is able to respond to our needs and develop new ideas that we can present to our customers.