20 years of edy
Romanian Transport Company of the Year 2011 - Continental
edy was one of the first transport companies in Romania, which imposed a standard on the market and it's still a standard in the industry. This year, edy is celebrating 20 years since it was founded, two decades of evolution, from a traditional transport and freight forwarding company, to a transport and logistics group, which offers integrated services.
The edy Group started in 1991, when the company Alin Trans was founded by Alin Popa, a family business, the first transports being made with second hand trucks. Gradually, the company developed and started to be more and more known on the local market.
In 1993, when Coca-Cola started its operations in the Western part of Romania, they signed a transport contract and the partnership between Coca-Cola and edy proved to be a long-term one. In 1996-1997, edy did the first international transports and the image of the group was underlined by the creation of edy International Spedition. During this period, the first cooperation initiatives with other multinational companies started.
The partnerships with the big companies ensured the development
Starting from 2006, the edy group has as a majority shareholder an important investment fund, Westerham Holding BV, the taking over marking the professionalizing of the company.
Along the years, the company built long-term partnerships together with important companies, leaders in their fields of activity (customers as well as providers), which have appreciated the flexibility, the services and the passion of edy. The main customers of edy Group are Ursus, Drexel Meyer, IKEA, Continental Automobile, Leoni, Coca-Cola, Pernod Ricard, Minimax Discount.
Currently, the edy group, through its 4 companies, offers services like road merchandise transport (through edy International Spedition), integrated distribution, warehousing and logistics services (through edy Logistics&Distribution), technical assistance for their own fleet, as well as for other transport companies (through Autocamion Service) and fuel distribution services (through Diesel One). edy Group owns also the biggest fleet on the market, of over 1,100 trucks, in conformity with the highest standards.
Accent on training
Within edy, there are over 1,600 employees and the investment in the professional training is a priority for the group. For that, they attracted European funding of a total of 400,000 EUR, for 4 safety and health projects, within the 4 companies of the group: edy Logistics, edy International Spedition, Autocamion Service and Diesel One. The biggest part of these resources will be allocated for organizing specific trainings for each company and for employees' information.
Also the management team of edy Group (10 people in edy International Spedition, 1 in Diesel One, 1 in edy Logistics) participated in a training session for negotiation abilities development - Advanced Negotiating Skills. They are also intending to organize other "soft skills" trainings (on subjects like the leadership skills development, social competences development, and communication and negotiation skills) for the first and the second line of management. This way, edy shows a high degree of attention towards the working conditions, the safety and the professional development of all its employees.
Cost optimization
Taking into consideration the challenges of the market during the last years, edy Group faced them successfully, through a series of initiatives such as measures of operational activity optimization and the increase of the prices, for absorbing the constant increases of the fuel price and also the financing costs. On one hand, the company entrusted other specialists with the task of cost optimization of certain equipment and consumables and it was the first transporter in the country who outsourced its tire management, which led to optimal costs. On the other hand, there were a series of internal initiatives for fuel consumption reduction, such as: driver trainings and an integrated IT system which allows the automatic allocation of the optimal fuel quantity for each ride. In addition, because they are using last generation trucks, the drivers have the opportunity to work with equipment which helps them to obtain good performances from the point of view of the fuel consumption.
As a consequence, in 2010, the incomes of edy International Spedition increased with 26%, especially thanks to the increase of the international activity, but also of the exports of Romania. And the evolution continued also this year. Because they are showing an increased attention to the quality of the services, the company could have a suitable pricing policy. Therefore, the incomes of edy International Spedition increased with more than 12% in the first half of 2011.
For the future, the strategic priorities are the development of edy International Spedition, as well as the diversification of edy Logistics' portfolio.
edy after 2 decades
- The biggest road merchandise transport in Romania.
- 4 companies which offer integrated transport and logistics services: edy International Spedition, edy Logistics&Distribution, Autocamion Service and Diesel One.
- The biggest fleet on the relevant market, over 1,100 trucks.
- A team of over 1,600 employees.
- Strong customer portfolio, with companies in different fields: soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, construction, automotive, metallurgy, consumer goods industry, furniture, accessories, coffee etc.
- National coverage with offices in 24 towns all over the country.
- Significant presence in the space of CE.
- Turnover of over 500 million RON in 2010.
Radu BORCESCU
radu.borcescu@ziuacargo.ro
Publicat in revista Ziua Cargo din September 2011
