Exclusive Logistics Services striving for Sustainability

Martynas Sarapinas currently works as a Chief Information Officer at Girteka, the biggest European FTL (Full Truck Load) transportation company. As a technology leader he managed various strategy execution initiatives & organizational projects, operational excellence and customer centricity for 22.000+ dedicated employees. His extensive experience in digitalization and driving transformations and change initiatives at global scale bestowed him European Technology Leader of the Year - Impact – Award in 2020. He has a strong passion in new management techniques, high-performance A-class teams, new arising digitalization technologies and systems of intelligence. Prior to joining Girteka, Martynas served as the First Vice President, Head of IT at MobilePay. He had been into numerous leadership projects and transformations including customer experience, innovation, cost saving initiatives, operational improvements and regulatory agenda.

Could you shed some light on the challenges that prevail in the logistics space?

The major challenge in the logistics space we face is the shortage of drivers. The Post- Brexit situation although accelerated the retention of drivers but the terrible industry collapse due to the Ukraine war led to shortage of the drivers. According to IRU report there is missing 380k drivers in Europe and also they are ageing that’s not a good perspective for future. This created inflation in driving salaries and well-being expectations resulting in the growth of logistics cost. Secondly, the mobility package rules in Europe have added more regulation to taxation, transportation rules across countries, asset transferring etc. Moreover, the 2015 Paris agreement pledged for sustainable transportation creating a mess in adapting strategies to strive for climate goals. Businesses took time to acclimate strategies for net-zero emission transportation.

Could you tell our readers about the measures you’re taking to reduce the cost of logistics?

In logistics industry, tackling poor asset utilization has always been a challenge. Therefore one of the trends we have observed over 8years is the use of IOT and cloud platforms in connecting all the tracks in one single platform. Artificial Intelligence is the technology solution and we have quite early ventured into it in our day-to-day application. AI allows us to have a track on the data related to delivery and execution. Running a fleet of 9,000 trucks for daily transporting is a complicated undertaking. We leverage technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and cloud technologies to deliver on the logistics of the future. The artificial intelligence system has helped reach 85% penetration level of use in planning operations. It streamlines asset utilization by managing all assets in a single unit helping us to track the empty mileage between driver’s time and work to cut the delay. Furthermore, we are running more than 130 robots and automation driving cost-effective shipping, building a sustainable financial side. The automation and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) removed the repetitive work allowing us to be more focused on adding value to the jobs.

Could you share some case studies you’ve carried out recently?

We did a case study with the Ikea transport group and GCA by taking real transportation around 11,000 transportations for a certain time duration. We analyzed the real data of fuel consumption loads, empty mileage etc. The interesting aspect we found that we achieved more than 20- 27% improvement on CO2 accounting. We realized that with the help of right technology, an open partner, a platform and a sustainable customer engagement, we could take account of the sustainability on a factual basis and make improvements.

"I have experienced from the case study that we need to be more innovative and work as an ecosystem with an open mind in the business"

What are some of the leading technological advancement in the Logistics industry?

Artificial intelligence has been the most impactful technological advancement in the logistics industry. The IOT and automation have leveraged the logistics industry to connect everything with one platform and automate things to a degree. The sensors connected to the devices ensure proactive maintenance of the trucks. It detects the condition of the trucks and acquaints about probable accidents and repairing it needs. Moving on, the electrification of fleets has reduced transportation pollution and climate change. Transforming commercial transports into electric vehicles has cut down the diesel usage reducing the total cost of ownership and transportation cost.

What would be your piece of advice for peers in this field?

I would advise my peers to be open and humble, and explore new things. I learnt from the case study sharing data with companies is difficult. We have been working with three parties who have been humbled to find the results of joining the free company assets on a data level. I have experienced from the case study that we need to be more innovative and work as an ecosystem with an open mind in the business.