Horváth developed the digitization strategy for FAN Courier

Horváth, the management consulting company, with over 40 years of international experience, present on the Romanian market since 2005, assisted FAN Courier, the leader of the local courier market, in the Digital Strategy development project, which will contribute to strengthening the position of leader in the profile market.

The project, carried out between February and May 2022, was based on an analysis of the internal digitization processes in FAN Courier, an analysis of the digital systems and capabilities available to the company, for the efficient structuring of new or already planned digitization initiatives, but and proposals for customized, modern solutions to help accelerate digitization.

“The consulting company Horváth gave us an objective perspective of the stages and solutions we needed to accelerate digitization, a process that has become a necessity for all industry players, given that the pandemic has led to the explosion of online commerce and digitized everything more the client-supplier relationship. We want to accelerate digitization to increase the added value we bring to the business, and Horváth offered us the support we needed in this process,” says Alexandru Stelea, Head of Project Management Office FAN Courier.

This year, the Romanian e-commerce market registered a total value of 6.2 billion euros, with an increase of 44% compared to 2019, but only 10% compared to 2020. Much of the increase is due to the extended periods of lockdown during the Covid 19 pandemic. If 2021 played a role in consolidating the market, in 2022 it is estimated that its total value will reach 7 billion euros, according to GPeC, which will also have major implications in the courier sector . In 2021, courier and postal companies recorded a turnover of more than 1.1 billion euros, 34% more than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, amid the expansion of e-commerce. Starting from this context, the Horváth consulting team divided the project into several stages, the first of which was the analysis from two perspectives – internal and external. Internally, the focus was on processes, IT systems, digital capabilities, as well as FAN Courier’s needs and requirements. The external analysis carried out helped to reach some conclusions regarding the digitization trends specific to the courier industry. Based on the analysis and business strategy of FAN Courier, Horváth assisted the company in defining digitalization objectives and requirements for which several scenarios were made and to which programs were assigned for implementation in a medium time horizon.

“The courier industry must adapt to the changes brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic, the current challenges in supply chains and high inflation. Thus, digital transformation will play a key role in increasing competitiveness, by running more efficient business processes, improving capabilities of innovation and creating better experiences for customers, employees and partners. Through our expertise and capabilities, we help FAN Courier to remain an agile company, permanently connected to the market, to the future needs of customers, capable of making data-driven decisions that they will help accelerate innovation in courier services and generate added value for customers”, says Kurt Weber, managing director of Horváth Romania.

The implementation plan defined in FAN Courier’s Digital Strategy includes a portfolio of nine programs that, in addition to specific digitization initiatives, will help develop digital capabilities in FAN Courier. These include a modern BI and Analytics program, a business process automation and digitization program, as well as a Machine Learning program and a program to optimize the customer’s digital experience. “FAN Courier is in a good position for digital transformation, which it does not consider a destination, but a permanent state of evolution. One of the success factors of this project was the openness and support of the management and employees of FAN Courier with whom we worked efficiently and aligned complex themes. The results of this project led to our future involvement in the implementation stages as well,” added Constantin Pelehra, Senior Project Manager, Horváth Romania.