Transfera – Power is in People

In an interview with eKapija, Duško Radović, General Manager of the Company, said that the performances achieved during the previous three years are the result of applying modern technologies, as well as of the policy of employing young engineers.

In continuation, you can read the interview published in the portal e-Kapija.

eKapija: What were the results of Transfera company in the past period?

– Transfera Company began to work in 2013. By the end of 2016, we will have a business income of 14.5 million EUR, a customs guarantee of approximately 2 million EUR, more than 100 employees, twelve offices in Serbia, forty five young engineers and a vast network of subcontractors. I can say that the exponential growth that we have had so far placed as a recognizable company in the logistics market and as a reliable partner. Many were surprised by the speed, with which Transfera has built that image. I would like to quote here a basketball trainer, who said – All that is normal. That is how it is for all of us at Transfera. That growth did not come by itself, but it is the result of the engagement and work of each employee of Transfera. The fact of developing and building the company through the synergy of all our employees is more important.

eKapija: What are the results that influenced that growth?

They consist in the people, the standards by which we work and the investments, of course. In the selection of our staff, we succeeded to combine energetic young people with experts with great knowledge and experience. I would like to highlight that this recognizable and strong team brought new energy and service quality to our clients, contributing thus to the growth of the company. On the other hand, we harmonized our operations with standards ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001, which implies compliance with regulations, the reliability and safety of our services, as well as availability and responsiveness…. We have invested in the education of our employees, the opening of new offices throughout Serbia and an integrated information system. Our software solution “Trans2Open” is compatible with different software platforms, such as EDI, SKYTRACK and WMS – electronic data exchange, automatic processes of data exchange with other software solutions of commercial banks etc. A fast data flow inside our company means the enhancement of our services and, by the end of the day, a greater satisfaction of our clients. That is why investing in our development is our permanent determination.

eKapija: You consider that your team is your greatest achievement. How many people do are you employing? What is the structure of employees?

– We believe that our lies in our employees. We are committed to them and they have the freedom and support to develop and work in a professionally challenging surrounding. We allow them to express their potential and build a successful career. Our employment policy is maybe a bit unusual for our market, because we are oriented to young people without experience. Still during the studies, we offer them the possibility of getting acquainted with our company through practice, as well as with real situations that they might have to face in their future life and work. The results of such an approach became quickly visible – people accept the company as their own; they establish an employment relation after completing the traineeship and Transfera obtains employees that have already adopted all the values and standards of our company. We currently employ more than 100 people, out of which many are highly qualified.

eKapija: Your headquarters are in Belgrade. In which other cities do you have offices?

– Our mission is to be close to our clients. We opened a few offices in Belgrade, so that we could be present at each branch of the Belgrade Customs. By opening offices in Odžaci, Novi Sad and Sremska Mitrovica, we expanded our operations in Vojvodina, while our offices in Kragujevac and Kruševac cover central Serbia. Our plans are to open 4 more offices in 2017 and to cover all the regional centers of Serbia.

eKapija: You have been present in the sector of transport and logistics for more than two decades. Year after year, logistic operations have considerably widened. What kind of services can Transfera offer to its clients nowadays?

– The focus of our business activities is on international transportation. Although road traffic is predominant, we also have developed air and boat transportation. I would like to make special mention of our network of customs agents. Of course, warehouse-manipulative services complete the concept of integrated services as a complete logistics solution, which we offer to our current clients and propose to potential ones.

eKapija: Transfera has experience in the delivery of logistics services to manufacturing-industrial companies, especially in the field of automotive industry. To what kind of requests can you respond?

– New trends in the automotive industry dictate that stocks should tend to zero and that goods and raw materials should be delivered “Just In Time” and directly to the production line (Just In Sequence).  That type of work requires logistics at a very high level, as well as a very efficient chain of supply. As a result of the increasingly complex requests of clients in the automotive industry, we have developed and implemented the TS-Automotive service. We have created a special “Automotive Team” inside the company, which is available to clients 24/7. We are client-oriented and, by working together, we find the best “tailor-made” solutions, developed according to the specific requests of our users.

This services includes fast vehicles for road transportation, double driver crews, special courier deliveries, charter cargo planes, simplified customs procedures and processes and, at the client’s request, up to twenty for shipment statuses per day.

eKapija: Do you have experience abroad?

– Our network of business associates covers 7-8 countries in the region. In the EU countries, we have partners, who are leaders in the market of the countries, where we operate. In partnership with them, we organize numerous gathering lines and improve our services.

eKapija: There are few international logistics companies in Serbia, as well as a large number of domestic ones. The market is small. Which are your competitive advantages?

– With our capacities, number of employees and realized incomes, we can be classified as a middle-size company, which we highlight as our advantage. I would say that our market is polarized and therefore you have large companies with reduced capacities. We are large enough to answer to the needs of our clients, from the organizational and financial points of view. On the other hand, unlike large companies, we are flexible and focused enough to make our clients feel our dedication and attention.

eKapija. What are your plans for the upcoming period?

– In the upcoming period, we plan to open new offices, to widen the range of services that we offer and to build a logistics center. In 2017, we will make a financial plan and an analysis and according to them, we will elaborate the project of the logistics center.

eKapija: In the past years, you have intensively participated in humanitarian projects. Tell us more about that.

– Although the creation of economical profit is the objective of any enterprise, we consider that it is indispensable to achieve a balance between business results and the social engagement of the company. We wish to transmit our values clearly to our employees and partners, as well as to the public.

During the previous years, we have dedicated especial attention to children and culture activities. I would like to highlight the partnership with the Center for the Protection of Babies, Children and Youth of Belgrade, the popular so-called “Zvečanska”. The Center helped us establish collaboration with numerous homes for neglected children and shelters for children abused within the family. Besides the financial help used to procure the necessary equipment and prepare the sport fields, a much more important aspect was the time we spent with the children and the competitions that we organized with them in different sport disciplines.

The smiling faces of the children and our employees represent an additional impulse transform such meetings into a regular practice.

Our company also participates in a large number of actions intended to help children suffering of rare diseases. We can proudly say that Transfera is the first sponsor of the documentary film “Heavenly Theme”, about the life and work of Vlada Divljan,  which will be premiered next year.

eKapija: Tell us more about the collaboration of Transfera with the scientific community.

– For us, it is very important to have good relations with educational institutions. In collaboration with the Faculty of Transport of Belgrade, the best students get the chance of working and practicing in Transfera. In that way, we have obtained a high-quality and well educated staff.

Labor organization and systematization works within the company have been carried out only with the support of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences of Belgrade.

By the end of this year, Transfera began to collaborate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which granted us access to programs for the engagement of foreign consultants, who will work for a longer time on the enhancement of the operative and financial processes of the company.

In general, we insist at Transfera on constant learning and development as a company, as well as at the level of the individual skills and knowledge of each employee. And who is better to transmit that knowledge than the specialized institutions. I would also like to mention that, besides internal trainings, we have also organized seminars and professional trainings, led by eminent lecturers. I come back to what I mentioned at the beginning of the interview: The competitive advantage of Transfera consists in its employees and investing in that resource is always a formula of success