How to Improve Business Using Data

In episode 2 of our podcast series dedicated to the carrier community, we sat down with Robert Koebrunner to discuss how Market Insights has enabled Quehenberger Logistics to source new business and forge even stronger relationships with customers.

Uncertainty and volatility are two of the most common – if not necessarily popular – words in the carrier lexicon. As an experienced and hugely successful carrier, Quehenberger Logistics is at the heart of the action every single day, and therefore very well placed to talk about overcoming these challenges.

Robert Koebrunner explains that the company is focused on Central and Eastern Europe with 4600 employees spread across 88 locations in 15 countries, comprising road transportation, contract logistics and ocean freight.

Robert is head of Q Direct, responsible for all FTL/LTL business, which comprises 50% of all Quehenberger turnover. The company is far from a stranger to Transporeon – he revealed that Quehenberger has been on the Transporeon platform for many years now, and emphasised how helpful it continues to be in building cooperation with clients. He cited two main advantages: the security of the platform, and the reliability of partners using both sides of the platform.

Better relationships, securely held

When asked Robert to describe what those important and often-used terms, ‘relationships’ and ‘security’, mean in day-to-day terms. Robert acknowledged that there are always challenges associated with building strong customer relationships, so the fact that Quehenberger has successfully done so in regions where the company is not necessarily leading the market is a great testament to the power and trustworthiness of the Transporeon platform. He detailed how the network has allowed the company to build up a customer base in territories away from its home ‘patch’ and to achieve backload business as well, all in a secure environment.

Thanking Robert for such powerful endorsement, our host then asked him to elaborate on the Market Insights platform itself and Quehenberger’s motivations for using it. He revealed that Quehenberger is investing substantially in digital and automation innovation, convinced that the market will evolve in that direction over the next few years. “On that basis, the company is always searching for new features and tools that give it an advantage against competitors,” he commented.

AI projects are another important initiative. Robert outlined that market data is extremely important because “the overall success factor in such projects is good data”. Transporeon is thus a great data tool, because it offers a reliable overview concerning both the current price and forecast scenarios. Quehenberger initiated a test phase in which the excellent quality of the data has been proven, so Robert’s team will certainly exploit it still further. He confirmed that the company is using the data Europe-wide for price indications and developments, including geographies with which Quehenberger has traditionally been less familiar.

Ease of integration 

In response to our hosts’ curiosity on the topic of integration, Robert disclosed that he is using Market Insights in its own separate right as a tool as well as integrating it via API into existing systems. He pointed out that this two-pronged approach matters because every workflow has specific topics and set-ups, and workflow efficiency in each is vital. Integration and interoperability are taking on particular importance because, post-Covid and Ukraine, tender processes and prices are not fixed for 12-24 months as they were in the past. “Last year, prices changed three or four times, so that overview of market development and direction, with evidential data, is even more critical,” he said.

Our next question demanded to know whether access to the type of data provided by Market Insights equate to additional competitive edge in the market.

Robert didn’t hesitate to agree that it does, highlighting the spot market as an example. His view is that when you have such a greater array of data at your fingertips, you are far better informed about fluctuations and seasonal highs and lows, so you can account for them far more accurately and reliably in your calculations.

We then moved on to the scope of staff usage of Market Insights within Quehenberger Logistics. Robert reported that several different departments access the data, including transport managers, as part of day-to-day operations as well as tender management and sales personnel, who use the data in their calculations.

Backing decisions with evidence 

Asked if Market Insights had inspired or influenced any changes of direction or important decision-making processes, Robert highlighted that, working in collaboration with customers, new models have been explored in terms of contracts, based on data harvested from the platform.

Our host suggested that Robert’s original insights shared during the interview had once again driven a home truth that: “It’s not the data, it’s how you use it that matters.”

Robert agreed. “Yes, the topic of data itself is very important and we believe it will become more so. Every company should think about how they can learn with and from the data.”

Both Robert and the host cautioned that this is not always easy. Quehenberger has learned a lot – he advised; “Bring the data inside so that you can really work with it; it means you’re close to the market and that leads to better relationships with customers.

“In the end, customers can see that we know what we are doing. And that’s important.”

Tune in to listen to our podcast.

Look out for Episode 1 about Carrier Premium Account on our Carrier Community Talks page, coming on and featuring.