CEVA LOGISTICS: ‘We are learning from the past and beginning a new chapter’

02/08/2016

CEVA Logistics has opened a new chapter: it is investing in staff, and is completing the roll-out of its new IT freight management system. It says it has also wiped out layers of inefficiency, which has both boosted customer care and helped operationally. What’s more, managers are returning in droves to a company they left in its darker days – and even its weak financials are improving. **The architect of the new strategy, CEO Xavier Urbain, explains the changes to The Loadstar’s Alex Lennane.**

They are coming back. Slowly but surely, managers who left CEVA in its darker days are returning; from Crane, Kuehne + Nagel, SEKO, SDV and Agility.

At the same time, quietly, CEVA has been rolling out its new IT, a freight management system which it has developed over years at a very reasonable cost, less than $20m. In the past quarter, it has completed its US implementation. (“Any teething problems we had were easily bearable in comparison with those at DHL GF,” smiles one CEVA executive.)

CEVA has entered a new chapter, one which started when former K+N executive Xavier Urbain took over from Apollo (CEVA’s private equity owner) stooge Marvin Schlanger at the start of 2014. The change is starting to pay dividends at a company which has been on shaky financial ground.

Comment on this article

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Peter
August 05, 2016 at 11:47 am
Positive ???…just look at figures
Revenue just before his team and X took over was usd 4.1bln for 6 months 2013…and EBITDA usd 120mln with DEBT of usd 1.89mln.

what is it now? for 6 months ending 2016 usd 3.2bln ..and EBITDA of usd 99mln and most importantly his team accumulated more debt which now stands at usd 2.11bln

how is this positive ??? we can not keep blaming Exchange rates …

Apollo need to get in better management..

Log in to Reply
- Jack
  August 06, 2016 at 2:40 am
  Agree, it looks more and more like a positive spin …
  C’mon after 2.5 years at the helm and telling everybody you have a Sales machine and super efficient operation how can you not Win business and add to EBITDA?
  Why add to debt?
  
  I think he just knows how to cut … reorganization into 17 clusters is clearly just a Marketing gik for X… on the ground they lost many experts and people who drove the business everyday within each country….
  May be X should reorganize it into 4 clusters… then he can save more…
  
  Log in to Reply
Tony
December 12, 2016 at 1:25 am
With the loss of the Apple contract in Australia, its not looking good!

Log in to Reply