Since 12 November 2019, Stephan has been CEO of Transporeon. His professional focus has always been to use his wealth of experience to help organisations grow – and that is also his goal at Transporeon. Stephan spent 13 years working for SAP, including his role as managing director of SAP Switzerland and as chief operating officer for the DACH region. After his time at SAP, Stephan successfully shaped the development of ERP provider Unit4 over a period of five years, three of which as CEO with responsibility for more than 4,000 employees. Stephan holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Listen to the full discussion here:
- Listen on Stitcher
Connect with the Guest:
Stephan Sieber: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- How the last two years impacted Transporeon and the future of the company
- Acquisition and cultural alignment
- Transporeon’s sustainability initiatives
- What makes Transporeon unique
- Overview numbers of carriers and shippers in the company’s platform
- How they made their acquisitions – culture was a big part of it
- Transporeon’s culture and success
Show notes:
- [01:43] How have the last two years impacted Transporeon? And you as a CEO?
- [02:17] What actually made my life easier is that we, as a company, have continued to deliver pretty strong results to our customers and shareholders.
- [03:37] How do you see the company in the next two to three years? What’s your vision for the company?
- [05:18] I think that Transporeon can and will play a super strong role, as we say in our purpose statement in bringing transportation in sync with the world.
- [06:06] What’s your way of making sure that once you acquire a company they feel like part of the Transporeon family?
- [07:05] The challenging aspects are really the cultural alignment. I always say we need to share purpose and values because those are the two elements that need to be strong enough for us to overcome the many daily imperfections that we are confronted with.
- [08:51] Have you seen certain trends that are happening? How would you describe them?
- [12:10] For us at Transporeon, sustainability is a big market and a big opportunity where we feel we can really differentiate and create value for our customers.
- [12:24] How would the customer use Transporeon to make their operations better or more efficient and safer for the environment? How does that work? What’s the product line?
- [17:39] Other than the sustainability product, are there certain aspects of Transporeon that clients want or are asking you more about?
- [19:35] We also launched Transporeon Insights, which is sort of a benchmarking tool, data analytics, and market intelligence tool that has also seen huge traction and very rapid adoption.
- [21:08] What’s the best way to tell someone, “This is Transporeon?”
- [21:30] The freight problems or the transportation problems we are solving are covering 360 degrees of a freight transaction.
- [23:08] As a company, you also need to ask yourself who are your customers and who can you really satisfy.
- [24:31] What are the big overview numbers that you have on the platform from carriers to shippers?
- [25:25] We do serve about 100 large retailers with their inbound logistics into the distribution centers. That’s the interesting part where we can really build full networks of businesses.
- [26:53] What are the fluctuations that happened in the last two years? And how challenging is it to keep up with everything that’s happening?
- [27:48] How do you see the Transporeon culture evolving? How has it evolved in the last two years? And where is it going?
- [30:21] I think it is an important part of the culture for everybody to have equal rights, regardless of job titles and hierarchies. Whatever criteria there may be, this is about us as a company. This is about us as a team, this is not about an individual.
- [30:49] How would you know when you’re successful as a CEO?
- [32:33] Respect is something you earn and you earn it through performance, loyalty, honesty, transparency, and professionalism.
Quote from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Andrei Palamariu is the founder of Supplify where he and his team works on building a platform to connect the supply chain tech ecosystem. His most interesting discussions with the clients are focused on implementing the best technology, digital transformation, company growth and expansion, turnarounds, and product and business development.
Alcott Global connects and upgrades the supply chain ecosystem by finding the right talent through executive search, developing talent through learning solutions, and meeting supply chain technology needs through a comprehensive crunch base marketplace.
The supply chain executive search has been our focus since the very beginning, offering recruitment services for top-tier supply chain roles at every level of the end-to-end supply chain: plan, source / procure, make, and deliver. Our consultants have years of experience in placing top talent, in North America, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and APAC, and besides speed, one of our biggest strengths is our network within the supply chain industry, and we capitalize on it to find the best solutions.
Through the years, we have grown as an organization and our offerings with it. One of our initiatives, the learning solutions- training and supply chain academy, is focused on transforming leadership- self-leadership, executive presence, influence capital, and business acumen. Through Supplify, we aim to match corporations with the top technology companies to solve their supply chain and logistics challenges with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.
We are in constant touch with the leaders in supply chain, inviting them to inspire the supply chain professionals in thought-provoking podcast episodes and events, and showcasing what is possible at the yearly Leaders in Supply Chain Awards.
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