Growteq has implemented two systems at Falco Lines: a Salesforce CRM system to place the customer at the heart of the service, and a BI/data warehouse solution that unlocks and visualizes business data.
The life-sized map of Europe on the wall of the headquarters in Dordrecht instantly reflects Falco Lines’ growth ambitions. Various major European port cities are highlighted. “It would be great if we could be established in all those locations in the near future,” says Danny de Deugd, who currently manages three branches (Dordrecht, Antwerp, and Gdansk). Considering the growth the logistics service provider has experienced in recent years, achieving this ambition is not unthinkable. When the managing director started in 2013 with 20 charters on the road and two employees in Dordrecht, the company now operates an average of 150 charters daily (including barge and rail facilities) and has 24 team members as of 2021.
When Danny admits that shortly after founding Falco Lines in 2013, he still thought, “How are we ever going to get this rolling?” the company is running smoothly as of 2022. The secret? “I use our available data smartly and thus learn to predict our services,” he says enthusiastically. Danny confesses that he loves data. “I’ve been keeping track of all the important data within our company in Excel for 9 years. When you visualize that data in graphs, you immediately see which weeks we need to pay extra attention to our customers and offer supporting services.”
According to Danny, that Excel list worked “just fine” for a long time, but it also took a lot of time. He increasingly realized that it had to be simpler. Moreover, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything in terms of business operations. “I especially wanted to have control over our results at the end of the month. So, I was looking for a digitized solution for all our data. A solution that lets me feel the pulse of each branch with just one click; How are we doing, how are sales, how are our accounts receivable, etc.? No matter where I am working, I want to be able to see all those things. Because if you can do that, your company is scalable and our ambition to establish branches throughout Europe comes closer.”
“Thanks to the data platform that generates and unlocks management information, built by Growteq, we are scalable as an organization. This all means that I have no worries on the work floor and can focus on our ambitions. I love that drive. It also attracts new people. Thanks to Growteq, I can now facilitate my people in such a way that they can do their work perfectly. That makes me happy; and certainly also Growteq as an innovation partner.”
To shape Falco Lines’ growth ambition and need for control, Danny approached Growteq at the beginning of 2021. This marked the start of even more growth for Falco Lines, increased organizational scalability, and real-time insights into everything happening at their locations. “Ultimately, we want to offer that real-time information on our site, like a kind of booking.com for the transport sector. We now have the foundation for this system. This is a project for the coming period, with Growteq once again partnering with us. Yes, these are paths we’ve never walked before, but it’s so much fun to realize how powerful you can operate with the right use of data. It’s amazing when you can achieve a higher goal together. Thanks to the automation of the customer process, we’ve eliminated a lot of handling, reducing the chance of errors and structuring our processes better. Everything is secured in our Salesforce CRM system, allowing us to operate very stably. Thanks to the data platform that creates and unlocks steering information, built by Growteq, we are scalable as an organization. All this means I have no worries on the work floor and can focus on our ambitions. I love that drive. It also attracts new people. Thanks to Growteq, I can now facilitate my team to do their jobs perfectly. I am happy about that; And I am certainly also happy with Growteq as an innovation partner. They communicate well, have control over their processes, and can therefore demonstrate immense flexibility. This gives full confidence in future processes. Because innovation never stops.
Growteq has implemented two systems at Falco Lines: A Salesforce CRM system to better center the customer in their services and a BI/data warehouse solution that unlocks and visualizes company data. Robert Jan de Leede, sales executive at Growteq, explains: “The data warehouse integrates the three packages used within Falco Lines: the CRM system we implemented, the planning system, and the financial package. This source provides Falco Lines with critical data whenever and wherever needed. The success of these business platforms, however, depends on the commitment within an organization. This data and CRM platform is a supportive tool to achieve success. It is particularly effective when everyone shares the same ambition. You can 100% see this at Falco Lines.”
Transporting goods from point A to point B—on time, efficiently, and of course, at the lowest cost—is the mission of many logistics service providers. However, the sector faces the challenge of dealing with numerous stakeholders, each operating their own data systems. This results in logistics companies handling vast amounts of data. Therefore, the necessity for effective solutions that accurately collect data and provide swift insights is indispensable.
Falco Lines transports various goods daily from sea ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp to inland depots, utilizing an average of 150 charters. Managing Director Danny de Deugd envisions Falco Lines as the ‘Booking.com of logistics service providers’; an international platform enabling businesses to effortlessly book their transportation and storage needs for goods.
