06-14-2007 Heppner: the strategy of a major player in transport and logistics

Groupe Heppner, the leading independent transport and logistics company in France, is resolutely set on remaining independent, and has chosen to ratify the originality of its situation by cultivating its difference. Thanks to the development of creative and value added solutions rather than standardized services for clients, and its expertise in international networks affording vast geographical coverage, Heppner indeed stands out from the others. To acquire the means to achieve its ambitions, Groupe Heppner had marked out new strategic orientations leading up to 2010, capitalizing on its assets and particularities as well as market opportunities. Within the difficult economic context of 2006, Groupe Heppner posted a 2.2% increase in turnover.  Key figures for 2006 • Consolidated turnover: 506 million euros, broken down as follows:     France Transport: 54 % (+ 1.4 %)
   International Transport: 35 % (+ 3.5 %)
   Logistics: 11 % (+ 2 %) • Operating profit:  1.2 million euros
• Net income:  2 million euros
• Cash flow:  9 million euros
• Debt ratio of shareholders’ equity: 16.3 %
• Total employees:  3,800
• Investments:  8.2 million euros

The four strategic priorities between now and 2010
• International, Chartering and Logistics: three major growth vectors The major objective of Groupe Heppner in international transport is to capture new business and notably bolster its credibility as an industry reference in transport and logistics. To achieve this, the Groupe is deploying a policy intended to reinforce the competences and resources of the new agencies dedicated to international activities, optimize the potential of its network of partners, particularly « System Alliance Europe », accelerate the development of import/export between Southern Europe and PECO (Central and Eastern Europe) countries as well as consolidate its positions Overseas. The second lever is chartering, an activity that has followed a path of solid, sustained growth. To make up for the shortage of trucks and drivers, the Groupe is primarily focusing efforts on mobilizing the means necessary to propose customized solutions, gain new market share and develop customer loyalty.  Finally there’s logistics, a domain in which Heppner has acquired specialized know-how and undisputed credibility, bore out by the major brands that have confided their business to the Groupe. Characterized by the capacity to assure traffic flows, logistics is a major contributor to the Groupe’s growth due to the possibility of offering a « package » of high value added services. The strategic priority for Heppner is to position itself as a recognized logistics specialist within the heart of the Supply Chain.
 
• Redress the profitability of the Groupage Service in a durable fashion  For Groupe Heppner to develop all it service offers under optimal conditions, it must restore its Groupage Service, the core of its activity, to a healthy profitable business. Indeed this service represents nearly 60% of the Groupe’s turnover and mobilizes sizeable resources. To realize a positive and durable result, Groupe Heppner, who has successfully completed the integration of XP France and Sodimaine Transports within its network, must now make the most of resulting synergies. • Make Quality the keystone of an ordered development
Heppner has already invested much in quality, today ranked a leading priority for the Groupe, as it constitutes the fundamental condition for growth and profitability. A key element for instilling customer loyalty and assuring a high level of trust, quality is an indispensable differentiating criterion, especially for enhancing the Groupe’s high value added services. This objective of « 100% integrated Quality » calls for intensifying the deployment of unified and common methods and procedures and the development of tools such as the Tracking/Tracing system so that clients dispose of complete and transparent information, in France as well as in Europe.

• Implementing the adapted competences and piloting the course of action Safeguarding the virtues of a human-sized company, while all along developing a rigorously organized and managed entity that can deal with the pressure and growing complexity of a multi-faceted company, rival to the « major players », is also one of the principal strategic challenges of Groupe Heppner. This is why Groupe Heppner’s policy is particularly oriented toward:
- Developing the competences to thus consolidate the professionalism of its teams
- Reinforcing the synergies between businesses / agencies for coherent and creative commercial products
- Empowering local teams with more responsibility
- Structuring management that is adapted to the new dimension of the challenges facing the Groupe  Thus, Groupe Heppner fundamentally counts on its People, their know-how, their willingness and their ability to enact strategic choices, in order to reach its objectives between now and 2010  2010 Objectives in figures - Average annual growth in turnover
+ 10 % / year, to reach 750 million euros in 2010 - Strive for rebalancing national / international activities - Operating profitability target of 4%