“The current market scenario calls for a fundamental change in how transportation is managed”, says Renato Mello, business development director at deugro. Mello is currently heading the company’s efforts to optimise and expand deugro’s services for clients in Brazil. 

Speaking to Project Cargo Journal, Mello noted the current capacity crunch in the market has also pushed the company to adapt its operations in Brazil. He stressed the importance of getting involved in projects at a very early stage supporting its customers with their logistics engineering to find the best solution to the challenges. “Scheduling shipments and planning well in advance are key to understanding and finding creative solutions to unlock hidden capacity,” Mello says.

The company explored alternative approaches to a number of projects to deliver optimal solutions to its clients in an environment marked by rising rates. “We invite our clients to reflect on the multiple options we managed to put together and assess the risks and service limitations. The mentality is changing, and we see a market focusing on a more balanced approach, where low freight is not the ultimate goal anymore but being replaced by service-oriented decisions,” Mello says.

There are a plethora of challenges and unique variations attached to each project and these include the available service, equipment availability, timing constraints and geographical location. However, despite the challenges and the situation, Mello stresses that quality and safety cannot be compromised.

Expanding the reach

Speaking to Project Cargo Journal, Mello noted that deugro is serving clients in all regions of Brazil and has the single largest energy generation project in the country, the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, located in the north of Brazil, in its portfolio. deugro executed the transportation of the project’s phase one which included the delivery of transformers and equipment from domestic manufacturers to Belo Monte complex, as well as delivery of transformers and equipment from worldwide origins to two corresponding converter stations in Xingu, in the state of Para and Estreito in the state of Minas Gerais.

deugro recently opened new office in Belo Horizonte. Its Brazilian unit deugro Brasil chose the location to serve clients in the southeastern and central regions of the country, especially Minas Gerais. Mello noted the move is mainly driven by the importance of the mining industry in the company’s portfolio. However, there are more plans in the pipeline for expansion, Mello adds.

Rising importance of digitalisation

Mello further highlighted that digitalisation is becoming increasingly important and visibility and predictability are the main drivers of this change. “In response to these needs, the deugro group strategy invests in a future-oriented digitalisation program and recently launched a new interactive collaboration platform to track and trace shipments, accessible to all stakeholders involved: deugro visiotrack.”

The web-based system provides 24/7 global access and visibility to all cargo information and documentation to company’s clients.

“With the implementation of the new platform, we will progress with the integration of our processes with our clients and partners and achieve a higher degree of efficiency and transparency,” Mello said.