Coming into a new role as CEO is an interesting experience, which requires examining how the business is operating and whether it is the right way going forward. Speaking a few days after his first anniversary as Unilode’s CEO, Ross Marino said he was feeling good about building a strong leadership team, investments have been made in new assets, and a five-year strategy has been put in place.
Departments have been restructured to break down silos, so the ULD and MRO divisions are under one team and the same has been done with IT and Digital.
“I think a lot of this past year has been about getting the business in a good place to provide us with a springboard for the future. Looking forward, it’s about building on our foundations and making Unilode a much stronger and bigger business,” Marino says.
One of the senior leaders to join the team is Mohammed Akhlaq, who commenced in November as the Chief Commercial Officer. Having spent 30 years in the cargo and ground handling industry, he says it was time to try something different and the opportunity at Unilode was too good to turn down.
Akhlaq comments, “ULDs are critical to the movement of baggage and cargo by air, but people do not appreciate how vital they are, something which makes the new role at Unilode so exciting. It is weird to say, although Unilode is the holder of the largest ULD fleet in the world, it is a sleeping giant. I like the challenge and the excitement it brings to me personally because I know there are so many more avenues and opportunities to explore.”
Something Akhlaq is eager to do is to get the messaging right about what Unilode is and what it does, because without ULDs, passenger baggage and cargo is unable to move.
As a brand, Unilode will be shown in a different light through its marketing and presence at industry conferences and events. The brand will highlight the emotions connecting with moving different product types and provides assurance that Unilode’s ULDs are managed professionally, making its customers and their customers happy.
Clear strategy
When Marino came into the business, some parts of the Unilode teams were working in silos, so the five-year strategy was about pulling them all together to create a unified Unilode. Targets have been set for growth so what is already the biggest spread of ULDs with 160,000 units will be expanding even further.
The digital element is something that Unilode is eager to push because of the capabilities and the value it can bring to customers.
Marino believes that the sensory data measuring temperature, humidity, shock and light has not been tapped into sufficiently in order for it to reach its full potential, so that is an area of investment.
By bringing its IT and Digital teams together and with the aspiration of delivering a truly integrated and market-leading product this has led to the hiring of a Chief Information Officer.
It is more than that, says Marino, explaining, “This is about our people and looking towards the future and growth. We are putting the focus back on our people in terms of talent acquisition, development and giving people a career in the business, so we want to ensure that the people who join Unilode have a successful and rewarding career with us and that our people want to stay and grow with us and that is built into our strategy.”
As a sector producing waste through discarded nets and damaged containers and pallets, ESG is of increasing importance to Unilode and its customers. Reducing the number of ULDs customers require with pooling and the pay-per-use concept is something Unilode offers to airlines to improve sustainability. Unilode’s scale means it can have ULDs stored around the world so less equipment needs to be used and asset utilisation increases.
Costs are reduced for customers as they only pay for what they use, and they do not need to transport empty or damaged ULDs around.
Marino says, “Our customers can focus on what adds value and generates revenue for them, and we make sure ULD stocks are in place around our network. Our strategy is built around driving those benefits to our customers, which, in turn, allow us to grow our footprint.”
Holding a townhall meeting, staff feedback was fantastic, in terms of support and clarity about the direction in which Unilode is travelling, said Marino.
Akhlaq adds the interactive session where the leadership was available for questions was beneficial to everyone, saying, “It was great to get questions from our people and be there to answer them personally and directly. You could clearly see that there is a unified Unilode staff culture now throughout our global network.”
Digital future
Out of a fleet of 160,000 ULDs, 120,000 containers and pallets are tagged, which are complemented with a reader network of 500 units, which will grow to 1,000 by the end of the year.
Through the operational centre in Bangkok, messages are complemented by digital pings giving current information about the ULDs.
Akhlaq says what is interesting is how to take this forward, what else can be done with the data and how the app be developed.
At the other end of the scale, people put tags in their bags. Akhlaq asked whether bags can be related to ULDs and can the same be done with waybills to get closer to what integrators and e-commerce providers are doing.
Coming from the ground handling sector, Akhlaq and Marino have been able to look at the ULD element and see what the customer’s customer gets from e-commerce providers in terms of transparency, but this will require collaboration and the ground handler is the link.
Akhlaq says, “We genuinely believe that there needs to be greater collaboration. We work with the same airlines that ground handlers work with so why can’t we collaborate more and work together to make sure that we get the reader implementation right within the ground handler’s network and work with them to understand how we can get that transparency right in terms of letting people know where their goods are.”
Talented team
Experience in ground handling gives Marino and Akhlaq intimate knowledge of different sectors in the air cargo industry.
Marino is eager to balance this with people from other industries, giving the example of employees who came from other industries, that provide different insights into logistics and output.
Marino says, “What works very well is to have a good blend. If we were all aviation people coming from an airline or ground handling background, maybe we would see the world in one shade, but if we bring people in from different industries and backgrounds, then you start to add a lot of colour to the organisation, internal debate, challenge and camaraderie.”
Akhlaq agrees, saying, “I am taken aback with some of the knowledge and experience coming to this side of the industry that we have got in our organisation. I look at our people and they have some extraordinary skillsets, highly qualified people who work in a very scientific way and it is great to listen to them, collaborate and work alongside them as it brings something different.”
This article was first published in the April issue of Air Logistics International, click here to read the digital edition and click here to subscribe.