Last mile logistics – what does the job of a hub manager look like, and what are the challenges?

Employees in ope­ra­ti­ons are at the heart of the supply chain: pickers, drivers, warehouse staff, forklift drivers – they all pitch in and make an important con­tri­bu­ti­on to the 7Days supply chain. How do the employees see the CEP services industry, what motivates them and what chal­lenges and tech­no­lo­gi­cal hurdles do they face?
To find out how staff with ope­ra­tio­nal respon­si­bi­li­ty see the function, we spoke to our long-standing employee Mr Kastrati, the hub manager at the main site in Egerkingen.

 

Interview

Interview with Mergim Kastrati, hub manager at the main site in Egerkingen

What fasci­na­tes you about the logistics industry?

My tasks are varied, I’ve been able to take on many different tasks in a short period of time, learning new things – and con­ti­nuous­ly deve­lo­ping and growing with the company. Each working day brings new tasks and exciting chal­lenges, which have to be solved together in the team with the knowledge we’ve acquired. Our work keeps Switz­er­land on the move. I enjoy working in an industry that is growing and developing.

What are the biggest changes that you’ve witnessed at 7Days in the past few years?

I’ve been working for 7Days for almost 13 years now, holding various functions and positions. I completed my app­ren­ti­ce­ship in logistics at Ferroflex, which is active in the steel trade. After that I worked for Müller AG Hand­wer­ker-Zentrum in the incoming and outgoing goods area. I moved to 7Days as a driver in 2010, then started my career in the warehouse – initially as a shift manager, and sub­se­quent­ly as a deputy hub manager in Eger­kin­gen. In 2015, with the benefit of on-the-job training and a federal cer­ti­fi­ca­te as a logistics spe­cia­list, I was able to grow into my current position as hub manager at the Swiss head­quar­ters in Eger­kin­gen. During this period 7Days has developed far beyond its original press-dis­tri­bu­ti­on business, becoming a logistics service provider in the area of trans­por­ta­ti­on and warehousing. The variety of products that we handle every day and bring to their respec­ti­ve desti­na­ti­ons on time has increased. Even though the processes are becoming more complex, this variety makes the work inte­re­st­ing. Fur­ther­mo­re we gauge ourselves against the appli­ca­ble ISO standards, striving to improve our ope­ra­tio­nal excel­lence every day.

What is your expe­ri­ence of working with your colleagues?

We have a good mix of young and expe­ri­en­ced employees in the team, aged between 20 and 40, with different cultural back­grounds and affi­lia­ti­ons. We are all dedicated at 7Days, most of us on a full-time basis. Besides working together, we also enjoy sharing our free time and being there for each other.

What is a typical working day for you?

7Days works for its clients day and night, so I usually work in shifts. As a rule my day starts at 3 a.m. and ends at about midday. This gives me the oppor­tu­ni­ty as a manager to cover both shifts: I’m available to employees with questions and concerns. It’s important for me to be present for all employees and to observe and optimize processes, as well as addres­sing dif­fi­cul­ties directly and solving them together with the team. Much of what I do is personnel manage­ment, sup­port­ing key players, handling com­plaints in coope­ra­ti­on with the drivers, and con­trol­ling and planning tasks. I also have admi­ni­stra­ti­ve respon­si­bi­li­ty for sub­con­trac­tors. I spend about 2 to 3½ hours a day on the computer. 

What expe­ri­ence have you had with alter­na­ti­ve drive technologies?

Eger­kin­gen is one of the sites where we’ve been using our new electric vehicles for a few months now. The new drive types bring new chal­lenges in planning and imple­men­ting routes. Given the limited range of electric vehicles, we primarily use them in cities and urban areas. Their payload is also lower than that of con­ven­tio­nal vehicles, and that must be taken into account. But these chal­lenges can be overcome, and tech­no­lo­gi­cal refi­ne­ment will make the use of alter­na­ti­ve drive tech­no­lo­gies more efficient. It’s important for every one of us, in both our private and pro­fes­sio­nal lives, to con­tri­bu­te to a resource-friendly approach to our envi­ron­ment in order to make the future a little greener. 

Why do you work for 7Days?

7Days has con­sist­ent­ly offered me new oppor­tu­ni­ties for further deve­lo­p­ment over the past ten years. Together with my col­le­agues and line managers I’ve been able to expand my knowledge and expe­ri­ence, taking on more respon­si­bi­li­ty. The trans­for­ma­ti­on of the company from a pure press logistics provider to a ful­film­ent service provider has also made my field of activity more varied and inte­re­st­ing. New customers have brought new process-related requi­re­ments, and in meeting these we have made effi­ci­en­cy our priority: making a dif­fe­rence together.

 

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