Militzer & Münch Serbia has quickly become a serious competitor on the transport and logistics market of the Republic of Serbia, with increased demand having prompted it to invest eight million euros in a new logistics centre in Dobanovci
Thanks to a densely developed network of M&M branches in 27 countries, and partner companies, we enable expeditious, tailor-made logistics solutions, as well as other services from our portfolio – reveals M&M Serbia Sales & Marketing Manager Dragana Simović, speaking in this interview for CorD.
Militzer & Münch Serbia was recognised as a serious market competitor very quickly after arriving in the country. How would you assess the development potential of the transport and logistics sector?
Thanks to an aggressive “brand & awareness” campaign, we managed to distinguish ourselves from the competition and bring the German business model closer to all interested parties, as well as providing German business leaders with the kind of service they have in their home country. Considering the situation caused by the pandemic, our company’s management reorganised operations, i.e. the provision of services, in such a way that we immediately offered our clients the possibility of transferring operations to digital platforms. In accordance with that, our further development is based on digitalisation and reducing manual work.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the entire transport and logistics sector has turned towards innovative digital solutions, and this trend is set to continue in the coming years. Our sector is undoubtedly moving towards the B2C business model, with the optimisation of business processes, because many supply chains ground to a halt during the previous year, and globalisation is itself changing course.
“M&M Connecting Worlds” is our company motto, which fully describes M&M’s aspirations to connect countries on all continents
How much has M&M contributed to better connecting Serbia and the building of more successful relations between the country and the rest of the world?
“M&M Connecting Worlds” is our company motto, which fully describes M&M’s aspirations to connect countries on all continents. M&M Serbia has placed its focus in 2021 on, among other things, the development of the Air & Sea sector, which should connect the most remote parts of the world. Within the scope of the Air sector, we offer all types of services – from Door-to-Door, Consolidated Multimodal transport and Charter service, all the way to the On Board Courier service. On the other hand, within the scope of Sea transport services, we offer FCL, LCL, Split and full charter solutions. Our portfolio also includes a Rail service, which we perform using our own train that travels from China to Central Europe.
Your new logistics centre in Dobanovci meets your current needs, but is it true that you’ll have to additionally expand the centre if you continue to grow at the current rate?
We are extremely proud of the fact that, in less than two years, we’ve made an investment in our logistics centre that’s worth eight million euros. The growth that we’re facing requires additional investments, both in terms of warehouse space and process automation, but also in terms of personnel. In the coming months, we expect to reach agreement on additional investments, or the approval of funds for further investments, with the Board of Directors of M&M International Holding AG and Invictus System.
You’ve revealed some of your plans and upcoming projects in Serbia, but have you considered expanding your regional presence and opening branches in Montenegro, B-H, Albania etc.?
As we announced, we officially opened branches in Podgorica and Sarajevo recently, which was our plan for the first half of 2021, while we are in the process of opening branches in Tirana and Priština. We expect to welcome the first employees as early as 1st July, as well as the start of the first jobs. This move will enable us to partially cover the region of the Western Balkans by year’s end, while the plan for 2022 is to cover North Macedonia with a branch in Skopje.