UAE-based parcel delivery and logistics specialist Aramex has announced a shakeup of its operating model to capture a greater market share within the B2C and B2B customer segments.
Aramex Express, which includes international and domestic delivery solutions, will serve the B2C customer base including shop and ship, e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), SMEs and any other customers requiring last-mile services.
Aramex Logistics, which includes air freight, sea freight, land freight, and warehousing and distribution, will serve the B2B customer base across multiple industries including oil and gas, healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace, and retail and fashion, among others.
To ensure the new operating model is a success, Aramex has created a chief operating officer (COO) role for Aramex Express and Aramex Logistics.
Mohammad Alkhas, a senior logistics executive with more than 24 years of experience in the sector, has been appointed COO for Aramex Logistics. Alkhas rejoins Aramex having spent 19 years with the organization through to 2016, when he most recently served as Aramex’s regional CEO for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Alaa Saoudi has been appointed COO for Aramex Express. Saoudi joined Aramex in 1998 and was most recently global senior director of ground operations for Aramex.
Othman Aljeda, Group CEO of Aramex, said, “The global transportation and logistics industry is undergoing a fundamental shift, driven predominantly by the boom in e-commerce, supply chain disruptions, customers’ increasingly discerning expectations and the turbo speed of digitization. For Aramex to stay ahead of the curve and remain a competitive, reliable and sustainably growing industry leader, we decided to focus on capturing growth opportunities by decoupling our core services.
“By creating Aramex Express and Aramex Logistics we will have a more agile company, focused on capturing the right opportunities to grow and diversify our customer base, investing in and deploying the best and latest technologies, and operating at higher efficiency levels. The investments we are making in our business today will enable us to provide our customers with improved service levels, and our shareholder with long-term value,” he said.
To support Aramex’s global growth ambitions, the organization has also created a new regional structure composed of the Americas; Europe; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT); GCC; South Asia and North Asia; and Oceana. Each region will report to Andy Van der Velde, who has been appointed president. Van der Velde was previously Aramex’s regional CEO for GCC, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa.
Aramex has also appointed Dr. Johannes Distler as chief strategy officer, a newly created role with the purpose of ensuring the development and execution of Aramex’s corporate strategy as well as the group’s international expansion and M&A agenda. Dr. Distler joins Aramex from Roland Berger, where he was a partner in the firm’s Dubai office.
Aljeda added, “We see good growth opportunities in the express segment, which currently represents 70% of our revenues. We intend to continue to grow our express business by creating new trade lanes domestically and internationally, and scaling up ground operations to cater to growing customer demands, while continuing to invest in technology and automation.
“Our logistics business accounts for 28% of our revenues and we intend to aggressively grow our footprint in our core markets, and markets that will enable trade flow into the region. Therefore, we are investing in specialized warehouses to cater for high potential verticals, and are also scaling up infrastructure beyond main cities to provide extensive coverage. On freight forwarding, we see good growth opportunities in several sectors, one example being O&G with the revival in global oil prices and trade activity.”