Stante, which operates as CQR Venice, is one of the ‘big’ players in the international forwarding and logistics market and since its inception it has continually grown year on year; now employing in excess of 150 people.
Recently we sat down with Managing Director Riccardo Stocco to find out more about the company and the secret to its longevity.
Q. Could you tell us a little about Stante’s history and when you joined the company?
A. The business was founded almost 40 years ago by Robert Stante and it has stayed in the family with the next generation following in his footsteps. The Venice office opened a decade ago and I became involved 5 years later.
Q. What sets Stante apart from other Freight Forwarders?
A. Great customer service! At Stante we believe in being clear about exactly what that entails, so we came up with a 3 pronged customer service ‘value system’.
1. Constant improvements and innovation in the services we offer.
2.Constant quality control monitoring of internal and external systems.
3. Listening to the needs of our customers in order to build lasting relationships with them.
Q. How are these values translated into every day operations at the company?
A. I could give many examples so let me explain one which is more recent. It is the opening of a new ID office where we will implement new software and technology that will then be offered to our customers.
Q. As well as offering your clients ‘every-day’ forwarding services, does Stante specialise in handling certain shipments and what would be your most memorable?
A. We offer 360 degree services and solutions along with legal assistance and customs services in import and export. We readily handle shipments which require special equipment to load them and those which are oversize. Probably the most memorable was a break bulk shipment of 3500 ton, 4500 m3 from the North of Italy to Azerbaijan (via Mersin Port – Turkey). Although the actual goods didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor, the size certainly did!
Q. Stante has been a member of Conqueror since 2011 and has just renewed its membership for the coming year. Why did you choose to join Conqueror as opposed to other networks and what benefits does being part of this global network bring to your company?
A. The exclusivity was definitely an attraction as it has given us the opportunity to be on a level playing field with our competitors. Furthermore with a limited number of agents, we can strike the right balance between competition and opportunity, and the development of lasting relationships.
It is clear that with such a well-established position in the industry and customers at the core of all operations, Stante can only go from strength to strength.
Freight and logistics is of course by definition the ultimate multinational business and as technology advances executives globally are becoming aware of the potential of international cooperation without the need for thousands of miles of air travel to formulate trade agreements. It was with this thought in mind that Antonio Torres first came up with the idea of what he calls a ‘Virtual Multinational’ paving the way for what he considers a new generation of networks which want to mobilize independent freight forwarders to work together as global ‘mega-forwarders.’ Last week however the members of this brainchild travelled to Thailand to meet their mutual partners in the flesh at the inaugural conference of Conqueror which Mr Torres says is the world’s first virtual freight network. Ninety members from forty different countries met in Phuket from the 23rd to 25th May as part of Conqueror’s target of setting up an exclusive ‘virtual branch’ in each of the 472 major cities in the 175 countries it has identified.
(02-06-2011).- The freight forwarding company Union Transport (Newcastle) Ltd. has been selected as the exclusive representative in Newcastle for the Conqueror Freight Network, which operates as a “virtual multinational” in which independent firms around the world work together in a regimen of “disciplined cooperation”.
Conqueror, which began accepting applications last September and launched operations in January, is choosing one strong forwarder to act as a “virtual branch” in each of 564 cities in 127 countries. Members agree to use each other’s services for a substantial proportion of their shipments, which ensures a significant increase in business volume for all, among other advantages.
