“BE flexible, agile and continue to remain adaptable to the changes in the exhibition industry”
ES. With experience of over more than 3 decades in the logistics industry, we would like to know more about your professional journey. What are some of the major milestones achieved over the years?
Guido Fornelli. Surely, reaching 30 years carrier in the logistics field was an important goal for me: I’ve dedicated my whole professional life to the exhibition logistics industry and I’ve been enjoying every step and every goal Expotrans reached. It’s not easy to recall every important moment in my carrier: my company was born as a family driven company with very few employees working in a little space. Now I have more than 60 colleagues working in 7 branches located in different part of Italy with an Expotrans branch also in Singapore.
I can surely say that every time Expotrans was appointed as official freight forwarder by an exhibition center contributes to rise our visibility and trust within the industry and we are very proud of it. Certainly, been voted as Chairperson of IELA, the most recognized Association of exhibition logistics operators globally, was a honor and a recognition of the commitment and passion I put into my work.
ES. You had to manage the role as the Chair of IELA at the time of the pandemic when the entire industry was struggling for survival, how did you cope up with the situation and how do you see the current state of the logistics industry?
Guido Fornelli. I can easily link this answer with my previous one: COVID pandemic, or rather, the way IELA (and the entire exhibition industry) went beyond the pandemic, was an important milestone. We had never had to deal with such a huge and unfamiliar obstacle that at times the situation appeared very murky. Luckily, IELA can count on great professionals and each one of them put at disposal ideas and knowledge to let other members overcome that moment. We organized webinars and roundtables updating each other about each Country situation and studying strategies for the future. We kept on believing in the event industry and I can now say that we were right: exhibitions are running again all over the world and participation is about to reach the pre-COVID level almost everywhere.
ES. Having been in the exhibition logistics industry for over 30 years, what is Expotrans’ role in providing 360-degree business solutions to its clients?
Guido Fornelli. This is the key of our business and our commitment to our customers (whether they are exhibitors, organizers or international freight forwarders). The 360-degree approach is what makes Expotrans one of the most reliable company in the Italian market, we offer turn-key logistic solutions for any kind of need and our flexible approach is dedicated to 100% satisfaction of our clients.
ES. What is Expotrans’ unique selling proposition, revenue and kind of sectors they cater to?
Guido Fornelli. Expotrans in the last few years has expanded to provide logistic services for live events, Fine art, beside the trade exhibition business that was core for us.
ES. Logistics is a crucial part of various businesses and has experienced remarkable growth in recent years. What factors, in your opinion, have contributed to the growth of the logistics sector? What are the challenges and opportunities you visualize shortly?
Guido Fornelli. If we are talking about general logistic and freight forwarding, pandemic accelerated the consumer request for e-commerce resulting in an incredible demand for last mile delivery services, highly increasing the volume of trades and the need to make changes in the operations to satisfy the new demand. New digital application related to logistic (including AI) will create new opportunities even impacting our market niche in the next future.
ES. How has Expotrans contributed to being environmentally responsible, have any steps been taken to reduce the carbon footprint?
Guido Fornelli. At Expotrans we took our first step toward a more environmental responsible business years ago. From 2018 we have finally implemented a paperless control of operations on site that helped as to reduce dramatically the consumption of paper. In parallel, already in 2015 we introduced (together with electric) Hybrid forklifts, ideal to work and travel the long distance in the big venues such Fiera Milano were today over 80% of the services are completed with this type of equipment. We are increasing all over the other Italian venues where we serve the use of Electric forklifts as well. For instance, we operate fully electric in Rimini and Vicenza.
ES. What are the gaps that Expotrans sees as an industry player when it comes to being more sustainable in the logistics sector? How has IELA as an association helped the cause by carrying out best practices in this area?
Guido Fornelli. I think Covid reduced the momentum our industry was gaining with regard to the sustainability. IELA published just before the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 our Sustainability guidelines. Today the Association is back on-track after the disruption. Our Chairperson Sandi Trotter and the entire Board have definitively put sustainability on top of their agenda. They decided to create a specific Working Group at the end of last year that is now very active in trying to define standard of measurement for the CO2 emission reduction and to help the membership toward the NZCE goals in due time. IELA is also cooperating with ISLA at this regard and finally our Association secretary is also currently chairing the JMIC Logistic workstream.
ES. What according to you would be the upcoming trends that will influence the exhibition logistics industry?
Guido Fornelli. Beside Sustainability, for sure the industry is changing because of the digital tools development that are definitively moving our industry toward a new format of show: smaller but increasing in number. The communities organizers are looking for are more specific than before he pandemic.
ES. Please share your experience, of how Expotrans managed any crisis situation and made sure all the shipments from clients arrived in due course?
Guido Fornelli. Too many memories, our work is always really about to make possible the impossible and shipping goods as fast as possible from one side of the world to the other. What allows Expotrans to reach a happy ending for a lot of dramatic delay is the incredible teamwork we create within our offices to analyze the situation, share information and knowledge to identify the best possible options. And, more importantly, the possibility to count on our agents worldwide, always ready to help freights run last mile doing urgent customs clearance overtime. Would say IELA family help us a lot along the way and guess we did the same for those shipping exhibits for shows here in Italy.
ES. Are you in the race for any acquisitions?
Guido Fornelli. It depends on the opportunity. We are always open to it.
ES. What would be your message to your industry?
Guido Fornelli. Again, be flexible, agile and continue to remain adaptable to the changes in the exhibition industry and more in general to the politically environments.
