Emphasizing that the automotive industry accounts for 20 percent of annual international transportation capacities, Boltas Strategic Planning Group Manager Levent Özkuşçu said that they offer environmentally friendly, cost-effective, fast and safe solutions to the automotive industry with the special investments they have made.

How does Boltas contribute to the logistics process management of the automotive industry?
Automotive spare parts logistics plays a critical role in the management of production, sales and service processes. As BOLTAS, we provide the services needed for production processes with the integrated logistics services we offer. With our more than 45 years of industry experience, our pool of more than 1,500 vehicles and equipment, and our more than 500 experienced employees, we offer environmentally friendly, cost-effective, fast and safe solutions to the automotive industry. In addition to our offices and warehouses in Istanbul, Kocaeli (Dilovası), Ankara, Izmir and Mersin, which are important production and trade centers, we also provide door-to-door service to importers and exporters in all European countries with our offices and warehouses in Germany, France, Italy and Romania, where foreign trade in the sector is concentrated. We offer delivery. We serve not only European countries, but also the Middle East and CIS countries.
In our operations, we prefer Ro-Ro and railway-integrated intermodal transportation due to timely delivery, security and cost advantages, taking into account environmental sensitivities. However, we also provide road, minivan and air cargo services depending on customer demands and service availability. With our sea transportation, we can reach all ports of the world, especially North America and Asia-Pacific countries.

What share does automotive logistics have in your business volume? Which regions do your operations concentrate on?
Automotive transportation constitutes 20 percent of our annual international transportation of more than 30 thousand. We mostly carry out transportation on European lines, especially Germany, Italy, France, Romania, Czechia and Poland. However, we also serve North American and Asian countries by sea.

2 MILLION EUROS INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY
What are the special investments you have made for your automotive logistics services?
Published data tells us that investments in technology will be very important to increase efficiency in the automotive sector. As Boltas, we take an approach that constantly follows technology by making a significant budget management in this regard. Our technology investments, which give priority to increasing efficiency, real-time reporting and supporting sustainability, are at the level of 2 million Euros annually.
We also invested in a new warehouse this year in Italy, where we have been serving for many years. With this warehouse, we have achieved an infrastructure that will enable our Turkey-based export and import customers to respond to their expectations faster by providing them with the opportunity to keep stock beyond being a transfer center.
In addition to these, our logistics base project in Tuzla Orhanlı, the construction of which we aim to start at the end of this year, will be equipped to meet the needs and expectations of our automotive customers we serve.

What are your growth plans in the automotive logistics market?
We have a wide customer portfolio and a strong market presence in the field of automotive logistics in Turkey and Europe. We offer high-quality logistics solutions to the industry’s leading automotive manufacturers and suppliers with our strategically located warehouses and distribution centers. Our experience in international transportation and supply chain management and our wide service network allow us to offer effective solutions to global customers. In the next 5 years, we aim to further develop ourselves in our current markets and further strengthen our solution partner approach in the sector by making investments in line with the needs of our customers.
We have established a strong logistics infrastructure and an extensive network with our offices and warehouses in Germany, France and Italy, where automotive imports are concentrated. We provide service in these countries with our own vehicles and equipment and experienced staff. Since we have a strong domestic distribution network in Turkey, we are getting an increasing share of import transportation. Additionally, thanks to our structuring in Europe, our export shipments do not decrease as much as the industry average.

SMART, GREEN AND CUSTOMER-FOCUSED SOLUTIONS WILL FEATURE
Levent Özkuşçu, Boltas Strategic Planning Group Manager, emphasized that the future of automotive logistics will be smarter, greener and more customer-oriented. Stating that electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles will begin to be used more, Özkuşçu said, “Beyond the transportation of produced vehicles and equipment from one point to another, the importance of recycling will also increase. Concepts such as recycling of vehicles and spare parts and effective waste management will become even more important for sustainable logistics. Driverless deliveries, route optimization, smart contracts, charging infrastructure, blockchain technology will become more widespread. Companies that can keep up with this transformation and adopt new technologies will become more prominent in the industry and will have growth opportunities. I evaluate that all these processes will move the industry to a more complex but dynamic position in the coming years. In order to keep up with this transformation, logistics companies will need to invest more in technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotic automation and cloud computing. I believe that it will also be important to develop sustainable logistics solutions to comply with environmental regulations and meet customer expectations. Logistics processes need to be flexible and agile in order to quickly adapt to changing market conditions. “Raising employees with qualifications suitable for changing technologies and improving the competencies of existing employees will also gain importance in this process.”