Am Donnerstag, den 12. Dezember 2024, veranstaltete C.H. Robinson (https://www.chrobinson.com/de-de/) seinen ersten Investor-Day unter der Führung von Präsident und CEO Dave Bozeman (https://investor.chrobinson.com/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/press-release-details/2023/C.H.-Robinson-Appoints-Dave-Bozeman-Chief-Executive-Officer/default.aspx) in New York City im Nasdaq MarketSite am Times Square. Zu den Rednern, die betonten, dass eine neue Ära bei C.H. Robinson eingeläutet wird, gehörten Präsident und Chief Executive Officer Dave Bozeman, Chief Financial Officer Damon Lee, Chief Human Resources & ESG Officer Angie Freeman, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Arun Rajan, President of North American Surface Transportation Michael Castagnetto und President of Global Forwarding Mike Short.

Die Unternehmensführung präsentierte Details zur Strategie, zum neuen Betriebsmodell, zu den wichtigsten Wachstumstreibern und zu den finanziellen Zielsetzungen. Sie unterstrichen, dass Zeiten von Marktvolatilität und Unsicherheit den Mehrwert der Angebote von C.H. Robinson weiter festigen.

Die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse des Investor-Day 2024:
-Solides Umsatz- und Profitabilitätswachstum: C.H. Robinson verzeichnet ein solides Wachstum bei Umsatz und Profitabilität, angetrieben durch Produktivitätssteigerungen, Kostensenkungen sowie verbessertes Preis- und Margenmanagement. Dies führte zu einer Steigerung der Bruttomarge im Segment North American Surface Transportation um 180 Basispunkte im Vergleich zum Vorjahr im dritten Quartal. Es führte auch zu einer Produktivitätssteigerung von über 30 % innerhalb von zwei Jahren und einer Verbesserung der bereinigten operativen Marge um 500 Basispunkte gegenüber dem Vorjahr.
-Neues Betriebsmodell für profitables Wachstum: Mit einem neuen Betriebsmodell und verbesserter Umsetzung ebnet C.H. Robinson den Weg für die nächste Phase profitablen Wachstums. Obwohl sich das Unternehmen noch in einer frühen Phase befindet, zeigen die Mitarbeiter bereits hohe Akzeptanz für diese neue Arbeitsweise, die durch erhöhte Verantwortlichkeit und schnellere Kurskorrekturen geprägt ist.
-Führend in der US-Frachtvermittlung: Als führendes Unternehmen in der US-Frachtvermittlung, das mehr Fracht als jeder andere in Nordamerika bewegt, betonte C.H. Robinson seinen Vorteil in einem Zeitalter der digitalen Transformation. Immer komplexere Lieferketten erfordern modernste Technologien - gestützt durch unübertroffene Größe und einzigartige Expertise, die nur C.H. Robinson bieten kann.
-Mitarbeiter als entscheidender Faktor: Die Führungskräfte unterstrichen, dass die Mitarbeiter der Hauptgrund sind, warum sich Spediteure für C.H. Robinson entscheiden. Das Unternehmen investiert weiterhin in die Stärkung seiner Teams in kunden- und speditionseigenen Funktionen und setzt dabei auf generative KI sowie andere Innovationen zur Automatisierung operativer Aufgaben, um die Erfahrung für Mitarbeiter und Kunden zu verbessern.
-Wachstum in vier Kernbereichen: C.H. Robinson wird fitter, schneller und fokussierter, indem es sich auf das Wachstum in vier Kernbereichen konzentriert, in denen das Unternehmen bedeutende Wettbewerbsvorteile besitzt: nordamerikanischer Komplett- und Teilladungsverkehr sowie globaler See- und Luftfrachtverkehr. Das Unternehmen zielt zudem auf spezifische vertikale Märkte ab, in denen seine Marktkenntnis, Fähigkeiten und Wertangebote besonders stark sind, darunter Einzelhandel, Automobilindustrie, Energie und Gesundheitswesen. Jeder dieser Märkte weist starke, langfristige Wachstumsgrundlagen auf und bietet Potenzial für erhebliche Marktanteilsgewinne zur Unterstützung der langfristigen Wachstumsziele.
-Stärkung im SMB-Segment bei NAST: Im Bereich North American Surface Transportation (NAST) stellt C.H. Robinson seine führende Position im Marktsegment für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen wieder her, nachdem in den letzten Jahren Marktanteile verloren gingen.
-Wachstumspotenziale im Global Forwarding: Im Bereich Global Forwarding sieht das Unternehmen Wachstumschancen durch die Erweiterung von Handelsrouten sowie die stärkere Durchdringung gezielter Märkte.
-One-Robinson-Ansatz: C.H. Robinson freut sich darauf, die gesamte Stärke von NAST und Global Forwarding mit einem One-Robinson-Ansatz auf den Markt zu bringen. Dies verbessert die Fähigkeit des Unternehmens, die größten und komplexesten Kunden weltweit mit einem umfassenden Lösungsportfolio zu bedienen und unterstützt damit langfristiges, überdurchschnittliches Wachstum.

Mehrere Kunden, darunter Henry Schein, Benteler, Target und Atlantic Track, äußerten sich in Video-Testimonials darüber, wie C.H. Robinson Logistiklösungen bietet, die ihresgleichen suchen.

-Jim Mullins, SVP of Global Supply Chain at Henry Schein: "We rely on C.H. Robinson because they are the only global provider that meets our needs. [They have] industry leading logistics expertise. They play a critical role in helping us understand and navigate evolving legal and regulatory requirements which is crucial for a company like ours."

-David Hammond, Global Transportation Manager, Benteler: "Our supply chain is really a global one. The biggest portion of our volume is coming from Mexico. The value that C.H. Robinson brings in a cross-border environment, being such a large provider on the southern border, no matter what the problem is, no matter what the environment is in the market, they"re able to support us with a solution."

-Robby Cruz, VP of Product at Target: "Target seasonal events create a huge bottleneck of freight coming through our supply chain in a short amount of time...C.H. Robinson can handle even the most complex challenges of our retail supply chain by providing tailored solutions for us with agility and speed like no one else can."

-PJ Schuler, Chief Operating Officer at Atlantic Track: "C.H. Robinson does understand small business. They understand that it"s relationship-driven. There"s multiple hats being worn by multiple people. We want to be able to pick up the phone, get a hold of somebody, talk it through, and get the job done. C.H. Robinson does that."


Additionally, here is a selection of quotes from CH. Robinson executives:

Dave Bozeman, President and CEO at C.H. Robinson:
-"Here"s what I want you to understand about C.H. Robinson: We are the clear leader in the U.S. freight brokerage industry, and not just in volume...but also in how we"re leading our industry into an era of digital enablement. We are executing better than we have in a long time, enabled by a new operating model that demands operational discipline. We have runway to capture further market share growth and margin expansion, and our operational discipline will continue when the market inflects, and you"ll continue to see a different C.H. Robinson that delivers further operating leverage. And our asset-light operating model generates strong returns and significant cash flow though cycles, which provides us with optionality on how we execute our strategy and what we invest in."

-"We found opportunities for improvement and for profitable growth by getting Fit, Fast & Focused... We took action to start doing things differently, deploying a new strategy and stronger execution to enable the next era of profitable growth. We stood up our new operating model in January...and our strategies and scorecard reviews are aimed at driving incremental operating income through market share growth and expanding our gross profit and operating margins".

-"Our success is fueled by the tenets of our Customer Promise, which enables us to deliver an exceptional customer experience like no one else can, through our combination of unmatched expertise, unrivaled scale, and tailored solutions... Supply chain management is becoming more complex, and this complexity requires a partner like Robinson. That"s why I"m so confident in the future of this company and excited about the new capabilities we are delivering to better serve our customers."

-"We have a strong foundation to build from with the scale, expertise and technological capabilities that create a strong competitive moat... As we execute our strategy, through our operating model, and deliver on our financial targets, we expect to generate top-tier investment returns for our shareholders."

Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at C.H. Robinson:
-"This era of digital enablement is marked by rapidly evolving customer and carrier expectations as they engage with the vast array of digital consumer platforms like rideshare, ecommerce and travel bookings. It is also marked by an expectation that this era will improve the economics of the industry, by leveraging AI, Machine Learning and the explosion of technology capabilities."

-"To deliver on these expectations, we are setting a new bar for the industry with our digital platform that leverages proven patterns and techniques from digital consumer platforms, intersected with our scale and expert talent, to transform the experience for all participants on our platform and to change the underlying economics of the industry."

-"A digital only approach doesn"t work in the logistics industry due to the level of complexity and variation in freight characteristics that necessitate human expertise. The unmatched domain expertise of our people is key, and it"s the combination of this expertise with the attributes of our digital platform that defines how we lead our industry into the future."

-"One of the key technologies that has unlocked further productivity gains is genAI. We"re not just talking about genAI internally, and we"re not using consultants to implement genAI. We"re using our own engineers to adapt genAI for our use cases - the technology is in our products and being actively scaled across several processes, as we recently announced. Here are some data points around automation and genAI across the quote to cash lifecycle that serve as inputs to the > 30% improvement in NAST productivity that we have delivered over the course of 2023 and 2024: genAI now processes more than 10,000 quotes/day, more than 85% of our order tenders are now automated, after utilizing Gen AI to automate orders that are tendered via email, our automation handles > 300k contractual accept/reject decisions per month, >50% of appointments are automated, approximately 50% of our carrier bookings are automated, and we get over 1B automated tracking updates from carriers per year."

Michael Castagnetto, President of North American Surface Transportation at C.H. Robinson:
-"One of our highest priorities as we focus on igniting growth in our core business is to recapture market share in the Small and Medium Business segment of the market...This is something that is core to our DNA, and we are good at this."

-"There are specific verticals that are highly aligned to our value proposition, such as retail, automotive, healthcare and energy. These verticals have complex supply chains and high reliance on tight inventory timelines, and multi-modal, multi-temperature, and consolidation services all come into play. And within each vertical, there are specific needs that C.H. Robinson is uniquely qualified to solve and deliver... We are meeting our customers in their language in their supply chain and together, we're building robust and continuously improving supply chain solutions."

-"Our portfolio synergies create unique opportunities for us to provide differentiated value vs the competition, solve problems only we can address, and meet customers from both a global and a local perspective. By taking a portfolio view - by looking at Robinson Fresh, at Global Forwarding, by bringing our new Managed Solutions offering to market, we are identifying opportunities where we will provide increased value for our customers and drive additional volume to our core modes."

Mike Short, President of Global Forwarding at C.H. Robinson:
-"Since C.H. Robinson acquired Phoenix International in 2012, we have grown the business more than four-fold... Our operating profit has increased from $10 million in 2012 to $108 million in 2023 and will be over $200 million in 2024. We are proud of this growth, but we know we can do better by being fit, fast and focused... With our new operating model, we feel confident we can deliver higher value and exceptional service to our customers while expanding margins and taking market share."

-"We see particularly robust opportunities in lanes involving Southeast Asia and India, recognizing that these lanes serve as a backbone for supply chains that are heavily reliant on Asian-manufactured goods... We have a proven playbook to drive repeatable processes through shifting market dynamics, and we"re excited about the growth potential from our lane expansion initiatives."

-"We are leaning into a One Robinson go-to-market strategy to drive volume to our four core modes. Our integrated approach to selling our full suite of services and seamless execution between Global Forwarding and NAST is resulting in greater cross-selling. Over the past decade, an average of 20% of Global Forwarding's new AGP has originated from NAST customers annually, with opportunities to create similar benefits for NAST. We"re harnessing the power of "One Robinson" to build upon NAST relationships and highlight our unique forwarding capabilities. And we"re delivering tailored, integrated services that address our customers" specific needs in key trade lanes and verticals across the globe."

Damon Lee, CFO at C.H. Robinson:
-"We are taking a proactive approach - not reactive - to our strategy to take control of our destiny and drive improved results throughout the market cycles. The execution of our strategy will be enabled in part by the accountability, rigor and discipline that our operating model demands. The combination of our people, our innovation and our cutting-edge technology will drive incremental value for our customers and carriers, better pricing and sourcing yields, and productivity improvements that will continue to decouple headcount growth from volume growth, which will continue to improve our operating leverage."

-"We are doing things differently than in the past, as our operating model has created more visibility to error states that we"re attacking with countermeasures and faster pace. And our technology is enabling our strategy on several fronts, such as our digital brokerage improving our cost of purchased transportation and our dynamic costing and pricing tools enabling optimization of our yield. We expect this combination of a stronger operating model and ongoing technology enhancement to deliver evergreen productivity improvements that will enhance both our gross margin and our operating margin."

-"We are already seeing the benefits of the discipline and faster problem solving that the operating model is driving and technology that is empowering our people to act with greater speed and precision. Through the first three quarters of 2024, we"re on track to deliver compounded improvements in our NAST and Global Forwarding productivity of greater than 30% over two years, measured by shipments per person. [Also], our NAST gross margins have expanded 180 basis points year-over-year in a market environment that was largely unchanged. These initiatives have led to higher gross profit, while at the same time lowering our costs, and thereby improving our year-to-date enterprise operating margin by 500 basis points year-over-year."

-"We are confident in our clear and fully aligned strategy to drive a new era of profitable growth. We"ll deliver margin expansion by continuing to drive our operating model and the resulting disciplined execution further into the organization. Our strong balance sheet and cash flow generation will enable us to continue investing in the initiatives we"ve described to fuel profitable growth. And we"ll continue to leverage our disciplined approach to capital allocation to enhance value creation for our shareholders. So, there is a lot of work to be done to execute our strategy. But, with a disciplined approach to driving operational excellence throughout Robinson, and a specific focus on profitable growth and margin expansion, we will win."

Angie Freeman, Chief Human Resources & ESG Officer at C.H. Robinson:
-"We are unique in our industry. We combine the best of the science of logistics - through our scale, data, technology and capabilities - with the art of a differentiated service experience. We are bringing together motivated people, strong leaders, a performance culture and operating model and the right incentives - and it"s working. We see this in our results, and in how we"re recognized externally."

-"We truly are differentiating through talent and culture. We"re doing things differently and making a lot of progress. We have a clear strategy, disciplined operating model, and a culture of performance. Most importantly- we have exceptionally talented people who want to win. Because when all is said and done - it"s really all about our people."