Insight is crucial for our customers, suppliers, merchants and the banks that provide financing. We ship goods all over the world for our customers, store and transfer them in various places. What is where? This is essential information for traders and suppliers but also for banks that analyze risks and require collateral. That is why we have developed Steinweg Online. We provide real-time inventory data in one consolidated view of our warehouses in Europe, Asia, the United States, Africa, the Middle East and India. Fatih Agirman heads up the team responsible for Steinweg Online, which is stationed in Singapore.
“Insight, efficiency and transparency, those are the key words that describe the added value of Steinweg Online”, says Fatih. Three years ago, Steinweg brought him into the company to further shape the online service, which was still at an early stage at that time. “With a background in banking, I was familiar with digitizing processes.” In the middle of the covid period, he started working at Steinweg Online. “That brought along some challenges. For example, just visiting relations was not an option. On the other hand, this emphasized the added value of the future online service, which would remove many physical processes. Organizations were forced to work more online. A change in mindset that was beneficial for the introduction of Steinweg Online.”
Listen first, build later
“Listening carefully, that’s how the development started”, says Fatih. “Simply starting to build is of no use. First, you have to understand what’s going on. That starts with listening, to the needs of our customers and our own people. After all, they are in daily contact with our relations and they deeply understand the logistical challenges.” An extensive inventory of wishes and needs followed. Fatih and his team spent a lot of time on usability testing, and after a number of successful pilots with a selection of customers, Steinweg Online went live.
”Steinweg Online will become the control tower for the entire logistics process for Steinweg customers.”
Steinweg Online is currently used by hundreds of customers. “And the number of users continues to grow. It proves itself. That is great to see.” However, Fatih and his team still have a lot to work on. Improving and optimizing is a never ending process. “The first step was to digitize our own services. Now we’re expanding the program, with additional channels, APIs and richer functionalities. The next step is to go deeper into the supply chain, and integrate the process of the chain into our online services.” Steinweg Online will become, as it were, the control tower for the entire logistics process that customers manage at Steinweg. “To achieve this, we also need data from our partners, which we are currently working on.”
Text continues after image.
The confidence of financiers
A significant part of the users of Steinweg Online are financiers. A customer group with which Steinweg, as an independent logistics service provider, has built up a good relationship over the years. Fatih explains why Steinweg Online is a solution for this target group in particular. “With our online service, they can monitor whether the goods are transported and stored as agreed. At first, does the material exist? Does it have the desired properties? Is it stored at the correct location? Common conditions set by banks when providing financing. By using Steinweg Online, traders and suppliers can now provide this insight more easily. Being able to provide real-time insight into your operation increases confidence in your services. In many cases, this also helps our customers to approve a financing application.”
Security of customer data
With hundreds of customers, various locations and different raw materials, Steinweg Online embraces quite a bit of sensitive data. Ensuring privacy and security is therefore high on Fatih’s list of priorities. “Yes, we are very aware that we have valuable data in our hands. Careful handling of customer data is nothing new for Steinweg anyway. Confidentiality and security are deeply rooted in all processes and systems of the organization. We don’t want anything to slip out. Especially for the portal, we have a security penetration test carried out regularly. Meaning that an independent agency is trying to hack into our system. We also have an ISO-27001 certification that guarantees our information security. For example, our people are trained in social engineering, and throughout the company we always work on a need-to-know basis.”
Text continues after image.
Innovative strenght of Steinweg
Steinweg Online is a unique online service that distinguishes Steinweg from other logistics partners. The functionalities, the transparency that the online service offers, but also the implementation and service of Steinweg Online endorse the character of the innovative family business. Robust, solid and progressive at the same time. Fatih is proud of the implementation of Steinweg Online so far and looks forward to future developments. “Steinweg is a family business that has existed for more than 175 years, but is anything but unwieldy or rigid. The new, online service proves Steinweg’s innovative strength. This is exactly what Steinweg is good at: continuously adapting to changes and pioneering in innovation.”
Follow Steinweg Online on LinkedIn via: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steinweg-online/
Published on: 25 May 2023