After a decade of change, the OneLogix Group has finally established its identity and is now conquering the niche logistics markets in South Africa and beyond
Written by Ellie Duncan & Produced by Adiele Nazer
The OneLogix Group has undergone some significant structural changes since its formation in 2000 as a comprehensive supply chain management company. Now, CEO Ian Lourens believes the company has settled into its niche markets. However, he admits that in its early years, its ambition saw OneLogix attempt to cover as many supply chain bases as possible. Some difficult decisions were made, including the closure of some of the 11 companies that made up the group. Lourens describes it as a “fairly traumatic” time but hindsight has made it easier for OneLogix to consider it a lesson learned.
“While it wasn’t a complete failure of the business, it was just affirmation that the original vision might have been too much to handle,” Lourens admits.
TARGET MARKETS
It was then that the decision was made to downscale the business to just four companies. Lourens emphasises how important it was to “retain the integrity of OneLogix” at that stage. For that reason, the group decided to target the niche logistics markets in a bid to ensure consistent growth and little competition.
“We repositioned our business, not as an end to end or comprehensive supply chain business, but rather one that would occupy very definite niches within the supply chain market,” he explains to Supply Chain Digital.
Lourens adds that the group chose niche markets based on strict criteria. “Firstly, they would have to be niches with quite a high barrier to entry,” he says. “The other criteria would be that they were fairly substantial markets that we would operate in, that were vibrant and had a propensity to grow. The third one was that there would be good margins in the business.”
NICHE CLUSTERS
Based on this criteria, OneLogix has developed clusters. “We’ve got a cluster of vehicle and commercial vehicle movement and activity,” explains Lourens. That cluster comprises VDS, CVDS, RFB Logistics and Atlas Panel Beaters.
VDS, which stands for Vehicle Delivery Services, was one of the original companies and specialises in the auto-logistics arena, particularly in the cross border car carrying market. According to Lourens, it has 30 percent of the local market and a strong presence in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Commercial Vehicle Delivery Services (CVDS) was only started in 2007 to move trucks weighing more than three and a half tons throughout South and southern Africa.
RFB Logistics and Atlas Panel Beaters are the group’s most recent acquisitions, having been bought in 2009. RFB (Road Freight Brokers) specialises in abnormal loads, as well as general cargo. Meanwhile, Atlas Panel Beaters operates in the commercial market only but is already showing signs of potential.
The media business cluster comprises another three companies: Press Support, Media Express and MagScene. The latter imports international magazine titles from around the world and distributes them throughout South Africa. The other two media based companies operate as distributors; specifically, Press Support is a micro distributor.
PostNet is Lourens’ own business that he started with a colleague back in 1994. It was sold in 2000 to OneLogix and now forms a cluster all of its own. A highly successful retail chain, PostNet is an asset to the group. “It positioned itself in the market as a business solution in the small to medium enterprise market, which is very vibrant in South Africa,” he says.
Today, there are about 230 of those franchises throughout the region.
PEOPLE POWER
OneLogix may seem like a group going in many directions, but it is to the respective companies’ credit that every single owner is still running the business they started. In Lourens’ words, it is a “highly entrepreneurial” organisation. He also recognises the importance of letting each business run separately.
“We empower each of the businesses to run as much as is desirable on their own,” he explains. “They know the business, they know the markets, the subtleties, what’s possible and not possible; then they run it and report back to us on a monthly basis. “So the whole process is structured.”
OneLogix also has its employees to thank for its ongoing growth and is dedicated to offering them the support both in and outside of the workplace. “We spend a lot of time on training,” acknowledges Lourens. “What we do in addition to our in-house training is that we have a large bursary scheme where we encourage staff to train at institutions outside of our organisation, and we also provide bursaries for their kids.” The emphasis is well and truly placed on education.
There are other incentives within the companies too, including a group life scheme and a bonus scheme related to performance. “I think the culture within the group is very people orientated,” he adds.
In the future, OneLogix will continue to grow its clusters, although Lourens is keen to ensure the business does not enter totally unrelated markets. “If we step too far away from our existing skills base, I think that would provide a major disjuncture to the organisation, which would be detrimental to our growth,” he warns.
Instead, now is the time to take stock. “We’ve got to bed down our acquisitions,” says Lourens. “The second objective will be to make sure we navigate ourselves through the recession as best we can – and to continue to look for opportunities.”
Never a group to miss an opportunity, OneLogix’s future looks exciting.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: OneLogix Group
CEO: Ian Lourens
OPERATIONS: A service provider in niched logistics markets
ESTABLISHED: 2000
OBJECTIVE: Navigate through recession
KEY PRIORITY: Training
www.onelogix.com
View Digital Corporate Profile of OneLogix in Supplychain Digital January 2010