Meet our VP Logistics: Growing MSMEs Business by Ensuring Logistics Efficiency While#MakingImpact in the Indonesian Digital Economy

During an interview with our wonderful VP Logistics, Sandi Paulus, we learned a lot about him and his career path as one of GudangAda’s leaders.

Passionate, driven, and hardworking are just a few of the words to describe him. He is dedicated to empowering others to build successful careers in the logistics industry and taking GudangAda to the next level as the largest B2B ecommerce platform.

To get to know him better, we asked him a few questions about his previous experience. We also looked into his current role as VP Logistics at GudangAda.

Sandi has extensive professional experience in the areas of supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing operations in three South East Asian countries. He has over 12 years experience in logistics spanning all three levels: strategic, planning, and operations. He is passionate about running a fast and reliable logistics company with a strong organization focused on people management and technology.

What is your role at GudangAda?

I joined GudangAda on October 4, 2021. In general, I would divide the area that I manage into two categories: operations and strategy. In GudangAda strategy, we are developing our logistics business pipelines and revenue, as well as defining strategy to ensure our current business well penetrates the market. One of our biggest achievements last year was the kick-off of Contract Logistics. Service-wise, outside our own marketplace, we provide solutions through a full suite of logistics services, from order fulfillment, transportation, warehousing to inventory management to external customers. Our current portfolio ranges from FMCG (P&G, Nestle, Kopi Kenangan, Tupperware, Sosro, Kino), Commodity (Kana Furniture) to Heavy Equipment sectors (Bukaka, Altrak).

Then, in GudangAda operations, we ensure robust performance to ensure on-time product delivery to our customers, high productivity, and cost management to be more efficient day by day through excellent operations, product development, and vendor management. As a result of continuous collaboration with GudangAda product and technology team, we have successfully produced an in-house Transport Management System and Mobile Driver Apps that generate auto-routing algorithms to maximize Fleet Productivity and On-Time Delivery.

What is your favorite aspect of your job?

GudangAda strives for greater dimensions on a daily basis (#Orders, #Fleets, #Drivers) and balances it through product and technology development.

My favorite part is the challenge of seeing how technology can help us solve every single problem we have in our operations, commercial, and vendor sourcing. All GudangAda Troops are expected to participate in initiatives. We’ve defined our ecosystem and how all initiatives can help us achieve our goal of becoming the best technology logistics company in Indonesia.

What is your most notable achievement in the logistics field?

Geographically, Indonesia is one of the most challenging countries in the world for logistics. However, this also creates numerous opportunities for us to grow. My biggest accomplishment in the past was building a winning team in a 3PL organization that was able to grow the business 3–4 times larger in less than three years.

What are the main features of GudangAda Logistics? Why are we better than our competitors?

GudangAda has developed several features to help us achieve our vision, including NextDay, SameDay, COD payment, and On Demand Fleet. Up to 97% of our NextDay deliveries are completed in less than 24 hours. And so far, we have had 100% on-time delivery for SameDay delivery (less than 6 hours). We also offer COD (Cash on Delivery), a payment method that accounts for the majority of our local ecommerce delivery in Indonesia. Last but not least, we have an On Demand Fleet that is currently being used in major cities throughout our coverage area to support major principle projects.

So, what differentiates us from our competitors is that we offer multiple SLA and price options to our customers. All processes are carried out via apps, making it extremely easy to use. Furthermore, all orders are planned using our unique algo routing in TMS for greater speed, and all delivery partner selections are optimized using our VMS for lower cost.

How do you see the company advancing in the future?

GudangAda has evolved. For the past year, our business has experienced 100% growth in terms of marketplace orders. Furthermore, when comparing September 2021 to now, our logistics revenue has increased sixfold. In the future, this should be even better.

As a leader, what would you do to make a logistics company like GudangAda a better place to work?

I believe that leaders create leaders, so in order to create a winning team, we must start with ourselves. Great teamwork is very important. And as a business, all team members must take the right actions, take responsibility, and be accountable for the business goals and focus. Also, treat your team as a partner rather than a subordinate. Trust your team and gain their trust.

So, in order to make GudangAda a better place to work, as a leader, I always strive to cascade specific OKRs across all teams to ensure everyone in the department is on the same page with the business goals and objectives. I also make sure that everyone, from leaders to managers, has an equal opportunity to shine and grow by allowing them to speak up, share ideas, and be the project owners to hone their leadership skills.

As a leader, how would you describe GudangAda?

We are here to build GudangAda together not only to build a business, but also to #MakeImpact on this country, particularly in small and medium-sized businesses, stores, and transporters. We are here to help MSMEs businesses improve day by day, to give them the opportunity to continue growing by streamlining processes with technology that we have developed.

What is the best piece of career advice you have ever received?

Do your best wherever you are, just like you would for your own business. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.