Special-Ind was born in the mid-1950s and was immediately characterized by its specialization in the import of high-tech products. Over the years the company has evolved, always anticipating market trends and today, with a turnover of 90 million Euros, it is one of the reference distributors in the electronics market.
Specialization, the ability to identify new high-quality products and the ability to offer partners first-class logistics services are still the hallmarks of the company today.
We asked Massimo Loche, CEO of Special-Ind, to tell us about the main logistical challenges and how GM International supports Special-Ind in tackling them.
“The electronics market is characterized by extreme dynamism and logistical complexity. Just imagine that hundreds of components are needed to produce a simple electronic board, all those components must be present at the same time on our customers’ assembly lines. It is therefore clear how logistics management must be fast, reliable and flexible”.
To achieve this result, professionalism, competence and the ability to react promptly to any change that can have an impact on the numerous variables involved are needed. An example is the Covid-19 pandemic: from a logistical point of view it has caused numerous critical issues, including – cited Massimo Loche – “a significant lengthening of transport times by ship, a period of shortage in electronic components and strong volatility in their demand. In this context, it was absolutely necessary to rely on a flexible logistics partner who can support this complexity”.
For Special-Ind, this partner has been GM International for several years.
“The relationship between Special-Ind and GM international has been consolidating for over twenty years. – recalled Loche – GM International was always able to support us and to follow the strong development that has characterized our company in the last decade, adapting promptly and always with a high level of service.
Although planning is an essential part of our business, in recent times we have found ourselves facing a “schizophrenic” market, difficult to predict and address. In addition to this, in the last four years our company has more than tripled the volumes historically handled. GM International has been able to quickly adapt to these changes and to demonstrate considerable flexibility in finding the most suitable solutions for our needs”.
“One example for all – continued Loche – We experienced situations in which it was necessary to modify logistics planning extremely quickly, for example by unloading the goods from a ship and then loading them onto a truck transport to shorten the delivery time. GM International was able to give us full support by finding alternative solutions. This ability not only was highly appreciated internally, but it gave us a significant competitive advantage, which helped us improve our image in the eyes of our customers”.