MS Direct: Luca, you have been CEO of MS Direct AG since May 1. Did you get off to a good start?
Luca Graf: Very good even! I have known MS Direct for many years as a leading e-commerce service provider from Switzerland. Now I could already get to know large parts of the team and I am more than enthusiastic about the great commitment and the striving to provide the best fulfillment solution – national as well as cross-border. I helped out at the production sites for a few days myself, and I hope I didn’t drag our productivity down too much. (laughs)
What are the most pressing projects you want to tackle as CEO of MS Direct?
MS Direct has grown rapidly in recent years and has received many new customer inquiries. Just last year, the company launched a new cross-border e-commerce solution for the UK in time for Brexit, thus establishing an important strategic pillar and driving the further internationalization of its offering. The task now is to strengthen the organization in order to be able to handle this growth in the medium term, to automate processes more strongly, and to further digitize our successful products.
Digitalisation offers us untold opportunities to become more efficient and even more customer-friendly on the one hand, and to open up new market segments on the other.
Luca Graf, CEO MS Direct AG
And where is the journey heading in the next few years?
Today, MS Direct is a logistics service provider with IT expertise. Tomorrow, we want to become a technology provider of logistics applications. In the past, the company has already developed a number of software solutions – for example, the tariffing for our cross-border solution runs with a specially developed artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, with this vision, we are facing a fundamental change. We will significantly strengthen our technology expertise and further intensify our sustainability efforts. In addition, we intend to benefit from the growth of the global e-commerce market and offer our services in many more markets in the future. Digitization offers us untold opportunities to become more efficient and even more customer-friendly on the one hand, and to open up new market segments on the other. My focus will be on further developing MS Direct’s products and actively exploiting the opportunities in the growing e-commerce market.
What personal goals do you want to achieve?
Most recently, I held an exciting staff position at a large logistics company. I have been able to learn a lot about digitalization and innovation in the logistics industry. The potential to improve operational processes and the customer experience in this industry is enormous. I would like to apply what I have learned at MS Direct and incorporate it into the strategy and operations of the company. With its medium-sized, agile culture and its strong customer proximity, MS Direct has the best prerequisites for further growth and for exploiting potential in the traditional e-commerce environment.
Thank you very much, Luca! We’re glad you’re here!