Six months ago, co-worker Maarten Snijder first joined our team at Railpro. His area of expertise? E-commerce. We had a chat with him about e-commerce in the railway sector.
I came to join the Railpro team six months ago to set up the systems for digital communication with our customers. E-commerce improves the information provision, quickens the processing of orders, and decreases the amount of administrative tasks. In short, it is an innovative and efficient way of working. But it is also new, and that sometimes makes people a bit anxious. My earlier work experience has provided me with the know-how that I can use in giving the railway sector that extra push into the right direction to facilitate its entrance into the digital era. In this respect, it slightly lags behind other industries, where digital communication is already the most common thing in the world.
I can think of two reasons.
First, the rail infra market is a heavy industry in a highly physical context. We do our work on the tracks. It all happens outside, in all kinds of weather conditions, often during night time, with multiple logistical flows coming together. We are not so much used to thinking in bits and bytes.
And second, we operate in a B2B-market, where digital communication has been common practice for an already considerable amount of time now. But the rail infra market is about to undergo great developments. In our B2B-situation, two companies will start negotiations on the digital linkage of their systems and on how the digital processing of orders can be best organised. And I guess you will understand that this is more complex here than in the consumer market. However, the current technology gives us ample possibilities to design a client-friendly system for this purpose. And that is where I come in.
Secondly, we operate in a B2B-market, and I guess you will understand that this is more complex here than in the consumer market. In the B2C-market, is digital communication common practice for an already considerable amount of time now. But the rail infra market is about to undergo great developments. In our B2B-situation, two companies will start negotiations on the digital linkage of their systems and on how the digital processing of orders can be best organised. However, the current technology gives us plenty of possibilities to design a client-friendly system for this purpose. And that is where I come in.
This is exactly what makes my work interesting! Not the technology, but the customer is central in the field of digital services. So far, we have installed several digital channels and we are improving and digitalising our processes on a daily basis. Customer can work with our system as super-users, while also more advanced options, for example linkages to our administrative systems, are among the possibilities, such as OCI and EDI. In order to determine what suits them best, I take plenty of time to talk with the customers. And once I’ve established their preferences, I can start designing tailor-made systems for them.
I’m convinced of that. Our advantage is that we can learn from the e-commerce developments in other B2B and B2C industries. So, when the transfer is there, we will be able to operate on the same level of digitalisation as all other companies. With the inclusion of all corresponding advantages, for example a cheaper, easier and quicker way of working. I’m very much looking forward to taking this step with our customers!
Maarten, thank you for this introduction.
Are you a Railpro customer and are you ready for some innovative changes? Together we can make your wishes in the field or digitalisation come true.