Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, has reaffirmed the shipping company’s commitment to further digitalisation of its business, announcing that it will accelerate its efforts across a variety of projects to make CMA CGM a leader in ‘shipping 4.0’.
In a statement alongside the company’s release of its 2018 financial results, which returned a consolidated net income of US$34 million on annual revenues of approximately US$23.5 billion, Mr Saadé said that CMA CGM would continue “pursuing our strategy of innovation and digital transformation in order to continue to offer excellent service to our customers and strengthen our performance.”
“In 2019, despite persisting geopolitical tensions, trade perspectives are positive. We will continue our development with the objective of improving profitability. That is why we are launching a new US$1.2 billion cost reduction plan,” he continued.
“In addition, through the friendly public tender offer we are conducting on CEVA [Logistics], our ambition is to become a world leader in both transport and logistics, thereby providing a complete and efficient service offer to our customers.”
Projects highlighted by the company as part of this accelerated digital transformation programme include commercialisation of its Traxens ‘smart container’ offering, its inclusion as the first shipping company on the Freightos online freight platform, and its partnership with Shone to apply Artificial Intelligence in support of crews’ onboard decision-making.
CMA CGM has also made investments in a number of external maritime technology start-ups to expand its digital capabilities. These include: BuyCo, which is developing an electronic bill of lading secured by blockchain; e-dray, a software platform designed to improve container handling operations in terminals; and Nyshex, a digital marketplace for sea freight contracts.
In addition to these investments the Group has also opened an incubator in Marseilles called ZEBOX, which now hosts 15 start-ups from around the world.
