A conversation with Nikolai Bozhilov, founder and Executive Chairman of Unimasters Logistics
A strategic-minded, forward-thinking leader is not afraid of change and sees the challenges of digital transformation as opportunities. So does Nikolai Bozhilov, founder and Executive Chairman of Unimasters Logistics, one of the leading – and most progressive – logistics providers in Bulgaria and Romania. With a wealth of experience in shipping, Mr. Bozhilov has a lot to say about the status of digital transformation in the air cargo industry, why the time has come to accelerate – and how a partner like Cargo Start can help in the process.
Mr. Bozhilov, can you tell us the story of Unimasters Logistics?
Unimasters was founded in 1990, when Bulgaria was just starting on the road to democracy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I seized the opportunity to establish the first liner shipping agency in the country.
By that time, I had already gained a lot of experience in shipping, having worked for Navibulgur, starting as a ship’s officer right after graduating from the Varna Naval Academy in the early 70s, and then holding various positions in marketing and operations. In the early 80s, I launched and headed Bulcon Container Service in the first five years of its existence, which was ranked one of the most reliable container carriers from the Nordics to the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.
Unimasters quickly became the leading shipping group in Bulgaria, working with the world’s major carriers such as SeaLand, Maersk, CMA CGM, P&O Nedlloyd, Wallenius Lines, Yang Ming and a dozen other global shipping lines, airlines and top 3PLs.
How did the company develop over the last three decades?
In the early 2000s, we opened some new branches in Romania and Hungary and started fully-fledged 3PL activities, becoming a regional player with a focus on reliability and strong differentiation in quality.
Today, Unimasters Logistics is a consolidated group of nine companies with a total of 330 employees, covering all major areas of transport and logistics by sea, land and air through its own offices and partners in 178 countries. We have been recognised five times as “Business Superbrand” in Bulgaria and have received a European award for the best customer service.
In 2015, we launched our “Vision 2025”, which sets our laser focus and goals on combining the best of both worlds of augmented humanity and Industry 4.0, as well as making us “innovate to zero” (zero accidents, zero deaths, zero emissions) and create a customer-adaptive company for the cognitive world, based on smart infrastructure and smart services.
What role does air cargo play for your company? And what role does it play in Central & Eastern Europe?
Looking at IATA statistics, Europe continues to be the weakest region in terms of air freight volumes measured in CTKs (Cargo Tonne Kilometres), especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the significant impact of the war in Ukraine is further aggravating the situation in Central & Eastern Europe due to the proximity to the war zone and the various restrictions associated with it.
Unimasters Logistics is based in the EU but outside the congested central EU airspace. Sofia and Bucharest airports play a marginal role as they are located between major air freight hubs such as Istanbul and Budapest and are not served by full freighters (with the exception of DHL) and direct wide-body flights. Due to the limited air capacity, many logistics providers prefer to use Istanbul, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, etc. as gateways for inbound Asian cargo instead of PAX flights, and then truck the cargo to its final destination.
In this context, as the first IATA Cargo Agent in Bulgaria, we at Unimasters Logistics have always paid special attention to our airfreight capabilities and do our utmost to find the best airfreight connections for our customers. Offering competitive global air freight services is vital for our automotive, pharmaceutical and hi-tech clients. Therefore, we strive to offer all available air transport options with a variety of additional value-added services.
The air cargo industry is still underestimating the potential of digital transformation worldwide; where do we stand with digital adoption in Bulgaria and Romania?
Digital transformation has been on everyone’s lips for years. But even today, the shipping and freight forwarding industry remains largely paper-based. And although IATA and ICAO have done a wonderful job in digitising air transport processes, much more needs to be done to streamline data, move the industry towards digital dexterity and make mass use of the latest technological achievements.
An excellent example of this is Cargo IQ – the IATA interest group whose mission is to create and implement quality standards for the global air cargo industry, which only has 60 members, out of 300+ airlines and thousands of cargo agents worldwide.
So, something must be terribly wrong with the leadership of the transport industry and its approach to digitalisation. Moreover, we must admit that there is also a widening technology gap between Asia, the US and Europe; Western, Central and Eastern Europe, which needs to be properly addressed, but where short-term financial gains prevail over long-term commitment and vision.
Now IATA is promoting ONE RECORD, a standard for data sharing that creates the foundations for air cargo digitalization. I do hope it will really mark a turning point.
In the pre-pandemic era, a common saying in the industry was “if we don’t disrupt ourselves, someone else will”. And indeed, “disruption” came via the “game changers” – the “third-party” e-booking platforms. What was their impact on the industry? And what was the impact on your company?
Despite the emergence of e-booking platforms such as Webcargo by Freightos, Cargo.one, Cargo Ai, Cargo Booking, you name it – the air cargo industry is still very much behind in the digital transformation journey. As one industry leader recently noted, a market worth nearly $200 billion is still largely offline and immensely intransparent: it still takes hours for a freight forwarder to get quotes from airlines, bookings are made offline, documents are not digitised and communication is asynchronous.
Third-party booking platforms are real game changers, but the game is long and often attritional. We have been following developments in this area from the very beginning, but we believe that the platforms need to become more mature and ensure seamless bookings, especially for special cargoes. Therefore, for the automation of the “Quote-Book-Track” digital trilemma, we have currently focused on instant quoting and aggregated track & trace information fusion, while still researching the market for the best e-booking platform option for us.
How have customer needs changed over the last few years? And how are logistics providers adapting to meet these needs? Is your company ready for a “digital customer journey”?
Customer demand for a better offline and online experience has really taken off in recent years, especially during the pandemic. Shippers are becoming more demanding every day. If we are not able to provide them with rates and different transport route options immediately, they will simply leave. And very often for a long time or forever.
That’s why we’re constantly grappling with increasing UX/UI demands and looking for creative ways to adapt and leapfrog far ahead. Today’s technology is evolving so fast that even tech-savvy companies like ours sometimes fall behind in the “digital customer journey”, despite frequent portal upgrades and the introduction of new features. So yes, we are technologically ready for the digital customer journey, but we are experiencing a severe shortage of advanced software specialists, especially in the ML/AI area where we are trying to run different operational scenarios.
Why did you choose Cargo Start as a partner to move forward on the digital transformation journey?
We chose Cargo Start because of their proven professionalism, commitment to digital transformation, innovative spirit and super-fast response to problem-solving. We have started with the integration of CARGO GATE – the connectivity platform for the exchange of electronic messages with air cargo carriers, which is a crucial prerequisite for moving forward on the digital transformation journey.
What’s the next milestone? Definitely continuing to invest in making our operations more sustainable. That’s why we are evaluating CARBON CARE – the carbon footprint measurement tool that can help us control and reduce our transport emissions in the coming years. In fact, we believe that digitalisation and decarbonisation are the necessary conditions to ensure the sustainable development of logistics.
More information about Unimasters Logistics.