Lauriane Boyer joined Militzer & Münch France eleven years ago. As Air & Sea Director for Militzer & Münch France, she is constantly tackling new challenges in the sea and air freight industry. We asked her how the company copes with the challenges, what opportunities are opening for the industry, and what makes Militzer & Münch a good employer in times such as these.
How is the sea freight business in France doing at the moment?
The French sea freight market cannot escape global problems. We too are seeing a decline in global volumes, particularly on the Asia-Europe trade lane, due to consumer restraint and inflation. I also expect the current attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea to have a major impact on our industry in the coming weeks and months. We at Militzer & Münch however expect positive business development in the sea freight sector, albeit in a difficult business environment. Competition is tough, but this difficult environment also holds opportunities for our company.
What are the main goods Militzer & Münch France (Air & Sea) transports?
The Militzer & Münch France teams mainly transport general cargo and dry freight, such as mechanical equipment, electrical goods, textiles, and various materials for local production. On a spot basis, we mainly transport pharmaceutical products, hazardous goods or dry foodstuffs. This is also where I see growth potential for the future.
Militzer & Münch France currently counts some 1,000 customers. Most of them are medium-sized companies, which allows us to spread our business risk. Our most important customers come from the humanitarian sector, from label and adhesive film production and from the freight forwarding industry.
What were the most important milestones for Militzer & Münch France (Air & Sea)?
For almost ten years, we at Militzer & Münch France have been pursuing an investment plan. Over the past few years, we have implemented a number of measures to strengthen our global organization as well as sales and marketing, to expand our team and, above all, to improve our results. We put a lot of effort into promoting the Air & Sea product internally so as to make sure everyone within the Militzer & Münch France organization is familiar with it and to convince our existing and potential customers to place their orders with us. We can be proud of this achievement, which will help us to continue growing in the future.
What plans does Militzer & Münch France have for the future?
In the context of Militzer & Münch France’s diversification strategy, we expect Air & Sea to become one of our main products in the coming years. This is why we are building our Air & Sea development plan around several themes. They include the development of intra-group partnerships between Militzer & Münch and TransInvest to strengthen our own network, as well as the acquisition of agents in countries where the Militzer & Münch Group is not yet active. We are also planning to develop pure Air & Sea consolidation products (Air & Sea LCL). The Southwest Europe & Maghreb region is to be promoted with combined solutions between the Maghreb and the rest of the world via France, and our sales activities in France are to be strengthened. All these measures will help us navigate through these challenging times.
Are there any important projects in the pipeline for Militzer & Münch France?
There will be numerous challenges for our company in the area of digitalization and data management. To give an example, we need to embrace artificial intelligence as an opportunity and a serious tool that will help us to improve and speed up our decision-making processes.
What is your career background and what are your tasks at Militzer & Münch?
I have 15 years of experience in our industry. I started my career as a customs agent at a renowned company in France that focused exclusively on air and sea transportation. I later became a forwarding agent and team leader there. The start of my career coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, and I quickly learned that I had to constantly adapt and reinvent myself in this profession.
In April 2024, I will celebrate my 11th anniversary at Militzer & Münch France, and I can say that I have never been bored. Today, as Air & Sea Director, I am responsible for the organization and development of our product. I work from our office in Pusignan, Lyon, and head my own team there. I regularly visit all our offices in France so that I am always where the action is. Militzer & Münch France Air & Sea employs 30 colleagues in eight offices. We operate from ten customs airports and six ports in France. I also regularly support our subsidiaries ACTE International and ITPL with Air & Sea issues.
What do you like about your job? What makes Militzer & Münch a good employer?
In our industry, we are all driven by passion. This motivates us in our daily work, which is all about solving problems and mastering unexpected situations. What I like best is that there are always surprises. Routine is just not my thing! I enjoy spending time with our teams. I truly value the trustful and transparent cooperation with committed managers. At Militzer & Münch, teamwork and flexibility are very important, and we cultivate a real pioneering and family spirit. We promote innovation, and decisions are made in a fast and direct manner.
Most of our competitors are paralyzed by their large and cumbersome organizations. With us, this is not the case. Militzer & Münch’s global structure is dynamic and offers lots of opportunities for career development and mobility. When I participated in our Talent Management Programme, I noticed that this attitude is shared by many within the Group. No matter which country we come from, we all have the same values. This makes Militzer & Münch a successful company – and a great employer.
