IDS Ukraine has restructured its logistics, changed its distributors' territories and increased the number of transportation partners by 30% by bringing in small carriers and individual entrepreneurs, IDS Ukraine CEO Mark Tkachuk said.
"Additional difficulties are caused by shelling, which destroys the logistics centers and warehouses of our partners. We have to constantly change routes and more often deliver water directly to stores. We increased the number of partners by 30% by bringing in small carriers and individual entrepreneurs who have several vehicles," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Answering a question about the company's main challenges, apart from logistics and rising fuel costs, Tkachuk cited migration and, as a result, declining consumption. Falling household incomes and migration processes forced the company to seek new channels of operation, so it decided to launch the e-Morshynska B2B platform, which accounts for 10% of sales in traditional retail through a direct-order model without the involvement of sales agents.
Personnel also remain a problem. According to Tkachuk, because the employee reservation system covers only half of the workforce, there is an acute shortage of drivers.
To improve planning amid uncertainty, IDS Ukraine is at the final stage of implementing an ERP system for inventory management, he added.
IDS Ukraine is a Ukrainian group of companies founded in 1996. It owns the Morshynska, Myrhorodska, Alyaska and Aqua Life brands. The group includes the Oscar Morshyn Mineral Water Plant, the Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant, IDS distribution company and IDS Aqua Service, a water delivery operator.
