Interview with ANTONIO DOMENICI
| Antonio Domenici. Being the son of one of the most important ship agents in Livorno, as 19 years old, he was already working in the family company – the agent of important shipping lines, like at that time Italia di Navigazione, Lloyd Triestino, Prudential Lines etc. In 1991, the public-owned lines of which they were agents, decided to open their own offices. After two years there, as a sales manager, he received the call from Mr. Luigi Del Corona asking to enter into his company, which he accepted. He is now the marketing and business manager of the company, also in charge of the worldwide network and the coordination for the sales activity in Italy and Europe. |
| 1. What are the main disrupters for Freight Forwarding development? It’s not easy to give a “general” answer to this question from my side. The Italian market is a bit different from North or East Europe. In my country, like in the other countries of the South of Europe, the market is still in the hands of FFs, so my perspective could be different from others. In any case, for sure the factor that is impacting more than others the Italian market is the shipping lines competition that, especially for Maersk Line, is becoming day by day stronger and attacking not only the “big shots” but also the small and medium-sized companies. The fight is still at the beginning, but I’m sure it will become hard in the next year. 2. Tell us about key areas in Logistics/Supply chain where Freight Forwarding can improve the most and why? In my opinion, the key area is the supply chain. FF has to be what’s missing in many companies: the tool of the sales. In the current market scenario, the value of a budget is very near to “0.” Everything can change suddenly without any previous sign and a forecast possibility so the logistic supplier must be ready at any time to find alternative solutions, to do “miracles” if it’s requested, to satisfy the customer needs that at the end is the satisfaction of their buyers or sellers. From this point of view, no shipping lines can be able to provide such a wide possibility of solutions than a FF, so this key could be one of the most important factors to survive against their competition. Another key is also logistics, defined as “the possibility to offer customers all the services that a company can outsource.” These two keys linked together are the main tools to survive in the market and to survive in the next years. 3. What is your opinion about positioning WOF EXPO in the Central and Eastern Europe region? Well, I have to admit my experience of Eastern Europe is a bit limited, but I’m sure as that of many other managers or companies. This Expo could be an important moment for improving the reciprocal knowledge between West and East Europe. And I’m sure the place where WOF will be held will help to do this. 4. What will be the impact of Covid-19 for further business development in your core business? Covid-19 for many people is something bad not only from the health point of view but also for the economy. I know many FF or producers that suffered heavy consequences due to this pandemic. I have to say for my company Covid-19 has not been so bad. Being involved in the chemicals and paper business and covering all the markets in the world, we have had the luck to see our volumes grow, and most probably we’ll close the year with very good figures Anyway, I hope, but I’m also sure of this, starting from the beginning of 2021 a solution for this pandemic will be found and slowly, even if with some changes in comparison to the past, everything will go back to normal life. This is my wish for all the people who suffered both health and economic consequences due to this virus. I wish all of them a very quick return to a prosperous level of life. |
 | U. Del Corona & Scardigli Srl is one of the oldest companies of logistics in Italy, having started the activity in 1874.
U. Del Corona & Scardigli is a leading company in the freight forwarding sector. Further to the high volumes handled, they are ranked in the top three Italian logistic providers.
Serving the main multinational companies, they can be considered as the “market leader” in the shipping of chemicals, but they have also a rooted presence in other important industrial sectors like the mechanic, stone, paper and foodstuff.
U. Del Corona & Scardigli, offers a flexible and personalized service, providing customers with long traditional know-how and the most advanced technological tools to build a long-term partnership.
https://www.delcoronascardigli.com/ |