Arval’s most outstanding achievement is both an old dream and a new landmark, according to its general manager Dan Boiangiu.
“It is a dream because ever since we started our activity 13 years ago with a small, committed and enthusiastic team, we had envisioned achieving this,” he tells The Diplomat – Bucharest. “And it is a dream came true, as recently we have been breaking the milestone of 10.000 owned vehicles, overcoming matured Arval markets, much older than us, like Austria or Luxemburg. In an ever-changing social and political background, sprinkled with economic instability – and with our first years in the middle of the worst crisis – we took our chance in achieving this dream, relying on our most valuable resource: our people.”
For this year, the company’s focus was to align with the global trends and moving towards a greener industry.
“Our most significant efforts were directed towards the Arval SMaRT program, a sustainable mobility methodology allowing us to accompany our customers along the energy transition road,” Boiangiu adds. “Before moving to electric vehicles or plugin-hybrids, our customers need to draft company car policies adapted to new motilities, new regulations and new energies, that would correspond to their functional needs. We can help them draft such policies, but also partner with them on this difficult transition journey, using the most innovative tools and our extensive fleet knowledge. A concrete step in this endeavor we have achieved in 2019 is the full implementation of Arval Active Link product, which enable our customers to measure driver behavior as well as individual usage profiles, as to better decide on which environmental friendly vehicle is most suitable for each driver. This approach has been now embedded in all areas and processes of our company, from the commercial strategy onto our operational activities.”
“Arval started developing automation tools for quite some time now”
For 2020, Arval plans to boost the sales of its Arval Active Link solution and continue the SMaRT project.
Regarding the new automated world, Boiangiu explains that Arval has already been dwelling with the global automation concept.
“Arval started developing automation tools for quite some time now,” Boiangiu states. “We have built already several interfaces with our national networks platforms, allowing us to optimize exchanges and obtain more accurate and faster services for our customers and their drivers. Some other strategic projects have started in 2019, using the latest technology including RPA or big data analytics tools, helping us optimize fleet operating costs and reduce our clients TCOs. The challenges are inherent, as operating such projects in a national level partner network is not an easy task. However, our people find motivation in such challenges, as celebration of project successes or important milestones is very rewarding for us as a team.”
Arval is committed to help improve the local scene, not only via industry enhancements but all across its sectors.
“We’ve been dreaming for a shift towards electrifying the automotive industry. Today we’re seeing more and more EVs or (P)HEVs on the road and as this trend grows, the infrastructure development will follow,” says Boiangiu. “Projecting some hope into the future, we believe the new energies will become the logical choice for every Romanian company in the long run. We are here for our customers and prospects to help them with the choice and with the transition. As for the general outlook, our biggest expectations for 2020 business scene would be sustainable macroeconomic growth, stable and efficient public institutions and predictable fiscal policies. We believe these to be the key ingredients of a viable business environment in which all our customers would continue their development we hope for.”
Boiangiu goes on to say that 2020 will most likely be the year of digitalization, as customers behavior is shifting towards more digital ways of interaction and towards faster service expectations.
“We expect a lot of development in the digital area in our industry, starting with vehicles that are more connected and ending with IoT based solutions for data collection and AI driven reporting,” he adds. “There is huge room for improvement, as technology is exponential and our service range is very wide and complex. So we have still a lot of things to do and there is always room for development. But progress is built on constant improvement and improvement is always built on trial and error. When you are the first to do something you are more likely to fail first, in order to succeed later. That is a risk we’re more than willing to take.”
“Stop fearing the future!”
“Some talk about a crisis approaching, some fear disruptions will take them out of their market,” Boiangiu states. “And indeed, such things can happen. But I urge you to stop fearing the future! The future is brighter than any slot in our history and human kind has never dreamed of a greater abundance than the one we are now living. Let’s stick to our core values as a community: kindness, generosity, passion, dedication, curiosity, etc. and no crisis or no disruption would ever be a problem. Instead it will become an opportunity, to practice more kindness, more generosity, more dedication and passion towards new solutions and new beginnings. I wish we all abandon fear of failure and embrace the opportunity of it, as it is a great source of learning and development!”
