GEODIS aims to have women in 25% of its leadership positions by 2023.
The global supply chain operator has formed an internal women’s network dedicated to giving both “male and female employees opportunities to express themselves, make suggestions, initiate or support actions that contribute positively to gender equality and that help increase the number of women in leadership positions.”
“The network is also intended to improve the reputation of the logistics and transport industry, a field traditionally dominated by men, to one with an image of greater equality and attractive to women,” the company announced last week.
The number of women in leadership positions at GEODIS has grown from 13% in 2017 to 18% today, according to Mario Ceccon, the company’s executive vice president of human resources.
“We are aiming for 25% by 2023,” Ceccon said.
The GEODIS Women’s Network includes a steering committee made up of female and male employees in such countries as the United States, France, Germany, Denmark and Singapore. “The GWN acts to promote inclusion, reduce professional disparities between men and women, improve the balance between work and private life and provide equal career prospects,” GEODIS said.
Women currently make up 40% of GEODIS’ workforce. Marie-Christine Lombard has served as CEO of the France-headquartered company since October 2012.
“With a woman as CEO, GEODIS is already signaling loud and clear that women have access to leadership positions,” Ceccon said.
The network also will encourage women to consider careers in logistics and transportation.
“Our program will help to change an outdated, male-dominated image of our sector,” Ceccon said.
RightShip
RightShip, billed as the world’s largest maritime risk management and environmental assessment organization, has announced the appointment of Steen Brodsgaard Lund as its new CEO.
Steen will succeed Martin Crawford-Brunt, who is leaving RightShip on Dec. 18 after three years as CEO.
Lund will be based in Singapore and expand RightShip’s global reach from the maritime hub.
Lund has more than 30 years of experience in the maritime industry and since early 2019 has served as CCO and CDO at Executive Ship Management.
He previously headed Radio Holland’s activities in Asia. Lund also was the executive vice president and head of Asia Pacific for Germanischer Lloyd, and following the creation of DNV GL in 2013, he led the regional operation of the newly merged company until 2017.
During 21 years with A.P. Møller – Maersk, Lund was responsible for the Maersk Line network in the Americas, Oceania, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
He also is a council member for the Singapore Shipping Association and chaired its digital transformation committee.
RightShip Chairman Rashpal Bhatti thanked outgoing CEO Crawford-Blunt for his “dedication to RightShip through a backdrop of difficult global economic conditions, IMO 2020 and the pandemic. He has steered the company well through this challenging time.”
Founded in 2001 with the mission to drive operational improvements in the global shipping industry, RightShip provides expertise in global safety, sustainability and social responsibility practices.
Bombardier
Bombardier has hired Bart Demosky as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
He replaces John Di Bert, who will be leaving the company, Montreal-based Bombardier said.
Bombardier said Demosky has more than 30 years of experience leading organizational transformations and building high-performing financial organizations in the transportation, energy, infrastructure and services industries. His previous leadership roles include serving as the president and CEO of Universal Rail Systems Inc., executive vice president and CFO of Canadian Pacific Railway and CFO of Suncor Energy.
With 52,000 employees, Bombardier has airplane and train production and engineering sites in more than 25 countries.
Svitzer
Towage operator Svitzer Europe has promoted Mattias Hellström to chief commercial officer.
Hellström has more than 25 years of experience in shipping and towage and joined Svitzer Europe in 2014 as managing director for Scandinavia. His role expanded to cover Svitzer’s operation in Germany in 2017.
Before joining Svitzer, he was the Sweden managing director for MSC. Hellström previously held several regional sales and management positions for Maersk Line.
Svitzer said with increasing growth opportunities in the terminal towage sector of the Americas region, it also is strengthening its organizational and managerial structure in order to pursue these opportunities. To support this growth, Svitzer has appointed Rutger Thulin as the managing director for the terminal towage cluster in the Americas, spanning Svitzer’s operations in Canada, Peru, Costa Rica, Statia and the Bahamas.
Thulin has been with Svitzer for seven years and for the past four years has served as the managing director for Brazil. He previously spent 14 years in managerial positions with A.P. Møller – Maersk.
Addressing the growth potential, Arjen Van Dijk, managing director of Svitzer Americas, said, “Although the competition is fierce, I firmly believe that our global ownership, footprint and experience, combined with in-depth regional and local knowledge, is an advantage, not only to us, but also to our customers, many of which are large global companies.”
Plus One Robotics
San Antonio-headquartered Plus One Robotics has hired Crystal Parrott as vice president of engineering.
Plus One said Parrott has a deep background in the robotics and automation industries and will be tasked with spearheading the product development of automation solutions for e-commerce fulfilment and distribution centers.
“The continued high volume in e-commerce is changing the way companies need to deliver their product to customers. Supply chain operators worldwide are challenged to maintain efficiencies while grappling with a critical labor shortage, a problem further exacerbated by COVID-19. These facilities are looking to technology and warehouse automation to fill the gap. Crystal is one of the brightest minds in the business, and Plus One’s clients will benefit immensely from her engineering leadership and market acumen,” said co-founder and CEO Erik Nieves.
Parrott previously was the vice president of the Robotics Center of Excellence at Dematic Corp. Prior to that, she spent 11 years leading the development of advanced robotics technology at the Southwest Research Institute.
Plus One Robotics was founded in 2016 with a mission to bring industrial robotics to warehouses.
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Click for more American Shipper/FreightWaves stories by Senior Editor Kim Link-Wills.