Paack: Harnessing Data in the Logistics Industry

Description

In early 2021, Jan de Tienda, Chief Strategy and Data Officer (CSO/CDO) of Paack and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Fernando Benito were discussing the next steps for the rapidly growing company, which was becoming more and more complex as it grew in scale. Paack was a parcel delivery company that allowed final customers to schedule their deliveries. This reduced the number of failed delivery attempts and resulted in more convenience and efficiency for retailers, couriers, and customers. In five years in business, Paack had already carried out 20 million deliveries, serving 50 Spanish cities and major international capitals like Paris, London or Lisbon. But would the existing organization and operational structures serve to take the company forward? The case examines the history of Paack, a startup that had already pivoted twice before achieving success. It describes the company's dual business model (shipping directly from stores and shipping from warehouses), operations, and organization. The case focuses on the role of data inside Paack, and the current data governance structures and digitalization level. Was the company still flexible enough to manage its dual operations? Was it possible to stay flexible on an even larger scale? What role could digitalization play in overcoming Paack's challenges, and what should the company do to leverage its possibilities?

Learning Objective

The case allows students to face the challenges of a rapidly growing organization that uses data as an asset. Solutions that work in smaller organizations can hinder when a company scales up. Paack managed a lot of data generated at different points of the organization, and external to it (retailers and couriers). As Paack expanded, data was due to grow exponentially, so data governance would become key to the success of the business. There were a number of challenges in this area, including: - Managing the issues of data ownership and compliance when distributing this data throughout the organization and to other stakeholders. - How to better add the capabilities necessary to manage and exploit the opportunities presented by data. - How to develop the organizational structure with data in mind, i.e., a ?federal? model where each part of the organization would have access to it, or a more centralized model. Another issue was determining the role of specialists such as data analysts or data scientists, and where they would sit in the organization. - Using data to increase efficiency in operations vs. also using data to develop new business models.

Keywords

Data digitalization E-Commerce Logistics PAACK Startup