25 years with a passion for parcels for already two generations

Who wouldn't know PPL. The delivery company that transports packages by the next day between businesses and consumers. But only few people know that its success is due to an interesting story and the unprecedented efforts of two exceptional men, a father and a son. We spoke about the PPL journey with the founder, Pavel Horák and his son Petr Horák who is currently the CEO of PPL.

Early times full of memories

Not so long ago, delivery services did not exist in our country. Of course, there was standard post and selected forwarding companies only delivered packages marginally. At first glance, no such service was needed in the last decade of the last century. It was all the more courageous when a community of seven owners decided to set up a transport depot in each region and in 1995 established PPL CZ, a company whose business was initially to transport shipments only between businesses. "At that time, I was one of the partners and I was in charge of opening and operating a branch in northern Moravia. There was almost no competition and I like to remember the early times, even though we started a bit in field conditions. I remember that the first roller conveyor for parcels was basically a human chain. Shipment data was sent on floppy disks and the goods could not be unloaded until the driver handed the disk over to the customer and the data was uploaded,” describes Pavel Horák.

PPL started with 100 people, including office workers, drivers and handlers. They had 40 vehicles. “At that time, we used for transport whatever we could find. We had to be creative. I even remember a truck without a body that drove like a flatbed, and when it rained, we covered the parcels with tarps. Today, of course, the demands are quite different,” recalls Horák. Today PPL covers 700 regular employees, 360 external employees and 1,800 drivers.

Deciding whether it is worth it to go on

the environment of logistics was nothing new for Pavel Horák because he came to PPL from the position of general manager of ČSAD where he started as a mechanic in passenger and bus transport. Despite his managerial experience, however, it was not easy to persuade the market to start using new delivery services. Therefore, after about a year of operation, a number of partners began to consider closing down. “At that moment, I had a choice - I'll either pack it in too, or buy the other branches and try to build something. I chose the second option, because I already believed then that a service of this type has a future in our country and it is only a matter of time before it takes hold. At that time, I had 45,000 on my bank passbook and I had to borrow everything. Over the next three years, I became the owner of all other branches and covered the company as CEO. My goal was to find people who would work with their heart like I did and for whom work would not be just a way to earn money. My wife, with whom I worked together, was also a great support. She worked as a chief accountant. It is to these people that I attribute a great deal of success that we have gradually managed to build a successful company. The operation of PPL in 1995 was christened by us by sending the first packages between the regional depots. Their contents were congratulations on the start and a bottle of wine. In the beginning, companies sent small and heavier shipments with us, but mostly to a limited extent. However, once customers tried our service and found that it was high quality and functional, the volumes grew over time and with them the types of shipments. We managed to explain to Czech businesses that next day delivery is a real advantage for them, and they do not have to manage, for example, intermediate warehouses,” explains the founder.

The package market is constantly growing

From the beginning of the new millennium, the ever-increasing volumes of parcels forced the company to move selected depots, even three times a year, and thus increase capacity. “We got to the stage where it was necessary to fund intensively and build a central transshipment facility with first-class technologies, to keep PPL competitive. Today, only companies that have a strong background and are not afraid to invest can be successful in this sector. For this reason, I decided to sell the company to a number-one carrier on global market – Deutsche Post DHL and i and remained at the helm as CEO. Thanks to this step, we were also able to expand our services abroad. Despite some concerns from my superiors at the time, I also pushed for the introduction of a new service and for adaptation of PPL to delivery packages to private individuals. I am grateful that my instinct did not disappoint me then. I assumed that the western model of popular online shopping would move to our country very soon.” Mr. Horák was not mistaken. At present, the delivery of goods from online shops to private addresses accounts for about 60% of all PPL shipments and this segment continues to grow steadily.

Change of generations in the company management

Since 2002, Pavel Horák also had his son, Petr, by his side in the company, who over many years worked his way up from a part-time position in label printing to an operations director in 2016 when the father decided to resign as CEO. Last year, Petr Horák became the head of the company.
“When I took up my father's position, I felt great respect and also responsibility. PPL employees are a team of great people with a blue heart, and it is a huge commitment for me not to disappoint them and build on historical achievements of PPL and most importantly, to take us into the world of the 21st century, where we face a digital and environmental challenge. I decided to accept this position with the vision that I will have the opportunity to directly influence what is happening in the company and transform the things I talk about with my colleagues and think about into reality. The first step was a meeting of the broader management of the company, where we discussed further possible steps, market opportunities, threats and dead ends. I think that at the end of our meetings, we have managed to unify our thinking and set out a strategy that will move us where we need to go. After the sale of the company, PPL went through a period of strong growth, but also turbulences which were accompanied by a gradual transformation of processes and structure so that we fit into the world of our parent company, DPDHL. We certainly incurred technological and development debts. However, together we have managed to put together a clear strategy based on our passion for parcels and everything that happens around them. Hence the main motto of this year's important anniversary of our company. I constantly motivate individual managers to work with passion and stir up the passion for parcels also in their teams. Every day I see that the success of a company is always based on whether the employees are 100% committed to the company. Their happiness and passion for work are therefore the key, so we first focused on developing the work environment and simplifying processes. In the second step, we strengthened our management in the area of leadership and introduced procedures in teams that support the development of discussion, feedback, search for ideas and continuous improvement of our daily activities. It is true that every second saved in today's processes is incredibly visible in the PPL processes on the happiness of our employees, customers and in finances. Such an approach has been recently missing here a bit. In other words, if we communicate openly, listen and respect each other across the organization, success is guaranteed. I believe that the changes and attitudes that I am trying to promote are successful so far, shaping the company for the better. I feel all the more obliged to continue to do so,” Petr Horák, CEO of PPL describes the vision.

Contactless delivery is the future

At present, PPL provides parcel transport to business and private customers. As already mentioned, the fastest growing segment on the market is currently e-commerce, i.e., the delivery of goods to recipients at a private address. As the volume of parcels increases, the number delivery and mailing points has been recently growing very quickly because they offer an efficient and, above all, flexible way of picking up or mailing a shipment. The recipient does not have to wait at home for a call from the driver, but picks up the goods when and where it suits him or her. PPL has nearly 2000 PPL ParcelShops. “For me, delivery and mailing points clearly represent a trend that we plan to support as much as possible. Last year we even opened two company PPL ParcelShops, directly under our management, on the Prague metro, in Prosek and Bořislavka. Now, in coordination with DPDHL, we are preparing a project of storage boxes, PPL ParcelBoxes, which we will start deploying next year. This method of contactless delivery is justified in the future, also in the context of the current situation,” says the CEO, adding: "When the coronavirus arrived here, I was initially afraid that it would slow us down for a long time, but in fact, it became an accelerator of change. Many recipients have become accustomed to shopping online, and many companies that have not yet tried it have started selling online. I believe that this approach will largely continue and the emphasis will be placed on the above-mentioned contactless flexible delivery. In addition, I see great potential in the evening delivery service. Many people do not have the opportunity to have the shipment sent to work and are not available at home until later in the evening. This service is already used frequently, for example for the delivery of certain types of food or large packages of animal feed,” says the CEO.

Our plans as part of corporate social responsibility 

At the time of the coronavirus, PPL allowed people to send masks for free through its services to charities and medical facilities. We thus transported more than 25,000 masks and helped, among other things, to ensure a sufficient number for the oldest charity in our country - Charita Česká republika. However, PPL also plans other projects in the field of CSR. "In the future, we would like to focus more on activities related to sustainability and CO2 elimination. So far, we have minimized all paper processes and moved them to electronic form. We are also preparing a project of vehicles with alternative drives or delivery bikes,” Petr Horák describes the plans.

For the third year in a row, PPL won the title of the Most Trusted Brand of the Year in the Parcel Services category, which reflects its professionalism in its field. "I am glad to see that the public perceives our brand in this way. Personally, I would like to reveal our internal people-based culture a little more to the public and point out the work of all our teams, which is key to the fast and high-quality delivery of parcels, but remains hidden from the public eye. I wish, and believe that this moment will come sooner rather than later, to improve the perception of the work of our drivers and workers in the eyes of the general public and to move closer to, for example, the German standard, where being a delivery man is a respected profession as part of the critical infrastructure of the state. At the time of the Covid crisis, PPL did not rest in spite of everything and our drivers delivered an incredible 4 million shipments. A historical record of PPL. These workers are rightly among the heroes of these difficult days and they deserve my huge appreciation for their excellent work!” says Petr Horák.

Finally, a few words from the founder

"If I had to look back at the decisions with which I succeeded and with which I did not succeed, I am happy that I took a risk at that time and did not let PPL fall. I also see it as a good decision that I have always tried to listen to specialists in my field. Each of us is good at something different. I probably don't remember any mistake that I regret. At most, I could have done something a little faster, but there was so much work that there was simply no time left. Back then, sleeping seemed like a useless activity. I am also thankful for the family-like and friendly team that the company managed to build. I believe that this corporate culture has been preserved to this day and it makes PPL exactly what it is. It's all about people, and I'm proud to see my son at the head of a company that he leads in the right direction,” concludes Pavel Horák, founder, former owner, CEO and for the most part also the heart of PPL.
 

You can find the original article HERE.