Wang Hongguang on growth
“Hoau has the network, great people and local expertise in China. TNT has the international network and sophisticated technological know-how. It’s the perfect combination.”
“Look forward”
Wang Hongguang’s career has developed alongside China’s distribution industry.
After graduating university with a degree in finance in 1994, Hongguang took a job with the China Resources division of the ministry of business. His work involved a lot of interaction with retailers and their distribution processes. After four years, he joined a Hong Kong-listed chemicals company where he managed sales, including getting products to customers.
“I was fascinated with this area of business,” says Hongguang, a young man with a deliberate manner and a spontaneous smile that exude his own brand of quiet optimism. “I saw a lot of potential for it to grow as China’s economy develops.” In 2003, his fascination led him to make a move to Hoau, where he took on responsibility for operations. He later spent three years in Hoau’s Central China Region, implementing a number of initiatives that significantly improved the region’s previously lackluster financial performance. From there, he was promoted to his current role, managing Hoau’s nationwide network.
With Hoau’s acquisition by TNT, Hongguang is even more optimistic about the future. After a trip to Europe where he became familiar with the capabilities of TNT’s European road network and the ophisticated IT systems behind it, Hongguang and his team are hard at work developing plans for their own.
Among the changes he wants to bring to the operations in China are IT-controlled systems and scheduling, established routes that streamline resources and installation of global positioning systems in vehicles. All these developments will enable TNT Express to offer time-definite services and same-day customs clearance when customers begin to develop needs for faster service.
Hongguang was also impressed with TNT’s central hub in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and he wants to recreate it in China. But in a country that spans 9.6 million square kilometers—one-fifteenth of the world’s land mass—one hub will not be enough. Hongguang envisions at least three regional hubs.
“These changes won’t happen overnight, but they will happen,” he says. “We’re already starting pilots for some of these initiatives and we’ll gradually build them up over time.” Hongguang predicts that it could take a decade to reach all his goals, but he’s not deterred. He’s in it for the long haul.