“We intend to impose ourselves on the market”

Interview with Mr. Horatiu Ionescu, manger of the Freight Cars Trans-boarding Company, CFR TVM - SA

Ever since October last year, we have started a series of interviewing articles in order to present the real situation of the companies that resulted from the ex-SNTFM CFR Marfa SA. During two years of existence, the four subsidiaries of the CFR Freight Company (CFR Transauto, Freight Wagon Washing Company, Tank-wagon Washing Company, and Freight Wagon Trans-boarding Company) had a really hard time in fighting the market economy mechanisms, trying to keep their traditional clients and to develop new profitable activities.
The five directors of the respective companies answer to all our questions in different ways and on different occasions, no matter the distances and the lack of time. We are hoping that such interviews are just the introduction to other achievements in this respect. We also hope to continue our collaboration and we are waiting to hear from you.

Railway Journal: Due to the creation of the Freight Wagon Trans-boarding Company, CFR TVM - SA, CFR pursued to improve the trans-boarding activity for freight wagons in the large or normal railed frontier railway stations, according to your statement from No.7(12)/July 1999 issue of the Railway Journal. Please tell our readers in what consists the activity of CFR TVM - SA/
Horatiu Ionescu: Trans-boarding activity has become more efficient since our company was created. This fact is obvious from several points of view: first of all, due to an ample repairing program we managed to bring all the installation devices to normal parameters for trans-boarding activity. The effort reflected also in the fact that capital repairing works have been executed for all the cranes used by our company. Furthermore, we are in the process of termination the capital repairing of the scaffold within CFR Halmeu railway station. We have managed to obtain all the authorisations granted by ISCIR authorities, for the machinery we are using as compared with the past when 82% of our devices were expired.
On the other hand, we succeeded in diversifying the services and prices offered to our clients. Such as: wagon loading-unloading activity, repairing of craning devices, electrical motors repairing works, agricultural works, trading and supplying activities for products of SC Campia Turzii, automotive transportation, leasing of cranes and other devices, customary delivery services, etc. We also inaugurated three new subsidiaries in Piatra Neamt, Vatra Dornei and Suceava.
For improving our activity, we also executed important modernisation works for creating better working conditions for our employees. Those people are working very hard; so that we had to insure them with all the necessary protection equipment and materials. I would like to underline the fact that, the main quality ratio, which is the volume of manipulated materials per worker, increased from 2, 212.8 tones/worker in 1999, to 2,941 in 2000. This represents the indices of 32.9%. During all this time we have been implementing a new quality system, starting all the necessary formalities for obtaining all the necessary official confirmation of services offered to our clients.
All these achievements have been completed with material, logistic, financial and moral support of the management of CFR Marfa and the subsidiaries of CFR Marfa Cluj, Iasi and Galati.
HI: After a primary period of organizations and defining of our mission, strategies and tactics of the company, there followed a period of quantitative accumulations for our company. All this time we developed along with the ample repairing program, numerous investments. We have acquired a Caterpillar motor pilling machine, one elevator, two thermal plants, six devices for agricultural works, for electrical panels for cranes, welding devices, tools and computing equipment, photocopying devices, etc., whose total cost was 3.7 billion ROL. I would like to say that, all these investments have been acquired due to our financial effort (from the share capital and from our company’s income.) We haven’t use any credit loan or budgetary funds so far. We have also performed a selection of our employees and we have been continuing our personnel training program. We have thus succeeded to avoid unpleasant railway events, work accidents or other situation that could jeopardize the traffic safety, the rolling-stock material or the goods designated for transportation.
RJ: What could you tell us about your clients?
HI: Our main client is CFR Marfa (Freight), who is the beneficiary of our trans-boarding services for goods within the gauging wagons in the frontier railway station from Helmeu, Dornesti, Cristesti Jijia and Galati. Other clients are the trading companies that make imports of freight, especially coals, steal, raw materials for chemical industry, from countries within the ex-soviet area. Another category of clients is that of the loading or unloading companies within railway stations from Piatra Neamt, Targu Neamt and Vatra Dornei.
RJ: Being at the beginning of a new activity year, I believe that you have a series of developing projects…
HI: We have developed the investment plan for 2001, which includes the following: building a rural railway line; emplacement of a crane device on Halmeu site; extending the rural rail from CF Dornesti railway station; pneumatic transportation devices, transporting rolling belts; elevators, electrical installations, welding and painting devices, tools and equipment devices, plus all the accessories necessary for repairing activity; acquiring a new building for our headquarters of the company.
RJ: What are the specific job positions in the trans-boarding activity?
HI: The specific positions within our company are: commercial administrators (who insure the regulations for freight loading), crane workers, mobile machinery workers, pile binder, etc. In order to maintain and repair our equipment devices, we employ welders, lathe operators, painters, etc.
RJ: What could you tell us about the evolution of the departments of your company?
HI: CFR TVM has four departments (Halmeu, Dornesti, Cristesti Jijia and Galati) and four working stations (Paitra Neamt, Targu Neamt, Suceava and Vatra Dornei), which developed if I may say so, have been ascending constantly ever since the beginning. The fact that we have improved the technical equipment used in the working process by our employees, the efforts for improving the working conditions, all these facts contributed I think, to the changing of attitude and of the mood of our employees. We have offered them all the necessary elements that should lead to performance in the working process. Although there are still many things to be done, it is very important that our employees acknowledged the necessity and the utility of the present organisation structure, of the way our company functions at the moment.
RJ: How do you see the future of your present activity work? What should be the next steps for CFRTVM development?
HI: It is very important for our company to go through the next level, meaning the qualitative development of our activity, along with the process of quantitative increase. But for all this to be possible, we have to close the implementation process for the integrated system of information, project at which we have been working for almost a year, and which will the reveal the efficiency level for each of the activities performed within our company and to monitor all the investment programs and machinery device. Quality in managerial act for every activity level, is also of a great importance for us. We will be able to do that only through a continuous process of training for all officers, through providing qualitative and quantitative information that will help them in making any long-term decision.
Another objective is the improvement of the working technology system, which will lead to eradicate the unqualified work and to increase our productivity. Finally I think that professional training for our personnel is a very important and necessary process, which will allow us to allocate competence and responsibilities for each inferior management level, and to change the mentality, and at last, but not at least, to orient our employees’ attitude toward professional performance; such performance is a factor we could never survive without on the economic field based on competition.

Reporting, Silvia Mitulescu