Graduating from a top-ranking school and climbing the corporate ladder at a company of renown used to be the career path of choice for many new graduates. This well-traveled path may no longer be the true calling for many, however, following the sweeping and game-changing effects of “Internet Plus.” This was why one young woman left her comfort zone and embarked upon a new journey in her life and career here at oTMS.

Meet Sunny Ma, the heroine of our feature story for this issue. Sunny truly lives up to her name through the ups and downs of everyday life. She enjoys traveling around the globe and experiencing its different dimensions as much as she revels in binge-watching soap operas at home. Her friend list grows as her footsteps take her to new places all across the world. She has made career advancements in very much the same way. It is easy to lose your sense of time while conversing with her, and you’re always able to walk away with a positive outlook on life.

Missing out on “striking gold” but ultimately encountering infinite opportunities here at oTMS

Sunny Ma, freshly graduated, started out as a management associate at the well known Japanese cosmetics company, NIVEA. Her excellent performance skyrocketed her within the short span of 4 years to the position of logistics manager, responsible for managing the national logistics network of the entire company. Her professional career has been nothing but a raging success since day one. She rose through the ranks and became the youngest manager ever throughout the entire corporation. As Sunny puts it, she followed a clear set of directions in those years, enjoyed a comfortable life, and looked forward to a foreseeable future.

Things changed, however, when Didi tried to recruit Sunny back in 2013. Didi was still the new kid on the block at the time and in no way resembled the “unicorn” that it would become. She rejected both invitations outright. Looking back, this was one of those chances to strike gold that she had sadly missed out on!

The experience left plenty food for thought for Sunny, not so much the missed golden opportunity but the excitement that comes with the explosive energy of Internet developments. Sunny turned her attention to the Internet, looking for a grander stage on which she could make a true difference.

When oTMS came into sight in 2015, she welcomed it with barely contained enthusiasm and anticipation. “Finally, this is where I’m meant to be!” Sunny became quite animated as she described the experience.

A good boss is someone who shares your passion for the business

Sunny and oTMS co founder David talked for more than 3 hours on the day of the interview. Their notes filled several blackboards in the conference room. As she put it, both wished they had met each other sooner. Because both were extremely versed in the realm of logistics, their opinions resonated perfectly when it came to the pain points within the industry. Sunny lamented the way logistics management appeared to be stuck in the stone age while information technology was already flying to the moon. Day in and day out, work consisted of the same mountains of paperwork and endless confirmation calls. Too many people working in logistics were being tied down by inefficient and worthless tasks, and there didn’t seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. This was for all extremely confusing and exasperating. Sunny and oTMS shared the view that the Internet should be utilized to benefit traditional logistics practices and to relieve people in the business from drudgery and inefficiency. This common goal convinced Sunny that oTMS was doing something great.

Sunny received an offer on the spot, and was soon appointed as key account manager at oTMS. It was a new position that didn’t come with specific job descriptions; there was no one to tell her what to do either. During those early days, Sunny often felt listlessly unoccupied, so she put together a 6-page PowerPoint presentation explaining her product ideas and sent it directly to her boss. The email caught the attention of the management, who promptly assigned their most valuable key accounts to her so she could try out some of her novel concepts.

It was during this period that Sunny joined the senior team for new projects. The all-new product oSuper was launched last August, a product that had been created and fine-tuned solely based on observations of user requirements. oSuper is a dispatch tool designed for business districts. It explores idle capacity by performing integrated data mining across O2O, courier and logistics services. It additionally utilizes informatizated approaches to construct efficient logistics processes that can be visualized, tracked and monitored. The product received positive feedback from over a dozen clients within two months of its launch.

Sunny won commendation and approval in less than a year. She garnered the Best Manager Award at the 2017 Annual Company Convention and was promoted to director. Such rapid advancement is rare even among Internet startups.

oTMS, a dream team of Internet + logistics and a stage without boundaries

InSunny’s opinion, oTMS did not owe its success to chance, but to a dream team ofInternet and logistics experts.They areexperienced managers who have been working in the business for more than adecade. Outsiders may think that the Internet industry, with its many allures,can lead to outrageous outcomes. Indeed, it takes sound business logic and agood knowledge of customer needs to survive in the business of B2B logisticsand to develop products worthy of approval. oTMS meets all of the criteriaabove. This is a product tailored to the needs oflogistics professionals.

The oTMS team is furthermore capable of immediate action and of making rapid decisions and quick adjustments. These characteristics are what enable them to stay on top of market trends. On average, it takes around two weeks for oTMS to launch a new project. The process from developing a SaaS platform for logistics to creating a transport ecosystem took only a year, which is considered lightning speed in terms of B2B product development.

The culture at oTMS was another thing that appealed to Sunny, It is open and tolerant and gives every employee ample room to grow. Sunny believes that the company advocates the concept of “Make A Difference” and that its intention is to offer support and encouragement to everyone by enabling them to prove the validity of their concepts and ideas. It is a stage on which there are no rules and no restrictions. Anyone with an idea and the drive to succeed can prove themselves through spontaneous, immediate action. It a fertile ground from which excellence can emerge and enable the team to flourish. Her own experience is the best proof.

Talking to Sunny left me with an impression of having gone on an fantastic adventure with a group of people with the same dreams, just when one was in need of thrill and excitement. It makes one feel quite exhilarated just thinking about it!

Today, we would like to tell the story about Sunny, Sales Director of South China. Passionate and conversable, he’s a person characterized by his energy, hard work and enthusiasm to life.

Measuring the World with his own Steps

A keen traveler, Sunny has left his footprints all over the world, from the North Pole with elusive aurora and borderless Sahara throughout to exotic Morocco. However, last year’s trip to Antarctic impresses him the most, where he encountered a rare blizzard and almost fell from an iceberg. This experience of proximity to death changed him, who started to value health and life more. Meanwhile, in case of difficulties and challenges, he positively seeks for breakthroughs instead of hesitating. For him, “a man been to the edge of life and death fears nothing”. Thanks to such mindset, he has made several risk-taking yet effective decisions, which have pushed his career to a higher level.

Adventure & Rebirth

The adventures on the way also play a role in Sunny’s work life. With 16 years of fascinating experience in sales, he served multiple positions in world-class corporations, including IBM, EMC and SAP. Before joining oTMS, Sunny was Sales Director at SAP, with a high-rank paycheck and a promising future. “Though I became more efficient at work, I was insensitive inside.” He sought for changes. In favor of the prospect of Saas+ internet, he left the conventional software sector for oTMS, a brand-new startup. Though quite risky to some, he calls it “rebirth”.

Sunny loves the vitality and joy in oTMS’ workspace, where he feels free to show his talents. “oTMS delegates me the liberty to make decisions at my discretion.” Influenced by such atmosphere, he contributes his passion and devotion to work. For his, work is no longer a ride full of stress and burdens. Instead, it a fruitful and cheerful journey.

For most people,“home country”is a simple principle, but in the hearts and minds of people who have actually left their home, the word carries quite a different weight. The protagonist of this story is Simon Huang, product director with our company. In 2015, he left software giant JDA and joined oTMS. Simon is a Chinese-American, who migrated to the United States as a teenager. Later, fate brought him back to his homeland, and when he once again set foot on native soil, a deep fascination and lots of consideration made him decide to once again live here.

Continuing his career in China

Before joining oTMS, Simon worked for a software giant JDA. He was posted to China to oversee the knowledge and responsibility transition from the Chinese offshore development team to the Indian development center. During this one year project, Simon saw a huge opportunity in the fast growing internet industry in China and he decided to join oTMS instead of going back to the US.

“China can provide a lot of job opportunities, and compared to the United States, there is also more room to grow as a professional. When I had just returned to China, I came upon this opportunity with oTMS, so I took it. I feel the Chinese market is developing very strongly and entering its most flourishing phase. The market has demand, there is plenty of capital. So if a company has an idea and the industry is moving in the right direction, you will have a lot of opportunities to develop. oTMS is such a company, and I am very optimistic about its development.

China’s logistics industry has excellent prospects for development

In Simon’s view, the logistics industry in China has not yet developed and there are great prospects to be explored and exploited. “I think currently China’s logistics industry is at a very early stage comparing to the US. Considering its lack of digitalization, centralization and standardization. ”

China’s logistics market is huge, and only after the standardization of many aspects will it be able to achieve greater efficiency. The American logistics market used to have many small suppliers, each with different specifications and processes. But as more and more larger players emerged, the big fishes ate the small fishes and only a few giants remained to set the standard and serve the market.

I think China is going through this period right now, and this requires a powerful product to manage it all. oTMS is the perfect product to integrate all of these resources.

Resources sharing is the future

Simon believes that resource sharing in the logistics industry has excellent prospects for development, and he is committed to creating the platform to do just that.

“Resource sharing has great development potential, and oTMS’s strategy is also moving in this direction. Our platforms is targeting the resource sharing between enterprises like shippers, 3PLs and carriers.”

In the Chinese logistic market place, there is still a huge waste of resources. For instance, a mall may have dozens of apparel brands, with each brand using their own carrier and truck for delivering to its store. If we can consolidate all these shipments, one single carrier can serve dozens of stores with one large truck, which would save a lot of resources and cost.

Therefore, integrating the logistic resources is a huge market, and it is the direction our company and products going towards to. We will become a platform for connecting and matching transactions between the shippers, 3PLs and carriers, as well as a resource sharing platform between these parties.