Scaling success: building global Power Platform solutions together 

In today’s fast-paced logistics landscape, digital transformation is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. For global logistics provider Yusen Logistics, the journey toward operational excellence began with a bold vision: unify fragmented systems across 18 countries into a single, scalable platform. Partnering with Cegeka, Yusen embarked on a transformative initiative powered by Microsoft’s Power Platform.  

At the 2025 European Power Platform Conference (EPPC), Lode Cornelissen, Director of Application Solutions at Yusen and Cegeka’s Solution Architect Kenneth Nicasens explored how collaboration, governance, and innovation came together to build a global solution that’s reshaping logistics operations. Let’s dive into their story. 

The challenge: fragmentation across borders 

Yusen Logistics, founded in 1955 and operating with over 25,000 employees worldwide, faced a common challenge among multinational organizations: fragmented digital processes. With 8,500 employees spread across Europe, each country had developed its own tools for operational checks, surveys, and quality assurance. These included: 

• A 5S app built on Power Platform
• A Safety Campaign app developed locally 
• A Kaizen app with a different architecture 
• A native YES Assessment app 
• Paper-based quality checks 

This patchwork of solutions led to inefficiencies, inconsistent data, and limited visibility across the organization. As Lode Cornelissen, Director of Application Solutions at Yusen, noted, “It was clear this was not the way forward.” 

The vision: one platform, global reach 

Yusen’s goal was to create a unified, flexible, and scalable solution that could integrate seamlessly with existing systems like Dynamics 365 ERP. The platform needed to support local variations while maintaining global standards. Together with Cegeka, Yusen envisioned a Power Platform-based framework that would: 

• Standardize operational checks across all locations 
• Support on-demand and scheduled surveys 
• Integrate with ERP systems for real-time quality checks 
• Enable centralized governance and master data management 

The solution: Power Platform framework 

The result was a robust survey and quality check framework built on Power Platform. The solution supports three types of checks: 

1. Scheduled checks: triggered automatically based on templates that define location, roles, frequency, and type (e.g., safety, 5S, quality).
2. On-demand checks: users can initiate surveys directly from the app using predefined templates.
3. ERP-integrated checks: triggered by incoming shipments, these checks fetch data from ERP and push results back for traceability. 

The system includes a model-driven backend app for administrators to configure surveys, questions, and workflows. End users interact with a tablet-friendly canvas app that guides them through location-based surveys with intuitive interfaces and real-time ticketing for issues. 

Governance: bringing order to chaos 

One of the most critical aspects of the transformation was establishing Power Platform governance. When we started taking a look at the Power Platform, Yusen's newly established Automation team discovered hundreds of apps and flows in the default environment, many using unapproved connectors and lacking data loss prevention (DLP) policies. 

Together with Cegeka, Yusen implemented governance structures that included: 

• Defined environment strategy and connectors 
• DLP policies 
• Centralized master data for legal entities, locations, and sites 
• Standardized templates for surveys and approvals 

This governance ensured consistency, scalability, and security across the platform. 

Collaboration: the key to success 

The success of the project hinged on close collaboration between Yusen’s automation team and Cegeka’s Power Platform experts. Weekly workshops, joint testing sessions, and continuous feedback loops created a shared development culture. Business users were involved from the start, participating in sprints and testing to ensure the solution met real-world needs. 

As Kenneth Nicasens from Cegeka emphasized, “Don’t do analysis workshops for two days and disappear for months. Involve users continuously to avoid strange behaviors and ensure adoption.” 

Impact: real results across the board 

The new platform delivered tangible benefits: 

• Reduced manual work: paper-based processes were eliminated, and duplication of effort minimized.
• Real-time visibility: data stored in Dataverse is accessible via Power BI and Databricks for instant insights. 
• Faster response times: quick registration and issue tracking enable rapid resolution of deviations.
• Unified processes: surveys and approvals are conducted consistently across all entities and countries. 

Global approval flows: streamlining decision-making 

Beyond surveys, Yusen tackled another common challenge: global approvals. Whether transferring assets or initiating investments, approval workflows varied by entity and country. Cegeka built a flexible approval framework using Microsoft’s Approval Kit, allowing users to submit requests that automatically route to the correct approvers based on predefined logic. 

Features include: 

• Delegation rules for out-of-office scenarios 
• Conditional routing based on request type and value 
• Integration with Teams for notifications and approvals  

What’s next for Yusen: more, better, faster 

The journey doesn’t end here. Yusen plans to: 

• Roll out the platform to more countries beyond Europe 
• Implement additional features based on user feedback 
• Optimize Power Platform governance and adoption 
• Explore AI-driven automation triggers 

As Lode concluded, “Once people start using it, the backlog of new wishes grows. Can we do this? Can we integrate that? It’s a continuous loop of improvement.”  

Final thoughts 

In their session, Yusen Logistics and Cegeka have demonstrated how strategic collaboration and the right technology can drive global transformation. By leveraging Power Platform, we’ve built a scalable, secure, and user-friendly solution that empowers employees, engages customers, and optimizes operations across borders. Whether you're a logistics provider or a digital transformation leader in a different industry, this story offers valuable lessons in governance, collaboration, and the power of unified platforms. 

Ready to take control of your Power Platform environment? 

At Cegeka, we help organizations like yours implement a future-proof governance strategy that balances innovation with control. Discover how our tailored Power Platform Governance services can empower your teams, securely and sustainably.

> Explore our Power Platform Governance services here.