dachser magazine 01 16 english

ISSUE 1/2016

THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENT LOGISTICSmagazine

SLOVAKIA IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHAPE

WAREHOUSING READY FOR SPRING CLEANING

THE RECIPE FOR LOGISTICS SUCCESS

LOGISTICS BALANCE SHEET:QUALITY BOOSTS PROFITS

02 DACHSER magazine

is how tall the world’s strongest animal is, according to Danish researchers. A tiny

crustacean called a copepod can jump up to 50 centimeters to escape from

predators. In human terms, that would be equivalent to being able to cover several

hundred meters in one leap!

is how long it took John Denver to write his global hit

“Annie’s Song” for his wife in 1974. Calculating the time he spent

on it was easy: he wrote the UK chart-topping single on a ski lift!

1 millimeter

10 minutes

was the weight of a pumpkin produced by a

German grower in Luckenwalde in 2013. Planted a few months earlier, the seed that yielded

the record-breaking vegetable weighed less than one gram.

672 kilograms

was the distance covered in 2014 by

the team “La Joliverie” on a course in the

French city of Nantes in their special-

purpose vehicle—with just one liter of

gasoline. That means you would need

just 12.5 liters to travel around the

the entire globe in this eco-friendly vehicle.

3314.9 kilometersis how far the blackbird-sized northern wheatear

flies when it migrates from Alaska to southwest

Africa via Asia. That means the record-

break ing bird, which weighs approximately 25 grams,

covers roughly 35,000 kilometers a year. With breeding

grounds spread around the world, the wheatear

has no problem spending so much time traveling.

15,000 kilometers

a second are captured by the world’s

fastest camera—just press the

shutter once and the trillion-frames-per-second camera does the rest! The super-fast camera, which

was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, can even capture light as it travels.

The microscopic images are revolutionizing the analysis of high-tech materials.

One trillion pictures

are ingested by the males of some deep-sea crab species

during their lifetime. At depths of up to 5,000 meters, the males

leave the scarce food supplies that are available to the females. Marine biologists working on

the Census of Marine Life research project discovered that these crabs practice the ultimate

in fasting. With no mouth parts or gut, they hatch from the egg and immediately try to find a female

and reproduce, nourished only by the energy from the yolk.

O calories

NUMBERS THAT COUNT

A little effort can go a long, long way. Some things in life happen unbelievably quickly and efficiently.

A POWERFUL IMPETUS

DACHSER magazine 03

CONTENTS

04

20

18

28

TITLE STORY

Logistics Balance Sheet: New ways of evaluating logistics success 04

FORUM

People and Markets: 12Retail in transition and innovationsfrom the Idea2net programEssay: Bright prospectswith constructive news stories 16

EXPERTISE

Career: Allrounder required:freight forwarding inbound manager 18Best Case: Multichannel logistics for Kärcher 20Chem-Logistics: Playing it safe:handling hazardous goods 24

NETWORK

Slovakia: A small world championwith a great future 28Network Expertise: News from the Dachser world 32

GOOD NEWS

A Heart of Chocolate: The Easter bunny goes fair trade 35

Publishing informationPublished by: DACHSER SE, Thomas-Dachser-Str. 2, D – 87439 Kempten, Internet: www.dachser.com Overall responsibility: Dr. Andreas Froschmayer Editors-in-Chief: Christian Auchter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1426, fax: +49 831 5916-8-1426, e-mail: [email protected], Martin Neft, tel.: +49 831 5916-1420, e-mail: [email protected] Editors: Theresia Gläser, Christian Weber Editorial Assistants: Kathrin Geis, tel.: +49 831 5916-1427, e-mail: [email protected], Andrea Reiter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1424, e-mail: [email protected] Publisher: Schick Kommunikation, Kerschensteinerstraße 25, 82166 Gräfelfing, e-mail: info@schick-kommunikation Project Management:Marcus Schick Design: Ralph Zimmermann, Kerstin Spörer Photos: all photography Dachser except thinkstockfotos.de (pp. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33), Kärcher Werkfoto (pp. 3, 18, 19, 20, 21), Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek (pp. 3, 22, 23), Block Foods (pp. 6, 7,10), cargo sous terrain ( p. 14), shutterstock (p. 15), Panthermedia (p. 33), istockphoto (p. 34), Riegelein (p. 35) Printer: Holzer Druck und Medien Druckerei und Zeitungsverlag GmbH, Fridolin-Holzer-Str. 22-24, D – 88171 Weiler im Allgäu Print run: 44,000/57th volume Publication: 4x per year Languages: German, English, French, Spanish. DACHSER magazine is printed on NovaTech Paper certified in accordance with the FSC® mix for sustainable forestry.

F Further information can be found in our DACHSER eLetter.

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04 DACHSER magazine

TITLE STORY

LOGISTICS BALANCE SHEET:

QUALITY BOOSTS PROFITS

Together with researchers from the Kempten University of Applied Sciences, the Hamburg company Block Foods has put its logistics processes through a comprehensive knowledge “inventory.” The result of the logistics balance sheet is worth hard cash.

DACHSER magazine 05

Steak and logistics:timing is everything

TITLE STORY

* Martin Göbl, Andreas Froschmayer: The power of logistics:from strategy to logistics business plan, Gabler-Verlag. It can bepurchased at: http://www.springer.com/de/book/9783834927651

I t just wouldn’t leave him alone—he simply had to pickup the phone. Ralf Hansen, General Manager at DachserHamburg Food Logistics, couldn’t get the logistics bal-

ance sheet concept, which had been presented at the lastDachser strategy meeting, off his mind. He just couldn’tshake the idea of showing the value of logistics in the same way a company’s value is reflected in its balance sheet and harnessing that knowledge for the company’sstrategy. Hansen was absolutely convinced that this wassomething corporate logistics could profit from, so he calledRobin Bauszus, the head of logistics at Block Foods, aDachser customer in Hamburg. What followed was a conversation with consequences.

On Hansen’s recommendation, Bauszus got together a fewweeks later with Professor Martin Göbl from the KemptenUniversity of Applied Sciences at the main office of BlockFoods in the north of Hamburg. Professor Göbl is a well-known logistics expert, who for years has been focusing intensively on the success potential in logistics and has also published new research results and forecasts togetherwith Dr. Andreas Froschmayer, Corporate Director Corpo-rate Development, Strategy & PR at Dachser.* For Pro fessorGöbl, preparing a logistics balance sheet to chart the per-formance of a supply chain is one of the most “exciting challenges” in logistics.At Block Foods, this would certainly be the case. “I’m curiousand open to innovative approaches,” Bauszus says. “For thefirst time, I could imagine measuring the financial value ofour logistics in a balance sheet together with an independentpartner to establish a benchmark for corporate success,” he adds. For this kind of “laboratory experiment,” completemutual trust was essential; after all, the effectiveness of thelogistics processes must be completely transparent. ‡

06 DACHSER magazine

TITLE STORY

Dachser does its part to contribute tothe Block Group’s positive logistics balance sheet by handling shipmentsthroughout Germanyand to other parts of Europe in the +2° to +7°C range forBlock Foods in Hamburg and BlockMenü in Zarrentin. It also provides ware-housing and distri -bution services at the Ichtershausen location.

Everything is on the tableIn May 2015, Professor Göbl’s group of researchers met withthe Block Foods logistics team for the first time. “We wereinterested in having a set of tools that would help us improveour decision-making processes, and the logistics balancesheet seemed like it would do just that,” Bauszus says in describing his expectations. “At our first closed-door meet-ing, we looked at, critically questioned, analyzed, and eval-uated everything associated with our logistics processes,”Bauszus recalls. “It was immensely exciting to take a coupleof steps back and look at the big picture of our logistics operation.”Although Bauszus had previously heard the term “logis -tics balance sheet” at conferences, it wasn’t until he met Pro fessor Göbl that it began to really mean something. “A company’s balance sheet is pretty easy to follow—it represents a holistic view of a company’s equity, assets, and liabilities and how successful it is. The bottom lineshows figures that make this clear, even to third parties,”Bauszus says. But how is this supposed to work when applied to the performance of logistics processes? This is precisely where a logistics balance sheet comes in.“In logistics, decisions are usually based on the transportcosts alone,” Professor Göbl explains, although they makeup only a fraction of all the logistics metrics. “There are,however, hardly any companies that utilize logistics as a kind of marketing tool and measure its effectiveness and

efficiency. Therefore, the question to ask is how does logis-tics help us earn money and not what does logistics cost us? Many companies know their logistics costs, but theydon’t measure its output or its success.”

Rediscovering the figuresFor Bauszus and his team, this means first conducting comprehensive data research. “The whole thing reminds me of doing inventory,” he says. “Together with Controlling,we had to gather all the logistics-relevant KPIs into a synop-tic presentation and reevaluate them. This was fascinat -ing precisely because we were already familiar with the individual pieces of data.” When generating a logistics balance sheet, it is crucial to determine all the factors that affect costs and revenue,” Pro-fessor Göbl says, explaining his methodology. “Togetherwith Block Foods, we wanted to provide answers to centralquestions: How much profit can a company generatethrough logistics? What kind of losses will it incur due topoor logistics or logistics that have not been thoughtthrough?” At Block Foods, logistics revolves around a demanding, sensitive product: fresh beef from cattle bred in Argentinaand Uruguay as well as Germany. During a walk through the production halls and warehouses in the Lademannbogenindustrial area of Hamburg, which have been cooled downto frosty temperatures, Bauszus explains what is important

Block House in Hamburg

DACHSER magazine 07

TITLE STORY

at Block Foods. Meat, which has gone through the necessaryaging process during its three- to four-week sea voyage fromSouth America, is in the zero- and one-degree area (Celsius).“Rump steak, sirloin, rib-eye, and filet mignon are portionedinto cuts, which are precise down to a gram, and vacuumpacked,” Bauszus explains. Strictly monitored, it ages an-other two or three weeks in Hamburg before it goes to retail-ers and restaurants ready for consumption. Consistent refrigeration temperatures of two degrees Celsius across the entire supply chain are an absolute must. Adjacent to the fresh meat area, Block Foods in Hamburghas an 8,500-square-meter area where various products that go with steaks and burgers are stored: sauces and spices,potato and vegetable products, beverages, and restaurantsupplies such as plates, glasses, cutlery, cups, and napkins.“Stored here are some 2,000 items that can be order-pickedfor individual packages or pallets,” Bauszus says. “As we keep our processes as lean as possible, we can achieve a highvolume of handled products.” The logistics operations of Block Foods rest on two pillars.Internal flows of goods make up around 22 percent. Supply chains are directed primarily toward the Group’s own steak and burger restaurants throughout Germany, the Hotel Grand Elysée in Hamburg, and the Hotel Fischhaus at Schaalsee. Additionally, Bauszus and his team supplymany partners and customers in the food production indus-try as well as retailers. Their to-do list includes not only thesupply of domestic markets, but also exports to Austria, theNetherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Portugal. “Logistics is the backbone of internal and ex -ternal supply chains and a crucial pillar of the Block Group’sbusiness model,” Bauszus says.

Full speed ahead“Our goal is to handle as many processes in the value chain as possible ourselves,” Bauszus states. “That’s how wecan ensure that the extremely high standards we set our-selves for the quality of both products and processes ‡

INTERVIEW

Making logistics success measurable

Logistics is becoming increasingly complex.

Will this also make it more difficult to measure

how logistics is performing? These questions

were posed to Dr. Andreas Froschmayer,

Corporate Director for Corporate Development,

Strategy & Public Relations at Dachser.

Dr. Froschmayer, why does it make sense to measure the value

that logistics services contribute to the company’s success by

preparing a logistics balance sheet?

Dr. Froschmayer: In the past, many companies have classified logistics

as a service function that ranks lower than production and sales and

one that contributes only little value. Today, logistics is viewed as

a crucial competitive success factor. So it has shifted from being an

incidental service to being a major management function.

Therefore, it is increasingly important to be able to better assess

the performance of logistics processes as a whole.

What advantages does this bring for industrial and commercial

enterprises?

This instrument enables them to take a holistic approach to ascertain

logistics performance and the capital and assets derived from

logistics operations. The logistics balance sheet makes it possible to

play out alternative operational and strategic scenarios, thus creating

the basis for logistics decisions. Hence, the logistics balance sheet

provides a solid underpinning for new strategies, concepts, and

measures.

How does Dachser create value for its customers?

Logistics providers are called upon to provide conclusive answers to

the question: What will the best customers in the world require from

us? For Dachser, this means defining logistics strategy and the

demands imposed on logistics in the form of measurable and trace-

able service levels. To be able to do this, we have to expand supply

chain services and the management information they require

based on seamless basic logistics services and appropriate measured

parameters. Our claim is: We improve our customers’ logistics

balance sheet.

Dr Andreas Froschmayer has published numerous scientific and trade articles on supply chain management, strategic management, and logistics service providers. Top quality through food safety

Read more on p. 10

08 DACHSER magazine

TITLE STORY

Costs ...

Fixed assets ...

Processes ...

Performance ...

Strategy ...

Sources for a logistics balance sheet

Professor Dr. Martin Göbl

Kempten University of Applied Sciences

Logistics and Business Management

Postfach 1680

87435 Kempten

E-mail: [email protected]

A PROCESSTHAT PAYS OFFAnalogously to a financial balance sheet, a lo -

gistics balance sheet precisely assesses the

strengths of the logistics process for a company or

a supply chain network, bolstering the ability of

executive management to make successful deci-

sions that actively shape the company’s future.

Using the logistics balance sheet, economists

have now been able to evaluate the logistics per-

formance and its potential for the entire company

in terms of financial impact for the first time. “The

logistics balance sheet is an excellent instrument

that makes it possible to link logistics expendi -

tures to corporate performance,” explains Profes-

sor Martin Göbl from the Kempten University of

Applied Sciences. “I can imagine that logistics

performance in other companies is also more im-

portant than just looking at the costs, and I hope

that companies will increasingly take advantage

of this instrument.”

DACHSER magazine 09

AssetsHow are resources

being used?(Use of resources)

Non-current assets:real estate, vehicle fleet, IT

Performance ability:logistics performance

Growing corporate success and continued optimization of logistics processes

... from Controlling

... from Accounting

... from the specialist departments

... from Logistics

... from Management

LiabilitiesWhat resources are used for

logistics?(Source of resources)

Resource base:Own resources

Logistics providers

Added value:Profits due to logistics

Rough overview of a logistics balance sheet

TITLE STORY

10 DACHSER magazine

TITLE STORY

Fresh arrivals: logistics delivers

DACHSER magazine 11

TITLE STORY

The Block Group

The foundation for

the Block Group was

laid in 1968 with the

opening of the first

Block House steak

restaurant. Today,

the Group comprises

three stock corpora-

tions and a number

of limited liability

companies. With some

2,400 employees, it

generates EUR 360

million in annual

revenue and is one

of the largest gastron-

omy companies in

Germany.

PROFILEare maintained.” To avoid bumping up against limiting factors as the company continues to grow, Block Foods has taken an increasingly professional approach to its logis-tics. The company’s decision-makers have become progres-sively more aware of logistics and have been integrating it more fully into their decision-making processes. “Afterall, it’s about getting the company going full speed ahead,”Bauszus says. “My main interest is not the performance of our serviceproviders, but to ensure the quality of our products rightthrough to the customer,” Bauszus says. This was one of themain motivating factors in initiating the logistics balancesheet project with the Kempten University of Applied Sciences. “Up to now, we had measured delivery perform-ance only in terms of a ratio. To give you an example: whathappens if a delivery does not arrive on time at the cus-tomer’s premises despite all plans and schedules? While we had always reported this ratio internally, we did not evaluate it in terms of financial impact. It’s a fact, however,that if the level of service is less than 100 percent, and thereare complaints, returns, and subsequent rectifications, thecompany starts to lose money.”“There is no general formula for measuring the level of service. You have to determine this in a form that is specificto the company,” Professor Göbl explains. Using the logisticsbalance sheet, they have been able to evaluate the logisticsperformance and its potential for the entire company interms of financial impact for the first time. Understandably,neither Professor Göbl nor Robin Bauszus quote any con-crete figures. “This is confidential information. What I cantell you is that good logistics earns you money. When wepresented our project results, even our Executive Board wasconvinced,” Bauszus reports. For him, one of the most im-portant outcomes of the three workshops with the universitywas: “At Block Foods, the quality lever is far more effectivein achieving a positive bottom line on the logistics balancesheet than the cost lever. This is an essential insight for our process management and how we create value,” Bauszusemphasizes.This scientific project goes beyond the analysis of indivi d -ual cases. “In addition to an actual logistics balance sheet,we also prepared a target balance sheet for the near future.Then we thought about how the company’s logistics has tochange to achieve these targets and what this means for the company’s success,” Professor Göbl summarizes. It wasa convincing demonstration that a logistics balance sheet,

At Block Foods, the quality lever is far more effective in achieving a positive bottom line onthe logistics balance sheet than the cost lever

Robin Bauszus, Head of Logistics

at Block Foods AG

Strong team: Robin Bauszus (l.) and Professor Göbl

which is oriented toward financial impact, can be instru-mental in identifying future strategic projects. The researcher’s conclusion is: “Both logistics and a logisticsbalance sheet are equally complex. You have to engage with it with the goal of assigning a value to every item. Together with Block Foods, we are able to show a clear relationship between input and output and make it possibleto control them in the company’s interest. I don’t know of any tool other than the logistics balance sheet that coulddo this.” For Robin Bauszus, the excursion into the world of logisticsbalance sheets, which started with a single phone call, was extremely worthwhile. “We mapped everything that lo-gistics can do at Block Foods in the logistics balance sheet.For the first time, we were able to make the value added by logistics within the Block Group transparent for all decision-making levels as well as making it clear how wecan ensure the quality of our products and processes andcontinue to improve them as efficiently as possible. We willcertainly continue to use the logistics balance sheet as aplanning instrument and make it a permanent fixture in our logistics strategy toolkit.” M. Schick

The Dachser Food Logistics branch in Hamburg regularly invites customers to logistics balance sheet workshops,where—in collaboration with Professor Göbl from the KemptenUniversity of Applied Sciences—the concept itself is exam-ined as well as its practical application using fictitious oranonymized figures.

12 DACHSER magazine

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FORUM

Global economy

A TIME OF UPHEAVALGlobal commerce is continuing to grow—but at a significantly slower

pace. Is globalization reaching its limits? Economists don’t think so.

Growth is reaching its limitsThe global economy is sounding the alarm. “Turbo-globalization has stalled,” German news magazine “Der Spiegel” diagnosed early this year. The reason: for the fourth conse c -u tive year, global trade has grown more slowly than in the three previous decades. RobertKoopman, chief economist of the World Trade Organization (WTO), speculates that “it’s almost like the timing belt on the global growth engine is a bit off or the cylinders are not firing.” Annual growth used to generally be above seven percent, while today, any more than two percent seems a stretch.After an estimated 2.8 percent in the previous year, the World Trade Organization expectsan increase in exports of 3.9 percent in 2016. Regarding the growth of the global economy,the WTO’s statistics show that the increase in trade is currently subdued: while globalgrowth at around three percent is merely somewhat below average, growth in world trade is lagging significantly behind the figures in the 1990s and 2000s.

Maturing process in AsiaThe trend in China, where recent turmoil on the stock markets frightened many investors,raises many questions. Professor Li Daokui, economist at Beijing’s Tsinghua University,views China’s economy as being in the midst of a “major structural adjustment.” Tradi -tional sectors, such as the steel industry, are losing momentum, while at the same time new,Internet-driven industries, tourism, and retail are booming.Consequently, China is an example of the trend in Asia, where the economies are maturing,emancipating themselves from their role as manufacturers of cheap goods, and shiftingtheir focus to their domestic economies. “Because incomes are rising, demand for high-quality goods remains high,” Professor Li explains. This applies particularly to Germanproducts that are not manufactured in China at all. The range of demand is broad, from milk to couches and mattresses through to high-quality cars.

No reason to worryPatrick Franke, economist at Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba), looks to the future with optimism. “Contrary to some agitated pronouncements, we don’t see the current sluggish pace of trade as a sign of either the end of globalization or the start of a recession,” Franke says, before giving a prediction: “For the coming years, we see three to six percent annual growth in trade volume as realistic.”

amous brands are an object of desire everywhere. Thisis the conclusion of the “Omni-Channel Commerce”

study by Wincor Nixdorf. According to the study, retailbrands are increasingly banking on interconnecting theirdistribution channels. This is their reaction to the grow -ing expectations of their customers, who are becom ing more and more sophisticated. For them, the individual distribution channel is less important than consistent brand perception.According to the study, customers do not perceive “brick-and-mortar,” “online,” and “mobile” as contrasts or contra-dictions; these have long since become part of a holisticbrand experience. The North American retail giant Wal-mart, for example, utilizes cross-media synergies in retail to unlock additional sales potential. Using an app, custo-mers’ digital shopping lists are compared with the inventoryin brick-and-mortar stores. The result is that Walmart hasregistered two additional visitors in brick-and-mortar stores per user, and sales per shopping trip have risen by almost 40 percent.The “Digital Luxury Study 2015,” which was conducted bythe consulting firm White Communications, sees the ad-vance of a new shopping experience. “In an increasingly virtual world, it is especially the buyers of luxury goods whoare open to new things, for example, getting new productand promotional offers on their smartphone or tablet, usingmobile in-store navigation, or engaging in entertaining activities associated with luxury product worlds,” explainsMartin Ruppmann, Managing Director of the VKE Cos -metics Association and co-initiator of the luxury study. Thecreators of the study see omni-channel strategies as provid -ing useful and innovative ways to take a “hybrid approach to customers.” “Offers that are context- and event-drivenand are delivered in real time using appropriate apps maywell set the trend for future stores that are designed to appeal to Internet-savvy cus -tomers,” they conclude.

DACHSER magazine 13

FORUM

Omni-channel commerce

HERE’S TO THEEXPERIENCEThe future of commerce is in the brand

experience, regardless whether it’s in a brick-

and-mortar store or in a digital environment.

Big Data, digitalization, and Industry 4.0 have

almost become old friends in the rapidly

changing world of language. But you’re never

too old to learn. Here are some buzzwords

that have what it takes to make their mark in

logistics in 2016:

Sofortness, a made-up German word denot -

ing something that is available everywhere

24/7—immediately: Coined by Austrian author

Peter Glaser, it is a linguistic catch-all for our

increasing “digital impatience.” He sees the

Internet as a “now-immediately-everything

machine” and says: “In the past, there would

be a state; then change; then a new state.

Now change is the state.”

Now delivery: This ratchets same-day delivery

up a notch and means delivery of an online

order within half an hour. This is almost impossi-

ble without delivery drones, so it will be some

time before it becomes reality. Amazon is

working on it.

Virtual reality: This is old hat, some will say.

Augmented reality, or the presentation of infor-

mation via digital glasses, has been vaunted

as the latest and greatest for several years,

without ever actually becoming reality. Google

Glass—in any case—was one of the top flops

of 2015. Now, however, technology seems to

be slowly changing the perspective in logistics,

after all. Following a pilot project, VW in Wolfs-

burg began last year to work on making the

logistics operations in its plants more efficient.

Google, too, has started a new initiative: the

“Glass for Work” program.

IN A NUTSHELL

Globalization is to our economy what gravity is to physics. You cannot be in favor of or against thelaws of gravity—you have to live with them Alain Minc, French economist

14 DACHSER magazine

DOUBLE VICTORYFOR DACHSER

The Dachser brand is very popular with

Germany’s shippers. They named the

family-owned company as the most

successful logistics brand of the year in

two categories in the “Image Ranking

2016.” In the “General Cargo and

Groupage Transport” category, Dachser

received 738 of a maximum of 1,000

achievable image points and landed in

the top position in this group.

In the “Food and Consumer Goods

Logistics” category, Dachser received

747 image points, ranking it number one.

The awards were presented by Gerhard

Grünig, editor-in-chief of German trade

magazine “Verkehrsrundschau”, and

Dorothee Bär, Parliamentary State

Secretary at the Federal Ministry of

Transport and Digital Infrastructure, at

a gala event in Munich.

For this image study, 400 logistics deci-

sion-makers in German industrial and

commercial enterprises (shippers) were

asked about the image and recognition

factor of 79 of the most important

brands in five logistics market seg ments.

The “Image Ranking Transport and

Logistics Services” study has been

sponsored every two years since

2002 by the German trade magazine

“Verkehrsrundschau”.

Freight traffic of tomorrow

DOWN INTO THE TUBEPeople above ground, freight below ground: a Swiss consortium

wants to revolutionize logistics with a subway for freight.

T he name says it all: “Cargo sous terrain” (underground freight) is the name of the ambitious project being promoted by a consortium of Swiss companies from the

transport, logistics, retail, telecommunications, and energy industries. Its goal is a “sustain-able, automated, integrated logistics system that enables the flexible, underground transport of pallets and containers for packages, groupage goods, and bulk goods, includ -ing interim storage.” Tunnelsthat connect production and logistics locations with urbanmetropolitan areas should beavailable for use by 2030. Theywill feature self-driving, un-manned electric transport vehi-cles humming along at a con-stant speed of 30 km/h throughthree-lane tubes.As the project partners see it,this new type of undergroundfreight infrastructure will com-plement the Swiss network ofroads and railroads and reducecongestion at critical bottlenecks. The first leg, planned for Switzerland’s central plateau,could connect the area of Härkingen/Niederbipp with the city of Zurich by 2030. A seam -less network between Lake Constance and Lake Geneva, with offshoots to Basel and Lucerne, is planned for a later date. The planners are optimistic that they will be able toachieve sustainable positive effects: CO2 emissions reduced by 80 percent and direct accessby elevator to the major distribution centers. The German Federal Ministry of Transportsupports a feasibility study, but it has also emphasized that “the project has a chance only if it is fully financed by the private sector.”

Get a deeper glimpse into the future at www.cargosousterrain.ch

Tunnel vision: full speed ahead for the flow of goods

Elevator to the distribution centers

Industrial and logistics centers City logistics

FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS

Innovation management

MOVING FORWARD TO NEW IDEASDachser’s program for systematically driving innovation forward is called Idea2net.

When ideas are given free reign, customers end up happy.

P romoting ideas for our future: How can we ensure that Dachser remains an attractive company in the

future for its customers, the market, and its own employees?The entire Dachser organization—at all levels—is currentlyworking on finding an answer to this question. The logisticsprovider has institutionalized its new “Idea2net” programand made it a strategic building block for the managementof ideas and innovation. “The program will be fueled bothby ideas from employees and executives and by strategic impulses that originate at the Executive Board level,” explains Burkhard Eling, Chief Financial Officer at Dachser,who is responsible for the Idea2net program.Several central questions are at the core of this program.How do we develop new solutions for our customers

based on our business model? What does the logistics work -place of the future look like? How do we respond to the issue of digitalization?The point of origin for pioneering ideas are the so-called“megatrends,” i.e., trends that might become relevant forDachser in the future because they can change our cus -tomers’ work environment or products. They include megatrends such as demographic change, globalization, urba -nization, and digitalization. “With Idea2net, we aspireto develop services that we can make available to our cus -tomers,” says Dr. Andreas Froschmayer, Corporate Director Corporate Development, Strategy & PR. “Inno -vations like these always have the potential to advance our industry.”

Always improving—together

FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS

DACHSER magazine 15

16 DACHSER magazine

FORUM: ESSAY

Good news not onlybrings pleasure, but it keeps you fit. Gelotologists (scien-tists who study humorand laughter) havefound that we activelyuse 135 muscles when we laugh. Theyclaim that laughing is as invigorating as 45 minutes of relax-ation training. Andthat—for once—isgood news.

Crises, wars, disasters ... The media often paints a pretty bleakpicture of our reality, even though a few constructive news storieswould do us all some good.

BRIGHTPROSPECTS

W hy are you always so negative? “We aren’t nega-tive; we're journalists,” Ulrik Haagerup replies.In his book “Constructive News”, the Executive

Director of News at the Danish Broadcasting Corporationargues that reporting more positive news should be part of good journalism. A good story need not necessarily beabout how crazy, evil, and dangerous the world is; it can also be about a world that is full of possibilities, hope, andjoy. Haagerup would like to see more stories that show there are people who are willing to try new things becausethey are hoping for a better tomorrow.

The journalist takes his industry severely to task. Accord -ing to Haagerup, the principle “Only bad news is good news” has resulted in many news stories being dull, nega -tive, and trivial. He alleges that the media’s focus on what is negative, faulty, and dysfunctional affects the mental stateof consumers who get their picture of reality from print and online media and television. Hans Mathias Kepplinger,Professor of Empirical Communication Research in Mainz,even sees a “darkening of journalism’s event horizon”—meaning that the events that get reported on are increasinglydisconnected from reality.On the other hand, demand for a shift toward finding potential solutions for a better world appears to be signifi-cant. Start-up portals, such as “Perspective Daily” in Germanyor “Positive.News” in Great Britain, are becoming increas-ingly popular due to their concept of not only describing reality, but also highlighting possible solutions for the big problems of our time. Another successful newcomer, “A PLUS,” a US publishing project co-founded by actor Ashton Kutcher, has landed in the top 50 of the most popu -lar websites in the US with an average of 30 million readersper month. Kutcher’s business idea for the “good mood network” (as it was called in German newspaper “Die Welt”)consists almost exclusively of emotional articles with a happy ending or at least a largely positive surprise twist that the readers will enjoy and that will inspire them to find their own solutions.

Don’t be a wet blanketWhat makes good news so attractive? In a study, ProfessorJonah Berger from the University of Pennsylvania found that people don’t want to be a grouch in their online inter -actions: “When you share news with your friends, you think about how they will react.”The field of positive psychology studies whether someone is a glass-half-empty or a glass-half-full person. Among other things, it examines both the individual’s self-imageand world view. When they look at the world, habitual

DACHSER magazine 17

FORUM: ESSAY

“negative thinkers” see primarily the difficulties and immi-nent disasters on the horizon. “Possibility thinkers,” on theother hand, face difficult situations with an optimistic attitude along the lines of “I don’t know how yet, but some-how I’ll manage.” Those who focus on the possible solutioninstead of the problem, psychologists conclude, can motivateand inspire others and become a real source of strength.

The fly in the ointmentA cocktail of the brain’s own opiate-like substances, such as endorphins, actually makes us associate good news withfeelings of happiness. “This is a short-term positive devia-tion from the individual level of contentment that both optimists and pessimists experience,” explains ProfessorGerhard Roth from the Institute for Brain Research at theUniversity of Bremen. “Optimists, however, experience agreater benefit. The happiness impulse produces euphoria,and the pleasant feeling lasts longer than for pessimists,”says Roth. The latter may have a momentary feeling of happiness, but they will quickly find a fly in the ointment,for example; a lottery win could attract envious people or accolades could result in additional work. As a result,naysayers and contentment are rarely found in the sameplace at the same time.“Only bad news is good news” can’t begin to solve this dilemma. And whether constructive news will be able tomake forward-looking individuals or even optimists out of habitual pessimists is yet to be seen. It’s worth a try. Albert Einstein has already pointed communicators and media professionals in the right direction: “We can’t solveproblems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” M. Schick

Eyes wide open: the world is full of possibilities

Happiness impulses make optimists euphoric, and the pleasant feelinglasts longer than for pessimists

EXPERTISE: FREIGHT FORWARDING MANAGER

18 DACHSER magazine

T rying something new is always exciting. “Pop into abakery here, and you’ll see things that I had nevereven heard of in Berlin. It was so confusing order -

ing things at first!” says Anja Renger, recalling her first few weeks in Austria. But after nine years in Vienna, Berlin-born Renger—who is a freight forwarding managerfor Dachser Austria—has long since overcome those earlylinguistic obstacles, though she still encounters plenty ofdiffer ences. Examples include holidays that are celebratedonly here: Austrian National Day on October 26 and theFeast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 defi-nitely pose a challenge in the logistics planning business.“Instead of 350 tons of inbound goods, we suddenly have580,” she says. And with a sudden lack of dispatchers, drivers, and warehouse facilities—not to mention drivingrestrictions—holidays inevitably throw a spanner in theworks if you’re not prepared for them. “But luckily we are!”says Renger with a smile.

A helping hand for apprenticesOf the 400 people Dachser employs in Austria, 135 work atthe Himberg site. Key accounts include prestigious com -panies from the DIY sector. Dachser not only supplies goodsto DIY and home improvement stores but also delivers items right through to their end customers. As well as work-ing in inbound freight forwarding, Renger is also respon -s ible for all apprenticeship training at the site. She handlesevery aspect of the apprentice development program, in-cluding marketing, applicant selection, and arranging whereapprentices will be deployed. “When I started, we had justseven apprentices working in Himberg, but now we have19,” says Renger with a certain amount of pride. DachserAustria is growing steadily, and Renger’s efforts have beenbearing fruit. The success of the program has already led toher receiving the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce’sapprenticeship trophy and the INEO award for excellence in vocational education and training.

Viennese charmAnja Renger began her apprenticeship as a forwarding agent after graduating from high school in Berlin. She subsequently worked in Customer Service Outbound. “But I wanted to get even more deeply involved,” she says. So she applied to get a degree in logistics and transport management, and ultimately, she had to pick between Bremen and Vienna. “It was summer, everybody

A spirit of mutual respect and cooperationis integral to logistics

From Berlin to Vienna: big-city life is music to the ears of Anja Renger. She currently heads up freight forwarding operations inboundat Dachser Austria.

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EXPERTISE: FREIGHT FORWARDING MANAGER

was so nice, and the city’s charm just won me over!” Rengerenthuses. Soon she was attending lectures during the dayand spending her evenings working at Dachser to cover her living expenses. It was during that period that she did internships at the Dachser sites in Northampton and Linz. With her bachelor’s degree safely in hand, she startedworking on projects in Himberg in 2009. As much as she loved the practical side of things, Rengerwas determined to complete her master’s degree, too. Final -ly, with both qualifications under her belt, she was chosen to head up the service, inbound goods, and short-distancetransport department in 2010. And in the summer of 2014,she was promoted to head of inbound freight forwarding.

Person to personAlthough she conducts most of her day-to-day business byemail and phone, Renger also believes strongly in the value offace-to-face contact. “Our branch office plays host to peopleof many different nationalities, and it’s not like people simplyleave their cultural differences at the door when they arrive!”says Renger. That’s why a key part of her job is providing thebasis for people to work together in a spirit of mutual respectand cooperation. “Even I noticed clear differences in cultureand mentality when I first came to Vienna—and that’s justbetween neighboring countries that speak the same lan-guage,” Renger says. But Vienna certainly hasn’t lost its charmfor her: “There’s no way I want to leave here!” D. Kunde

Anja Renger works at Dachser Austria asfreight forwardingmanager inbound,where she is responsi-ble for the entire flow of goods fromanywhere in Europe to Vienna. Her biggestcustomers work in the sectors of buildingmaterials and do-it-yourself goods. Her responsibilities also include short-distancetransport. That’s because Dachser hasmade agreements withsome DIY stores to de-liver everything right to the end customer’sdoor—from sinks toping pong tables. Find out more about career

opportunities at Dachser on Facebook www.facebook.com/dachsercareers and at www.dachser.com

F

Anja Renger holds her own inday-to-day business

Employee development programs are especially important for Anja Renger

EXPERTISE: CONTRACT LOGISTICS

20 DACHSER magazine

Historical cleaning of Mount Rushmore

UNDERPRESSURE

With customized warehousing and comprehensive multi-channellogistics, Dachser joins forces with Kärcher to fight dirt and dust. That’s a good thing for spring cleaning. Even great presidents have been given a fresh glow.

DACHSER magazine 21


pringtime is the time to battle dirt once again. Weclean the salt left over from winter off the garagefloor, remove the grime of last summer from out-

door furniture, and give the outside walls of many a home a high-pressure wash so it may shine in the joyful splendorof spring. It’s the same story in industry, construction, oragriculture and for property managers, healthcare facili -ties, or private homes: every sector has its own needs, andevery consumer has a preferred way of cleaning. What theyhave in common is that they often use machines made by Kärcher, the family-owned company from the German region of Swabia. Even the heads of presidents have been subjected to a power washing by Kärcher. Used in cooperation with the US National Park Service, the machines undoubtedly had one of their most spectacular assignments at world-famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Rising over 18meters high and visible from far away, the heads of Ameri-can presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln were cleared oflichen, algae, moss, and other surface contaminants. In Germany, such sites as the Brandenburg Gate, the St. Charlesand Hubert Chapel in the Aachen Cathedral, and the arti -ficial ice track at Königssee have received similar treatment.A Kärcher cleaner was even used to remove layers of dirt from over 16,000 window elements at Berlin’s KaiserWilhelm Memorial Church. In 2013, the “London Eye” Fer-ris wheel was scrubbed until it was squeaky clean. And atthe Dakar Rally, pressure washers and wet/dry vacuumsmade by Kärcher are routinely used to ensure that cars andmotorcycles get a clean start day in and day out.

Closer to the customerTo provide industrial and commercial customers, home improvement stores, and consumers with cleaning ma-chines in time for the start of spring, Kärcher decided tooutsource parts of its logistics operations to Dachser. To thatend, Dachser undertook a major expansion last year at itslogistics center in Öhringen (near Heilbronn, Germany),which was originally opened in 2012. There are now 19,500pallet spaces available over a floor space that measures more than 16,000 square meters. Kärcher uses about two-thirds of the space as a central warehouse. Since December2015, Dachser has been shipping cleaning machines andsystems out of Öhringen on behalf of Kärcher, mostly to customers in Germany. The distribution center is con -veniently located near Highway A6, close to the Weinsberg intersection (near Heilbronn) connecting to Highway A81.“We’ve been experiencing a growth spurt here ever since we put the Öhringen location into operation,” explains Marc-Oliver Bohlender, Branch Manager, Dachser Öhrin-gen. There are now 155 employees in Öhringen. They handlearound 2,900 shipments weighing 800 tons a day, most ofthem for Kärcher. Working a three-shift cycle, Dachser employees there prepare the machines, accessories, andcleaning materials for shipping. ‡


22 DACHSER magazine

necessary. Since the end of last year, it’s not just shipmentsfrom Sulzdorf that are processed through the new ware-house; the various production sites throughout Europe arealso shipping their goods directly to the distribution centerin Öhringen. “Proximity to the transit terminal allows latercut-off times,” explains Bohlender. Orders that are in thesystem by 3 p.m. are on the road the same day.

In good shape for spring cleaningPeak season, from February to the end of May, is a parti -cular challenge. After all, spring cleaning doesn’t take placeonly in Swabia, despite the annual Kehrwoche traditionthere. All over Germany, people are cleaning winter filth

Strict order management is especially important for the collaboration

Marc-Oliver Bohlender,Branch Manager,

Dachser Öhringen

New processes—reduced costsIn 2005, Dachser took over contract logistics for Kärcher. At the time, the manufacturer of cleaning machines was revising its logistics processes in Germany and wanted tocentralize transport and warehouse logistics while reducingstorage costs. The project that Dachser has since put into action for Kärcher has expanded over time. In the early stages of the collaboration, Dachser operatedthe former central warehouse in Sulzdorf (near SchwäbischHall) with 7,860 pallet spaces for Kärcher. To manage thecompany’s strong growth, the plan was to link the warehousemore closely to production in Obersontheim. This was an-other reason why the new warehouse in Öhringen became

The shelves have been filled; bring on the spring cleaning

Everything in stock

DACHSER magazine 23


from garages, outdoor furniture, and façades. “During thattime we handle up to three times more volume than on average days in normal periods,” says Bohlender. Every dayup to 1,300 packages and 2,500 parcels leave the ware -house on average. Bohlender says that access to a separate,comprehensive groupage network in Europe was one of theconditions for the collaboration. Dachser mostly takes onshipments within Germany. But orders from abroad are also being handled through the air and sea freight networkmaintained by Dachser Air & Sea Logistics. To accomplish that task, Kärcher relies on Dachser’s experi-ence in multi-channel shipping. Customers can order on -line or from brick-and-mortar stores. The purchase order goes to the warehouse as a work order, where it is preparedfor shipment. The goods are sent to individual customerswho use mail-order shipping and also to B2B customers, forinstance home improvement stores or food retailers. Just-in-time deliveries to trade shows, say, or deliveries withinspecial delivery windows set by home improvement storesare organized out of Öhringen, too.

Strict order managementÖhringen’s slate of duties also includes the handling of complaints and returns. Mistaken orders that are undam-aged are returned to inventory; for complaints or defects,Dachser forwards the machines directly to the repair centersor the factory for evaluation. Pickup orders are sent byKärcher directly to Dachser. “Strict order management is especially important for thecollaboration,” says Bohlender. For this to happen, trans-parency throughout all processes and tight networking ofinformation systems between Dachser and Kärcher are amust. Incoming goods and orders are reported to Kärcheron an ongoing basis. No later than four hours after a truckhas docked at Dachser, the goods it delivered appear in

Headquartered in Winnenden, Baden-

Württemberg, Kärcher is a family-owned

company and the global leader in the

manufacture of cleaning machines and

systems. It offers coordinated products,

cleaning materials, and accessories as

well as consulting and service.

Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co. KG has over

11,300 employees in 60 countries and

generates around EUR 2.22 billion in

revenue per year (current as of December 31,

2015). More than 50,000 service

centers worldwide ensure that customers

experience an uninterrupted supply of

goods and services around the world.

www.kaercher.com/de

PROFILE

Clean: At spring-cleaning time on MountRushmore, Kärcher restored the heads of the US presidents,which were sculptedfrom granite between1927 and 1941, toprime condition. Purehot water was sprayedunder high pressure to achieve the freshappearance. Heated toup to 85°C, the jet ofwater kills harmfulseeds and spores without any additives.

Ready for action: a Kärcher “cleaning crew”

Short routes to customers

Kärcher’s SAP system. Such certainty in planning reducesthe inventory needed. Bohlender is not worried about additional growth withKärcher. He says that the Öhringen location offers plenty of room for future expansions. A. Heintze

EXPERTISE: CHEM-LOGISTICS

24 DACHSER magazine

The chemical industry is a driver of growth

DACHSER magazine 25


Azkar is now implementing binding high safety standards inSpain and Portugal for the transport of hazardous goods. This makes the Azkar Dachser Group a particularly interestingpartner for the chemical industry.

STAYING SAFE ON THE ROAD

G ood news from the Spanish Central Bank; itrecorded growth of 3.2 percent for 2015. The economy on the Iberian Peninsula has picked up

speed, and all the signs are pointing to growth. This is also apparent from the increasing freight trans -port and truck traffic visible on the roads of the IberianPeninsula. Many of these trucks have orange-colored warn-ing signs—the sign for hazardous goods. For Dachser, thetransport of chemical products has real growth prospects.With more than 3,500 companies, the chemical industry is the third-largest industrial sector after the food and automotive industries. Roughly half of the goods producedin this sector are exported. “The chemical industry offers us excellent opportunities. It is not only a growth industry that generated revenue ofEUR 56.4 billion in 2014 but also the second-largest exportindustry on the Iberian Peninsula. This is an excellent timefor us to enter the market,” says Juan Quintana, Manag -ing Director European Logistics Iberia, Azkar DachserGroup, adding: “There are many small service providers onthe domestic chemical logistics market who have neither an international network nor reliable standards across the entire supply chain.”

Setting standardsAzkar was in a similar position. When Dachser acquiredSpain and Portugal’s largest logistics company and marketleader in the industrial groupage segment in late 2012, Azkar did not yet conform to the necessary safety standards.That was why Dachser needed external assistance in the early days when transporting hazardous goods to or within Spain and Portugal. “For customers, this meant thatthe processes showed a certain lack of transparency. And ‡

The chemical sector on the Iberian Peninsula is very dynamic and offers us excellent opportunities

Keeping hazardous goods safe on the road

Juan Quintana, Managing Director

European Logistics Iberia,Azkar Dachser Group


26 DACHSER magazine

We want to support the recovery by utilizing our export capacity—and we can do it

DACHSER magazine 27


many simply had no confidence in the subcontractors,” explains Jens Müller, Head of Network Management Organ-ization at Dachser. Azkar and the centralized HazardousGoods Management Team in Kempten were facing a majorchallenge. A total of 48 branch offices in Spain and Portugal had to be whipped into shape for the transport of hazardous goods. “Every single unit in Spain went through an audit before they could get the green light internally,” explains Arcadi Cano, Business Development Manager Chem-Logistics at Azkar. Dachser has had its own Europe-widestandards for some time and applies them uniformly in all countries. The internal audit is based on the sophisticatedsafety and quality management systems in the market. “Our goal is to guarantee the same quality everywhere in the network,” Müller emphasizes.“We’ve even gone beyond the standards that are customaryin Spain,” Cano stresses. For example, a hazardous goods officer was trained for every single branch office, a ratherunusual position in Spain. “So far, 20 employees have passedthe official exam to become an internal hazardous goods officer,” states Ulrich Püllen, central hazardous goods officer in the Kempten Head Office.

Ensuring the futureAntonio Garrido in the Regional Office in Madrid coordi-nates the individual officers. “This simplifies communi -cation and information sharing with their German col-leagues,” Püllen explains. A total of 800 employees in Spainand Portugal from both commercial and skilled labor segments have already received hazardous goods training.What’s more, the first branch office is set to be evaluated in accordance with the internationally recognized Safety and Quality Assessment System (SQAS) mid-year. Otherbranch offices will follow.Dachser has also invested heavily in equipment. A total of200 vehicles has been equipped in accordance with the European Agreement concerning the International Carriageof Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR). Furthermore, the com-pany has purchased salvage-and-recovery equipment, suchas catch basins, recovery drums, drum-lifting harnesses,and rescue and protective clothing for each branch office. Inthis respect, too, Dachser goes beyond the legally mandated requirements in some cases, for example, by using specialbinding agents that have more versatile applications thanthose required under the normal minimum standards.

Cano from Azkar finds that the effort has been well worth it. “Our ability to combine groupage and parcel service inthe B2B sector with ADR expertise is a new approach in the chemical logistics market,” he is pleased to report. “Wecan achieve very precise run times and high speeds with our shipments while complying with strict safety standards.And the interface with Dachser’s IT enables us to provideour customers with seamless tracking functionality,” Canoemphasizes. This holds exciting prospects for Azkar. After all, the logistics provider services roughly 100 com -panies on the Iberian Peninsula that produce or distributechemical goods, some 25 percent of whom work with hazardous goods.The impact of the new hazardous goods standards at Azkar goes beyond the Iberian Peninsula to benefit other locations in the Dachser network as well. Dachser’s Euro-pean network, after all, handles over three million ship-ments of hazardous goods annually. “Since the beginning of January, Dachser has been able to provide shipments ofhazardous goods seamlessly throughout its entire network.We are now able to deliver hazardous goods to our cus-tomers’ place of business anywhere in Spain and Portugal,”Müller affirms. Quintana is optimistic that the investments will pay off inthe future. According to him, Azkar plans to occupy newniche markets on the Iberian Peninsula together withDachser. Looking at the optimistic economic data, prospectsare good. Quintana views this as a corporate mission: “Wewould like to support the recovery by utilizing our exportcapacity—and we can do it.” A. Heintze

The Safety and QualityAssessment System(SQAS) is a compre-hensive monitoring instrument for uniformperformance assess-ment of shipping companies that handlechemical products. Independent inspectorsevaluate the compa-nies using a standard-ized battery ofquestions. Areas ofparticular interest inthis process are safety, quality, environ-mental compatibility,and health.

Dachser scores far above the industry average in the SQAS performance assessments; we are setting the bar just as high in Spain

Jens Müller, Head of Network

Management Organization at Dachser

Defined standards enable safety

28 DACHSER magazine

IN WORLD CHAMPION

SHAPE

Bratislava Castle overlooking the Danube

NETWORK: SLOVAKIA

DACHSER magazine 29

Slovakia has one of the mostdynamic economies in Europe. For years, its capitalBratislava has been one of the key logistics hubs in Dachser’s European overland shipping network.

orld champion! A small country struts its stuff:for the first time, more than a million cars rolled off assembly lines in Slovakia in 2015.

For a country with just over 5.4 million inhabitants, this isabsolutely world class. Nowhere else in the world produces as many cars per capita. The plan is to produce 1.3 millioncars per year in the future. Slovakia embarked on the road to becoming an automotivecenter right after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991, whena number of international automakers built production facilities on the banks of the Danube. Competitive wagesand the country’s strategically favorable location in Europeare what drove this development. The region aroundBratislava exerted a particularly strong pull, very much inline with the area’s historical importance. Here, where theAmber Road used to cross the Danube, merchants with wagons full of amber, wheat, and oil would rest on theirjourney from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic—more than2,000 years ago. To this day, the city still profits from its geographical location: it is just 55 kilometers to Vienna asthe crow flies, the Czech border is 62 kilometers away, andBudapest is only 165 kilometers down the Danube to thesoutheast.

Logistics companies have their hands fullNo wonder that the capital and its metropolitan area havedeveloped into the wealthiest and most dynamic region inSlovakia: a quarter of the gross domestic product is gener -ated in and around Bratislava; one in three Slovak com -panies is headquartered in the capital’s metropolitan area;and international companies such as Samsung, Sony, and T-Mobile are opening branch offices here. As a result, logistics companies have their hands full. Cars,machinery and equipment, chemical products, and televi-sion sets—they all roll by truck from Bratislava to Slovakia’sneighboring countries. Most of them are headed to ‡

NETWORK: SLOVAKIA

30 DACHSER magazine

NETWORK: SLOVAKIA

Germany, which has been one of the Slovak Republic’s most important trade partners since it was founded morethan 20 years ago. In 2014, the two nations exchanged almostEUR 26 billion worth of goods. Today, Volkswagen Slovakia generates more revenue thanany other company in the country. Every year, around400,000 cars come off its assembly lines in Bratislava, Košice, and Martin. Since 2006, South Korea’s Kia andFrance’s Peugeot and Citroën have been contributing to the world record with an annual production in Slovakia of roughly 300,000 cars each. Starting in 2019, the Britishmanufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is planning on produc -ing 150,000 vehicles per year in Slovakia.Numerous automotive suppliers from around the world—among them many of the industry’s big names such as Continental, Mobis, and Magna—have established them-selves in close proximity to the car plants. In 2014, the Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak Republic

counted 346 automotive suppliers. This automotive clusterholds huge potential for the logistics industry. Almost 90percent of the cars built here are shipped abroad; at the same time, vehicle parts and components from around theworld are pouring into Slovakia.

At just the right timeDachser recognized Slovakia’s promise as a business locationearly on and has been regularly expanding its activities inthe country since its EU accession treaty was signed in 2003.During that period of radical change, Roman Stoličný wason the lookout for a strategic partner for his shipping company Lindbergh. “We wanted to expand and adapt ournetwork to the complex requirements of international customers,” the Managing Director European Logistics ofDachser Slovakia remembers. Dachser’s offer came at justthe right time. In 2004, the Hungarian partner companyLiegl & Dachser acquired a majority stake in Lindbergh.Since its complete integration, the company has been oper-ating as Dachser Slovakia.Now its prominent customers benefit from closely timedshipments within the Slovak Republic. Key pillars of thebusiness are the automotive industry’s locations in Košice,near the Hungarian border, and in the city of Martin. Integration into Dachser’s global IT systems and the intro-duction of the entargo product family have made Dachseran attractive logistics partner for an increasing number ofindustrial and retail companies in Slovakia. Bratislava plays a prominent role in the Dachser network,mirroring its position in the country’s overall economy. Beginning in 2007, the location in the municipality of

Bratislava and Viennaare the two EU capitalsthat are closest geo-graphically. Just under60 kilometers apart as the crow flies, thetwo capital cities onthe Danube are imple-menting a twin-cityconcept to coordinatetheir development.

The drawbridge in Komarno

The President’s Palace in Bratislava

DACHSER magazine 31

NETWORK: SLOVAKIA

Headed by Country Manager Marian Micek, the 24-personteam handles air and sea freight shipments for SMEs and large corporations. “The fact that our air and sea freightnetworks are so closely connected to Dachser’s Europeanoverland transport network is of particular interest for our customers,” Micek explains. “As an integrated logisticsprovider, we can leverage our special advantages.”Besides foreign investment, the continuing growth of theSlovak economy depends on increasing domestic demand.Having grown by more than three percent in 2015, analystsare predicting similar growth rates for the country in thecoming years. This would put Slovakia alongside Poland at the top of the table in eastern Central Europe.Nevertheless, the government has plenty of work to do.“There is still a lack of necessary infrastructure, especiallyin central and eastern Slovakia,” Stoličný complains. He sees a particular need for improvements to the road andfreeway network, considering that in Slovakia around 75percent of all goods are transported by road. Both the freeway between Bratislava and Košice and the highwayfrom Trenčín via Banská Bystrica to Košice are at the top ofthe agenda. Improvements to these roads would help con-siderably in opening up the southeast corner of the country.Tax incentives for investment in research and develop -ment have been in place since 2015. A new dual vocational training system, based heavily on the German system, isalso being implemented with the aim of ensuring the availability of young technical specialists in the mediumterm. These are excellent prospects for a small country with ambitions to be a world champion. K. Fink

Lozorno developed into a logistics hub, which was expandedto a Eurohub in 2011. “From here, we distribute goodsthroughout Europe,” Stoličný explains. “Lying as it does atthe logistical center of Europe, Slovakia is increasingly establishing itself as an important European transship -ment point and transit route.” The markets for both inter-modal shipments and contract logistics are growing. As a response to constantly increasing demand, in 2010Dachser invested in the expansion of the branch office in the capital. The 64,000-square-meter site, which is also used as a Eurohub, is in close proximity to the D2 free wayfrom Bratislava to Brno and is an important gateway for the growing markets in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. As many as 31 trucks can be loaded and unloadedconcurrently in the transit terminal, which measures almost3,700 square meters. As one of three Eurohubs (the othertwo sites with this key function in the network being Überherrn in Germany and Clermont-Ferrand in France),the location currently connects 15 countries every singleday and operates direct freight services to almost 40 con-nected branch offices.

Ensuring the futureThere are plans to double warehouse capacity at the locationin 2018. “This will pave the way for us to grow further inSlovakia,” says Stoličný. He and his 130 employees expectthat growth to come above all in the electronics and auto-motive sectors. And it is precisely these industries that the Air & Sea Logistics business field of Dachser Slovakia is focusing on.

Lying as it does at the logistical center of Europe, Slovakia is increasingly establishing itself as an important European transshipment point and transit route

Roman Stolicný,Managing Director

European LogisticsDachser Slovakia

Source: GTI

Main supplier countries(2014, percentages)

Main buyer countries(2014, percentages)

Slovak Republic

Area:

49,035 square

kilometers

Population:

5.4 million (2015)

Capital:

Bratislava

Language:

Slovak

GDP: EUR 75.6 billion

(2014)

Imported goods:

Electronics, fuels,

lubricants, automotive

(vehicles and parts),

machinery, chemical

products

Exported goods:

Automotive (vehicles

and parts), elec -

tronics, machinery,

fuels, lubricants,

iron and steel,

chemical products,

food products

IN BRIEF

Germany19.8

Germany22.1

Czech Republic17.6

Czech Republic12.9

Austria9.7

Austria6.2

Poland8.4

Russia8.2

Hungary6.5

Hungary6.3

Poland6.5

France4.9

UK5.1

Other27.4

Other34.1

People’s Republicof China4.3

32 DACHSER magazine

Mr. Häner, the strong Swiss franc is putting pressure on the coun -

try’s exports. What does that mean for the logistics industry?More and more Swiss companies are currently looking at shifting part of their production to other countries, especially to EU member states to save costs and stay com-petitive. All of these developments are making logisticsincreasingly complex and more multifaceted than ever.These companies need a logistics provider who has aseamless European network and can react quickly to possible relocations.

How is Dachser positioned in Switzerland?Dachser has been operating in Switzerland for almost

Switzerland is one of the most competitive countries in the world.

Urs Häner, Managing Director European Logistics

Dachser Switzerland, talks about the importance of logistics

networks for Switzerland.

Dachser is growing the business with industry-specific

solutions. Stefan Hohm, Head of Corporate Solutions,

Research & Development, is banking on solution-oriented

logistics that create added value.

Worldwide supply chains forcustomers from focus indus-

tries are at the core of the new Dachser corporate unit Corporate Solutions, Research & Development. The 43-year-old Stefan Hohm, who has a degree in Business Administration, headed up the Logistics Center in Hof for the past seven years. He is now Corporate Director ofthis vital new business unit. Holm and his team arebundling Dachser’s research and development activitiesand, in their new function, are working closely with Corporate Development and Corporate IT. Responsi -bilities of the new corporate unit also include new andcontinuing development of value-added services, whichcomplement (upstream or downstream) transport andwarehousing in the standardized Dachser groupage network. This includes dedicated services for special

customers, industry-specific value-added services, andpremium services associated with deliveries to end customers.

Road Logistics

EXPORTING “SWISSNESS” IS EASY

New corporate unit

AIMING TO CREATE ADDED VALUE

50 years, and its eleven locations cover the country verywell. Opening our branch office in Lyss near Bern a littleover a year ago was a major milestone. Depending on how the Swiss market develops, we may expand existinglocations or open another new branch office.

What markets are particularly attractive for Dachsercustomers?Basically, all countries are attractive for Switzerland, as“Swissness” can be easily exported throughout the world. Our strongest trade partners are Europe, Asia, andthe USA. Our overland transport organization worksclosely with the five Air & Sea Logistics locations inSwitzerland, which enables us to be a one-stop serviceprovider for our customers.

Aiming to create customer-oriented solutions

NETWORK

DACHSER magazine 33

+++ EUROPEAN FOOD NETWORK +++

13 partners, 9 associate members, and

regular line haul services among 29

European countries: this collaborative

network, which was founded in 2013

under Dachser’s system leadership, is

the most comprehensive network for

food transport in Europe. +++

+++ NEW NAME IN THE USA +++ Early this year, Dachser started

operating under a new name in the United States: Dachser USA Air

& Sea Logistics Inc. “The new name more accurately reflects the

services currently being provided in the United States. At the

same time, it follows the naming pattern of other Dachser country

organizations worldwide,“ Frank Guenzerodt explains. Interlocking

and the connection to Dachser’s European overland transport net-

work enable the US na -tional organization to provide global, com -

prehensive, and integrated supply chain solutions to multi-national

customers. +++

+++ NEW OFFICE IN THE

MIDWEST +++ Dachser USA

Air & Sea Logistics is servic-

ing the growing markets in

the Midwest with a new

branch office in Minneapolis,

the fourth branch in this re-

gion. “As a service provider,

it is important for us to be

in close proximity to our cus-

tomers,” says Frank Guenze -

rodt, President & CEO of Dachser USA Air & Sea Logistics. The

office in Minneapolis will also work closely with colleagues in

Chicago, he adds. +++

A s a result, the vivengo product family, the standard for transnational transport, is com-ing into its own for food shipments to and from Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. It offers

various product lines with fixed transit times as well as defined information services, suchas electronically available status information and proof of delivery for each shipment. Theshortest transit time between pickup in Germany and delivery in Spain is two days.“With the expansion of the vivengo product world into these key markets, we are bolsteringour claim as the leading partner network for transnational food transport throughout Europe,” states Alfred Miller, Managing Director Dachser Food Logistics. Fernando GarcíaVillalobos, Managing Director of Logifrio adds, “We are delighted to be part of this collab-oration and to be able to provide standardized transport services throughout Europe, starting immediately, for those of our customers who operate internationally.”

Logifrio, the leading provider for temperature-controlled

food transport on the Iberian Peninsula, has been a partner

in the European Food Network since January 2016.

European Food Network

NEW PARTNER ON THEIBERIAN PENINSULA

30 own and partner-owned locations on

the Spanish mainland, Balearic and Canary

Islands, Portugal, and Andorra

20,000 customers receive fresh and frozen

food and shelf-stable goods

600 employees

EUR 64 million revenue (2014)

400 vehicles in their own fleet

115,000 m2 of warehouse space

LOGIFRIO: THE FACTS

Alfred Miller, Dachser and Fernando García Villalobos, Logifrio

34 DACHSER magazine

Just in time

CHINA TO DORTMUND: PUMPS ON THE SILK ROADWhen machine components have to be transported quickly from China across Central and Western Asia to Europe,

the most ancient trade route in the world comes into play—the Silk Road.

The new Silk Road passes through vast stretches of land

Hamburg

Dortmund

Malaszewicze

Qinhuangdao

Zhengzhou

Dostyk

NETWORK

A race against timeNovember 2015: Under stress in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao. A customer now needs the pump motorsmanufactured there earlier than planned. There’s notenough time to ship them to Dortmund by sea freight. This is where Wilo SE is headquartered, one of the lead -ing manufacturers of pumps and pump systems world -wide, which has more than 60 subsidiaries and productionsites all over the globe. Air freight is not an alternative. It’stoo expensive and the need for the motors is not urgentenough to justify the expense. What to do? Dachser has the solution: transport by train along the Silk Road! This is a first for Wilo.

10,000 kilometers by trainDachser Air & Sea Logistics Shanghai ships the pump motors from Qinhuangdao to Zhengzhou by truck—a tripof just under 1,000 kilometers—where the train is alreadywaiting. Ready, get set, go: the over 10,000-kilometer trainjourney from China to Europe begins, first traversing Central China toward the West in a trip that takes 17 days.The route follows the Silk Road where caravans once trav -eled with as many as 1,000 camels carrying goods. Today,

they have been replaced by state-of-the-art freight trains.Using GPS, train operators provide daily status reports withthe location of the goods.

Break-of-gaugeIn the Kazakh border town of Dostyk, there is a break-of-gauge from the normal international gauge (1435 mm)to the wider Russian gauge (1520 mm). This means offload-ing the container and reloading it onto a Russian train.

Across steppes and deserts to EuropeThe train crosses Kazakhstan with its steppes and deserts,past Lake Balkhash to Russia and Belarus. At the Polish border, there is another break-of-gauge.

Just a short hop to HamburgFrom the Polish distribution center in Malaszewicze, it’s only a short hop to Hamburg. In Hamburg, Dachser has organized customs clearance as well as onward transport in its own groupage network and delivery to Wilo in Dort-mund via short-distance transport. Dachser refers to thisintermodal coordination between business fields as “inter-locking.”

The pumps are pumpingThey made it—reliably and just in time—and the pump motors are already doing their job. Antonio Rodrigues, Manager Inbound Logistics at Wilo, breathes a sigh of relief: “We are already planning other transports by traindue to the sustainability aspect. Shipping by air freightwould have generated 13 times more CO2 emissions.”

DACHSER magazine 35

GOOD NEWS

Cocoa, raw sugar, and vanilla extract: ingredients from all over

the world go into the making of an Easter bunny. It tastes

even better if they are fair trade and come from small farms.

This is precisely what Dachser customer Confiserie Riegelein,

a confectioner from Cadolzburg near Nuremberg, believes.

In 2012, the company began using fair-trade ingredients

for its seasonal chocolate products, such as Easter bunnies.

They plan to be using cacao from sustainable sources for

their entire product range by 2017.

THE EASTER BUNNY GOES FAIR TRADE

dachser magazine 01 16 english

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