dachser magazine 03/14 english€¦ · bobby sharp received for his song “unchain my heart”...
TRANSCRIPT
EDITION 3/2014
THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENT LOGISTICSmagazine
THE CHAINFORMULA
FOR LOGISTICS
SPECIAL
EDITION
Supply Chain
Management
participants formed the longest bucket brigade in the world on July 23, 2011 in Pfullingen, Germany. The individuals
in this human chain transported 869.2 liters of water over a distance of 4.5 kilometers. The residents of Pfullingen
organized this event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Youth Fire Brigade.
5,239
50
CHAINSWhether they are made of metal, people, or restaurants: human beings have been using the principle of the chain in the most varied ways for millennia. A foray into the world of chains.
02 DACHSER magazine
NUMBERS THAT COUNT
was the year that the Englishman Philip White received a patent for the first iron
anchor chain. Chains as well as ropes and belts used as pulling devices are some of
the oldest known machine components.
1634
million euros (or 11.5 million US dollars) was the value of the ornaments on a Christmas tree
in Abu Dhabi in 2011. The tree decorations, which included a precious necklace—a chain
of diamonds—worth more than 700,000 euros, were on loan from a jeweler. The tree itself was
an artifical one.
8.7
4 corners to each mini burger: this
trademark menu item is a speciality
of the U.S. fast food chain White
Castle. The first restaurant with the logo
that sports a white castle was founded in 1921 in Kansas.
This makes White Castle the oldest fast food chain in the country.
dollars was what the drug-addicted musician and composer
Bobby Sharp received for his song “Unchain my Heart” when
he sold it to jazz musician Teddy Powell back in the 1960s.
The song was recorded by famous musicians like Ray Charles
and Joe Cocker and became a worldwide hit.
DACHSER magazine 03
TABLE OF CONTENTS
04
16
26
28
TITLE STORY
Value-added logistics: Managing supply chains for well-wrapped packaging 04
FORUM
People and Markets: 10Putting aerodynamic swap bodies to the test;Communicating under water—wirelesslyand bridging the BosporusEssay: Grappling with chaos 14
EXPERTISE
Sustainability: Prof. Julia Hartmann shares insights on intelligent logistics using systems 16Profile: New Head of Contract Logistics:An interview with Alexander Tonn 20Value-added services: Extras for the customers 22
NETWORK
Network Expertise: News from the Dachser World 24IT Systems: Keeping data flowing 26Dachser France: Champagne-class beverage logistics 28
BUSINESS LOUNGE
Getting things moving—Bernhard Simon meets logistics mastermind Prof. Michael ten Hompel 32
GOOD NEWS
Truckercast: An ear to the street 35
Publishing informationPublished by: Dachser GmbH & Co. KG, Memminger Str. 140, 87439 Kempten, Germany, Internet: www.dachser.com Overall responsibility: Dr. Andreas Froschmayer Editor-
in-Chief: Anne Reiter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1423, fax: +49 831 596-8-1423, e-mail: [email protected], Martin Neft, tel.: +49 831 5916-1420, e-mail: [email protected]
Editors: Theresia Gläser, Christian Weber Editorial Assistant: Andrea Reiter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1424, e-mail: [email protected] Publisher: Burda Creative Group GmbH,
Arabellastr. 23, 81925 Munich, tel.: +49 89 9250-1320, fax: +49 89 9250-1680 Managing Directors: Gregor Vogelsang, Dr.-Ing. Christian Fill Project Manager Burda Creative Group:
Marcus Schick Design: Ralph Zimmermann, Kerstin Spörer Photos: all photography Dachser except: thinkstockfotos.de (pp. 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 24, 25, 26, 27), Südpack (p. 9),
Marcus Vetter (pp. 1, 3–8, 20, 21), Solarroadways.com (p. 13), François Dabouron (pp. 3, 28–31), Ute Schmidt/Bildfolio (pp. 3, 16–19), Detlef Majer (p. 35) Illustration: Ralph Zimmermann
(pp. 22, 23, 32–34) Printer: Holzer Druck und Medien Druckerei und Zeitungsverlag GmbH, 88171 Weiler im Allgäu Print run: 41,500/55th volume Publication: 4 x 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.
To ensure that the food on the dinner table is in fresh and hygienic condition, Südpack relies on complex global procurement and delivery chains.Contract logistics from Dachser is integral to the packaging specialist’s success.
CHAINREACTION
hOra et labora: pray and work! It’s
impossible to miss this clarion call
from Benedikt of Nursia if you’re driving the
B312 autobahn westbound from Memmin-
gen to Ochsenhausen. St. Georg, a former
Benedictine monastery, towers majestically
over this town in the heart of Upper Swabia.
The magnificently preserved monastery,
founded in the 11th century, is one of the most
important examples of baroque architec -
ture, and its “ora et labora” principle is like a
beacon that guides this city of 9,000 souls as
well as its economy and its international
orientation.
For 50 years now, the Südpack Packaging
Group has called Ochsenhausen home. Es-
tablished by Alfred Remmele in 1964, this
family-owned company of approximately
1,000 employees and revenues in excess of
EUR 330 million (2013) is considered a ‡
TITLE STORY
04 DACHSER magazine
Heading Contract Logistics in Memmingen: Heidemarie Schödl
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TITLE STORY
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06 DACHSER magazine
market and technology leader in the food
packaging film segment. In addition to the
production site and corporate headquarters
in Ochsenhausen, Südpack operates produc-
tion facilities in Switzerland and France
and maintains sales offices and representa-
tives in over 30 nations throughout the
globe. “All signs are pointing to growth,” says
Johannes Remmele, who, together with his
sister Carolin Grimbacher, represents the
second generation to run the company as its
Managing Partners.
Making continuous growth possible “Our customers from the food products in-
dustry in Europe keep getting bigger and
more professional,” Remmele explains. “In
the process, they are seeking partners who
can map out their needs and their workflows
with exacting precision.” For instance, when
it comes to manufacturing flexible films,
for example for mozzarella. Südpack manu-
factures this kind of packaging at one of
the most modern facilities in the world,
using a “cast film process” that can involve
up to ten layers. Then there are the printed
rigid and flexible films made of polyester,
polypropylene, and polystyrene, films that
are pro duced in the “blown film process” as
well as the resealable film packages for
sausages and cheese, cheese maturing bags,
and the canned food packaging solutions
made of plastic.
“This variety makes it possible to create an
ideal solution for each product and each
application,” says Remmele. That’s on the
one hand. “On the other hand, there is the
cost pressure that characterizes the industry.
So to meet this challenge, we need stable
processes and structures, as well as a high
degree of professionalism along the entire
supply chain—and that would be impossible
to accomplish without contract logistics.”
Südpack and Dachser have been collaborat-
ing ever since 1999. At its Allgäu Logistics
Center in Memmingen, about 20 kilometers
from Ochsenhausen, the partners imple-
mented an integrated logistics concept for
raw materials and finished products that is
designed for continuous volume growth.
“We are assuming responsibility for hand -
ling the bulk of the supply chain. That
chain begins with pre-carriage and collection
of raw materials and extends to just-in-
time delivery to production, the complete
take-over of finished products from produc-
tion, and the shipment of finished goods to
the recipients from our international distri-
bution center,” says Heidemarie Schödl, de-
scribing the path down the logistics process
chain. The 30 year-old economist took over
management of contract logistics at the
Allgäu Logistics Center in Memmingen,
, ,
The Allgäu LogisticsCenter in Memmingen,which is staffed by approximately 800 employees, comprisesan operational space ofapproximately 150,000square meters with130,000 pallet spaces,of which 43,000 arecooled for non-frozenproducts. At its distribution centers, the logistics providercurrently offers cus-tomers from the pack-aging industry 80,000pallet spaces for rawmaterials and finishedgoods processing of high-end packagedfoods. The first con-tract logistics projectswere launched herejust under 20 years ago.
Raw materials are delivered directly to the warehouse, partially repacked …
… warehoused there, ready for retrieval for production ...
DACHSER magazine 07
TITLE STORY
succeeding Alexander Tonn, who now han-
dles corporate-wide contract logistics out
of Dachser’s Head Office in Kempten (see
Interview, p. 20).
Wireless networking of IT systems“We would define contract logistics as indi-
vidually configured product processes across
all logistical functions, based on integrated
and tightly interwoven systems in procure-
ment and distribution,” explains Schödl.
“Contract logistics is based on a solid,
trusting relationship between the customer
and the service provider.” And, of course, a
comprehensive flow of information through
wirelessly networked IT systems.
Here’s an example of how it works: Südpack
requests raw materials from its suppliers
throughout the world—and Asia in particu-
lar—via its ERP system. These raw materials
are sent to the Allgäu Logistics Center. At
that point, Südpack’s SAP system connects
to Mikado (Dachser's proprietary warehouse
software program) via electronic data inter-
change—enabling it to direct raw materials
from the warehouse to production, entirely
according to need. A designated shuttle
system was set up for this. Dachser employ-
ees take a sample beforehand for Südpack’s
quality management system—this, too, is
guided and assisted by the IT systems.
“Shuttle traffic starts up at 6:00 in the morn-
ing in a two-shift system,” notes Heidemarie
Schödl as she explains the process. Up to
1,250 pallets are moved that way via the in-
coming and outgoing goods departments;
at peak periods, this could take up to 50 trips
per day between Memmingen and Ochsen-
hausen. In order to reach such shipment
frequencies, Dachser and Südpack imple-
mented an automated loading concept. The
company has set up an entirely automated
loading and unloading system for loading
semi-trailer trucks. Once the driver has
docked at the bay, a push of a button loads
the vehicle that has been specially prepared
for this purpose—in just three minutes.
The same system provides assistance in
Ochsenhausen for swift unloading.
Better with logistics pros“At the right time, in the right place, with
the right product: that is the job of our Sup-
ply Chain Management.” explains Thomas
Degenhardt, Head of Logistics at Südpack.
“The more stable the processes and supply
chains, the less we have to contend with
costly inventories at our own company prem-
ises. No buyer is out there paying for stock
that is stuck in buffer or finished products
in storage.” Four years ago, Degenhardt’s
department was set up as an independent
unit. “That way, we could adapt ourselves
to the increasing challenges of supply chain
management,” explains Managing Director‡
hh In today’s markets, logistics can
no longer be a downstream task in the purchasing
process. Instead, logistics professionals with a high level
of systems expertise are in demand here
Johannes Remmele, Managing Partner,
Südpack Group
, ,… and made shipment-ready on the automated loading and unloading system
Collecting samples is part of quality management
Johannes Remmele. For good reason. He is
convinced that “in today’s markets, logistics
can no longer be a downstream task of the
purchasing department. Instead, logistics
professionals with a heightened degree of
systems expertise are in demand.” For a few
years now, Remmele continued, Südpack
has used lean management techniques to
put its own procurement and supply chains
to the test, to identify deficiencies, and to
pursue a targeted continuous improvement
process (CIP). In this case, the markets set
the pace. “Our customers from the meat,
cheese, and fish industries have to cater to
changed consumer behavior,” the Südpack
owner explains. “Households are getting
smaller, situational purchases are increas -
ingly replacing weekly shopping trips—
in other words, the individual packaging
units and quantities are getting smaller.
Everybody has to become more flexible.”
To put it in perspective: whereas once the
company had to package only one brand of
Emmentaler cheese, today there are dozens
of varieties—with caraway, maybe, or wild
garlic or green pepper.
Moreover, seasonality causes major fluctua-
tions in volume. “During asparagus season,
the customer expects a corresponding selec-
tion of hams in the refrigerated shelf, or
greater availability of mozzarella when
tomatoes are ripe,” Remmele notes. Season-
ality and increasing product variety require
great logistics expertise. Thomas Degenhardt
is well aware of this. “The total volume of
packaged food is not changing dramatically,
but it is getting increasingly diversified,
demand fluctuates, and the individual batch
sizes are smaller. Customers expect more
flexibility from us at a lower cost. We have
to respond to this challenge. In this regard,
while Südpack customers’ own private labels
can still be planned, relatively speaking,
the average discount retailer expects a high
degree of flexibility from the packaging
supplier. “Relatively short-term purchase
orders are coming to our customers from that
segment—and so the chain keeps getting
shorter,” asserts Degenhardt.
Films for Europe and the worldGiven such time restraints and cost pressures,
corporations like Südpack, with global
operations, are placing particular focus on
the supply chain and highly efficient pro -
cesses structured according to needs. Dachser
IT manages all processesalong the supply chains
TITLE STORY
08 DACHSER magazine
has stepped in to take care of Südpack’s
finished goods logistics, from receipt of raw
materials to moving them to production.
“The customer requests goods at the dis -
tribution center in Memmingen, based on
the end customer’s preferences,” explains
Dachser Head of Logistics Heidemarie
Schödl. Delivery orders are transmitted via
EDI. The Allgäu Logistics Center works
like one of Südpack’s own branches. “The
rolls located at the warehouse are prepared
for shipment to national and internation -
al recipients in a process documented via
SSCC scans. For reasons related to materials
and food safety, they must be stored at an
ambient temperature of at least 15 degrees
Celsius. And, of course, in a reliable and
verifiable manner.
To Johannes Remmele, this close inter action
between industry and logistics provider has
long since become a self-evident aspect of
business management. “We are not only
film manufacturers, but service providers to
our customers as well,” he concludes. “For
this reason, we need a service provider con-
cept and trustworthy partners who know
and have mastered the com plexity of our
functions and with whom it is possible to
implement all of this under one roof.”
Identical processes in the UKUniform and transparent systems and
processes are both companions on our
logistics trails and trailblazers of future
logistics growth. With this thought as its
inspiration, Südpack shifted its distri -
bution center in Great Britain to Dachser
back in February 2013. Dachser’s logistics
facility in Northampton, which launched
operations in the early summer of 2014,
became practically a mirror-image of the
company’s warehouse operations in Mem-
mingen. “Identical systems and interfaces,
integrated processes, and a general under-
standing of precisely what we are doing in
this market and what processes we need
for this purpose have collectively made this
shift easy for us,” says Thomas Degenhardt.
“By virtually copying and pasting our sys-
tems from there, we were able to start up
immediately. Mikado, the warehouse man-
agement software, and Domino, the shipping
software program, operate exactly the same
way they do at our facility,” explains the
Südpack Logistics Manager. “It is easier to
implement identical processes that have
already been proven to run successfully at
Dachser.” To John Goodman, General
Manager of Midlands & North for Dachser
UK, doing contract logistics with Südpack
is a verita ble “best case scenario” acting as
a template for other customers from Great
Britain with similar requirements. “Our
multi-user contract logistics system is
designed to meet the very tough food ware-
housing standards required by Südpack.
Therefore, customers with similar needs to
Südpack fit into our portfolio superbly.”
Back to Ochsenhausen: even if a high degree
of cost efficiency has already been achieved at
this time, thanks to comprehensive IT and
process management, opti mization of supply
chain management continues to remain a
particular focus of the packaging industry.
Johannes Remmele is firmly convinced of
this: “Weight and volume are the predomi-
nant drivers of cost. Through material inno-
vations, we are working on making films
thinner and thus lighter, with consistently
better performance,” he indicates, outlining
Südpack’s main task. But that is just on the
technological side. For process chains as well,
the family-owned company pursues its basic
principles, which are marked through and
through by typically Swabian tenacity and
precision as Remmele states: “As we design
our supply chain, it is crucial that we con -
tinue to optimize procedures and processes
with fewer interfaces—this is precisely why
we need system partners like Dachser, who
continu ally provide valuable impetus in the
collaboration process.” M. Schick
Südpack PackagingGroup
with roughly 1,000 employees
and annual revenues in excess of
EUR 330 million (2013), is one of
the leading manufacturers of co-
extruded flexible and rigid films,
flexible plastic composites, and
vacuum bags. Managing Partners
Carolin Grimbacher and Johannes
Remmele are the second genera -
tion of family members to lead
the family-owned company from
the Upper Swabian town of Ochsen-
hausen. Südpack manufactures
its special films at its head office
and at production sites in Switzer-
land and France. Sales offices
and representatives can be found
in over 30 nations worldwide.
www.suedpack.com
INFO
hhOur multi-user contract logistics system
is designed for the very exacting food warehousing
standards required by Südpack
John Goodman, General Manager, Midlands & North
at Dachser UK
F
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FORUM
To save fuel and reduce CO2 in road traffic, Dachser is testing a new generation of aerodynamicswap bodies.
hSwap bodies: when it comes to ship-
ping goods on roads, they are amazing
space savers. Load capacity, however, is not
the sole indicator of their intrinsic value.
With appropriate aerodynamic characteris-
tics, they can also help reduce fuel consump-
tion and CO2 emissions by a significant
degree. Dachser has been using aerodynami-
cally optimized swap bodies and semi-trailers
for years. After all, aerodynamic drag, which
increases in proportion to the square of the
speed, is responsible for about 40 percent of
the force expended by a truck (see graphic).
About 95 percent of the swap bodies in
the fleet therefore already have smooth side-
walls, which generate less air turbulence than
the ridges and furrows of “corrugated” sur-
faces. In addition, there is the van body of
optimal height, which reduces the space
between the frame and the body, and also
the purposely short distance between the two
swap bodies of an articulated vehicle. That
is good for the environment as well as for
the financial balance sheet. Because each liter
of diesel fuel saved reduces CO2 emissions
by 2.64 kilograms.
Proving itself in practiceBut Dachser is aiming for even more. A
new generation of aerodynamic swap bodies
TR
AFF
IC &
EN
VIR
ON
ME
NT
Aerodynamics
TOTAL SUCCESS
The surface structure ... …makes the difference
10 DACHSER magazine
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FORUM
is currently in the testing phase. They are
characterized by markedly slanted corner
stanchions on the bulkhead and smooth
construction of the roof panels and walls.
Before general series production, the new
swap bodies will have to prove themselves
through extensive road testing in the punish-
ing daily routine of freight forwarding. The
object of these tests is to confirm, under ac-
tual conditions, the aerodynamic effects that
are theoretically possible in the wind tunnel
and in computer simulations. However, there
are limits to aerodynamics, according to
Jens Müller, Head of Network Management
Organization at Dachser. “Available load
space may not be reduced by an aerodyna -
mic design; after all, fully loaded transports
still have the best cost and environmental
effect. While taking measurements, we struck
an optimal balance.”
Aerodynamic drag is a key factor in fuel consumption and thus for the carbon footprintof a truck. Aerodynamic improvement will open up great savings potentials.
Source: Cash&Eco 1/2009
“Continually improving”
What do the new aerodynamically optimized swap bodies
have to offer? Answers from Elmar Fünfer, Department Head
Technics/Technical Purchase at Dachser.
Reducing fuel costs and CO2 emissions is at the very top
of the agenda in logistics. What is Dachser’s approach?
We are relying on a whole series of innovations in our fleet that are aimed at reduc-
ing greenhouse emissions. We are making various modifications for this purpose,
ranging from the body to the paneling on the sides of the vehicle, stable side
tarpaulins, and fixed sidewalls. The planned use of the new swap bodies is another
building block.
What will make the new swap bodies especially streamlined?
Various aerodynamic characteristics play a role here. The new swap bodies also
have markedly slanted corner stanchions on their bulkheads. But most importantly,
the roof panels—like the walls—have a smooth, rather than corrugated finish. This
results in flat—and therefore turbulence-free—surfaces that significantly improve
the aerodynamics.
What do you expect from this?
We are going on the assumption that this additional measure will probably result in
an additional half percent in fuel savings. An optimized body alone, however, is just
half the battle. The space between the truck and the trailer plays the most important
role in aerodynamics. That’s why, at Dachser, it is designed to be as small as
possible. All in all, we are already achieving fuel savings of between one and one-
and-a-half percent from this measure.
FACE-TO-FACE
Rolling resistanceAncillary units
Aerodynamicdrag
Losses in the power train
Resistances of a semi
8%
45%
40%
7%
Research
LONG UNDERWATER CABLEWireless data networks—under
water? Nothing less than an
impossibility. Unless you’re a dolphin.
The progress of submarine communications
seems move down the proverbial pipeline at a
glacial pace. Submarines, for instance, have
to drag wires measuring several hundreds of
meters in length just to receive basic mes-
sages. “It is rather curious that, despite our
highly evolved state of technology, under
water we maintain silence—literally.” That
observation did not sit well with biologist and
evolutionary engineer Dr. Rudolf Bannasch
of the Technical University of Berlin. Then
the scientist struck a veritable gold mine in
the Black Sea. That was where Bannasch
realized that dolphins use acoustic signals to
coordinate their movements perfectly, even in
basins which generate countless echoes.
“Communications among dolphins do not
involve continuous tones—instead, they war-
ble, whistle, and tweet. That is the most im-
portant difference,” Bannasch determined.
The power of harmonicsBy constantly modulating the audio frequen-
cy of their vocalizations, the scientist avers,
dolphins prevent signals and echoes from
jamming each other. Other dolphins can
separate and decrypt these signals. “The
sounds generated by these animals have
harmonics with frequencies that are whole-
number multiples of the underlying tone,”
Bannasch explains. The same holds true for
digitally modulated signals, which make it
possible to transmit massive volumes of data.
Based on these insights, Bannasch and his
company, EvoLogics, developed an under-
water modem that takes its cues from the
delphine model. The modem can transmit
data under water at the rate of about 2,560
bytes per second—just about one-third as
much an ISDN line. And at a distance of two
kilometers! As a result, a wide range of appli-
cations are now possible, and not only for
submarines. This modem can reliably control
probes, submarine robots, and various other
devices and equipment for marine research,
environmental monitoring, and off-shore
industries (like the oil extraction industry and
wind farms)—even when contending with
powerful noise interference. In addition, it
is now possible to build entire underwater
data networks. That system is currently being
tested in the Indian Ocean.
OUTSTANDING CORPORATE IMAGE FILM
The “song of the dolphin” capturesresearcher’s attention
Cut!, the five-and-a-half minute corporate image film that portrays Dachser’s
global portfolio of services with a wink and a smile, earned the “Intermedia Gold
Award” at the WorldMediaFestival in Hamburg. The short is thus one of the top 14
from among the over 700 entrants submitted internationally. The deciding factors
included artistic creativity, technical quality, image and sound design, lucidness
of presentation, plausibility, and overall impression. “This prize represents a true team accomplishment,” explains
Birgit Kastner-Simon, Corporate Director, Corporate Marketing at Dachser. “Our film makes logistics both a tangible
and accessible experience for the audience. I am absolutely thrilled that the Festival jury acknowledged this
approach with a Gold Award.”
FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS
12 DACHSER magazine
ROAD POWER
Solar panels made of bullet-proof glass heat the road sys-
tem, turning it into a gigantic solar power plant: Is this
some kind of crackpot idea? Not in the least: Juli and
Scott Brusaw of Sagle, Idaho (USA) stand firmly behind
the concept. Their start-up—"Solar Roadways”—seeks
to have highly durable, hexagonal, honeycombed glass
slabs replace the dreaded asphalt that has been in use
for decades. LEDS also integrated into the multifunctional,
interactive pavement can light up—as needed—appearing
as street markings for pedestrians, bike routes, cross -
walk, or even parking spaces. According to the inven -
tors’ computations, one kilometer of the solar pavement
sur face would suffice to supply up to 1,000 households
with power. Because a portion of that energy could also
be used to heat roadways and sidewalks, rendering snow-
and black ice-related accidents things of the past! The
big question, though: who’s going to underwrite all this?
Simple: through the Internet, by anyone who warms up to
the vision of this “road work.” In June 2014, more than
USD 2.2 million had already been collected for the project
via Indiegogo, the crowd-funding platform.
Infrastructure
BOSPORUS SUPERLATIVESFaster, higher, farther: in the Turkish metropolis
of Istanbul, all signs are pointing to growth and record
levels. In transportation networks as well.
There’s a name associated with the superlatives: Istanbul Yeni
Havalimani. A new international airport is arising on the landscape
north of the metropolis. By the end of 2018, up to 150 million pas-
sengers are expected to pass through here every year. By comparison:
last year, Frankfurt International Airport hosted a mere 58 million
airline passengers. It’s no wonder that the Turkish media are already
touting the “biggest airport in the world.” In Turkey, growth is the
name of the game. If the government has its way, the country will
be among the ten largest national economies in the world by 2023. The
development of aviation underscores this aspiration. For example,
Minister of Transportation Lütfi Elvan recently estimated that back
in 2002, only 60 foreign destinations were serviced from Turkey;
today, that figure is already at 234. But the upward trend is not just
in the sky. Following nine years of construction, the “Marmaray” rail
tunnel opened up last year beneath the Bosporus Straits—becoming
the world’s first transcontinental tunnel. And Istanbul continues to
set new standards by commencing with an equally impressive encore:
its third bridge across the Bosporus. The 59-meter-wide, 1,408-
meter-long suspension bridge is slated to commence operations next
year and will connect Asia with Europe via two railway tracks and
eight lanes of vehicular traffic. At 322 meters, the bridge piers will be
among the tallest in the world. But even that’s not enough: an alter-
nate shipping route to the Bosporus Strait is also in the planning
phase. The Istanbul Canal—a canal roughly 50 kilometers long, 150
meter wide, and 25 meters deep—should help ease some of the traffic
in the Bosporus Straits starting in 2023. Just in time for the Republic’s
centennial anniversary. Feasibility studies are already underway,
according to media reports.
“power street” can also work as a gigantic display
Istanbul wants to keep on growing
DACHSER magazine 13
FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS
FORUM: ESSAY
14 DACHSER magazine
Armed with their formulas and theories, human beings thought for centuries that they had the world well under control. But today, many things no longer seem to fit into the classic logic chains, and this is precisely where the opportunities—as well as the risks—lie.
GRAPPLINGWITH CHAOS
Greek word “theory” can be translated as
both “observation” and “reflection.” Both
have a fundamental importance in cultural
history. From their observations and keen
reflections, human beings figured out how
individual things are connected. They un der-
stood that friction can generate fire and
that round stones can be used as wheels.
Step by step, the theoretical concepts became
ever more sophisticated, ultimately leading
to developments that range from the print -
ing press to space travel and cracking the
genetic code.
Technical progress then created the expec -
tation that everything could be explained in
formulas, enabling even the most highly
complex ideas to be easily understood.
People hoped that once complete know -
ledge of natural law was attained, it would
one day be possible to even predict the
future once the exact initial conditions have
been set. Until then, it should be possible to
start small—for example, with the weather.
Back in the 60s at MIT, the American mete-
orologist Edward Lorenz fed a model for
weather forecasts into a—back in those days
rare—mainframe computer and realized
that the computer spit out widely divergent
forecasts if even the slightest deviation was
slipped into the input data. Later on, Lorenz
illustrated this using the metaphor that
the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil could
set off a tornado in Texas. Applying the
“Butterfly Effect” to the sciences, this meansMinor causes, major effects: everything is interconnected
hWhen recalcitrant schoolchildren are
struggling through algebra or the peri-
odic tables, we like to drum the adage into
their heads that they are learning for life. But
the truth is, secretly, we would really often
rather play Goethe’s Mephistopheles, who
in Faust declares to a perplexed student:
“All theory, dear friend, is gray.” How-
ever: don’t things run very differ-
ently in real life than how the
models cooked up in the ivory
towers predict? The fact re-
mains that—whether in
one’s professional or one’s
personal life—everything
seems increasingly mud-
dled, and many things
are simply incomprehensi-
ble though hardly one bit
of information is more than a
couple of mouse clicks away.
And what is science doing? Detached from
reality, it is drifting and dreaming of elemen-
tary particles and sending robots to Mars.
What it is not doing is finding clear answers
to urgent questions like economic crises or
climate change.
Even inventing the wheel required abstract theoryAlthough these days, the situation some -
times seems pretty confused, but for a long
time, the theoreticians guided us through
the diversities of this world quite ably. The
DACHSER magazine 15
FORUM: ESSAY
He is considered to beone of the greatest geniuses who everlived: Albert Einstein(1879 – 1955). Duringhis entire career in science, he wassearching for a “theoryof everything.” TheNobel prize winner wasconvinced that theremust be an ultimateunifying theory ofeverything, a “worldformula” that wouldserve as the universalfoundation for physics.But he never found it.His theory of relativityand quantum mechan-ics just could not be squeezed into thesame box. But one realization by Einsteinis still valid today:“Pure logical thinkingcannot yield anyknowledge of the em-pirical world; all knowl-edge of reality startsfrom experience andends in it.”
hhEconomics
is the only science,
in which two people
can share a Nobel Prize
because their theories
disprove each other
Joseph E. Stiglitz, economist and Nobel laureate
Traffic researchers can
quote probabilities, but
they find it impossible to pinpoint ex-
actly when a vehicle changing lanes creates a
chain reaction that brings heavy traffic to a
standstill. By the same token, the economy
could also be deemed “chaotic”: in these
times of global supply chains, the ability of
economists to predict crises is hit-or-miss at
best. This same applies to Web 2.0, where an
impru dent tweet or Facebook post is some-
times ignored and sometimes unleashes a
torrent of indignation without any obvious
causali ty. Blaming scientists for not being
able to solve this complex issue is a con-
tentious exercise. But it would be absolutely
devastating to demonize the entire educa-
tional system. After all, it’s in the classrooms
and lecture halls where we at least become
aware of the theories that have mapped out
an abundance of interconnections. Exploring
them intensively is absolutely essential for
progress to occur. And it is just as important
to get used to the idea that there isn’t always
a simple solution. We should look at his real-
ization as an opportunity because complex -
ity also means there is still room for inno -
vation. S. Ermisch
that even if world events are nothing but a
sequence of cause-and-effect chains, it will
never be possible to map them completely
in a model. After all, not even the initial
conditions can be identified with adequate
precision.
Impenetrable chain reactionsAs a result of this discovery by Lorenz,
when things remain impenetrable because of
the wealth of potential reciprocal effects,
scientists also speak of “chaos.” In the day-
to-day logistics routine, for example, this
can be reflected on the autobahn—some-
times, a traffic jam happens “out of nowhere.”
Professor Julia Hartmann is a globally recognized authority and innovative thinker on sustainability in logistics
EXPERTISE: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
16 DACHSER magazine
When globalization and increasing division of labor set the pace for both the economy and society, sustainable practices become a necessity—particularly in logistics. Professor Julia Hartmann, faculty member of the Department of Strategy,Organization, & Leadership at the EBS Business School who teaches Sustainable Logistics & Supply Chain Management, speaks out on this topic.
h “Of course, I'm interested in the future,
for this is where I expect to spend
the rest of my life,” said Mark Twain, thus
encapsulating perhaps the most fundamental
of human concerns. What the American
author found so self-evident is all too often a
hurdle to the modern homo oeconomicus,
one he persistently fails to surmount—both
intellectually and strategically. Anyone who
still thinks sustainability is just a greenwash
on the corporate façade, writing it off as a
“deadweight loss,” is doomed to fall through
the gaps of an increasingly complex global-
ized society—a fact that becomes virtually
indisputable when we cast our view at supply
chains.
The complex supply and value chains range
from production to logistics to retail busi -
ness, and they are literally boundless, cross -
ing borders and leaping continents. Products
and services are directly connected to people’s
everyday lives, and, at the same time, produc-
tion, distribution, and consumption of these
choices have a major impact on misguided
SUSTAINABILITY:CREATING A ROADMAP FOR THE
FUTURE
developments on a global scale—particularly
with regard to climate-damaging greenhouse
gases. Considering the situation, the chal-
lenge lies in reorienting the entire value chain
and integrating sustainability into all of an
enterprise’s processes.
We see sustainability as three non-rigid sys-
tems that overlap and dovetail into each other:
the enterprise (economy), nature (ecology),
and human beings (society). Nature provides
the basic resources, such as water, air to
breathe, a livable climate, food, and raw ma-
terials. Human beings are actors who shape
their environment and who are, ultimately,
the core of every market—as part of produc-
tion and as consumers. Enterprises need all
of these elements in order to begin pursuing
their activities in the first place. In a complex
universe like this, only nature could manage
on its own. The two other parts—human
beings and enterprises—are inextricably
bound to a functioning triad and are there-
fore more or less forced to rely on sustained
collaboration among all three points. ‡
Sustainability isdoable—if everyonewants it. This is thefinding of a sustain -ability study by GS1 Germany: “Companiesactively foster sustain-able consumption bypromoting sustainableproduct properties in the manufacturingprocess, in applica-tions, and in consump-tion so that theirproduct offerings pro-vide the consumer with decision options.”
DACHSER magazine 17
EXPERTISE: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
EXPERTISE: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
18 DACHSER magazine
Transparency for the chain of custody Sustainable supply chain management re-
quires a particularly high degree of trans-
parency. In order to have a sustainable prod-
uct or service, you must ensure that non-
sustainable products or services are not in-
troduced into the supply and value chains.
This is where the chain of custody comes
in: it helps with certifying any point along
the supply chain where non-permitted com-
mingling might otherwise occur. For exam-
ple, this ensures that a sustainably produced
food product, such as organic chocolate,
may only contain palm oil derived from
established farmland, and not from farms
tainted by destruction of the rainforest.
Today, with its highly developed IT systems,
logistics can make a significant contribution
to transparency along the entire delivery
chain and facilitate document traceability
across the individual links of the chain. We
see time and again how logistics providers of-
ten bring more expertise to the table when it
comes to highly integrated logistics process-
es than even they realize, for example, when
their process and systems architecture en-
ables them to identify steps that do not add
value and shorten supply chains that have be-
come too long to gain economic, operational,
and ecological efficiency. Major global logis-
tics providers, such as Dachser, have designed
their services to be sustainable both in their
own interest and that of their customers. This
includes an entire bundle of tools and meas-
ures with extensive location and IT networks,
route optimization, efficient deployment of
means of transport, testing alternative drive
technologies, and broad-based knowledge
transfer among their employees.
Prof. Hartmann challenges companies:“Be open to new approaches”
Acting with Darwinian “logic” The misconception that sustainability and
growth are mutually exclusive is, regrett a-
bly, still widespread. So at this juncture,
it behooves us to take another look at
nature, which serves as an exemplary model
here—and for good reason. Indeed, evolu -
tion is ultimately the never-ending pursuit
of optimization. All natural systems are
designed to deliver constant improvement
and growth. Anything that is detrimental
to the eco-system is winnowed out. As
far as the bottom line is concerned, this
Darwinian “logic” works for enterprises as
well, except that non-sustainable business
practices can easily cause permanent ecolog-
ical and social harm. In a world that is based
ever more strongly on a division of labor,
I view logistics as having a special responsi-
bility because it serves a prominent inter -
face function along supply chains. As the
manufacturing enterprises retreat to their
core competencies and outsource perform-
ance in the delivery and value chain, it is
the logistics experts who are ultimately
in most immediate contact with all the
stakeholders and who can most directly
recognize the systemic effects—and any
misguided developments.
Prof. Dr. Julia Hartmann(née Wolf)
is Assistant Professor teaching
Sustainable Logistics & Supply
Chain Management in the Depart-
ment of Strategy, Organization
& Leadership at the EBS Business
School in Wiesbaden. Her research
focuses on the implementation
of sustainability strategies along
global value chains and in logistics.
PERSONAL FILE
DACHSER magazine 19
EXPERTISE: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Numbers that really countWhat really matters when designing sustain-
able services is to work with the right key
figures. For Dachser and its customers, for
example, the figures that are of greater
informative value are not the total CO2 or
nitrogen oxide emissions that the transna-
tional company produces worldwide, but
rather the emissions per shipment.
Thanks to this practice—which is customary
at Dachser—the logistics provider makes its
services to each of its customers and the
sustainability profile of its products both
traceable and measurable. Key figures and
certifications provide good, sound support in
the achievement of sustainability objectives,
however, only then if the findings also lead to
the correct conclusions. Certifications place
an especially singular focus on the processes
in the supply chain. So restricting yourself to
the question “where can something be done
better” will always lead you to a dead end if
the foundation of the process was flawed in
the first place. To optimize something that is
fundamentally flawed is not the solution. In-
stead, what matters is to confront a systemic
development gone wrong with an approach
that is fundamentally different. In this sce-
nario, certifications are not the be-all and
end-all, but “only” tools to be used in sustain-
able supply chain management.
A question of courage On the path to sustainability, therefore,
honesty is an essential, fundamental virtue.
Businesses that wish only to bask in the ap-
pearance of sustainability without doing any-
thing themselves to achieve it are doomed to
failure. Rather, they must be open to new
approaches, perhaps even a fundamentally
different perspective. Sustainable supply
chain management is therefore also a question
of having the courage to deliberately do
something completely different. In this re-
spect, an important part of sustainability is
proper risk management and the ability to
deal openly with possible weaknesses. What I
like at Dachser is precisely this honesty and
the concomitant responsible handling of the
value chain. The company goes public with its
sustainable innovations only once the solution
has been thought through 100 percent and its
implementation is reliably in place. This puts
the family-owned company in a position to
really take the next steps toward a future in
which you would want to spend a lifetime.
hhSustainable
supply chain
management requires
a particularly high degree
of transparency
Prof. Dr. Julia Hartmann,member of the faculty of the
Department of Strategy, Organization & Leadership at
the EBS Business School
Acting holistically
Sustainability is at the top of Dachser’s agenda.
Questions for Jens Müller, Head of Network
Management Organization.
Mr. Müller, sustainability is in. How important
is it at Dachser?
Our customers are increasingly interested in sustainable logistics. At Dachser,
however, sustainability is not just the “topic of the day,” but it has been an integral
part of its practices for many years and is firmly embedded in the values of this
family-owned company.
What does this mean for the company’s product portfolio?
Dachser does not offer any specific “green products,” but it takes a holistic
approach to sustainability that rests on three pillars: economy, ecology, and soci-
ety. Consolidation of various topics dealing with ecology is one of the focal points
of my division. At the operational level, the reduction of CO2 emissions, particu-
late matter, and noise pollution is crucially important. We achieve this by optimum
utilization of our line-haul services and management of flows of goods via Euro-
hubs, platforms, and combinations of direct lines as well as through IT-supported
planning of pick-up and delivery areas and a high rate of capacity utilization.
Where do you see additional technical potential, and what are you
currently working on?
Where sustainability is concerned, we’re not interested in spectacular stand-
alone measures and short-lived applause from the public, but in comprehensive
solutions. For example, in 2013, we developed a new tool for the calculation of
greenhouse gases. Thanks to our uniform IT system and the excellent data
provided by Domino, our transport management system, we are able to calculate
very precisely—and automatically—the actual greenhouse gases emitted by the
shipments we transport. Other examples are research that we are conducting
jointly with our suppliers related to mega-trucks, solar trailers, electrically
powered terminal tractors, hybrid technologies, and improved energy efficiency
in our real estate properties. This is all very exciting.
FACE-TO-FACE
EXPERTISE: CONTRACT LOGISTICS
Alexander Tonn has been the new Head of Contract Logistics at Dachser since July.He and his team develop custom solutions for customers and optimize their supplychains. In this interview, he shares his insights into volatile markets, interlinked offers,and a special relationship between the customer and the service provider.
Mr. Tonn, for your new assignment as Head
of the Contract Logistics Division at
Dachser, you bring extensive operational
experience to the table from your tenure as
Head of Contract Logistics and Freight
Forwarding in Memmigen. How will this
impact your transition to headquarters?
Alexander Tonn: I think all that experience
that I gathered in my many years of opera-
tional work in various capacities will be a
big advantage in my new cross-divisional
work in Contract Logistics. Especially be-
cause of the associated understanding of the
process. Hopefully, this understanding will
allow me to change my perspective in one
way or another, which in turn, ideally, could
stimulate new ideas for Contract Logistics.
Your responsibilities are multi-dimension-
al: markets are changing in ever shorter
cycles, and high volatility is demanding
ever more flexibility from market partici-
pants. What does that mean for logistics
service providers and what they offer?
Globalization and market volatility are in-
creasing, steadily and inexorably. In this cli-
mate, logistics always has to be guided by
customer needs. And in view of market
dynamics, this requires a great deal of flexi-
bility—in regard to staffing as well as avail-
ability of shipping and warehouse capacity.
Suitably high-performance IT systems are
needed as well. The challenge we face as
contract logistics providers is providing our
customers with custom-tailored solutions
THE KEY TO SUCCESS:
MUTUAL TRUST
One world, one com-pany, one network: further expansion andinternationalization of Contract Logisticsare an integral part ofDachser’s strategy. Accordingly, once solu-tions are developed,they are implementedin various countriesthroughout the world—using technology, systems, and inter-faces that are alwaysthe same.
20 DACHSER magazine
EXPERTISE: CONTRACT LOGISTICS
that are flexible and robust enough to re-
spond appropriately to market challenges.
Is there anything at all that Contract
Logistics can accomplish in this area?
It combines packages of services for opti-
mized added value along the supply chains—
for example, warehousing + shipping and
warehousing + value-added services.
That sounds like interlinked services ...
The network concept is key. Let’s take, for
example, warehousing combined with ship-
ping services. In Contract Logistics, we can
exploit the advantages of our overland
shipping network in Europe or our world-
wide air and sea freight network and can
contribute significantly to added value by
optimizing logistics processes in this way.
All this depends on IT systems, which have
to be interlinked on both the customer side
and the service provider side.
What does this IT interlinkage look like
in practice?
Electronic Data Interchange—EDI for
short—is the key to success. When it comes
to Electronic Data Interchange, Dachser
has always been in the vanguard, and EDI
has meanwhile become state-of-the-art at
customers’ businesses, too. This affects the
design of the overall business process land-
scape and the integration of service providers.
Above and beyond that, we can create appro-
priate interfaces with our customers and their
ERP systems through our own Dachser soft-
ware for warehouse management (Mikado),
transport management (Domino), and air &
sea freight management (Othello). These
management systems can clearly and effi-
ciently manage processes ranging from pro-
curement shipping, to warehousing, pro -
duction supply shipping and warehousing of
finished goods, down to the logistics of
distribution to the end customer.
In order to take on ever more varied tasks
along the supply chains, however, logistics
providers also have to be deeply integrated
in the processes of their customers. How
does this impact the customer-service
provider relationship?
Mutual trust is very important in contract
logistics, and a shared understanding of
processes is a basic requirement. It all comes
down to how open the customer is in regard
to its own processes. In our experience, this
openness grows with time and with the jobs
performed. We usually start on a certain basis
and then successively refine the collaboration
in the course of optimizing processes. This
way, the quality of contract logistics continu-
ally increases over time.
The integration of Contract Logistics into
the customers’ processes creates a special
kind of closeness. What does that mean
for Dachser employees?
Our employees in Contract Logistics always
have an especially intense emotional bond
with our customers and their products. We
notice that even in multi-user facilities where
several customers are served in parallel. Our
people are often as committed as if they
were the customer’s employees. That’s ex -
actly what we want: our goal is to provide
optimal service for the customer and to put
the customer’s interest first.
How do the customers respond?
Our customers perceive this intense relation-
ship in a positive way. Often, as time goes by,
this kind of intense collaboration stimu -
lates effective improvement processes. Once
again: the prerequisite for this is trust and
openness—on both sides. Then many things
can move right along.
hhMutual trust is very important in
contract logistics, and a shared understanding
of processes is a basic requirement
Alexander Tonn, Head of Contract Logistics
at Dachser
Alexander Tonn
is a native of Kempten, married
with two children. A business ad-
ministration graduate, Tonn started
at Dachser in 1999, initially in
Controlling. In 2003, he became the
Contract Logistics Manager for Eu-
ropean Logistics in Memmingen
and then in 2005, also took over
management of Freight Forwarding
there. Alexander Tonn has been
the Contract Logistics Manager at
the Head Office in Kempten since
July. In his spare time, the 41-year-
old likes to keep on the move—in
sports such as running and skiing,
for instance.
PERSONAL FILE
DACHSER magazine 21
EXPERTISE: VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
22 DACHSER magazine
Warehousing and shipping are not everything. Contract logistics also offers product and process-oriented services in all phases of the supply chain.These vary according to the needs of the individual customers.
VALUE- ADDED
SERVICES
DIY SHELF SERVICE Dachser offers the do-it-yourself industry all services needed at the point of sale.These services include restocking of goods,shelf maintenance, shelf reorganization, and promotional placements.
ASSORTMENT BOXES Greater variety on the same shelf space: Order-pickingof mixed boxes is a traditionally popular value-addedservice at warehouses. The mixed boxes are individually filled and shipped according to retail business specifications.
DACHSER magazine 23
EXPERTISE: VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
MANAGEMENT OF RETURNSSeamless in reverse direction, too: In the case of returns, Dachser also handles the entire process from the return shipment to inspection, processing, and restocking in the customer’s inventory.
SAMPLING Dachser employees draw random samples for quality assurance analyses. The number and frequency can be managed via the Warehouse Management Systembased on customer specifications.
ON-PACKS/MULTI-PACKS Value-added services for the end customer include, for example, picking liquor bottleswith a sleeving process to create double packs and furnishing liquor bottles with additional products.
ASSEMBLY OF DISPLAYSJust in time for the start of summer vacation:A cosmetics producer has stand-up displaysfor sun lotion built and stocked with productsat Dachser.
IN-HOUSE LOGISTICS Profit from the experience of professionals: If needed, Dachser organizes customers’ logistics in their own warehouses. The goal: better processes, greater efficiency.
The new facility is taking shape on a 70,000-
square-meter section of a former airbase.
The total investment is about EUR 25 mil-
lion. This site, which is conveniently situated
in close proximity to the A66 autobahn, will
replace the Offenbach facility in fall 2015.
“We’re pleased that a majority of our 160
employees in Offenbach will be following
us to Erlensee, 19 kilometers away. In the
medium term, we will be creating 40 new
positions,” says Branch Manager Mathias
Food Logistics
EUROPEAN HUB FOR FOODPRODUCTS IN ERLENSEE In the Hessian city of Erlensee (Main-
Kinzig District), Dachser is building
a European hub for food shipments
for its Food Logistics Division.
Oetter. The new construction includes a
two-bay, 8,500-square-meter transit terminal
refrigerated at +2 to +7 degrees Celsius. In a
second stage of expansion, the usable floor
space can be enlarged by an additional 3,000
square meters.
“With this new facility, we’re upgrading the
existing hub for German branches into a
European hub for cross-border food ship-
ments of all European Food Network part-
ners,” says Alfred Miller, Managing Director
of Dachser Food Logistics. In the future,
the new branch will serve not only as an
important hub for Dachser’s European Food
Logistics sites, but also as a core element
of the European Food Network, which was
founded by twelve partners in 2013.
In December of last year,
Dachser acquired the remaining
50 percent share of the joint
venture, MGI & Dachser, Inc.
Thomas Reuter, COO of Dachser Air & Sea
Logistics, explains the reasons for this step:
“This country of 50 million inhabitants,
with its highly productive economy and
high level of technological expertise, is one
of Germany’s most important economic
partners in East Asia.” Coinciding with the
change of name, Dachser Korea, headed by
Air & Sea Logistics
WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARYIN SOUTH KOREA
Dachser has been
operating in South Korea
as “Dachser Korea Inc.”
since July.
Managing Director Roman Müller, moved
into a new office in Seoul. Another office is
located in Busan, where Dachser handles sea
freight activities. At Incheon Airport in
Seoul, South Korea’s most important airport,
Dachser operates a warehouse for processing
air freight. A specialized team is also avail -
able there for physical handling of the air
freight. In addition, the logistics provider
also offers professional, specialized loading
(consolidation) of air freight pallets in a
separate warehouse on the airport grounds.
“We specifically want to expand our activities
in the Korean market, exploiting the logistics
connection with Greater China, the USA,
and Europe for the benefit of our customers,”
says Roman Müller, emphasizing the impor-
tance of South Korea as a business location.
Close relations with the EU: Seoul, the economic center of South Korea
24 DACHSER magazine
NETWORKEXPERTISE
NETWORK
+++ VCI EXTENDS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH
DACHSER +++ The German Chemical Industry Associa-
tion VCI has extended its purchasing cooperation agree-
ment with Dachser for two more years. The successful
partnership dates back to 2009. Since then, small to
medium-sized association members have been the
primary beneficiaries of groupage logistics services,
which are specially tailored to the requirements of their
branches of industry and also cover all of Europe.
“The chemical industry in Germany is characterized by
a dynamic small to medium-sized segment, which is
increasingly finding sales and procurement markets out-
side of Germany,” explains Michael Kriegel, Department
Head Dachser Chem-Logistics. “Thanks to our closely
interlinked network of 256 Dachser sites in 22 European
countries and our years of experience in the shipping
and warehousing of chemical products, we ensure that
logistics is providing seamless support to this inter -
nationalization process.” +++
+++ NEW FOOD LOGISTICS FACILITIES IN HUNGARY +++ Dachser
beefs up its European Food Logistics network. At the end of June, the family-
run company integrated Szerviz Sped, the Hungarian service provider, and launched operations
at the first of three Szerviz Sped branches. The other sites, Miskolc and Debrecen, will be included in the network in the
second half of the year. The two companies have been business partners since 2011. In the intervening period, it became
apparent that Szerviz Sped’s extensive network of branch offices in eastern Hungary and the network’s customer base—
which includes well-known names such as Pick and Sole Mizo (Bonafarm Group)—are an excellent fit with Dachser’s
strategic orientation. The goal of this integration is to safeguard and continue the growth trend of both companies and
to offer Hungarian customers better opportunities for network logistics in Europe. In addition, the intention is to upgrade
national performance characteristics—to a 24-hour transit time within Hungary, for example. +++
+++ MORE WAREHOUSE CAPACITY IN KOŠICE +++ Dachser Slovakia has doubled its warehouse capacity in Košice.
“This is our response to the increased demand for contract logistics solutions,” says Roman Stolicný, Managing Director
and member of the Managing Board of Dachser Slovakia. Košice has access to 30 direct truck routes that go from the
Lozorno Eurohub near Bratislava to 15 countries every day. The branch itself recently specialized in value-added services
such as assembly, labeling, co-packing, and much more. +++
+++ NEW OFFICE IN ST. LOUIS +++ Dachser
USA keeps growing in the Midwest. To assist
this growth, the logistics provider opened an
office at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
This site works closely with Dachser’s newly
opened office and warehouse in Chicago. This
should especially benefit customers in southern
Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. +++
Gateway Arch: St. Louis landmark
Safe handling of dangerous goods
DACHSER magazine 25
NETWORK: THE ROLE OF IT IN CONTRACT LOGISTICS
26 DACHSER magazine
EVERYTHING
IN FLUX
hNever before have so many goods been
transported from point A to point B.
The reason: the global economy—and there-
fore global trade—keeps growing and grow-
ing. The authors of the Oxford Economics
Global Connections Report put the global
gross domestic product at USD 78 trillion
in 2013 and trade volume at almost USD 19
trillion. Given the rapid pace of develop -
ment in Asia and the dire need for improved
infrastructure, they expect worldwide trade
in goods to quadruple by 2030. In Germany
alone, the Oxford Economics authors expect
exports to grow by four percent or more start-
ing in 2016. This also presents a challenge
for logistics: goods travel thousands of
kilometers along global supply and procure-
ment chains before they reach their destina-
tion—with different carriers for ocean, air,
and road transport and within a very narrow
window of time. The pace is set by just-
in-time or just-in-sequence deliveries, based
entirely on the customer’s needs.
“Logistics as practiced these days would be
unthinkable without intelligent IT. The
complexity and speed of supply chains ne-
cessitate high-performance systems,” says
Martin Poost, Department Head Contract
Logistics Operations at Dachser. For that
reason, Poost and his 18-person team work
closely with the experts from the IT Division.
In the preliminary stages, they make sure
they understand exactly what the customer
needs in the way of information chains, inter -
faces, and systems.
One system, many solutions A modular system of proprietary programs
allows customized solutions. For example,
in a case where a manufacturer stores its
production materials at a Dachser warehouse,
moves them to its own production facility
“just in time,” and then uses the Dachser
network to bring the finished product to
market all over the world. And Dachser’s
system does all that with dependable supe -
rior quality, maximum transparency, and
process reliability at each individual step of
the way. Mikado, the warehouse manage-
ment software, assists and manages all
Logistics without IT? Almost unimaginable these days!For its customers, Dachser relies on proprietary softwaresystems and design concepts geared to specific industries. This ensures process management solutionsthat are custom-tailored and always up to date.
Playing it safe withnumbers: in the flow ofdata, a high degree ofsecurity and availabilityare absolutely essen-tial. IT processes that are standardizedthroughout the com-pany and special parallel data process-ing centers take careof this at Dachser. IT employees—520 incentral and peripheraloffices—serve asDachser’s own compe-tence center for devel-opment and support.Beyond that, Dachser’sIT security team maintains state-of-the-art data security.
DACHSER magazine 27
NETWORK: THE ROLE OF IT IN CONTRACT LOGISTICS
processes in the warehouses. In addition, it
transmits all essential data regarding the
order, movement, and inventory to the EDI
Center for conversion and transmission to
the customer’s IT system. Domino, the ship-
ping software, is used for handling shipping
sequences on the road. In the area of air
and sea freight, Dachser is making increasing
use of Othello, shipping software that was
also developed in-house.
“Our programs have been refined over many
years. That’s why there’s such a high degree
of correlation between specific customer
needs and what our systems offer,” Poost
notes. “They are updated on a weekly basis so
that the closely interconnected systems are
state-of-the-art at all times and in all places
they’re used.” This makes it possible to ac-
commodate even very exacting customer
requests.
Industry-specific designs Since the logistics needs of an electronics
firm differ from those of a company in the
chemical industry for example, Poost and his
team work out customized contract logistics
plans in each case. Dachser’s IT specialists
organize the data flow with the utmost
precision and, where needed, also program
en tirely new solutions. Sometimes the IT
systems used by the customer need to be
adapted to the interfaces and programs of
the logistics service provider. “Our ideas have
to be capable of being smoothly integrated
into the customer’s existing IT infrastruc-
ture,” Martin Poost says, describing the chal-
lenge. “The first and last consideration
here,” states Poost, “is employees with the
best possible training. That’s the only way
we can continually upgrade our IT systems.”
“Because Dachser always uses the same
systems, we speak virtually one language
throughout the world. That makes the work
easier for companies and employees, because
they know the processes,” Poost explains.
The IT specialists are also especially focused
on the senders. Customers are directly con-
nected with the transport and warehouse
systems via web-based eLogistics applica-
tions so that they can conveniently manage
all interactive processes over the Internet.
For Martin Poost, the advantages are obvi-
ous: “This way, for example, they can deter-
mine freight costs online, place orders, and
use Tracking & Tracing to track shipments
everywhere in Europe and throughout the
world.” T. Strauss
hhThe complexity
and speed
of supply chains necessitate
high-performance systems
Martin Poost, Department Head Contract
Logistics Operations at Dachser
On-Packs: support for promotional campaigns in retail
NETWORK: FRANCE
28 DACHSER magazine
hLogistics is like a fine champagne:
awaiting you at the end of a “refined
and fully controlled course” is superb quality.
This encapsulates the sentiment at Louis
Roederer of Vezenay, a grand cru area in
the heart of the Champagne region. Among
premium wine growers, champagne revolves
around these things: choosing just the right
spot; cultivating and nurturing suitable grape
varieties; ensuring that experienced hands
administer a patient fermentation and aging
process; securing professional shipment to
dealers and restaurants; and, finally, serving
with supreme finesse for the utmost enjoy-
ment. Established in 1776, the family-owned
Roederer vineyards decided to distribute the
king of sparkling wines via the royal road of
logistics: Contract Logistics. Dachser France
and Louis Roederer have been closely colla-
borating since 2003 in regard to warehousing
and European supply chains for these excep-
tionally exquisite wines.
“To keep customers satisfied with such so-
phisticated products, the logistics provider
must offer the highest quality,” stressed
Vincent Hahn, Head of Sales and Contract
Logistics European Logistics Dachser
France. To guarantee this quality, Dachser
recently expanded its warehouse in Reims
(Marne department in the Champagne-
Ardenne region) specifically for the needs
of customers from the wine and spirits in-
dustry. “The wine and spirits business has
great strategic importance in France. We still
see plenty of development potential here,
which is why we are specifically focusing on
this industry,” Hahn continues.
For example, of the total 18,000 square me-
ters of inventory space at the new ware -
house, 6,000 square meters are temperature-
controlled for optimal warehousing of sensi-
tive champagne. In addition, the multi-user
warehouse guarantees a maximum degree of
efficiency. On top of standardized processes
and standardized IT systems, Dachser also
offers—with and for its customers—custom-
tailored warehousing designs. And not just
storage and cargo handling—not by a long
shot. In addition to these services, there are a
whole series of supplemental options, such
as packaging and cartoning, labeling, display
building, and assembly of sleeves for specials
and seasonal offerings in retail.
An elaborate safety system is standard when
dealing with valuable products like cham -
pagne and other fine wines. Such a system ‡
GETTING THINGS OFF THE GROUND IN A
BIG WAY”“
In France, Dachser is setting new benchmarks for the industry with its new locations and sophisticated distribution and contract logistics. And it’s proving to be popular—in the wine and spirits industry, for instance, with its challenging supply chains.
Fine spirits for retail
DACHSER magazine 29
NETWORK: FRANCE
includes, for example, comprehensive video
monitoring of the warehouse and standard
sprinkler systems in the warehouse areas. In
addition, there is special freight protection on
the road, with continuous traceability of the
goods as well as specified, secured truck rest
stations along the transportation routes.
Bucking the market trendthrough growthSuch services are closely interlinked with the
most recent development at Dachser France.
With new locations and sophisticated distri-
bution and contract logistics, the company
has recently experienced very positive deve-
lopment—contrary to market trends—and
has set the standard in the French market.
That market’s zero growth and the conside-
rable trade deficit of a low-export economy
had a serious impact not only on the logis -
tics industry. Yet following its complete
restructuring, Dachser France was able to
leverage this crisis, turning it into an oppor-
tunity, thus enabling it to respond effectively
to the elevated demand in both the export
and the domestic business at the start of
the year.
“For Dachser France, 2013 is of historic sig-
nificance: we met and exceeded our business
plan objectives. Carried by the strong perfor-
mance of the European Logistics business
with 8.3 percent sales increase, we were able
to increase total sales to EUR 526.5 million,”
emphasizes Frédéric Dumort, Managing
Director, European Logistics France &
Maghreb. Thanks to its closely interlinked,
standardized Dachser network and its inte-
grated IT systems, Dachser today possesses
the best set-up for groupage exports in the
French market. “With Cargoplus, we are
additionally offering groupage and complete
load freight solutions for the nations of the
Maghreb, East Europe, and the CIS states.
Last but not least, we are applying the exper-
tise of the entire corporation at Dachser
and its French team to expanding a portfolio
of contract logistics services that can inte -
grate and optimize the customer’s entire flow
of goods.”
Wine and spirits corporation Pernod took
advantage of this portfolio over eight years
ago and transferred its logistics to Dachser
France. In Santeny, 20 kilometers southeast
of Paris, the logistics provider later set up a
Value-added servicesare high on the bever-age logistics agenda.These services include, for example:quality control of thegoods when they arepicked up from thesupplier’s warehouse;product enhancementmeasures; sleeving(film-wrapping); and, repacking intonew boxes at theDachser warehouseprior to delivery to the regional retail market.
Teamwork wird im Verladehafen groß geschrieben
Specialized in the logistics of alcoholic beverages: the Dachser warehouse in Sateny
Contract Logistics expertise:Vincent Hahn (left) and Donovan Depraetere, Operation Logistics Manager
Perfect shipment tracking
NETWORK: FRANCE
30 DACHSER magazine
commensurately specialized warehouse,
thus ensuring an efficient supply chain ma-
nagement. Distribution for Pernod—whose
corporate brand includes such famous labels
as Ramazotti, Chivas Regal, Absolut Vodka,
and Ballantine’s, all under its one roof—leads
well beyond France and neighboring coun-
tries. Its reach extends all the way to the
Middle East, Africa, and the USA. Within
Paris and its environs, one feature unique to
Dachser France comes to the fore: the logis-
tics provider delivers goods on a daily basis
there, even in small quantities, to coffee
shops, hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs.
“If the cognac runs out at an elegant restau-
rant, it has often been the case that we make
the run for just a single bottle and replenish
the supply,” explains Vincent Hahn. Dachser
will even deliver special accessories and
supplies, like bar equipment and barware,
upon request.
Important Eurohub in Clermont-FerrandIn order to create synergies, Dachser France
acquired other customers from the wine and
spirits segment. The capacity of the ware-
house in Santeny was tripled last year pre -
cisely for this purpose—from the original
17,000 square meters to 52,000 square me-
ters. This way, the logistics provider can offer
customers individual, specific framework
conditions that are always consistent with
statutory mandates. These include hygieni-
cally impeccable food handling, adherence
to specified temperature controls on the
goods, and traceability of the batch/lot num-
bers. To satisfy the diverse specifications of
individual industries, Dachser combines
various warehousing systems such as pallet
shelves, modular racking systems, cantilever
racks—operated manually or automati -
cally—into a coherent overall solution.
As a basic principle, Dachser contract logis-
tics facilities are not isolated locations, but
instead are always linked to existing transit
terminal systems and the shipping network.
For customers like Brown Forman, Bacardi,
and Pernod, this combined portfolio of
services, with the opportunities of a global
network, plays a critical role. They can rely
on scheduled freight services and identical
services all over the world. Dachser’s third
Eurohub, which opened in the summer of
2011 in the French region of Combronde,
essentially set the pace. The hub, with its
7,000-square-meter transit terminal, is lo -
cated about 30 kilometers from Clermont-
Ferrand and serves as a central hub to which
all branches of the French network are con-
nected. Each day, around 80 trucks arrive
at the 98 loading bays. From Combronde,
the logistics provider transports the ship-
ments directly to the destination regions.
As a result, the drivers stop at nearly every
French branch office once every 24 hours. In
addition, there are scheduled daily freight
services linking France, Germany, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain,
and Portugal. There is also a new contract
logistics solution for the office furniture
segment: at the beginning of this year, a main
office furniture warehouse opened its gates
in Savigny-sur-Clairis, 120 kilometers south
of Paris. The 30,000 square meter space
offers enough room for roughly 35,000 pal-
lets or furniture containers (as the case may
be). Dachser’s area of responsibility extends
from picking and labeling to shipment
bundling and cross-docking.
Five million supplier orders per year“The internationalization of contract logis-
tics demands global structures along with
uniform systems and standards—in consult -
ing, training, knowledge management, and
most notably, information technology,” ex-
plains Vincent Hahn. “With Mikado, the
warehouse software system that we devel -
oped in-house, we already process in excess
of five million supplier orders worldwide,
and 30 million line items per year.” Mikado
is available in 13 languages, he added, and
is integrated into Domino—the transport
management system that was likewise devel -
oped in-house—and into Othello (Air &
Sea Logistics). According to Hahn: “This
facilitates seamless shipping and contract
logistics services that enable companies to
completely outsource the management of
their inventory and supply chain.” In the
relationship between customers and logistics
service providers, that means, “everyone does
what he or she can do best.” Vincent Hahn
is absolutely confident that Dachser can
truly accomplish great things in France
with contract logistics. And in the league of
champagne and fine wines, that is precisely
what is in demand. K. Fink
Santeny: The Story
The contract logistics facility in
Santeny (near Paris) was conceived
for Pernod, a client of Dachser
France, so that the customer could
outsource its logistics. Since 2009,
the facility has grown from 12,000
to 36,000 square meters. Today,
as part of its Contract Logistics
portfolio of services, Dachser France
is creating synergy for various
integrated commercial activities
of Pernod Ricard Europe, Pernod
Ricard USA, and Havanna Club
International.
IN BRIEF
hh International
contract logistics
demands global structures
as well as uniform systems and
standards
Vincent Hahn, Head of Sales and
Contract Logistics, European Logistics,
Dachser France
DACHSER magazine 31
NETWORK: FRANCE
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
32 DACHSER magazine
Mr. Simon, if an elementary school studentwere to ask you today, “What is logistics,anyway?” what would you say to him in reply?Bernhard Simon: I would tell him that he
experiences logistics whenever he opens the
refrigerator in the morning and takes out a
pre-packaged single serving of muesli—with
yogurt and cornflakes in separate plastic
compartments, nicely sealed with a printed
aluminum cover, and cooled just right. That’s
a case of logistics doing its job well!
Can supply chain management also be defined in such easy-to-understand terms?Prof. Michael ten Hompel: Logistics
means moving things intelligently. This in-
cludes goods and commodities, of course—
but also vehicles on the road. In the case of
supply chains, we're talking about manage-
ment of all logistics processes along the
supply chains, from the supplier to the con-
sumer. And all of that with the goal of using
networks efficiently to increase the benefit
for customers.
How is the role of logistics evolving as procurement and delivery chains becomeever more complex?B. Simon: In order to get that ready-to-eat
muesli we were talking about into the con-
sumer's refrigerator, very diverse suppliers
have to interact and various materials have
to be collected beforehand. Take production
and provision of the packaging, for instance.
Today, parts of this packaging come to the
muesli producer from manufacturing facili-
ties all over Europe. The same goes for dairy
products, which have to meet extremely
high quality and safety standards in regard
to their ingredients and processing. Every-
thing must come together at the right time,
in the right quantity, and with the right
quality. Designing complex processes that
meet these specifications and that are reli -
able and can be replicated at any time, using
suitable IT: that’s what increasingly charac-
terizes logistics today.
Prof. ten Hompel: Extensive information
logistics has long since been a part of this
design process because, after all, the com-
plexity of tasks is growing in many dimen-
sions at the same time. For example, there is
increasing structural complexity in the sys-
tems and networks and also increasing data
complexity. We’re talking about a thousand-
fold increase in data each decade.
But if the tasks along the supply chains continue to grow in complexity, won’t we be facing complete automation of all pro -cesses at some point in the future? Whereis this path leading?Prof. ten Hompel: After industrialization
and automation, we’re now facing the
prospect of machines becoming autonomous.
The “Internet of Things” is creating the basis
for this. In the age of the 4th industrial revo-
lution, things are not only starting to think,
but they’re also learning to communicate
with each other and act autonomously.
However, autonomous systems have to be
at least as clever as the systems they are re-
placing. So we have to develop systems that
can be integrated into existing systems and
can go one decisive, qualitative step further
as a result. Nothing else is acceptable. If a
self-driving transport vehicle comes into a
warehouse, for example, of course it has to
be able to identify the environment in which
hhWe always need
to design IT systems
in such a way that they also
suggest sensible logistics
decisions to those involved
Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel
BERNHARD SIMON MEETS...PROF. MICHAEL TEN HOMPEL
Moving things intelligently: Bernhard Simon and Prof. Michael ten Hompel of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML discuss the management of ever more complex purchasing and supply chains.
DACHSER magazine 33
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
it is located and has to connect with the sys-
tems available there, such as SAP. Otherwise
our systems will be unsuccessful.
What does this mean for IT in logistics?Prof. ten Hompel: Up until now, logisti-
cians have always looked to see what’s new
in IT and how we can use such innovations
for our tasks. In the future, logistics ought
to specify what the IT systems need to look
like. In other words: the leadership position
that we occupy in the designing of supply
chains is something that we will also have
to actively pursue in information logistics.
That is an essential part of supply chain
management.
B. Simon: To integrate information logis-
tics into the process architecture, we will
need to take actions that build trust between
customers and service providers. Before a
company shares its knowledge about its
own in-house processes with its logistics
provider, this knowledge must first be col-
lected, organized, and documented, and then
established as best practice. This way, as the
logistics provider and the company approach
the supply chains together, the logistics
provider can come to understand—as it
masters the entire supply chain—where the
Warehousing as part of the supplychain: the Fraunhofer Institute is
working on the warehouse of the future
principal benefit for the customer lies. Every
project—no matter how good it is—has a
long history, during which a great deal of
knowledge has accumulated from practical
experience.
Does this result in many designs for indi-vidual customers or, instead, higher-levelsupply chain management models thatbenefit as many customers as possible? Prof. ten Hompel: There is no point in
describing highly complex supply chains in
models that are designed for some specific
case and then would have to be remodeled
for the next job. On the contrary: we need
IT systems that provide the necessary flexi-
bility in the daily routine, allowing us to
quickly provide the necessary basic logistics
functions. Even when requirements change
from one day to the next. The object is to
apply the practical knowledge of our supply
chain managers in our systems and to avoid
expensive customizing orgies.
What role does practical knowledge play in exemplary, IT-guided supply chain man-agement?Prof. ten Hompel: Many supply chains
can no be longer guided solely by human
intuition. We need the assistance of IT sys-
tems. This assistance has to be given intelli-
gently while also making practical knowledge
available in a sensible way—after all, that’s
the most valuable thing that logistics service
providers possess.
B. Simon: In supply chain management,
interfaces are needed first and foremost. But
behind every interface is a human being—
and humans can make mistakes. There -
fore, we need systems that delineate supply
chain events according to clear rules that
docu ment these events and invite alternative
courses of action. Then the stakeholders can
use their practical knowledge to opt for
alternative actions as the situation dictates.
There are definitely spheres of activity where
well-trained specialists, with all their experi-
ence, can find solutions more quickly and
more effectively than IT systems—provided
that at the same time, they consistently
maintain the basic, system-guided process,
continue to back it up, and always guide
these individual processes back to the basic
process via control loops.
Prof. ten Hompel: However, this should
not result in IT itself being called into
question. It would be just as fatal to
depend completely on individual system ‡
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
34 DACHSER magazine
Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel
moved from electrical engineer-
ing to computer science, digital
measuring technology, and
medical technology, to the man-
agement of logistical systems,
and finally to the tenured pro-
fessorship holding the Chair
of Materials Handling and
Warehousing at the Technical
University of Dortmund. At the
same time, he is the Managing
Director of the Fraunhofer
Institute for Material Flow and
Logistics IML. In order to com-
bine logistics with software and
system technology, the 55-year-
old has most recently taken on
the job of Managing Director of
the Fraunhofer Institute for
Software and Systems Engi-
neering ISST within Fraunhofer-
Gesellschaft. Thus, he remains
true to his life motto: Nothing
good happens unless you do it!
Bernhard Simon
sees logistics as one of the most
important areas of application
for information technologies.
Through complex tasks such as
supply chain management and
contract logistics, the CEO
of Dachser always combines the
intelligence of IT systems with
the intelligence of the people
who use these systems. “That’s
the essence of brilliant logistical
service,” says Simon. “In the
future even more than today.”
PERSONAL DETAILS
parameters defined by IT experts, the Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs), and to be-
lieve that intelligent decisions could be made
that way—without taking stock of the con-
sequences. We always need to design IT
systems in such a way that they also suggest
sensible logistics decisions to those involved.
Human beings should not be completely
removed from the process. On the contrary.
Information has to be prepared for people
in such a way that they can make intelligent
decisions based on it.
B. Simon: Tasks have to be straightforward
and the results and consequences of your own
action need to be visible so that you can do a
good job and gain self-confidence. We expe-
rience this, for example, time and time again
when we launch IT systems. There would
be problems if we only trained people in the
jobs that are associated with new systems.
Because in our experience, activities are only
carried out well if we also point out which
data and which physical service has what
significance to the team.
Isn’t complexity already pre-programmedinto this? Prof. ten Hompel: In supply chain man-
agement, my name—probably more than
anyone else’s—is very closely associated with
automation and the Internet of Things.
However, I would be the last person to say
that we don’t need people anymore, or that
we ought to head in the direction of complete
automation of logistics. In the past, however,
in our search for ideal logistics, we did occa-
sionally neglect to scrutinize the role of
people. We always need to integrate people
intelligently, in their capacity as individual
human beings.
B. Simon: We get the best results when we
make the quality of our processes and their
management along the supply chains really
visible to people. But not everyone has to
master the entire system for this purpose.
That’s precisely what’s so great about logistics:
that it employs very different kinds of people.
It includes simple jobs that yield valu -
able results as well as sophisticated planning
activities that require commensurate further
education. All of these things together are
essential for corresponding achievements in
logistics. And hence for shared success.
In what direction are logistics and supplychain management heading?Prof. ten Hompel: It’s a great pleasure to
see the technological possibilities that are
available to us today and to see how we can
also employ them intelligently at reasonable
prices. When I talk with our colleagues at the
Institute about new technologies and their
application, I have the feeling that we will
also be able to implement everything that we
conceive of today. What is essential now is
to make practical use of the speed that is
possible.
B. Simon: We have so many technological
options and so many modules available. In
order to create something truly new and
shape the future of logistics, we have to
continually think outside of the box and
connect things together in a new and intelli-
gent way. Then we can also build up ex-
tremely responsive supply chains. However,
the imagination and inventiveness of creative
people is essential in order for that to happen.
hhWe get the best
results when
we make the quality of our
processes and their manage-
ment along the supply
chains really visible to people
Bernhard Simon
DACHSER magazine 35
GOOD NEWS
Because what was available on the radio got on their nerves,
even on short trips, Sebastian Mücke, Dangerous Goods Officer
at Dachser in Mannheim (right), and Simon Scheidweller, a
professional driver, decided to simply get on the air with their
own program. In their free time, they founded “Truckercast,”
Germany’s first podcast series by professional drivers for pro -
fessional drivers. “We want Truckercast to contribute to a better
understanding between passenger car drivers and truck drivers,
making the roads safer in the process,” says Mücke. It’s an
approach that is catching on: several thousand listeners tune
in to the Truckercast podcasts every two weeks.
TRUCKERCAST:TALK RADIO FOR DRIVERS