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EDITION 4/2014
THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENT LOGISTICSmagazine
Michael Schilling, Chief Operations Officer Road Logistics at Dachser
AIR & SEA GROWINGIN TANDEM WITHTHE MARKETS
FOOD LOGISTICS SMART MANAGEMENT OF PEAK ORDER PERIODS
THE TEAM FOR EUROPE’S STRONGEST GROUPAGE NETWORK
NETWORKENGINEERS
02 DACHSER magazine
NUMBERS THAT COUNT
is the load that one of today’s 20-foot
sea containers (TEU) can carry.
TRADE IN TRANSITIONIn the history of trade between Europe and Asia, the road to get from camel to container has been a long one. As the past teaches us: it’s not about how we open ourselves, but that we do so in the first place.
can be transported by the biggest
of the Triple-E-class ships that ply the
waters between Asia and Europe.
of cargo is about the maximum that a well-built camel can
carry—or slightly less if the road is long and the terrain rough.
Horses can carry 120 kilograms at best and domestic
donkeys not more than 100 kilograms.
10,000 kilometers is the length of the main route of the Silk Road from Xi’an to the Medi -
terranean. The first caravans bearing rolls of silk probably visited Rome
as early as 100 BCE, 1,300 years before Marco Polo began his travels.
would now be needed in order to traverse the Silk Road with the weight contained
in a single shipload on just one of today’s giant commercial freighters. This figure represents
about eight percent of the current population of the world’s camels.
21,750 kilograms18,000 containers
1,305,000 camels
80 days of trade between Asia and Europe
is transported on maritime routes.
The Silk Road began its decline
500 years ago, after Vasco da Gama
discovered a maritime route
to India. One of the largest
container ships on the
seas today is named the
“Marco Polo.”
95 percent are needed by the giant
Triple-E-class ships
for a round trip between
Asia and Europe (including
stopovers). But 2,000 years
ago, transporting silk and
porcelain from China could
have taken up to a decade
to reach Europe.
300 kilograms
DACHSER magazine 03
CONTENTS
04
16
20
28
TITLE STORY
Network Engineers: Master plan for intelligent European logistics 04
FORUM
People and Markets: 10Third brake light for greater traffic safety and sustainable development through education Essay: Bringing life into balance 14
EXPERTISE
Food Logistics: Holiday operations: intelligent management of peak order periods 16Careers in logistics: Warehouse Specialist 20Project-based shipping: Big moves in America 22
NETWORK
Network Expertise: News from the Dachser World 26Asia Pacific: Growing in tandem with new markets 28
BUSINESS LOUNGE
Motivation: Bernhard Simon in conversation with psychotherapist Dr. Thorsten Kienast 32
GOOD NEWS
Executive power: Fast-tracking a career 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: Christian Auchter, 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, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22–25, 26, 27,
28, 29, 30, 31), Marcus Vetter (pp. 1, 3, 4–9), Jörg Reuther (pp. 3, 16–19), Meena Kadri (p. 12), Horst Nilgen (pp. 20, 21), Michael Palm (p. 35) Illustration: Ralph Zimmermann
(pp. 32–34) Printer: Holzer Druck und Medien Druckerei und Zeitungsverlag GmbH, 88171 Weiler im Allgäu Print run: 40,000/55th 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.
TITLE STORY
04 DACHSER magazine
Everything according to plan: Armin Blaschek, Department Head Production
Systems, Reiner Pecher, Department Head Construction, and Thomas Schmalz,
Head of Production Management (l. to r.)
THE NETWORK
DACHSER magazine 05
TITLE STORY
Dachser is number one in the European groupage market because it has established the conditions to get there: a comprehensive network of shippingservices and branches together with forward-lookingand strategic network and capacity planning.
hA strong will makes the difference.
Michael Schilling, COO Road Logis-
tics, knows this first-hand. When he began
at Dachser in 1989, the family company had
4,000 employees and a small network in
Europe. “The Internal Logistics Depart-
ment, where I became a project employee,
was just being established. An optimistic,
pioneering spirit could be felt everywhere.
What we wanted was to develop and ‡
K ENGINEERS
TITLE STORY
06 DACHSER magazine
expand the European overland shipping net-
work,” Schilling remembers. “With every-
thing we had to do, we couldn’t hide behind
textbooks. What we needed was practical
knowledge, and we had to roll up our sleeves
and get things done.” Now, 25 years later,
Dachser has bridged the last gap in its Euro-
pean network with the acquisition of the
Spanish logistics provider Azkar, the leading
logistics company on the Iberian Peninsula.
“Over the last few decades, Dachser has
transformed itself from a regional, medium-
sized company to a global logistics provider,”
says Schilling. Earning a quick payoff is
not the goal. “Long-term business policies
are needed in order to put the company in a
solid position for the future.”
A significant pacemaker is a high-perfor-
mance European overland shipping net -
work. It is the responsibility of Thomas
Schmalz, Head of Production Manage -
ment, and Armin Blaschek, Department
Head Production Systems, to create mile-
stones for the entire operation from indi -
vidual mosaic tiles. They and their team work
at the Head Office Kempten to continually
optimize production systems and the net-
work of branch offices and transit ter -
minals. “What we want is to identify the
right locations for the network in order to
continue to improve the runtimes and the
efficiency of the entire system,” says Schmalz.
The objectives: de liver greater benefits to
the customer and constantly strive for qua -
lity and service.
Planning excellenceWhile network development is centrally
managed by the Dachser Head Office in
Kempten, when it comes to site development
and expansion measures—for example most
recently in Lyss—the responsible parties in
the individual states and regions are always
closely integrated into planning and imple-
mentation processes: “When planning and
developing the network, the network ex -
perts in Kempten work hand in hand with
the branch office and the country managers,”
explains Michael Schilling, COO Road Lo -
gistics at Dachser. This is part and parcel
of achieving operational and planning ex -
cellence in network management. Schilling
is convinced that “this is the only way to re-
alize the requisite high degree of quality,
service, and responsibility that will result in
additional growth and sustainable competi-
tiveness.”
Against this backdrop, Thomas Schmalz’s
unit manages around 20 network develop-
ment projects throughout Europe every
year. “And the scope and scale of the pro -
ject is different in each case,” Schmalz em-
phasizes, “from expanding a location by five
gates to strategic planning for a country
organization.”
Take Lyss, for instance. “We saw as early as
2008 that the branch office in Basel would
be reaching the limits of its capacity in the
following four to six years,” remembers Urs
Häner, Managing Director European Logis-
tics Switzerland. They realized very quickly
hhOnly operational and planning excellence
in network management makes it
possible to realize the requisite high degree of quality,
service, and responsibility
Michael Schilling, Dachser COO
Road Logistics
What we need is a new view of reality. We need to understandthat much is connectedthat we see as sepa-rate, that the invisibleties that bind things together are oftenmore important regard-ing what happens in the world than thethings themselves.
Frederic Vester (1925 – 2003),Systems Researcher
From planning to construction: the new Swiss branch office in Lyss
DACHSER magazine 07
THEMA: XXXXXXXXXX
that the Basel area did not have any suitable
properties for an expansion and that the per-
square-meter prices for industrial properties
were very high. “Because an expansion in
Basel was not in the cards, we considered
splitting the Basel branch office up,” Häner
remarks.
More than 100 parametersAt this point, the network engineers in
Kempten got into the game. It is their re-
sponsibility to ensure that the local and
regional needs of the country organizations
correlate with the requirements of the
complex and high-precision machine that
is Dachser’s European network. To do that,
they apply sophisticated IT tools and
methods. Using software that has been spe-
cially customized for Dachser needs, the
network experts routinely examine the
progress of the volumes processed by all
locations in the overland transport net -
work. “We can analyze more than 100 pa-
rameters,” explains Armin Blaschek. “This
enables us to get down to the nitty gritty.
As we recently did in Lyss, we incorporate
all the relevant variables—such as trans -
port infrastructure in Switzerland, the fleet
capacity there, and the shipment information
over a representative period of time—into
the decision-making process,” says Blaschek.
“This way we can keep an eye on all the
locations. We are constantly examining if we
are on the right path and in line with our
overall strategy,” Thomas Schmalz empha-
sizes. “This also gives us the flexibility to
decide whether we need to step on the gas
or ease off the accelerator, depending on the
economy.” Planning therefore does not be-
come an end in itself; it can be adjusted at
any time to the markets and current demand.
“It is our goal to turn location advantages
into network advantages,” stresses Schmalz.
To achieve this, the network engineers in
Kempten use conclusive simulations to ‡
Site and volume analyses ...
... result in a carefully planned network expansion.
Armin Blaschek’s (r.) team: Stefanie Südbeck,Florian Zizler, and Andreas Liebl (l. to r.)
TITLE STORY
08 DACHSER magazine
Dachser Road Logistics – a power network for Europe
“Know-how and network and system
expertise are the ‘door openers’ for
inte grated logistics.” And on the way to
the goal, the seamless network in
Europe that grew continually and con -
sistently has tremendous meaning for
Michael Schilling, COO Road Logistics
at Dachser. Schilling sees the expansion
of system and charter transport marked
by major milestones. The ’90s saw
organic growth in Eastern Europe and,
after the acquisition of Graveleau,
the integration of locations in France
and in the Maghreb. On the Iberian
Peninsula, the network was signifi -
cantly strengthened by the acquisition
of Azkar in 2013.
Today, Dachser’s European Logistics
network has 256 own locations in 22
countries as well as 68 partner locations
in 14 additional countries. The pan-
European over land transport connec-
tions encompass 36 countries and en-
sure seamless service for Europe,
North Africa, and parts of the Middle
East. The Food Logistics business unit
services 29 countries through around
140 locations.
INFO
DACHSER magazine 09
TITLE STORY
determine how changes in individual mech-
anisms affect the entire network: “To put it
simply, we pour tonnage into the system
and the square-meter figures pop out at the
bottom,” says Armin Blaschek with a wink.
Of course, there is more behind it. Because
Dachser can simulate the volume increases in
individual regions and allocate them geo-
graphically, it is even possible to integrate
future volumes into the planning process.
“Hence, we can make our network manage-
ment proactive and forward-looking. Loca-
tion selection, cost estimates, and calculat -
ing the specs for the new branch office are
the cornerstones of our expertise that comes
from broad-based experience. Our planning
horizon extends as far as seven years out,” re-
veals Thomas Schmalz. Basically, future
expanded capacity is taken into consider a -
tion today in order to be able to deal with
the volume increases of tomorrow.
“In Lyss, we found a site that is only a stone’s
throw away from the optimum location
based on the numbers,” says Armin Blaschek.
In further analysis, the specialists then used
IT methods to check every potential site in
the future service area of the transit ter mi -
nal. “We are not just taking the distance as
the crow flies into consideration,” emphasizes
Blaschek. “The calculations take topo -
graphical features and language borders in
account, which are particularly relevant for
the Swiss Alps.”
Keeping an eye on all the detailsAll of these calculations and scenarios ulti-
mately provide the COO Road and the
country manager with a precise foundation
for decisions on further development of sites
and country organizations. Once they give
it their go-ahead, implementation begins
immediately. Construction & Real Estate,
headed by Thomas Hörmann (see also
DACHSER magazine 1/2012), then puts
the strategy into action jointly with the coun-
try organization and the network engineers.
A staff consisting of experienced architects,
real estate experts, and service technicians
integrates every imaginable operational de -
tail into the construction concept. “These
include transport connections as well as a
sufficient number of holding slots for trucks
and storage areas for swap bodies and semi-
trailers,” explains Reiner Pecher, Depart -
ment Head Construction. Special features
at the new branch office—for example, sound
insulation or the option to supply the fa cil -
ity with energy from solar power—are just
as relevant, of course.
“We monitor the project from A to Z—
from the construction phase and beyond its
completion,” Schmalz stresses. This ensures
that the implementation of the plans always
remains close to day-to-day business and
the operational possibilities and require-
ments. “As soon as any problems arise, for
example with the sound insulation, we are
on board and are supporting the project
with our expertise and our planning options,”
confirms Schmalz.
The transit terminal in Lyss began opera-
tions in September 2014. Managing Direc -
tor Urs Häner is very pleased with how the
project went: “Dachser has a great deal of
experience with the construction of new
branch offices. The entire process, right up
to completion in August, went off without
a hitch in just eight months.” Both the team
from the Dachser Head Office and the
seasoned core crew from the Birsfelden
branch office provided energetic support in
the initial phase. Urs Häner is delighted
that Dachser now has ten branch offices in
Switzerland’s most important commercial
centers.
“The beneficiaries are the customers—not
just in the region, but throughout the entire
Dachser network,” Armin Blaschek empha-
sizes. After all, as a result of the growing
network, ultimately, freight distribution
services become faster, resulting in “all the
positive effects on reliability and capacity of
the European transport network, including
optimized fuel consumption and a more
balanced carbon footprint,” says Blaschek
and continues, “The expansion, by itself
merely a mosaic tile, becomes a real mile-
stone for the entire network.” M. Schick
Superbly positioned
The Swiss logistics market is growing. Urs Häner,
Managing Director European Logistics Switzerland,
talks about new perspectives from the heart of Europe.
How has the Swiss logistics market been developing
most recently?
As a result of the weak euro in recent months, imports have been doing very
well. In contrast, however, exports—apart from watches and clocks and
pharmaceuticals—have had an uphill battle due to the strong Swiss franc. It is
very gratifying that the domestic market is and will remain the backbone of
the economy. Dachser is superbly positioned on the Continent and overseas.
What does Dachser do in Switzerland?
Our core business consists of domestic and European groupage transport as
well as intercontinental air and sea transport.
What customer benefits were you primarily aiming for with the
network expansion in the Canton of Bern?
With the new location in Lyss, we have shortened delivery times throughout
Europe by 24 hours. This also applies to parts of Western Switzerland, namely
the Cantons of Neuenburg and Fribourg. As a result, we can be more flexible
with regard to customers’ requirements. Short-distance transport has also
become more efficient as we are racking up fewer kilometers. Being a more
sustainable operation is something that customers value.
FACE-TO-FACE
RE
SP
ON
SIB
ILIT
Y
PROMISINGKNOWLEDGE
Puja, the young computer instructor, considers education
her gateway to opportunity
FORUM
10 DACHSER magazine
hPuja is 18. She lives with her parents
and four siblings in Chhitauni, a tiny
village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Here
in the countryside, the prospects for girls in
particular are anything but rosy. The staff of
the "Education to Sustainability” project,
administered by relief organizations HWA
and PACE in a total of 136 villages and
hamlets in the districts of Varanasi and
Sitapur, succeeded in convincing Puja’s par-
ents that a good education is important for
girls, too. Once her father gave his consent,
she enrolled in and completed a free com-
puter course at the Swawlambam Training
Centre. With great success. Puja has since
been working as a computer instructor at a
private school. “Now I can finally help sup-
port my family and prove that it was good
for me to take the course!“
Better training and education“Education to Sustainability” is the name
of the aid project in India that Dachser has
supported and promoted in Uttar Pradesh,
jointly with aid organization terre des homes,
since 2005. “Our goal is to provide children
with better education and training and con-
tribute to environmental preservation and
sustainable agriculture,“ explains Dachser
CEO Bernhard Simon. Girls and women, in
Some facts & figures on the Dachser aid project with terre des hommes
Among other milestones reached in 2013 –14:
490 children were enrolled in the project’s unofficial education centers
6 education centers for 150 children, primarily girls,
were additionally established
329 youths were recently enrolled at the training centers
237 youths received training/were trained at summer camps
26 biogas plants were installed
1,380 trees were planted
AID THAT IS EFFECTIVE
particular, are especially disadvantaged in
India, he noted, and often have no opportu-
nity to earn a diploma and receive training.
So far, thanks to the aid project alone,
more than 11,000 children have been able
to attend a school. “Between 2005 and
2015, Dachser will have invested around
EUR 900,000 in the project region,” Simon
added.
Sustainable developmentIn addition to education and training,
sustainable development of agriculture has
played an important role in the project.
Mamata Devi is a 38-year-old farmer from
Ghughari village. Since 2008, she has been
part of a self-help group that was founded
under the project. “Before this, our family
was extremely poor,” she reports. “We had to
take out expensive loans in order to buy
seed.”That has fundamentally changed. The
self-help group supports her with small,
affordable loans; in addition, there was also
training on sustainable farming methods.
Today, Mamata can plant high-value vegeta-
bles and sell them in the marketplace. Of
at least equal importance for her is that she
is able to pass on her knowledge to younger
women and, as a result, has garnered tremen-
dous respect within the village community.
Dachser, working jointly with terre des hommes, the international children’s charity, has been helpingpeople to help themselves in India’s Uttar Pradesh region since 2005. And with ongoing success.
DACHSER magazine 11
FORUM
In the Indian metropolis Mumbai, food carriers perform a logistical
masterpiece every day—and all without the aid of technology.
The last mile
THE (ALMOST) HUNDRED-PERCENTERS
Dabbawallahs are simply incredible.
According Forbes Global Magazine,
the food carriers in the Indian metropo-
lis of Mumbai, which has population
of millions, make only one error per 16
million potential delivery drops. With
99.999999 percent reliability, the 5,000
lunch box logisticians meet the highest
quality requirements. Incidentally, not
one computer and almost zero techno -
logy is involved—which would make
almost no sense anyway because most
Dabbawallahs can neither read nor
write.
These workers transport the roughly
300,000 food containers every day from
their subscribers’ homes (where the fam-
ilies prepare them) to their workplaces—
via train, on bike, or on foot—and all
without the benefit of IT. An ingenious
coding system that includes colors, sym-
bols, and numbers is used to mark the
boxes (or ”tiffins”) when the Dabbawal-
lah collects them from the dispatching
home. A network of interim stations pro-
vides for orderly sorting and punc tual
forwarding. Professor Coimbatore K.
Prahalad of the University of Michigan,
sees a “model system of simplicity in
management and organization” in this
logistic phenomenon. Ever since, major
multinational concerns—such as Audi,
Satayam Computer System, and the
UK-based Virgin Group—have repeat-
edly dispatched their own complexity
researchers to Mumbai to enable these
experts to gain an understanding of the
Dabbawallah system.
The secret of their reliability, as Dutch
business & finance journal Works ThatWork sees it, can be found in an
eminently close interrelationship of all
persons involved, and under extremely
flat hierarchies. “The Dabbawallahs’
success is based on one simple, humble
approach,” the magazine determined.
“Teamwork always takes precedence
there over personal performance.” And
the math certainly adds up. The Dabba -
wallahs’ business is booming. Demand
is expected to rise by five to ten percent
each year.
FROM 0 TO 100Traffic lights: to some, they are a
constant annoyance; to others,
the only blessing amidst a chaos
of city traffic. This year, they turn
100. In August 1914, the first
electric traffic light went into ope-
ration in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It
had been preceded by a number
of attempts to steer city traffic
down a more rational path. Take
London’s Parliament Square, for
instance: signal arms brought
the flood of vehicles, horses, and
pedestrians to heed the rules of
orderly traffic flow during the day,
while gas lanterns took over
this task at night. The colors of
traffic lights—or “stoplights”—
came into play for the first time
in New York and Detroit in 1920.
The color choice was inspired by
the signal colors used on railro-
ads, which at the end of the 19th
century used red for “stop,” green
for “approach with caution,” and
white for “all clear." Today, traffic
lights stand for more than light
signals—they can also “think,”
too. The “green wave” for exam-
ple, delivers an optimal, compu-
ter-controlled flow of traffic. And
researchers are already testing
out new streetlights that “talk”
to truck engines and drives via
WLAN—so that these vehicles
can be conducted through cities
at optimal speeds and with the
maximum potential gas savings.
Innovations have been clearly
given “the green light” to go
ahead.
One hundred years of the traffic signal gets the green light
IN BRIEF
New record for trainees and interns:
at the beginning of the school year, 589 trainees
and interns began working in an extraordinarily
promising industry of the future. Enrollment
has broken all records. Joining their ranks
are 45 professional drivers.
FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS
12 DACHSER magazine
DACHSER magazine won the Gold Fox Award. The
jury judging the competition for efficiency in Corporate
Publishing honored the magazine’s editorial design,
linguistic craftsmanship, and the associated unique
content it provides for further exploration. In few other
industries have responsibility and customer contact
been so broadly delegated across so many levels as in
the transport sector. “This magazine ties these aspects together at the vari-
ous levels,” according to the jury evaluation. The gold award honors “a media
concept that demonstrates an above-average efficiency performance in all cri-
teria, and can therefore be considered an inspiring role model in its category.”
Traffic safety
SEEING THRICE IS NICE:A THIRD BRAKE LIGHT
IFS Logistics 2.1
ON THE ROAD AT A “HIGHERLEVEL”
The risk of rear impact collisions
is particularly high during the
darker fall and winter months. To
increase traffic safety particularly
at this time of the year, Dachser
is testing the use of an additional
(third) rear brake light.
Dachser Food Logistics ensures
logistics quality that conforms to the
latest IFS Logistics Standard.
Foodstuffs are sensitive goods; accordingly,
the logistics they involve are equally demand-
ing across the entire supply chain. The IFS
Logistics Standard was established in 2007
to ensure reliable quality in the storage, pack-
aging, loading, unloading, and transport of
foodstuffs and non-food products.
Today, IFS Logistics is a leading standard in
the certification of shipping, storage, and
distribution activities, regardless of whether
the products are packaged or unpackaged,
temperature-controlled or not, or transport -
ed by ship, airplane, railroad, or truck. This
standard, together with its recent revision
per the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)
Guidance Document, now enjoys global
recognition as well.
In 2014, Dachser Food Logistics, as one of
the first logistics providers, passed the au-
dits—based on the current Version 2.1—with
flying colors, earning a score above 99%. “This
is further testament to the quality that our
customers have come to appreciate from
Dachser, validated independently in a more or
less official way,” extolls Christian Pflüger,
Head of Quality Management at Dachser
Food Logistics. He emphasizes that Dachser
did not achieve this “higher level” for the sake
of a certificate, though: “For us, quality has to
be right every day.”
From now on, Dachser will have to prove that
this assertion remains equally valid in the
future, under much tougher conditions. The
“Multi-Site Certification” option, which was
established with the new Version, means that
unannounced visits by the external auditor
must be allowed at any time. Pflüger: “We have
nothing to fear from surprise audits. What
better way is there to demonstrate consistent-
ly superior quality to the outside world?”
GOLD FOR EFFICIENCY
“We voluntarily started to equip select -
ed units with a third brake light on the
roof edge,” explains Elmar Fünfer, De-
partment Head Technology/Technical
Purchase at Dachser. “This represents
another element in the panoply of safety
components already installed.” By con-
tinuously renewing the company’s fleet
of trailers, state-of-the-art units are
constantly available. Furthermore, for
this failsafe fleet of trailers, additional
brake lights are being mounted on the
top center of the rear panel. “We also
have trucks with fixed bodies for short
distance traffic equipped with an addi-
tional, third brake light. In view of the
increasingly high density of traffic on
all roads, and especially in inner-city
traffic, we want to ensure that drivers
see when the brakes of our vehicles are
applied as promptly as possible, to coun-
teract the potential for rear-end collisions
at stoplights and traffic jams, for exam-
ple,” the department head emphasized.
Whether the third brake light will
soon be part of the basic equipment for
new vehicles in the future is something
that still has to be decided by lawmakers.
Elmar Fünfer is already convinced:
“No matter what: this safety equipment
will contribute to traffic safety.”
DACHSER magazine 13
FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS
Order is half the battle—so they say. Actually, its significance for humankind is much greater.
EVERYTHING
IN ORDER? Everything previously encountered is sup-
posed to be put in perfect order so that
people can identify it and use it for their
own purposes.
Under these circumstances, perceived cer-
tainties sometimes have to be tossed over-
board. Plato, for example, no longer saw
gods in the stars, but just rocks. In his
cosmology, the entire universe could be un-
derstood through its building block struc-
ture—from the basic elements earth, fire,
water, and air to mathematical principles,
such as lines, surface area, and numbers, to
the orbits of the planets. Even the cosmos
of ideas could be arranged in a proper order.
Aristotle was even more precise in his
Physics: in his cosmos, Earth was the center
of a cohesive world order that reached as
far as the fixed stars in the sky, with nothing
existing outside of it. What held it together
was motion, emergence, and dissolution.
Don’t let it drive you crazySince that time, the attempt to understand
the world within a higher order has been
on the agenda of scholars and scientists time
and again. As historian Golo Mann noted,
“contentment with order” is hardly con -
ceivable without “the desire to break it”; for
this reason, the reflections of skeptical con-
temporaries all too often led to damnation,
an insane asylum, or even to being burned
at the stake. Nevertheless, universal scholars,
such as Leonardo da Vinci, Goethe, and
the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt,
never grew tired of embracing the big pic -
ture and investigating its principles of order.
hGetting one’s bearings in the infinite
reach of the stars does have its pit -
falls. The Greek philosopher and astronomer
Thales of Miletus made that discovery
once, long ago. While gazing up at the sky,
he failed to notice a water well in front of
him and fell in— very much to the
amusement of a Thracian maiden.
“Why are you trying to find out
what is in the sky when you don’t
even know what’s in front of
you,” she reportedly scoffed,
thereby showing herself to be the
true philosopher in the end. Com-
menting on this same subject to -
day, the Swiss thinker and professor
Anton Hügli notes that “for people
who love order, there is nothing
worse than stumbling over what
doesn’t fit into their orderly world
and isn’t foreseen in it: what’s uncon-
ventional, offensive, paradoxical. In
other words, the holes, the water
well—and the laughter following their
downward plunge, coming not just from
Thracian maidens.”
The dilemma of Thales of Miletus
was and is a typical symptom of
all those who are trying to get
their bearings in an ever more
complex world and want to
identify a reasonably firm
framework for it: scientists,
philosophers, artists, and
engineers of later times. To
this end, they fix their gaze on
nothing less than the entire picture.
FORUM: ESSAY
14 DACHSER magazine
Chaos and order: a contradiction? Not in intelligent logistics.In warehousing, achaotic warehousingsystem exploits theadvantages of flexiblespace assignment.Specific products arenot assigned to any setwarehouse locationsor coordinates; in-stead, with the help ofIT, they are allocated tostorage locations thathave just been freedup. A chaotic ware-housing system there-fore helps keep thewarehouse filled to a high degree and opti-mizes driving routes.By contrast, in a fixedwarehousing system,the products havefirmly assigned stor-age locations.
and sirens determined the rhythm of work
in the age of industrialization. Hour and
minute hands became the timekeepers of
doings and dealings, coupling everyday life
with predictability and reliability. And that
occurred throughout the world in “real time”
and, today, according to the beat dictated by
digitalization.
So, while order always goes hand in hand
with a very concrete experience of time, it
is also simultaneously always an adversary
of freedom. At least Albert
Einstein saw it that way:
“Only the stupid need
order; genius masters
chaos.” M. Schick
Fortunately, the search for an overarching
order does not just have a subversive dimen-
sion. It was and is considered a virtue, too,
that makes our everyday life easier. “Love
of order and cleanliness is not an expression
of great generosity; it is not a heroic virtue
that people only have to exercise occasion -
ally and rarely because the occasion for this
only arises sometimes or seldom. It is an
ordinary virtue that can and, thus, also must
be exercised every day and every hour,”
decreed “The Christian Family Temple” in
1839. Therefore, tidying up one’s desk can
in no way be understood as a heroic deed.
Everything a question of timeWithout a doubt, love of order is a “soft skill”
that has what it takes to make life and co-
existence with others easier. However, cor -
responding “hardware” is also absolutely
necessary for this—first and foremost, in-
struments that measure time. As early as
1300, the first public mechanical clock was
installed in Paris. With this development,
the natural division of time, which had been
determined by the length of day and night
for as long as humans could remember, was
superceded by hours of consistent length.
More than 500 years later, time clocks, bells,
hhThe key to
any sound order
is a wastepaper basket
Kurt Tucholsky
Thinking in systems is the best means of
achieving order
DACHSER magazine 15
FORUM: ESSAY
CHRISTM
Thumbs up for the holidays: the chocolate Santas are all set to go
EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS
16 DACHSER magazine
Seasonal merchandise presents logistics experts with special challenges. Each cog must fit its counterpart seamlessly months ahead of time so that customers never encounter an emptyshelf during the holidays.
h It’s the same every year: summer is
almost over, outside it’s still 30 degrees
(Celsius), but the gingerbread, chocolate
domino cookies, and spiced Spekulatiuscookies on the shelves of supermarkets are
already heralding a Christmas holiday that
is barely on the horizon. It seems that every
year Santa Claus and Co. are in the stores
earlier and earlier. Some—their disposition
still trained on summer—find the pre-
Yuletide mood annoying.
Indeed, that annoyance has boiled to the
surface, and this year there were calls for
legislators to define the earliest date when
sales of Christmas products could begin. A
representative survey conducted in Germany
revealed that almost every third resident
approved of this idea.
“Poppycock!” says Robert Mittermeier,
Branch Manager at the Dachser Logistics
Center in Langenau bei Ulm, denying that
the Christmas goodies arrive at stores earlier
and earlier each year; people just perceive
it that way. And he should know. After all,
customers distribute plenty of Christmas
merchandise for retail stores through the
MAS—ALL YEAR LONG
Langenau warehouse—about the same time
each year. “Ever since I’ve been dealing
with gingerbread, the delivery date hasn’t
changed. The season begins in late August
to early September,” Mittermeier counters
in response to speculations that the Christ-
mas season keeps starting earlier every year.
No Mid-Summer Christmas The pre-Christmas season doesn’t begin in
Langenau until the temperature starts to
cool down. “Christmas confectionery is
temperature-sensitive for the most part,
which is why we need an uninterrupted
refrigerated chain for shipping. Lower tem-
peratures make handling easier for retail
because there is usually no interim storage
between delivery to the retailer and presenta-
tion to the shopper,” says Joachim Härtner,
Food Freight Forwarding Manager in Lan-
genau. This is another reason why Christmas
in the hot summer months would not work.
Nevertheless, one motto still applies at
Langenau: “After Christmas is before Christ-
mas.” Storage of merchandise for next season
begins in the early part of the year. Due ‡
DACHSER magazine 17
EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS
Order picking for sales promotions
Full shelves in Langenau
to availability of the right kind of tempera-
ture control, long storage is not a problem.
“Planning for deliveries starts in March,”
says Rita Stobbe, Warehouse Operations
Manager in Langenau. When things get
hectic, there must be a smoothly functioning
and motivated team, storage space, equip-
ment, and adequate freight space. That’s a
very tall order.
“We need as many as 40 additional trucks for
Christmas deliveries,” says Härtner, pointing
out the challenge that he and his colleagues
face every year. But face it they do with a
liberal dose of creativity after having com-
pleted inten sive preparations. To get these
trucks out on time at peak periods, agree-
ments have to be made with contracted
carriers. “Most of our delivery capacity has
been contracted way ahead of time. The
rest will be acquired on the market at short
notice,” says Härtner.
At Langenau’s warehouse and transit ter -
minal, the 300 employees work in two- or
three-shift operations that keep things mov-
ing, just to ensure that the kids don’t have
to wait for their chocolate Santas to arrive. If
things get tight, the “Christmas warehouses”
in Langenau, Nuremberg, and Memmingen
help each other out. “During the holiday
season, the warehouses work together closely
and help each other out if one of them has
a bottleneck,” Mittermeier explains. There
are also seasonal employees to help out with
the piles of goods during peak times. This
way, short-term orders can be readily com-
pleted. “We sometimes deliver 1,500 pallets
more per day in the holiday season.” Rita
Stobbe speaks from experience. Often a re-
tailer or a manufac turer has special promo-
tions or campaigns on short notice. These
campaigns can get especially challenging
when there is a short work week with na-
tional holidays, for example, around Oc tober
3rd (Day of German Unity) or November 1st
(All Saints’ Day).
Investing in qualityDachser Food Logistics is growing concur-
rently with its responsibilities. “From 2012
to 2013, we saw an increase in revenue of
8.2 percent,” explains Alfred Miller, Manag-
ing Director Food Logistics at Dachser.
“Furthermore, the launch of the European
Food Network and the ‘vivengo’ product
range in the past year has fostered further
growth. In 2013 alone, we invested EUR 50
million in the Langenau, Kornwestheim,
and Schönefeld sites, creating additional ca-
pacity in a timely manner. The next project
is an investment of around EUR 25 million
in a European hub for food products in
Erlensee,” states Miller. “This is the only
way we can also stably run four-day weeks
during peak capacity periods and, at the same
time, offer our customers a consistently high
level of service quality.”
Chocolate for the holidaysPer season, Dachser employees move 35,000
pallets of gingerbread, 3,000 pallets of choco-
late Santas, and around 9,000 pallets of other
holiday treats in Langenau alone. Added
to this are food products and beverages for
retail stores and the numerous regional
Every bit of space isoptimally utilized
EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS
18 DACHSER magazine
Things are scheduled at tight intervals
all the way to Christmas
Happy Holidays: in Langenau preparations start well in advance
Christmas markets. Besides mulled wine,
Dachser delivers Swabian specialties, such as
Spätzle and Schupfnudeln (a regional dish
similar to Italian gnocchi), without which no
market would be complete.
By September, the warehouse is bustling.
Without a break, electrical forklifts and
lift trucks are putting pallets full of Santas
onto the shelves and taking down pallets
full of gingerbread. Trucks contain ing new
shipments of goodies come in all day long
from the manufacturers. So occasionally,
space is at a premium. Langenau has room
for 54,000 pallets with food products
stored in different temperature zones, as
well as space for more than 56,000 regular
pallets. In recent years, the Swabian
Dachser house directly on the A7 autobahn
has devel oped into one of the company’s
largest food handling sites.
Easter bunnies already on the horizonThe peak season lasts until Christmas, but
by mid-October the chocolate Santas have
reached supermarket shelves. As the finish
line approaches, wine, champagne, and
spirits are delivered to retail stores right up
until New Year’s Eve. In February, planning
for Easter gets underway and the Santas
are replaced by chocolate Easter bunnies
and liqueur-filled Easter eggs. The Easter
egg hunt has hardly begun as Dachser
starts to prepare for the next Christmas
season and the cycle begins anew—year
after year. A. Heintze
hhWe sometimes
deliver 1,500 pallets
more per day in the holiday
season
Rita Stobbe, Warehouse Operations
Manager at Dachser in Langenau
The Food Logistics division is without borders. The EuropeanFood Network makessure of that. “A littlemore than one yearago, the EuropeanFood Network cameonto the market offer-ing top quality andtransparent pro -cesses,” says AlfredMiller, Managing Director Food Logisticsat Dachser. “This enabled us to find ourniche on the marketquickly, and we havebeen continuously expanding our marketshare.”
DACHSER magazine 19
EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS
Lending a hand in Freiburg: Patrick Niegot
EXPERTISE: LOGISTICS KNOW-HOW
Patrick Niegot is a warehouse logistics specialist at Dachser’s transit terminal in Freiburg. A professionfor people who enjoy keeping on the move.
10:45 a.m.Morning shift begins. Patrick Niegot checks
his e-mails before he climbs onto the fork -
lift in the hall. The 24-year-old first attends
to the “backlog,” goods from the previous day
that are still unallocated. In the Freiburg
warehouse there is a “track” for every Dachser
branch in Germany. “This is where goods
are temporarily set down until they are
loaded,” says Niegot. Two tracks are lined
up next to each other, and next to them are
pathways for the forklift trucks. When goods
arrive that were not delivered by Dachser,
Niegot checks whether they match the in -
formation on the delivery note.
“The warehouse halls are as big as a soccer
field, so it’s a challenge for warehouse spe-
cialists to maintain a clear overview,” explains
Susanne Klotz, the main contact person
for training and study in Dachser‘s Head
Office in Kempten. “For people who enjoy
moving around, this is the perfect profession.”
After obtaining his secondary school leav -
ing certificate, Patrick initially worked for
six months as a temporary employee in
Dachser’s 4,300-square-meter transit termi -
nal in Freiburg. In September 2009, he began
his two-year apprenticeship in the German
profession of “warehouse specialist.” “After
one month, I got a forklift license,” Niegot
remembers, adding: “Once I had the driver’s
license, things really got started: I loaded
goods on swap body vehicles and articulated
trucks and really looked forward to this every
day. Because there’s lots of variety and lots
to watch out for, like weight distribution and
securing of cargo.” The shipped goods that
he moves in the warehouse are on euro pal-
lets or disposable pallets or in wire mesh
crates. For safe transport, they are bound
together with metal or plastic straps and
wrapped with stretch film. In addition, the
loader can use load bars and lashing straps
to prevent shifting during transport. Weights
range from one kilogram to three tons.
Thanks to modern materials-handling tech-
nology, however, heavy lifting is not on the
daily agenda. Instead, what’s needed are ex-
pertise, dexterity, and a good understanding
of warehouse work. For that reason, after
his apprenticeship, Niegot was happy to add
another year of training in order to become
a “warehouse logistics specialist.”
Currently, 1,378trainees throughoutGermany—including138 male and femalewarehouse special-ists—are being trainedat Dachser in sevenprofessions. AtDachser, the network-ing principle is experi-enced at all levels.These include eventswith trainees from various locations,trainee outings, in-service training pro-grams, tutors, and the “Dachser EducationAward” for the bestprogram graduates.
ONWARD AND UPWARD! SPECIALIZED SKILLS FOR THOSE WHO ARE “GOING PLACES”
CAREERS
IN LOGISTICS
20 DACHSER magazine
EXPERTISE: LOGISTICS KNOW-HOW
12:00 noonA trainee approaches Niegot. He has a ques-
tion about Domino, Dachser’s proprietary
shipping software. Niegot enjoys helping
others. “I know what it’s like to be a trainee.
Now I myself am looking after someone—
something that also makes me a little bit
proud.”
Back then, Patrick Niegot finished his
training with a very high score: 94 out of 100
points. As a reward, the IHK, Germany’s
Chamber of Industry and Commerce, fi-
nanced further training programs for him.
This allowed him to get an AEVO certificate
(as specified in the German Trainer Aptitude
Warehouse SpecialistDuties:
Receive goods and check themagainst accompanying shippingdocumentsTransport goods to their desig-nated warehouse destinationUnpack, sort, and store goods ina proper mannerCheck inventoryPick, pack, and assemble load-ing unitsLoad and stow loading units
Duration of training:1.5 to 2 years
Prerequisite: at least a secondary school diploma
Warehouse LogisticsSpecialist Duties:
The same duties as warehousespecialistsIn addition: assist in logisticsplanning and organizationprocessesProcess shipping and accompa-nying documentsAssist in planning “milk runs” Communicate with upstream anddownstream functional areasUse industry-specific foreign language skills
Duration of training:2.5 to 3 years
Prerequisite: at least a secondary school diploma
JOB PROFILE
More information about these occu pations with apprenticeship trainingcan be found at:
Contact: Susanne Klotz, Human ResourcesDevelopment, [email protected]
www.facebook.com/dachsercareersF
DACHSER magazine 21
Ordinance) so that he could be a contact
person for trainers; he also got a certificate
that permits him to train forklift drivers.
“We invest a lot in our future staff and like
to hire those who successfully complete their
training,” says the Dachser training expert
Susanne Klotz. In this regard, the professions
of “warehouse specialist” and “warehouse
logistics specialist” are also attractive for
women, because—in contrast with the past—
specialized technical equipment means that
heavy physical labor is no longer required.
“Our warehouses have an extremely high
standard in regard to technology,” Klotz
states. “They are very clean and orderly
places to work.”
2:00 p.m.One hour lunch break. Patrick Niegot has
brought some food with him and calmly eats
and drinks while chatting with colleagues
about friends and family, his most recent out-
ing, and a trip to the movie theater yesterday.
3:00 p.m.The local transport vehicles are returning
from their “milk runs.” “Now we’re getting
down to business,” Niegot happily remarks.
He takes his seat on the forklift truck and
delivers the goods to their respective places.
There are also days when he is only under -
way in a “sprinter.” This battery-powered pal-
let truck, which is steered from a standing
position, is very maneuverable and purrs
through the hall almost silently.
4:00 p.m.For Patrick Niegot it is not just a matter of
moving goods from A to B. Often special
safety regulations also apply. As in the case of
pallets containing oxygen tanks or barrels
and canisters with the orange and black haz-
ardous goods symbol. Niegot knows exactly
how to deal with hazardous liquid, solid,
and gaseous goods because after his training
program, he also got the hazardous goods
shipping license.
6:30 p.m.Incoming goods have been processed. Niegot
helps the loaders load trucks until his shift
is over. A day rich in variety comes to a close
for him. “Work is fun for me,” he says. That’s
why he has even more ambitious plans: “One
day, I’d like to be the manager of a transit
terminal.” S. Machens
Tasks in warehouse logistics...
...are rich in variety…
...and always multifaceted
EXPERTISE: COMPLEX SHIPPING PROJECTS
22 DACHSER magazine
CONTINENTSFULL OFCHALLENGES
Too big and too heavy? Not for logistics. When it comes to serving its customers, Dachser Air & Sea Logistics is happy to arrange travel for giants of all shapes and sizes.
DACHSER magazine 23
EXPERTISE: COMPLEX SHIPPING PROJECTS
hWhenever something bigger than usu-
al comes up, then unusual solutions are
called for. To ensure a 95-ton generator com-
ponent gets from Graz, Austria to Tampa,
Florida in the USA, last year Dachser Air &
Sea Logistics chartered the largest freight
aircraft in the world. The Antonov AN 124-
100 is a colossus among airplanes. But ex -
actly the right means of transport for a proj-
ect like this one.
It really doesn’t matter—generators from
Styria to Florida; intercity buses from China
to Chile; cable drums from Spain to Peru:
for logistics, nothing is too heavy, too big,
or too cumbersome. On the contrary: those
in charge at Dachser consider such ship-
ments to be “hot” challenges in the best sense
of the word. And not just because of
the tropical temperatures that affect large
parts of the South American continent.
Last year, Dachser Air & Sea Logistics or-
ganized the shipment of a mass spectrometer
from Bremen to Colombia. The 8.900-kilo-
meter distance was traversed in a mere five
days. But for the last 400 kilometers, it took
a full two days for the shipment to cross the
mountainous Andes region and get through
the tropical rainforest. Preparations took an
entire six weeks.
Everything is demanding“The topography by itself presents a major
challenge for logistics companies,” explains
Guido Gries, Managing Director Air &
Sea Logistics Americas in Miami, Florida,
USA. From the north to the south, the two
continents that make up the Americas span
14,000 kilometers. The landscapes extend
from North America’s Arctic tundra in north-
ern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, to the
tropical rainforests of southern Mexico as
well as Central and South America, and
onward to the rugged southern tip of Tierra
del Fuego. The impact of the climate on ‡
EXPERTISE: COMPLEX SHIPPING PROJECTS
24 DACHSER magazine
the individual and the commodity should
not be underestimated. Two of the most
humid regions in the world are found in the
Columbian province of Chocó and in south-
ern Chile; the driest desert in the world—
the Atacama—extends from southern Peru
to northern Chile. Add to this a plethora of
social and infrastructural challenges, such
as bureaucracy and poor roads.
An enormous marketAt the same time, both continents have
tremendous growth potential. “The Americ-
as region is of inordinate value to Dachser’s
air & sea freight network,” as Thomas Reuter,
COO Dachser Air & Sea Logistics, ex -
plains the strategic significance. “In addition
to its high-volume domestic consumption,
to us, Brazil is the gateway to Latin Amer -
ica, since it accounts for 70 percent of the
economic power in South America,” Reuter
continues. South America’s common market
(Mercosur) is home to more than 260 million
consumers and generates around 75 percent
of the combined gross domestic product for
Latin America. Its North American counter-
part between Mexico, Canada, and the USA
(NAFTA) supplies over 460 million people.
Numerous free trade treaties between the
Mercosur and NAFTA states are fostering
a cooperative relationship of increasing in-
tensity between the two economic regions.
“The development of other free trade agree-
ments between the USA and Latin America,
as well as Europe and Asia, will accelerate
the upswing of global trade with our region
even more,” Reuter is convinced.
From China to ChileThe extent of South America’s global trade
relations, in the meantime, is evident in the
more than 30 Chinese-manufactured buses
that Dachser has exported to Chile by mid-
year. Among the greatest challenges is gener-
ating open space on ships for shipping re-
quests made on very short notice. “Good busi-
ness relationships with the shipping compa-
nies are absolutely essential,” states Reuter.
Proximity to the market is indispensable in
South America. In Brazil alone, Dachser so
far maintains eleven locations. “To ensure
proximity to customers in Brazil—a country
of continental dimensions—you have to in-
vest in local offices,” Reuter clarifies. “You
not only have to be able to estimate the
financial power of the enterprise, you also
have to gauge market developments,” adds
Angel Santana, Managing Director Dachser
ASL Brazil. This is the only way to deter -
mine early on if the potential client is plan-
ning to purchase additional vehicles or ex-
pand its export business. “Close contact with
Guido Gries serves as Managing DirectorAir & Sea LogisticsAmericas, and in thiscapacity is in charge of business develop-ment in North, Central,and South America.The goal is to achievethe seamless integra-tion of all import andexport business viaship or airplane to andfrom Europe and Asia,as well as within thetwo American conti-nents. Gries heads theAmericas Region out of Miami, Florida—theUSA’s gateway to LatinAmerica.
Moving huge loads even when the infrastructure is challenging
DACHSER magazine 25
EXPERTISE: COMPLEX SHIPPING PROJECTS
those companies is the only way you come
up for consideration as a partner for the ship-
ping component," says Santana.
Pipes that go around the worldOn overland routes as well, a good working
relationship is indispensable. “It is important
to have good shippers, warehouses, and lo-
gistics brokers as partners,” Santana explains
knowingly. Thanks to the close cooperation,
Dachser successfully secured the contracts to
transport pipes for petroleum production
from a major Swedish industrial corporation.
Dachser São Paulo coordinated the delivery
of the up to 19-meter-long pipes that weigh
up to six tons. “The individual shipment ser -
vice providers have to work together closely,
day in and day out. That is the only way we
can respond effectively when the govern -
ment decides to change laws or licensing re-
quirements,” explains Guido Gries, describ-
ing the recipe for success. For cross-border
shipments in particular, red tape abounds—
and it is imperative to avoid the high penal-
ties imposed for violations. “The secret to
avoiding these complications is to follow
up every day and constantly review the
schedule,” Gries affirms.
This axiom also applies to keeping costs
under control. “In Latin America, the ratio of
logistics costs to the total costs of a product
is many times higher than in the USA, where
the growth drivers of industrialization, stan-
dardization, and the existing infrastructure
are different than in a place like Brazil, for
instance,” Gries explains. According to calcu-
lations by leading economic research institu-
tions, logistic costs in Brazil, for instance,
hhBrazil is the
gateway to the
Latin American markets
Thomas Reuter, COO Dachser
Air & Sea Logistics
Sea freight and overland transport go hand in hand
Bridging continents via sea freight
come to 13 percent of gross revenue, whereas
in the USA this figure is only eight percent. A
key issue is deficient/poor infrastructure.
“First and foremost, railroads are geared to-
ward transporting bulk cargo. The railroad
system is lagging behind when it comes to
smaller shipments,” Gries states. He is opti-
mistic that this will soon change, at least in a
few of the important countries. “In the run-
up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the
2016 Summer Olympic Games, Brazil priva-
tized the two largest freight airports in the
country, Viracopos/Campinas and Guarul-
hos/ São Paulo, and invested around USD
30 billion in infrastructure,” Gries points out.
By 2016, government infrastructure invest-
ments are expected to increase by 57 percent
to BRL 163.5 billion. “These measures will
definitely deliver desperately needed momen-
tum,” he says with certainty. A. Heintze
26 DACHSER magazine
Dachser will proudly unveil the core ser -
v ices—and benefits—of its logistics network
to customers, potential customers, and other
attendees from commerce and industry at
the annual International Trade Fair for Dis-
tribution, Materials Handling and Infor -
mation Flow, taking place in Stuttgart from
February 10–12, 2015. These include inter-
national shipping and warehousing services
worldwide, especially throughout Europe.
“Our own tightly interwoven IT systems
provide the foundation for these services,”
explains Alexander Tonn, Head of Contract
Logistics at Dachser. The logistics provider
Integrated supply chains and contract logistics solutions take center stage in
Dachser’s trade show exhibition at this year’s LogiMAT.
is ingeniously optimizing and integrating
informational data and logistical processes,
thereby nurturing value creation along the
entire supply chain. “Costs decline, while at
the same time service and quality improve
in procurement, warehousing, and distri -
bution. We will demonstrate how Contract
Logistics creates value within integrated sup-
ply chain networks. That’s why our booth
at LogiMAT 2015 will be a virtual stage for
the hands-on specialist.” Visitors to booth
G04 in Hall 5 will find practical business-
related information on integrated logistics
solutions along the entire international sup-
ply chain and the warehouse technologies be-
ing used, as well as insights into value-added
services—like display building, shipment re-
turns management, sleeving, and order pick-
ing Dachser will moreover showcase Mikado,
its own Warehouse Management System,
which is being used throughout the world.
NETWORKEXPERTISE
Dachser at LogiMAT
EFFICIENCY AND PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLY CHAINS
LogiMAT—all set for the industry to arrive
Banking on contract logistics solutions: Alexander Tonn
DACHSER magazine 27
NETWORK
+++ STRONG BRAND FOR
FINLAND +++ Oy Waco Lo-
gistics Finland, one of the
leading Finnish air and sea
freight companies, was offi-
cially rechristened Dachser
Finland Air & Sea Logistics
Oy effective October 2014.
“Now that we are a fully-
integrated Dachser com -
pany, we can work together with even bigger customers
from our four locations in Vantaa, Lahti, Oulu, and
Tampere,” Juha Isohanni, Managing Director of Dachser
Finland Air & Sea Logistics Oy, points out. +++
+++ REINFORCEMENT FOR THE EUROPEAN FOOD
NETWORK +++ Fresh Logic and Ro-Holland are re in -
forcing the European Food Network as associate mem-
bers. As a result, Bulgaria and Romania are now directly
connected to the European Food Network for cross-
border food shipments in the temperature-controlled
(non-frozen) segment. “The new associate members in
Bulgaria and Romania are an important step in the further
development of the European Food Network,” explains
Alfred Miller, Managing Director of Dachser Food Logis-
tics. With Fresh Logic and Ro-Holland, we have the
leading food logistics providers for their home markets
on our side.” +++
+++ NETWORK EXPANSION
IN FRANCE +++ At the begin-
ning of September, Dachser
France added a new platform to the European Network
in La Crèche, near Niort. Now standing on the over
four-hectare site in the Poitou-Charentes region is a
33-dock transit terminal covering 3,890 square meters
and an administrative building with 560 square meters
of office space. At this new platform, Dachser’s 52
employees are ready to serve customers from the print,
DIY logistics, and farming equipment and products sec-
tors, as well as the cosmetics and cleaning prod ucts
segments. Heading the branch is Jean-Paul Guinaudeau,
the 57-year-old highly experienced logistician who has
been working in various capacities for Dachser (formerly
Graveleau) since 1978. +++
+++ NEW CAPACITIES FOR BENELUX +++ Dachser has
strengthened its business presence in the Benelux states
by moving to a new, larger industrial site in Willebroek,
Belgium. At the start of October, the new Logistics Cen-
ter commenced its business operations following a
five-month construction period. These efforts yielded
both a 7,000-square-meter, 68-dock transit terminal as
well as a three-story office building that covers 2,300
square meters. “Over the past few years, we have seen
incredible growth here in Willebroek and ultimately hit
our capacity limits at the old facility. With the newly
gained capacities, we now have all the opportunities to
continue developing alongside our customers,” said Aat
van der Meer, Managing Director Dachser Benelux.
Branch Manager Frans van Bedaf highlighted the ad -
vantages the site offers: “Willebroek is a strategically
favorable location between Brussels and the Port of
Antwerp. As a result, the branch now has superb con-
nections to the most important European and inter -
national commercial regions.” +++
+++ TOP CLASS +++ According to the latest
German edition of the study “Top 100 in European
Transport and Logistics Services 2013/2014” by
the Fraunhofer Working Group for Supply Chain
Services (SCS), Dachser is in 4th place in the
“consumer goods distribution and contract logis-
tics” sector of the German market. +++
Ready for the big jobs
New gates for France
Commercial metropolis Bangkok
28 DACHSER magazin
NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC
India and the nations of South Asia and Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly vitaltrading partners. The local markets are opening up, and both exports and imports areexhibiting disproportionate levels of growth.Dachser is therefore bolstering and consolidating its commitment in the region.
GROWINGIN TANDEM WITH
THE MARKETS
DACHSER magazin 29
NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC
hThe future of the global economy lies
in Asia. Well, a substantial part of the
future, in any case. And political economists
have agreed with this statement since the
dawn of the new millennium. In 2012, Asia
was home to around 4.2 billion people—a
figure corresponding to roughly 60 percent of
the world’s population. In economic terms,
Asians have contributed almost 30 percent
to global value creation. Based on estimates
from the reputable consulting firm Oxford
Economics, by the year 2036, this ratio will
grow to just over 50 percent. The reason: by
increasingly opening up its markets for the
past years, Asia has considerably enhanced
its ability to compete internationally—and
what’s more, even intra-regional trade, among
Asian nations themselves, has soared to new
heights.
The rest of the world gets many of its high-
tech products from South and Southeast
Asia, which primarily export for the con-
sumer electronics segment and electrical
engineering. The most important manu -
facturers of entertainment electronics, like
3D flat-screen televisions, smartphones, and
gaming consoles, are headquartered there.
Dachser Air & Sea Logistics has been track-
ing these trade flows over the past few years
and has invested heavily in the Asia Pacific
region. Now the logistics provider is con -
tinuing to increase its commitment here.
As part of this process, in August 2014, the
company acquired all shares in the joint
ventures in India and Thailand and became
the majority shareholder of the joint venture
in Bangladesh. “This is a crucial step toward
strengthening our intercontinental network
and being able to accompany our customers
even more closely within these promising
future markets,” explains Thomas Reuter,
COO Air & Sea Logistics at Dachser. ‡
Bustling market life in Bangkok
30 DACHSER magazin
ture and upgrading existing infrastructure.
Airports, seaports, and railroad and road
networks will receive increased attention,
and this will indeed help to develop and
further expand the reach and possibilities
of the logistics industry. It may not be well
known that India boasts one of the largest
road networks in the world, with a total
length of 3.3 million kilometers, or that
India has an equally developed railway net-
work, which plays a very important role in
moving people around the country. The
Indian government is well aware that the
logistics infrastructure has not grown along-
side the country’s commercial and indus -
trial development in recent years. This situ a-
tion creates bottlenecks, which will need
to be eliminated to allow the country to
continue to grow.
Thailand forges aheadEdoardo Podestá, Managing Director Asia
Pacific, is very happy with the progress of
the three country organizations. This is
particularly true with Thailand. “Despite
intermittent political and economic turmoil,
the Kingdom has kept moving in a straight
line toward growth. We expect that things
will take shape in a similar fashion in the
future as well.” Because of the relative stabi-
lization of the political situation and mea -
sures introduced since the military coup,
the World Bank is also projecting growth
of 3.5 percent for 2015, while the Chamber
of Foreign Trade anticipates an even more
optimistic 4.5 percent. This expansion is
driven primarily by the export of electronic
and electrical equipment, cars and automo-
tive parts and components, chemical prod-
ucts, precious gems and jewelry, and agri -
cultural products, primarily rubber, rice, and
seafood.
The main hub for these goods is Bangkok,
where Dachser has also based operations
to service Thailand’s logistics market. Since
the business mainly revolves around air and
NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC
India on the uptickIn India, Dachser has 500 employees de-
ployed at its 27 locations nationwide. The
local Head Office is domiciled in megame-
tropolis Mumbai. “The India country orga -
nization stands on a solid foundation there,
even though economic paralysis from the
‘pre-election season’ led to stagnating rev-
enues for almost a year and a half. But as soon
as the parliamentary elections of 2014 re-
leased this chokehold, things started moving
forward again, at rapid-fire pace,” affirms
Detlev Janik, Managing Director, ASL
South/Southeast Asia at Dachser. Despite
the recent downturn in economic growth
from six percent to the current five percent,
India can still boast one of the most vigor-
ously expanding national economies in the
world. Currently home to around 1.2 billion
citizens, by mid-century it will presumably
be not only the most populous nation on
earth, but its economic size will also rank
India in third place behind China and the
USA based on gross domestic product.
Largest road network on earthIndia’s new government is expected to put a
lot of emphasis on building new infrastruc-
Auspicious India: The Taj Mahal
The Asia Pacific regionis an important com-ponent of the GLOBALstrategic focus pro-gram at Dachser.Through the growthand network expansionthat are associatedwith it, the Air & SeaLogistics business unit is forging evenstronger links betweenthe new procurementmarkets and the producer marketsworldwide.
DACHSER magazin 31
NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC
hhThe Asia Pacific region is playing
an increasingly significant role
in the achievement of the company’s economic
goals as well as the expansion of the network
Thomas Reuter, COO Air & Sea Logistics
at Dachser
Kingdom of Thailand:Area: 513,115 km2
Population: approx. 64.7 million
Capital: Bangkok
GDP: EUR 287.5 billion (2013)
Republic of India:Area: 3,287,263 km2
Population: 1,259.7 million (2014)
Capital: New Dehli
GDP: approx. EUR 1,402 billion
(2013)
People’s Republic of BangladeshArea: 147,570 km2
Population: 156.6 million (2013)
Capital: Dhaka
GDP: EUR 96.48 billion (2012)
(Source: German Foreign Office)
sea freight, the company’s offices in the
southeast of the Thai capital, at the harbor in
Laem Chabang—the largest harbor in
Thailand, with a transit capacity of an annu-
al 10.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equiva-
lent)—are of vital importance.
Booming BangladeshBangladesh has an indisputable need to take
charge of its infrastructural shortfall. The
need to catch up in terms of infrastructure is
even greater in this country that has a young
and very resourceful population, which is
striving to move up so that Bangladesh can
become one of the next Asian tigers.
Bangladesh infrastructures are in need of
serious attention and upgrading, however,
despite this, the nation’s economy has been
growing continuously since the 1990s. Over
the past ten years, the annual rates of growth
equaled a nearly constant six percent. For
2014 and 2015 as well, the World Bank is
estimating comparable growth. Main ex -
port products are clothing and apparel, at
82 percent. This is followed by jute products
IN BRIEF(4.0 percent), frozen foods (2.3 percent), and
leather goods (2.2 percent).
In Bangladesh, the capital Dhaka dominates
economic life. Dachser maintains a city office
and airport office in the capital as well as an
office at the harbor in Chittagong, the second
largest city, located in the southeast of the
country. As an important economic center,
this city is also a special economic zone
and thus, home to a steel plant, petroleum
refineries, and various industries such as
shipbuilding, cement, textiles, and leather.
Chittagong has the largest sea harbor in
Bangladesh, through which a significant por-
tion of its international trade is trans acted.
“In Bangladesh, beside local activities like
warehousing and distribution, we are in-
creasingly focusing on international trans-
port, which does fit perfectly into our net-
work,” states Edoardo Podestá. What is new,
he added, is that the country organization
is increasingly specializing in imports. “In
Bangladesh, everything has to be imported.
We primarily consider communications and
electronics, industrial facilities and power
plants as well as all kinds of consumer goods
as the most significant economic drivers.
In doing so, we set ourselves apart from
the competition, which is still very heavily
focused on exports.”
The people of Asia have a growing share
in the consumer goods segment. The flow
of goods within Asia will once again be
markedly stimulated over the coming year
by the ASEAN free trade agreement. Dachser
is also counting on that assumption. “The
Asia Pacific region is playing an increasingly
significant role in the economic goals of
the company as well as the expansion of the
network. That underscores the importance of
the region within the Air & Sea Logistics
business segment,” explains Thomas Reuter.
For this reason, he explained, Dachser will
pursue the future expansion of its country
organization and concentrate even more on
freight services for consumer goods withinThinking about tomorrow today
Asia. “Carried by a growing middle class with
solid purchasing power, India has the poten-
tial to evolve into one of the largest consumer
goods markets in the world over the next
few years. This will unlock new business op-
portunities for all market participants and
stimulate the continued expansion of con-
sumer goods shipping within Asia.” K. Fink
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
32 DACHSER magazine
“Work before play”: does this old adage still hold true today?Bernhard Simon: I don’t really see such a
strict separation. In the ideal case, someone
who looks at their life holistically will enjoy
their work and perceive it as an important
and formative part of their life. If work and
play are mutually exclusive in my life, I will
certainly not be able to fully utilize my capa-
bilities and my creative potential. And look-
ing at one’s overall personal life situation,
it would certainly not be desirable.
Dr. Thorsten Kienast: This is a matter of
type. When we talk about taking pleasure
in work, we must always have an opportu -
nity to give this pleasure free rein. Inventors
and researchers are probably best off in a
laboratory environment, whereas communi-
cators and motivators are better suited for
acquisitions and sales. But also integral to
pleasure is when something that is right
for the individual occurs at the right place
and in the right environment.
B. Simon: And the right environment, to
me, also means the right team. This way,
everyone can develop to the best of their
abilities and needs. At Dachser, we there -
fore find it very important for our employees
to have the opportunity to get to know one
another and to network. This enables them
to achieve more for themselves and for the
company as well.
Is performance capability only a question of attitude? T. Kienast: Biology also plays an impor -
tant role here. The nucleus accumbens acts
as a motivation center in our brain. At 0.5
cubic centimeters per cerebral hemisphere,
it’s relatively small, but powerful. It is a self-
amplifying system that is activated by ex -
ternal motivators and then provides the
needed “electricity” for the rest of the brain,
ultimately enabling us to put what we want
to do into action.
How do you reach your motivation center?T. Kienast: You don’t need a button for
that. Human beings are only fully motivated
to do those things that are important to
them. Your value system will determine if this
enthusiasm extends only to your leisure time
or to work as well. If the work scenario re-
flects elementary, basic needs, such as a
healthy environment, open and constructive
communication, and mutual respect and
appreciation, the level of motivation is po-
tentially high. Both the relationship between
supervisors and subordinates and the indi-
vidual’s integration into the team play vital
roles in this process.
B. Simon: The areas of responsibility in a
company are as different as the various types
of human personalities. It is therefore the
responsibility of management to set up the
workstations and team constellations in
such a way that they largely correspond to
the employees’ own attitudes toward life.
This way, they can draw energy and moti -
vation from them. An executive must recog-
nize and sense what it is about their work
that engages and drives people. And addi-
tionally, it’s important that everyone knows
where things are heading.
But doesn't the sheer size of an inter -national corporation overwhelm individualsat their local workplaces?B. Simon: Seen individually, the expecta-
tions are very different. For example, when
hhBut in life, ultimately,
the only ones to
emerge victorious are those
who know their goals and are
able to sub ordinate a second-
ary goal to the primary one
Dr. Thorsten Kienast
BERNHARD SIMON SPEAKS WITH...DR.THORSTEN KIENAST
Success begins in the mind. Bernhard Simon speaks with stress medicine specialist and psychotherapist Dr. Thorsten Kienast about work, health, motivation, and crisis.
DACHSER magazine 33
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
you’re building a cathedral, for some it’s
important to have the complete structure in
their mind’s eye as the big goal, others prefer
to keep their eyes on the details and think
stone by stone. They don’t want to and
can’t imagine the big picture. But in the end,
everything is important to be able to make
progress. Therefore, all the stakeholders
have to feel accepted and taken seriously in
their expectations and needs.
T. Kienast: Anyone who has ever been
disappointed and has processed this experi-
ence constructively has an advantage because
they know that their entire life doesn’t de-
pend on a specific goal; as a result, they
have become more resistant. And in regard
to such resistance to stress: it helps when
you become an older practitioner of your
pro fession. That doesn’t mean you let go
of the goal, and don’t do everything possible
to achieve it—just the opposite. Good ex pe-
riences give you that extra quantum of calm
and serenity to discover alternative solutions.
What stress-coping strategies can evolvefrom this?T. Kienast: The most important thing ini-
tially is not to make a stressful situation worse
than it really is. The situation needs to be
simplified consistently and quickly so that
it can be dealt with better, for example, by
informing your family about the additional
pressures at work, putting items on your per-
sonal schedule on the back burner, canceling
or postponing them, and pursuing more re-
juvenating athletic or cultural activities. It is
especially important to have people around
you who understand your situation and are
able to listen. However, the higher a man-
agement position you have, the more difficult
it is to find someone who can share things
eye-to-eye with you.
B. Simon: Extraordinary challenges cannot
be solved if teams are always and exclusively
working at one-hundred percent of their
absolute threshold and pursuing goals
that—when you come right down to it—
cannot be realized. Therefore, when planning
capacity over the course of the year, you
need to plan for periods where things
move at a slower pace so that your people
can accu mulate energy. This way, they can
put the pedal to the metal when it really
counts and achieve their goals. Then—
and only then—will high workloads not
be perceived as stress but, on the contrary,
as an enriching ex perience.
T. Kienast: A benevolent, attentive man-
agement style and evaluation interviews can
constructively resolve 80 percent of the pres-
sure and friction that saps everyone of
emotional energy. Techniques that can be
learned and that filter emotions can be help-
ful here. It is important to note that a person’s
happiness and staying power fundamentally
depend on five factors: professional fulfill-
ment, family, friends, hobbies, and money.
Here it is crucial to replace a one-sided per-
spective by creating a balance of values,
where each one of these “pillars” has its place
but does not necessarily require the same
amount of time or attention. In times when
job-related endurance is required, vacation
and family are not always in first place.
However, it is important that this phase has
a clearly defined end so that the family can
look forward to their time together once this
phase is finished. The scheduling of these
phases must be binding. They may not last
longer than an employee’s health or home
life will allow.
B. Simon: Individual responsibility is re-
quired to find the necessary balance. First
of all, everyone is responsible for their own
health and well-being. Company health
management can only be effective if this
foundation of self-management exists. ‡
Regard for oneself and good teamwork are decisive success factors in the work environment
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
34 DACHSER magazine
University Lecturer Dr. Thorsten Kienast,
born 1968, is a renowned expert
in Germany and internationally
for his research on and treat-
ment of emotional disorders,
disorders of motivation, and
impulse control disorders. The
psychotherapist and psychia-
trist is the author of numerous
publications in German and
English. After his studies at the
Charité Berlin and the Uni -
versity of London, he continued
his post-graduate work at the
Charité, the University of
Schleswig-Holstein (Lübeck
Campus), and the Department
of Psychology at Seattle Univer-
sity. He has been advising cor-
porations and managers for
more than ten years on self-
motivation, team and personnel
management as well as coping
with stress.
Bernhard Simon
is a proponent of a good bal -
ance between personal and
professional life. The Dachser
CEO’s own stress management
program includes long mountain
runs in his free time and a bal -
anced, healthy diet, replete with
culinary pleasures. Instead of
following a strict regimen regard -
ing nutrition, Simon trusts his
gut instincts: “After all, always
wanting to do everything right is
just another kind of stress.”
PERSONAL DETAILS
A boundary between work and personal lifeis part of the much-touted work-life bal-ance. However, isn’t this impossible thesedays because everyone is connected 24/7?T. Kienast: Mobile accessibility by phone
and e-mail encroaches on our everyday
lives—so do social networks with the social
control that goes with them. On one hand, in
this age of globalization, they provide us with
the opportunity to organize strong teams in-
dependently of our actual workplace and to
communicate with each other in a focused
and results-oriented way. On the other hand,
we are increasingly noticing that some indi-
viduals on social networks develop a practi-
cally obsessive desire to be online constantly
and to obtain up-to-the minute or even up-
to-the-second information. Therefore, set-
ting a boundary becomes more and more dif-
ficult.
B. Simon: It is always up to each individual
to hit the off-button on their smartphone or
laptop in their leisure time in order to set a
boundary between personal and professional
life. It is not the company’s job to prescribe
this. Working in international teams across
several time zones can mean that, if you want,
you can talk to a colleague outside of your
regular working hours and discuss both busi-
ness and personal topics, which ultimately
contributes to a pleasant team culture. This
way, you ideally do not insist on personal
space, but instead draw new energy and in-
spiration from the interaction with a respect-
ed colleague.
Aren’t executives especially tempted tomake themselves irreplaceable by beingpermanently available?B. Simon: Anyone who considers them-
selves irreplaceable will soon be replaced.
Good leadership must ensure that the envi-
ronment and culture in the company are such
that things work without the constant pres-
ence or availability of a senior executive. This
is necessary because it is part of good man-
agement to ensure that there is space for cre-
ativity and initiative beyond the company’s
operational needs that can break new ground
and lead the company into the future.
Performance is not just in demand in peo-ple’s professional lives but in their personallives as well—mountain biking, snow-boarding, climbing, or on the golf course.When does recreation become stressfuland what can you do about it?T. Kienast: This depends on the personal -
ity type and the phase of life people are in. It’s
part of most people’s nature to want to be
good at everything they do and to compare
themselves to others. But in life, ultimately,
the only ones to emerge victorious are those
who know their goals and are able to subor-
dinate a secondary goal to the primary one.
This doesn’t just happen at work, but in the
family or during recreation as well. The good
thing about leisure-related stress is that you
notice pretty quickly when it’s no longer good
for you. If your performance isn’t fun any-
more, it’s easy to simply give it up and do
something else that is really good for you.
hh It is always up to
each individual to hit
the off-button on their smart-
phone or laptop in their leisure
time in order to set a boundary
between personal and profes-
sional life
Bernhard Simon
When Stefan Leis was first introduced to logistics
during an internship five years ago, he knew immediately
that this was the perfect fit for him. At 24, he began
as a trainee specialist in storage logistics at Dachser in
Neuss and completed his training with top grades
after only two years. But he wanted more: while working
full-time in his chosen profession, he next completed
an additional two-and-a half-year training to obtain
a certificate in Logistics Operations. Today, Stefan Leis
holds the position of Facility Manager Trans -
shipment European Logistics and, together
with a colleague, is responsible for
65 employees. And that at the age of
barely 29. He has never regretted
his decision to go into logistics
for a single moment: “Logistics is
one of the most important and
future-oriented sectors worldwide.
Without logistics these days, hardly
anything would work.”
THE GO-GETTER
DACHSER magazine 35
GOOD NEWS