magazine - Dachser
Transcription
magazine - Dachser
EDITION 1/2015 magazine THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENT LOGISTICS ON COURSE FOR THE FUTURE STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESSES IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION NORTHEAST EUROPE FRESH BREEZE FROM FINLAND AND THE BALTIC AIR & SEA CONTRACT LOGISTICS FOR EAST ASIA NUMBERS THAT COUNT DRUM BEAT, WING BEAT, HEARTBEAT Information is everything, but not everything is information. It depends on how and how fast it arrives. 101 years water before it was fished out of the 8 characters per minute Baltic Sea in 2014. The bottle went can be communicated by Native Americans through into the water in Kiel and included a postcard and smoke signals. Reach is up to 20 kilometers—provided stamps so that the message could be returned to him. the weather is good. is how long a message in a bottle sent by a man from Berlin was in the 100 km/h is the speed that a well-trained carrier pigeon can achieve. If a USB stick 16 kilograms is what the first documented car phone weighed. It was installed in 1952 in a Bremen taxi, was as large as a suitcase, and—at DM 15,000—was three times more expensive with a capacity of several giga- than a VW Beetle. These days, the lightest bytes is attached to its feet, mobile phones weigh just 35 grams. the carrier pigeon’s speed is often faster than the Internet across short distances. 7.2 terabits per second 1,235 km/h were transmitted in August 2014 is the speed of sound at low between the USA and France. humidity and a temperature of The amount of data transmitted 20 degrees Celsius. Drums have been by “Apollo South” across a distance of 6,500 kilometers used to send urgent news for millennia, and the beats the performance of conventional underwater cables natives of Papua New Guinea still use them today. by a factor of three. by underwater fiber optics cables 618,725 tweets per minute was the peak transmission rate on Twitter during the finale of the Argentina-Germany match during the FIFA World Cup championship. A world record. During the final game, Facebook recorded 280 million interactions. 02 DACHSER magazine CONTENTS TITLE STORY On course for the future: Strategies that make enterprises more agile and process-oriented 04 FORUM People and Markets: Outlook toward transport logistic 2015 and standards for safe and secure IT systems Essay: Pretty darn convenient— everything that makes life easier 10 14 04 EXPERTISE A direct connection: warehousing Careers in logistics: Incoming goods management Food Logistics Air & Sea: Contract logistics services for Asia-Pacific 16 20 22 NETWORK Network Expertise: News from the Dachser World Finland and the Baltic States: momentum for Northern Europe 16 26 28 BUSINESS LOUNGE Motivation: Bernhard Simon speaks with the behavioral economics expert Kishor H. Sridhar 32 GOOD NEWS Off to Munich: From Sugarloaf Mountain to the trade fair 20 35 F Further information can be found in our DACHSER eLetter. 28 Publishing information Published by: DACHSER SE, Thomas-Dachser-Str. 2, D – 87439 Kempten, Internet: www.dachser.com Overall responsibility: Dr. Andreas Froschmayer Editor-in-Chief: Christian Auchter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1426, fax: +49 831 5916-8-1426, e-mail: [email protected], Martin Neft, tel.: +49 831 5916-1420, e-mail: [email protected] Editors: Theresia Gläser, Christian Weber Editorial Assistant: Andrea Reiter, tel.: +49 831 5916-1424, e-mail: [email protected] Publisher: C3 Creative Code and Content GmbH, Heiligegeistkirchplatz 1, D – 10178 Berlin, tel.: +49 30 44032-0, e-mail: [email protected], Burda Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, Offenburg, and KB Holding GmbH, Berlin, are shareholders of C3 Creative Code and Content GmbH, of which each company holds a 50% stake. Hubert Burda Media Holding Kommanditgesellschaft, Offenburg, is the sole shareholder of Burda Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. Lukas Kircher (Managing Director, Berlin) and Rainer Burkhardt (Managing Director, Berlin) are the shareholders of KB Holding GmbH, each holding a 50% stake. Project Management C3: Marcus Schick Design: Ralph Zimmermann, Kerstin Spörer Photos: all photography Dachser except thinkstockfotos.de (pp. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 25, 27, 30, 31), Elbe&Flut (pp. 3, 20, 21), DNV GL (p. 13), AL-KO (p. 18), Arto Satuli/Port of Helsinki (pp. 28, 29), Fabio Barella/Kaka Pilat (p. 35) Illustration: Ralph Zimmermann (pp. 32–34) Printer: Holzer Druck und Medien Druckerei und Zeitungsverlag GmbH, Fridolin-Holzer-Str. 22-24, D – 88171 Weiler im Allgäu Print run: 40,000/56th volume Publication: 4x per year Languages: German, English, French, Spanish. DACHSER magazine is printed on NovaTech Paper certified in accordance with the FSC ® mix for sustainable forestry. DACHSER magazine 03 TITLE STORY 04 DACHSER magazine TITLE STORY ON COURSE FOR THE FUTURE Forward-thinking management, openness to change, and teams unwaveringly dedicated to the company and its goals bring enterprises closer to their objectives. Especially when seas are rough. Dachser is pursuing strategies toward transformation so that the company attains even greater agility and process-oriented focus. He had a knot in the pit of his stomach as the truck’s diesel engine started up and the truck took off in the direction of the Rhineland, its loading space full of Allgäuer cheese. In December 1930, in the middle of the global economic depression, Thomas Dachser had the bold idea of establishing a haulage company! Dachser’s “business plan” was to transport cheese in one direction and industrial goods on the way back. He was focused on well utilized, efficient, and cross-industry transport of goods for the customer’s benefit. Fundamentally, this still applies today. Roughly 85 years later, the small, regionally operating haulage and shipping company that began with sales revenue of a few thousand Reichsmarks has become a global player with more than 25,000 employees in 42 countries and annual sales revenue of more than EUR 5 billion. Considering some of the fundamental and radical historic changes that have taken place, such as reconstruction after the Second World War, liberalization of the transport market since the 1990s, and rapidly advanc- h Farsightedness widens your horizons ing globalization in the 21st century, such growth was anything but a foregone conclusion. The way Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon sees it, the logistics provider is still committed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder, with the added mission of dynamic corporate development: “We were not only able to successfully meet the challenges that each era has posed, but, at the same time, we have been able to maintain our identity as a family company and strengthen our corporate culture based on our unwavering values, even as we embraced the internationalization process. Today, we combine all of our business for our customers to create integrated and intermodal supply chain solutions,” says Thomas Dachser’s grandson. In commerce, growth provides prospects for success, but for Dachser, that is not an end in and of itself, as Dr. Andreas Froschmayer, Corporate Director Corporate Development, Strategy & Public Relations, emphasizes. “Four years ago at the Global Leadership Conference, a meeting of top management, we set ourselves to the task of ‡ DACHSER magazine 05 TITLE STORY For the challenges to be mastered together … Better for most of us to start learning now how to cope with change, to develop whatever leadership potential we have, and to help our organizations in the transformation process. Better for most of us, despite the risks, to leap into the future. And to do so sooner rather than later. John P. Kotter, economist … all hands on deck creating a new Dachser house together and filling it with life. ‘Making Dachser ready for generations to come,’ was our motto,” Dr. Froschmayer explains. “We wanted to ensure that Dachser and its unique networks can continue to experience healthy growth in the future that will benefit our customers in tandem with our responsibilities that are growing and becoming increasingly complex.” This is why the company sees strategy as a “compass” that helps it stay on course and arrive safely at its destination. Back in Ancient Greece, Aristotle showed the strategists the way: “You can’t change the winds. But you can move the sails.” The seas are getting rougher Internationalization and globalization makes corporate management increasingly complex and challenging for those who want to grow with the markets—to use Aristotle’s idiom, the seas are getting rougher, the wind is picking up, and it’s often stormy. For this reason, Dachser has built a new management organization over the past few years and has gradually implemented it throughout 2014. In the past year, Dachser definitively completed its transformation to a global enterprise; it is both strategically and structurally so well positioned that we can achieve our ambitious goals hh Bernhard Simon, Dachser CEO 06 DACHSER magazine “This opens up new possibilities for decentralized management,” Bernhard Simon explains, “which is upheld and driven by people who have a strong focus on the region, on one hand, and on the other, never lose sight of the big picture of the company. This is the only way that we can ensure maximum customer proximity in the individual regions and create future-oriented, innovative logistics solutions together with them.” The common thread that binds this together is “Dachser DNA”: the values of the family company, empathetic collaboration, and thriving entrepreneurship that is both success-oriented and directed toward sustainable growth. Our strong corporate culture, the authentic values practiced worldwide by all of us, and the loyalty of our employees create the very best foundation for these principles. If we want to shape the future, we need a solid and stable structure as a ‘launch pad.’ Only then will we be able to realize the transformation into our ‘house of the future’ using new strategies,” states Simon. For further “organic” growth, you need a blueprint. “With the help of our new man- TITLE STORY agement organization, we want to advance the internationalization of our logistics network and close ranks with our customers in the individual regions,” Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon observes. “Defining elements that are crucial for corporate success, such as entrepreneurship and proximity to both employees and customers, need to be maintained for the long term,” Simon continues. “It is the responsibility of everyone, at every level, to fill the Dachser house of the future with life.” Staying flexible with a decentralized organization The “architecture” of a future-oriented, transnational logistics company like this has been based on Dachser’s very decentralized organization model that has historically evolved since the company’s founding. “Entrepreneurial thinking and the high degree of responsibility of the branch managers are integrated with strategic expertise found at the head office,” says Dr. Andreas COMMENTS Shaping the future What keeps companies flexible? Some thoughts by Dr. Andreas Froschmayer, Corporate Director Corporate Development, Strategy & Public Relations at Dachser. Isn’t it a contradiction to be working on the resilience and robustness of structures and, at the same time, to be in the process of transformation? Yes, if you liken “robustness” to “rigidity”—that’s dangerous. When times are unstable, it can be lethal to persist in a state of rigid stability. And no, if you understand robustness as the ability to handle (and prevail) under adverse circumstances. This capability requires two attributes: a company must know its strengths very well and nurture them, and it must be willing to respond nimbly to changes in the market. This means that companies must remain flexible and must act and react quickly to change those things that customers want changed. Strong values and robust strategies result in new insights regarding management. Today, professional long-term thinking no longer means planning the future, in other words continuing the present, but shaping the future. It means perpetually pursuing new ideas and impulses and trying out fresh approaches. You must recognize developments, launch innovations, and create change. Froschmayer. This synergistic interplay underpins Dachser’s positioning as a family company that is sustained by the loyalty of its shareholders, follows a long-term economic strategy, is committed to its employees, and develops its financial clout to undertake sustainable, forward-looking investments and maintain job security. This flexibility of Dachser’s, Dr. Froschmayer continues, also enhances the flexibility of its customers. Decentralized structures with flexible, values-based decision-making processes are popular with economists. In order to thrive in today’s increasingly volatile markets, John P. Kotter, Professor of Leadership and Emeritus at Harvard Business School, advises companies to employ the strategy of having a high degree of flexibility. “Today, companies must constantly seek competitive advantage without disrupting daily operations,” Kotter states in an article for the Harvard Business Review. In the future, strategy will have to be viewed as a dynamic force that constantly seeks opportunities, identifies initiatives that will capitalize on them, and completes those initiatives swiftly and efficiently. An ongoing process of “searching, doing, learning, and modifying” is needed according to Kotter. The economist encourages companies to work on their “strategic fitness”: “The more the organization exercises its strategy skills, the more adept it becomes at dealing with a hypercompetitive environment.” The crucial point is to always involve employees and teams: “A vividly formulated, high-stakes vision and strategy, promulgated by a guiding coalition (GC) in ways that are both memorable and authentic, will prompt people to discuss them,” Kotter emphasizes. Trend, strategy, and change management provide the skills and tools to step Conviction—from the inside out forward vigorously. What does this mean for management and the development of convincing strategies? “The existing structures need an additional element,” Kotter postulates. When you have to identify potential hazards or opportunities, nimbly formulate creative strategic initiatives, and implement them quickly, Kotter recommends that, in addition to the “classic” hierarchical corporate organization and management processes, a “second operating system” be created with an agile, network-like structure and a very different set of processes that exist solely to develop and implement new strategies. This is ‡ The bottom line is that we need to have an authentic picture of reality and then we can sound out the possible courses of action and create the most desirable future for this “house of the future.” And finally, the resources necessary for change must be mobilized. Trend management wants to discover the future, find new prospects, and utilize opportunities. Strategy management wants to provide the direction, safeguard the competitive edge, and launch innovations. And change management wants to facilitate change, create superteams, and mobilize participants’ commitment. DACHSER magazine 07 TITLE STORY The key to staying on course: adjust the sails when the wind changes 08 DACHSER magazine TITLE STORY supposed to be implemented by “strategic working groups,” gathered from all corporate sectors and hierarchy levels. In this way, strategy becomes a “team effort” within the company, which can leverage everyone’s knowledge and experience. “Done right, with creativity,” Kotter is convinced, “such communications can go viral, attracting employees who buy into the ambition of the message and begin to share a commitment to it.” Behind all this, the economist perceives another aspect: “No strategic initiative, big or small, is complete until it has been incorporated into day-to-day activities.” Agile strategies, stable structures With its historically rooted decentralized structure, Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon sees the company in an excellent position, though routinely facing challenges: “We have lean, effective, and decisive structures. Today, if individual branch offices have more than 500 employees instead of 100 or 200, we need other management methods to create emotional harmony from which new ideas can emerge,” says Simon. “We are constantly creating better processes and customer solutions. For this purpose, we have initiated a strategic program that we have named ‘Idea2net,’ in order to nurture all of our employees’ ideas for our networks.” “As internationalization and globalization grow, managing the company becomes increasingly complex,” states the Dachser CEO. In response, the company formula reads: “Together we are Dachser.” With this commitment, the company’s future viability is tied to its management organization while the internationalization process continues to evolve. An essential building block in this process is a maximum of legal certainty. Against this backdrop, since February Dachser has been doing business as a Societas Europaea (SE). Under the umbrella of a modern holding structure, the legal form of an SE provides a family company with the ideal framework to unify its structure under corporate law with subsidiaries in Germany and abroad. In Germany, Dachser’s operational presence on the market in the future will be as Dachser SE. The company names of the country organizations outside of Germany will remain unchanged. “We have adapted our company’s legal form to our worldwide growth and have thus paved the INTERVIEW Future without borders Since 2015, the family company Dachser is doing business as Dachser SE. Bernhard Simon talks about the company’s new legal form and what this means. Mr. Simon, why has Dachser changed its legal form to that of a Societas Europaea (SE)? To be successful as an international company and to reach our growth targets with a maximum of legal certainty, Dachser’s legal form must correspond to the requirements of the markets and of our customers. The Societas Europaea (SE) provides the legal form that is appropriate for today’s business. Dachser has now become two different companies—Dachser Group SE & Co. KG, a holding company, and Dachser SE, an operational company. What benefits do you see in taking this step? This unified legal framework gives management better possibilities to expand the ties that have grown over the years within our organization and to open up new and positive opportunities to shape the future. The legal form of the SE is particularly attractive for Dachser because it enables us to remain indepen dent, keeping the shares in the hands of the owner families, while at the same time simplifying the legal and administrative processes, such as integration of an acquisition. What does this mean for management and employees? Last year, our new management organization already became an important milestone in Dachser’s development as a company that operates globally. This change in the company’s legal form is now the logical, consistent next step. Viewed overall, we have completed the transition from the historical structure— where the focus was on our core business (Road)—to an international and forward-looking corporate management structure on the organizational, strategic, management, and process levels. This means that Dachser is taking on the challenges that the future will bring. The Societas Europaea (SE) is a product of harmonization efforts in corporate law by the European Union. It acts as a corporation (legal entity) whose capital is divided into shares that do not need to be traded on a stock exchange. way for the future,” Simon says. Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon has a clear view of the family company’s path into the future. “We have completed the transition from the historical structure—where the focus was on our core business (Road)—to an international and forward-looking corporate management structure on the organizational, strategic, management, and process levels. Even as it has grown immensely, the com- pany knows how to sustain the proximity to its employees. This means that Dachser has taken on the challenges that the future will bring.” There is one thing associated with this claim that has become a veritable certainty for both employees and management: “Dachser is ready for generations to come.” Thomas Dachser would certainly have been delighted with this continuation of the success story he began so courageously. M. Schick DACHSER magazine 09 TRADE FAIRS & EVENTS FORUM 10 DACHSER magazine transport logistic 2015 INFORM, DISCUSS, NETWORK Though there are many trade conventions every year, one leading international trade show—transport logistic—merits particular note. Dachser will be flying its colors there—in blue and yellow, of course! It shows some impressive figures: 52,000 visitors from 110 nations are expected to attend transport logistic, the trade show for logistics, mobility, IT, and supply chain management, from May 5 to 8. The entire value creation chain in the transport and logistics sector will come to life on the Munich Messe fairgrounds, including all of the major international market leaders. Dachser will be featuring its new look, along with several innovations for the trade fair pertaining to supply chain management. “For us, this trade show is the ideal opportunity to hold intensive talks with customers and partners and to showcase our new services and logistics solutions in an exciting way,” explains Birgit Kastner-Simon, Corporate Director Corporate Marketing. Together with the customer “Link your future to ours. Create new dimensions with Dachser.” This slogan flies above Dachser’s trade show booth this year. “The motto for this trade fair underscores the partnership-oriented exchange and the intensive collaboration that we foster with our customers,” explains Birgit KastnerSimon. “This is the only way for us to achieve flexible solutions together, optimize our customers’ logistics, and open up entirely new prospects.” The overall trade fair presence spotlights issues such as the interna- tional network, expansion of the product portfolio, custom-tailored multi-channel solutions as well as innovative IT services and new service offerings. “We are displaying the entire spectrum of our logistics solutions at the trade fair booth,” explains Kastner-Simon. INFORMATION Abundance of manpower on 800 square meters For the Dachser Events Team, the preparation phase starts eight months prior to the fair. The Dachser booth in Hall B6 covers 800 square meters on two levels. The international fair crew is made up of 92 Dachser employees from ten different countries. A total 471 meters of crossbeams were installed for the booth. The additional 1,292 meters of network cable will deliver perfect connections. FORUM DATES The 2015 Logistics Fairs Calendar International logistics fairs, industry events, and conventions are where the markets share information about trends and innovations. A selection of events with Dachser participating: April 21–24. Transrussia, Moscow, Russia April 28–30. Multimodal, Birmingham, UK May 05–08. transport logistic, Munich, Germany May 12–14. LogisMed, Casablanca, Morocco May 19–20. PLMA, Amsterdam, Netherlands May 26–29. Ferroforma, Bilbao, Spain June 11–12. 2015 Global DIY Summit, London, UK 5th Annual Dachser Career Day ONE WORLD “Acting globally: building successful international cooperation” is the motto to the 5th Annual Career Day at Dachser. A tête-à-tête for promising logisticians of tomorrow from German colleges and universities. Dachser currently operates in 42 countries. Of its total 25,000 employees, nearly 50 percent are deployed by the family company outside of Germany. “In the logistics industry, it is becoming increasingly important to forge international teams,” says Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon. “Logistics needs bridge-builders who unite people into a team and who can network intelligently.” The Dachser Career Day at the end of 2014 provided one starting point for initiating such networking. For the fifth year in a row, the family-owned company invited interested future logisticians from colleges and universities throughout Germany to a symposium with business professionals, where they could share questions and ideas, at its head office in Kempten. Also in attendance at the Career Day symposium were Sami Charaf Eddine, Jan Brinker, and Yves-Gunnar Lakpo. They were all winners of the 2014 Logistics Masters, the student competition that Dachser holds each year jointly with the trade periodical Verkehrs-Rundschau. At the awards ceremony, Bernard Simon was clearly impressed by their achievement in the knowledge competition. One could only advance in the logistics industry if one, “demonstrates flexible thinking and has not only learned the complex topics by rote, but has also truly understood them,” Simon said. Logistics masters: Sami Charaf Eddine (RWTH Aachen); Jan Brinker (RWTH Aachen; YvesGunnar Lapko (HTWK Leipzig). DACHSER magazine 11 FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS Software development CERTIFIED IT PROCESSES Dachser renewed and enhanced the certification of its Corporate IT according to the ISO/IEC 27001 standard. This way, customer data arrive and remain safe and secure. Domino and Othello; Mikado and EDI. And on top of these, Web-based eLogisitics tools: proprietary software programs like these have been a hallmark of Dachser’s services for over 25 years. Around 100 of a total 280 IT employees are working at the Kempten head office for the benefit of the branches and country organizations on the development and provision of IT solutions as well as weekly updates. Dachser was one of the first logistics suppliers to have its Corporate IT certified according to ISO 27001 back in December 2011. In the process, a whole host of information security aspects were examined, such as protection from cyberattacks, the security of Internet applications, IT risk management, fail-safe performance, emergency planning, and confidentiality regulations. For annual audits, advancements, and improvements from preceding audits are integrated into the evaluation. In addition, Dachser now has had all software development processes certified by TÜV Süd and thereby enhanced the certification under ISO 27001. Ultramodern data centers for secure IT “Our core systems are highly-integrated, can be flexibly adapted, and reflect the state of the art everywhere; that is a unique selling proposition in the logistics industry,” comments Christian von Rützen, head of the IT Security Department at Dachser. “With the ISO 27001 certification, we are issuing a clear statement on efficiency, quality, and professionalism in operating, security, and software development processes.” Today, 80 percent of all orders at Dachser are already processed electronically; more than 13,000 customers have linked their systems to the Dachser EDI Center, and more than 16,000 use the eLogistics tools. “These companies know that their own global supply chains depend on the constant availability of their logistics supplier’s systems and therefore insist on commensurate security infrastructure in tenders and audits,” von Rützen clarifies. “Considering this environment, we are in a superb position for the complete ISO 27001 certification of our central IT.” SECURITY REMAINS TOP ISSUE 12 There is 56 percent likeli- Business School. As a preemptive defensive measure, ex- hood will perts advise logistics companies to put a substantially launch targeted attacks on greater investment into the security of their operational supply chains. And that risk and IT processes. that hackers will continue to increase further over the next 15 years. Moreover, based on the results of the study, logisticians The result is that logisticians will be paying more for can expect longer transport timeframes due to stricter security in the future. Representatives from industry, safety precautions (64 percent probability) and possible research, and the political realm expressed these con- relocating of trade routes due to increasing risk in certain cerns in the “Transportation & Logistics 2030” study series, crisis regions (61 percent probability). However, the experts which consulting firm PwC presented together with the do rule out the possibility that risk assessments would lead Supply Chain Management Institute of the European businesses to turn away from worldwide supply chains. DACHSER magazine FORUM: PEOPLE AND MARKETS CAPTAIN COMPUTER Imagine a ship alone on the open seas—without a crew: For one Norwegian research project, the future of autonomous marine navigation has already begun. “ReVolt” is an ambiguous name. It sounds both like revolution and like a step backwards in power consumption. The researchers at DNV GL, the Norwegian classification company, are also keeping all of this in mind. They want to make navigation more efficient and more environmentally friendly. To do so, the ship’s crew was replaced with a computer, and the engines powered by a huge three-megawatt battery instead of heavy oil or ship diesel. In the near future, “Captain Computer” will navigate by GPS, radar, LiDAR (a kind of laserguided radar), and cameras. “Such technologies are already being used in driverless cars,” says Hans Anton Tvete, Senior Researcher Maritime Transports at DNV GL. “Now we intend to bring them together in order to give ships a feel for their environment.” At just 60 IT Security meters from stem to stern, ReVolt ships DATA UNDER POWER are relatively small-scale. They could not carry more than 100 containers. And Suddenly all the lights go out—it’s a blackout! What to some may 100 nautical miles, even the battery is sound like the promise of an unexpected candle-lit romantic soiree is better suited for short distances. That’s to others no less than an absolute disaster. where Tvete also sees the greatest with an operating range of a maximum potential: “Along the coast, automated When isolated servers and interfaces break down in extensively networked business and process worlds, the entire flow of data—and ultimately, the entire supply chain—could potentially stall. Throughout Europe, or even worldwide. Against this background, Dachser has been documenting the frequency and the losses that come from power outages over several years by compiling IT availability statistics from data collected at regular intervals. Certain regions are on the radar where the network quality is typically low or declining, and power supply leaves much to be desired. The ways out of this dilemma are offered by emergency generator systems. Several years ago, Dachser executive management decided to install such power generators at all locations with productionrelevant servers (iSeries). The generators have been ready for use since the end of 2013, and during a number of minor— and a few major—power outages, have led to a noticeable improvement in IT availability. ships could transport goods or convey cars from one side of the fjord to the other.” DACHSER magazine 13 FORUM: ESSAY PRETTY DARN CONVENIENT Three cheers for convenience: progress has always meant getting rid of anything that complicates our everyday lives. After all, the desire for comfort and convenience is part of human nature and creates space for new perspectives and business models. In the late 19th century, Swiss physician and factory inspector Fridolin Schuler urgently warned of malnutrition among the working class. The food they ate usually contained few nutrients, their limited leisure time allowed little time for cooking, and often schnapps was their sole source of calories. Not exactly what you would call healthy. Schuler’s remarks roused the ingenuity of one of his friends who was a miller: Julius Maggi hit upon the idea of making flour from roasted legumes, such as peas and beans. The entrepreneur added spices and, starting in 1886, launched the powder, which was a good source of protein, as an instant vegetable soup—a successful model. The next year, Maggi already had a range of 22 different soups. The dry soup mixes took the market by storm and represented the beginning of a megatrend that has become part of our daily life, where our shopping carts contain less and less raw food. Instead, we purchase timesaving dishes in the form of canned ravioli, frozen pizza, and other ready-to-eat dishes. In retail lingo, such products are subsumed under the buzzword “convenience” and include far more than food products. Whether it’s 2-in-1 shower gel, all-inclusive travel, or music streaming—whatever means less work for the customer rules in the consumer world. h “Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French author, 1900 – 1944 14 DACHSER magazine Concentrating on core issues Convenience is highly popular in B2B activities as well. More and more companies are focusing on their core business and outsourcing processes that drain their resources. An example is warehousing inventory and managing supply streams: while previously, companies had to employ dozens of different specialists along more and more complex supply chains, today, they can get comprehensive services using contract logistics in a one-stop solution. Management and planning are simplified so dramatically that the efficiency of the processes increases many times over. Things that are uncomplicated are booming; all we have to do is take a look at the list of the most highly valued companies, headed by Apple, an electronics company that has never led the pack in developing technological innovations. When Steve Jobs presented the iPhone in 2007, the real nerds reacted with a weary shrug. Although this wasn’t a revolutionary reinvention of individual components, it was a device design that had never been seen before. The simple, selfexplanatory operation packed into the device was what made it a blockbuster. Since then, many competitors have imitated the iPhone, and operating manuals that are several hundred pages long have landed on the endangered species list. Laziness that makes tracks Eight years later, a life without smartphones is unimaginable. Together with the Internet, FORUM: ESSAY they have now redefined convenience and thus changed our expectations. If you’re used to streaming a movie anytime you feel like it, you’ll probably find your neighborhood video store exceedingly inconvenient, no matter how customer-friendly it is. If you can shop online 24/7, you are probably not too impressed by longer store hours. And if you read the news online on a regular basis, you don’t need a daily newspaper. This demonstrates once again that our penchant for convenience has two sides to it. In the digital world, it can quickly become an existential threat to traditional retailers and service providers and their local brick-and-mortar stores. However, it is also an opportunity for completely new vendors and business models—in the best sense of the old saying, “Laziness is the engine of progress.” S. Ermisch Digital connections: everything is available—anywhere, anytime Whatever means less work for the customer rules in the consumer world hh DACHSER magazine 15 EXPERTISE: WAREHOUSING Inventory in abundance: the Dachser Logistics Center in Hall (Tyrol) 16 DACHSER magazine EXPERTISE: WAREHOUSING A DIRECT CONNECTION Greater proximity to the customer through Warehousing. The AL-KO technology company and Dachser Austria have been linking their core competencies for more than ten years now. The recipe for success reads: “Everyone does what they do best.” Guesstimate: two million meters of wire. Based on Helmut Pirker’s estimates, as of this date Dachser has been shipping this astonishing length of steel wire, spooled on huge reels, for its customer ALKO. Every month, that is. With a wink, the manager of the Dachser branch in the city of Hall (in Austria’s state of Tyrol) demonstrates that, after ten years of collaboration, this yields a length that could theoretically be wrapped around the equator—several times over. While the underlying logistics service represents one kind of wire, there is also the human connection that links the two business partners. “Our customer relationship spans many years and is the result of a fair and truly amiable relationship that is shaped by mutual trust and understanding,” Pirker asserts. To Werner Zimmerman—AL-KO’s Head of Purchasing and Logistics in the Zillertal Valley—being able to collaborate h with a partner on equal footing is an integral success factor. “Our communications with each other are very close, and we maintain an ongoing dialogue on our experiences. If there are problems, then we address and solve them together,” explains Zimmermann. “That’s why we have both grown tremendously together over the last ten years.” AL-KO’s Zillertal branch is a part of the AL-KO KOBER Group, headquartered in Germany. A corporation with worldwide operations, its workforce numbers more than 4,000 in the automotive engineering, garden and hobby, and aviation technology sectors. The Tyrolean subsidiary specializes in the manufacture of fully and partially automated automotive cable winches and additionally produces wheel brakes, clutches, trailer control systems, winches, struts, and much more at its Ramsau Engineering Center in the Zillertal Valley. ‡ DACHSER magazine 17 EXPERTISE: WAREHOUSING The Tyrol Logistics Center against an impressive backdrop Applying core competencies Mikado—Dachser’s proprietary warehouse management software—supports and controls all processes at the warehouse centers. In addition, it effectively delivers all order, transaction, and inventory data to the EDI Center (Electronic Data Interchange). There, they are both converted and forwarded to Domino (Dachser’s transport management program) and to the customer’s data system. The collaboration with Dachser Austria started in 2005, a time when AL-KO no longer possessed adequate space for its logistical or warehousing needs to accommodate the burgeoning production at its plants in Ramsau and Zell im Zillertal. “Managing a logistics warehouse is not one of our core competencies. We launched a warehouse PROFILE AL-KO Branch Zillertal AL-KO Kober SE The family-owned company founded by Alois Kober in 1931, headquartered in the Swabian town of Kötz bei Günzburg, is an international manufacturer in the automotive engineering, garden tools, and aviation technology segments. The holding has around 4,200 employees at more than 50 locations Mikado’s in play worldwide. In 2012, its total Technologically and qualitatively ultra-highend products for renowned automotive producers wind up here with the logistics provider, where they are processed for further distribution. All storage of AL-KO finished products is entered into and stored on revenue equaled EUR 706 million. F www.al-ko.de 18 DACHSER magazine outsourcing project and bid out these logistics services to reputable logistics providers so that we could recover new production space and substantially increase the overall value added,” Zimmermann explains. When the time came, Dachser was the choice: on the one hand, because the logistics provider is a corporation with global operations; on the other hand, because it was an easy trip from AL-KO to the Dachser Logistics Center in Hall. Dachser Austria has operated a consignment warehouse in Hall for several AL-KO suppliers since then. A majority of raw materials and semi-finished materials—such as the steel wire coiled around reels—is delivered directly to Hall and stored there. A constituent part of Dachser’s services is the provision and monitoring of the stipulated safety stock. In order to replenish supplies to the AL-KO production lines from the Dachser warehouse, a shuttle connection was set up to the AL-KO plants in the Zillertal Valley, each equipped with two swap bodies for the early morning and early afternoon. This way, the customer is supplied with pinpoint precision with the exact quantity of materials requested for production. On the return trip, the shuttle takes the finished goods back to the warehouse. EXPERTISE: WAREHOUSING Helmut Pirker, Branch Management, Logistics Center Tyrol Mikado, Dachser’s proprietary warehouse management software, by scanning the ALKO barcodes on the packages. Dachser is then linked to AL-KO for the order-picking and outsourcing process by means of EDI (electronic data interchange). The customer enters the warehouse orders directly into Mikado, thereby initiating the label printer at Dachser. This is how the fine-tuned, ultra-efficient, and reliable processes came to fruition. And this collaboration between both partners once again achieved substantial gains in development over the last few years. First of all, the shuttle connection was increased from once-a-day to twice-daily shipments. Secondly, Dachser is also intensifying its hh It’s a win-win for both partners work with order-picking activities. For example, AL-KO manufactures plastic auto parts for a German automotive customer, which are delivered to Dachser in large load carriers. Then, Dachser conducts the order-picking, thus paring down the load to small volumes loaded onto specialized customer cargo carriers. “We use counting scales that we have in Hall, which measure out the quantities the customer requires with pinpoint accuracy,” reports Pirker. “This way, AL-KO can concentrate on its core competency. And that’s a win-win for both partners.” AL-KO Logistics Manager Werner Zimmermann is certain that this continuously intensifying business relationship is an ace in the hole. “We can learn certain things from Dachser, just like they can from us. We have achieved a substantial prerequisite that will allow us to develop our collaborative relationship even more, now that Dachser had its quality management system certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 standards.” The intensity of such togetherness is expressed in more than day-to-day business operations. At least twice per year, the staffs at both AL-KO and Dachser get together in an informal, relaxed atmosphere. These meetings bring the employees of both companies—who share in running the everyday business—closer together; it allows them to discuss what they have achieved together, and at the same time, gives free rein to their ideas for the future. And against this background, the number of storage spaces at Dachser in Hall has grown from the initial 200 to 2,000 spaces. That elates Helmut Pirker: “I hope that this unique collaboration lasts forever. Because in the end, both partners have a “direct line” to each other—figuratively and literally, of course. L. Becker Fine-tuned warehouse management processes ensure top-grade efficiency DACHSER magazine 19 EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS S LOGISTICS CAREER YOUNG AND FRESH Team player: Christoph Kellermann is always available to talk Christoph Kellermann loves fresh food. As Incoming Goods Manager Food Logistics at the Logistics Center Hamburg, he is responsible for deliveries of fresh products to retail and restaurants/hotels in the metropolitan area. Fascination with Food Logistics: the customers are from the food industry, food retail, and hotels and restaurants in Germany and other European countries. With its European Food Network, Dachser Food Logistics moves a wide range of temperature-sensitive and temperature-controlled food products, including unprocessed and processed meats, dairy products, pastry and confectionary, and alcoholic beverages. 20 DACHSER magazine “At home, I love to cook!” Actually, Christoph Kellermann wanted to become a professional cook, but his grandmother talked him out of it. Now, as Incoming Goods Manager Food Logistics at the Dachser Logistics Center Hamburg, the 27year-old works with groceries every day, even though it's mostly on paper and on the computer. And he likes that very much. By midnight, Kellermann’s team of 17 employees knows which goods are expected to come in the next day. By the time the Group Manager comes into the office at 6:00 a.m., the dispatch schedule for the approximately 1,000 tons of foodstuffs has been completed. The itineraries of the 80 vehicles have been planned for optimum capacity utilization in such a way that time constraints are taken into account and overall itinerary is kept as short as possible. “I do whatever still needs to be done and take care of absent drivers, defective vehicles, or last-minute requests by our customers,” says Kellermann. By 2:00 p.m., 80 percent of deliveries must be delivered at retailers’ central warehouses and supermarkets, wine shops, and hotels and h restaurants. Then the pick-ups begin. “Except for this morning ritual, there’s no way to plan my work day,” Kellermann says. “It’s my job to make sure that we keep our promises to our customers every single day.” Everything under control Food products are sensitive goods. Therefore, time and temperature play an important role when you’re transporting perishable goods. Reliable monitoring of the shipping process and documentation that is traceable at all times using Dachser’s proprietary shipping software are absolute essentials for the Hamburg Food Logistics team. In the afternoons, Christoph Kellermann has meetings with drivers and partner companies on his calendar. Before he quits for the day, he and his employees take a look at what’s coming up. “In and around Hamburg, we don’t notice seasonal business as much as many other Food Logistics branch offices.” Kellermann speaks from experience. “Things quiet down for a little bit in January and February, but only as long as consumers’ New Year’s resolutions last.” He knows that EXPERTISE: FOOD LOGISTICS during the summer vacation months supermarkets order less, but that is compensated by hotels and restaurants on the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Four-day weeks around holidays are a particular challenge for Kellermann’s team because then retail stores tend to stock up. FACE-TO-FACE Rising to the challenge Professional development of employees is at the top of Dachser’s agenda. Dr. Elke Winkler, Department Head Personnel Development, talks about development Logistics is in his DNA Dachser’s Logistics Center in Hamburg has grown enormously since Kellermann finished his training in 2004—from around ten to more than 200 employees. In 2003, he completed an internship at Dachser. After that, he was absolutely certain—this is my dream job. An affinity for logistics is a family trait. His father had a warehousing business, where Christoph Kellermann often helped unload trucks as a teenager. And his sister is a shipping agent. After his training as a freight forwarding and logistics agent, he worked in dispatch. Concurrently, Christoph Kellermann took part in the Dachser “Placement Program,” a specially developed training progamm, where selected employees are prepared for their first management position. From 2009 on, the 22-year-old took over a position as Group Manager. “There were a number of continuing education opportunities, and the branch manager and freight forwarding manager gave me a lot of support so that I could gain important experience,” Kellermann explains. In the fall of 2012, concurrently with his job, he began a study program at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce to become a logistics specialist. This gave him the qualifications for a management position, and he became the Incoming Goods Manager Food Logistics in Hamburg at the young age of 26. Christoph Kellermann has lots of plans for this year as well. In April, he will begin his Versatility is in demand: in the warehouse … opportunities within the company. Dachser is banking on management from its own ranks. Why? Our employees have very specific knowledge and experience, which are essential for Dachser's business success and further development. Specific programs support committed employees and provide them with attractive opportunities to advance their career within the company. How does Dachser support personal career planning? We pursue active talent management and succession planning. This enables us to define interesting development opportunities with our colleagues. As a company that operates globally, we have particularly interesting opportunities and fields of activity at our branch offices worldwide for employees who are mobile. Just what are the Placement Programs about? The Placement Programs are directed toward various management levels and prepare employees specifically for the position within the company they are aiming for. Integrated into the program are an analysis of the employee’s profile and specific modules such as leadership and change, decision-making, powers of persuasion, and business/management issues. studies for a master’s in Business Administration concurrently with his job. He is looking forward to the birth of his first child in May, and a new house is still under construction. It looks like his hobbies of bicycle racing, mountain bike tours, and cooking will have to take a back seat in the near future. D. Kunde ... at team meetings ... F More about career opportunities at Dachser on Facebook www.facebook.com/ dachsercareers or at www.dachser.com ... and in dispatch DACHSER magazine 21 NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC VALUE ADDED LOGISTICS Dachser continues to grow its network in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to air and sea freight services, customers around the world capitalize on tailor-made contract logistics solutions. Contract Logistics is as uniquely individual as the customers it serves. They involve tailor-made packages of logistics services like transport, cargo handling, and warehousing as much as targeted IT support. It can help reduce costs within supply chain networks, on the one hand. At the same time, it can elevate service and quality in purchasing, warehousing, and distribution. Signs in Asia once again point to growth. Even if the euphoria among market players in this economic region was somewhat attenuated in recent months— China, for instance, is projecting annual growth this year of “only” 7.0 percent over last year’s 7.3 percent gain—economists remain optimistic of the prospects for the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). According to one study by the World Bank, businesses throughout the world consider Hong Kong, for example, an exceedingly attractive location because of its favorable and competitive corporate tax rates, its business-friendly statutory/regulatory environment, reliable public infrastructure, and dynamic economic progress. The World Bank study puts Singapore in third place after the USA and Switzerland as the most economically competitive countries in the world. “Demand for comprehensive logistics services is pervasive in China, most especially in the developed and booming economic regions, like the Bohai Rim Area and the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas,” explains Edoardo Podestá, Managing Director Asia Pacific at Dachser. “Based on need, we can access a network of bonded warehouses and conventional warehouses, and handle complete warehouse inbound and outbound management as well as all inventory and order processes based on Mikado, our warehouse management system,” the Dachser manager explains. h Door opener to Asia “As Dachser steadily expanded its portfolio of Air & Sea freight services to include 22 DACHSER magazine warehousing and distribution, value-added services and consulting services have increasingly come into focus, especially for specialized freight services within Asia, and custom-tailored Contract Logistics projects,” explains Karl-Heinz Krupp, General Manager Contract Logistics Far East. Right at the beginning of their decision to enter the Asian markets, SME customers sought close assistance with the structuring of their supply chains. “With our local experience and our network solutions, we can show them ways to reach their goals," Krupp says. “In dialogue with customers, we acquaint them with country-specific customs issues as well as the opportunities that come from the free trade treaties in the APAC region. Information about required certifications for imports or networked bonded/nonbonded warehouse and distribution solutions mean another important value-added benefit to the customers,” Krupp adds. “To establish even more efficient solutions for customers, you have to integrate sophisticated distribution and industrial process concepts with standardized IT systems and value-added logistics services,” explains Edoardo Podestá. It was especially the international customers on the Asia-Pacific markets who increasingly appreciated these services. “Asia hasn’t been merely the extended workbench of international industry for some time now,” states Podestá. Indeed, the demand for products from Europe and other countries throughout the world keeps growing. That also has an impact on the flow of goods within Asia. “Thanks to its network and systems, Dachser holds a solid, ‡ NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC Shanghai, China: cargo-handling in good hands DACHSER magazine 23 NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC Value-added services in Shanghai Gaining ground: warehousing in Asia Thomas Reuter, Dachser COO Air & Sea Logistics far-flung position that would adequately suffice to meet the specific needs of the Asia market,” Podestá says. Under “Global,” its Air & Sea logistics strategy, the logistics provider consistently expanded its network of partners and branch offices as well as its portfolio of services over the past several years. “We want to support our customers in every market and are therefore establishing new branch offices in the region globally,” Thomas Reuter, Dachser COO Air & Sea Logistics, summarizes the strategic goal. Under Edoardo Podestá’s management, Dachser serves the Asia-Pacific markets from its head office in Hong Kong and has operations in China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam as well as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Facing challenges International customers are increasingly asking for value-added services such as, everything related to production process planning, packaging and labelling of goods as well as putting together sales displays for pro- 24 DACHSER magazine Warehouse in Hong Kong We want to support our customers in every market and are therefore establishing new branch offices in the region, in close proximity to our global customers hh motional campaigns in the retail sector. “Through regular training programs, we ensure that our employees are always upto-date on the latest and have full mastery of the potential of our global network and Dachser’s IT tools,” explains Karl-Heinz Krupp. For instance, this includes the complete reporting and compilation of the associated data streams and statistics. Against this backdrop, Edoardo Podestá considers Dachser to be superbly positioned in the APAC region. “We have gained confidence and trust throughout Asia thanks to customer relationships that stretch back decades,” he concludes. “We have to justify this trust anew each day and continue down our path of nurturing a close, global customer network with innovative solutions. Customers appreciate this, but they also expect constant optimization.” In other words: intelligent logistics has prospects; the “King’s Road” of Contract Logistics has been paved. M. Schick PERSONAL FILE Karl-Heinz Krupp comes from Bad Honnef near Bonn und has been working for Dachser since 2006. After a stint as Group Manager for international Contract Logistics projects at the Head Office in Kempten, he took over management of Contract Logistics at the Cologne branch office. In October 2010, he assumed responsibility for all activities revolving around Contract Logistics services as General Manager Contract Logistics for Dachser Far East and is working in Shanghai. NETWORK: ASIA PACIFIC There are Dachser warehouses currently in China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Dachser serves the Asia-Pacific markets from its head office in Hong Kong and in addition to China, Singapore, and Taiwan, it also operates in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Tianjin Kunshan Shanghai Wuhu Taipei Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Singapore DACHSER magazine 25 NETWORK EXPERTISE More transshipment capacity in Wrocław Road Logistics DACHSER EXPANDS ITS WROCŁAW BRANCH Wrocław is gradually becoming the third largest Dachser location in Poland. That’s particularly beneficial to export-oriented customers. Wrocław is home to one of eight branches in Poland run by Dachser since 2011. Another 3,000 square meters dedicated to warehouse capacity expansion and 250 square meters of additional office space are now being added to the existing 5,000 square meters of warehouse space and 500 square meters of office space. That will make Wrocław the country’s third largest Dachser location. “With this greater ware- Dachser supplies many European destinations out of Wrocław 26 DACHSER magazine house and transshipment capacity, we will be able to support our increasingly exportfocused customers even more efficiently and be right at their side on their path to growth,” explains Michał Simkowski, Branch Manager. Dachser supplies several European destinations out of Wrocław, Germany and France foremost among them, but also the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, and Italy. NETWORK +++ GRAND GARDEN GALA +++ Dachser France is the official logistics partner to “Le Cercle des Saisons.” This spectacular garden trade show takes place in the historic Hippodrome of Chantilly (north of Paris) from May 19 to 21. +++ Majestic setting for the garden trade fair: Château de Chantilly +++ NEW FORMULA FOR THE UK +++ Dachser UK became a member of the Chemical Business Association (CBA). The association of the British chemical industry represents the interests of manufacturers, refiners, and their logistics service providers. “Through its membership, Dachser is sending a clear signal of its commitment to the chemical sector,” explained Nick Lowe, Managing Director of Dachser UK. The CBA is the most important voice in Great Britain’s chemical supply chain, Lowe added. Dachser brings its expertise Shanghai is an important transshipment point of global trade +++ CUSTOMS WAREHOUSE RECEIVES OUTSTANDING RATING +++ The “customs-supervised warehouse” of Dachser Shanghai Co. Ltd. at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport has been listed as one of the Top 10 warehouses located there. The logistics pros received this certificate soon after a thorough assessment of its logistics in logistics for the chemical industry to the pool of experience of this renowned organization. Lowe sees exciting prospects for Dachser and its customers connected to this: “The British chemical sector has immense export potential. Through its membership in CBA, we are strengthening Dachser’s market position in this vital branch of the industry.” +++ services, the standards associated with it, and its IT systems. Score for the customer! Through the comprehensive quality controls tied to this certification, processing at the “customs-supervised warehouse” is conducted with the highest priority. This advantage facilitates and accelerates the import-export process considerably. +++ +++ CAPACITY EXPANSION IN ÖHRINGEN +++ Three years after the opening of the Logistics Center, Dachser is strengthening its presence at its site in Öhringen/Baden-Württemberg. A new Contract Logistics warehouse that holds roughly 16,000 square meters (plus administration building) is on the rise at the Flürle industrial park. Two-thirds of the new floor space is already reserved for a major customer as its central warehouse. The warehouse supplements the already existing large transit terminal of 5,300 square meters. The first goods are scheduled to be stored at the new facility starting November 2015. With the expansion comes an increase to the number of on-site employees, from 120 to 155. +++ DACHSER magazine 27 NETWORK: FINLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES BREAKING NEW GROUND IN NORTHERN EUROPE A vibrant economic zone is emerging in northeastern Europe between Helsinki and Tallinn. Dachser entered the Finnish overland transport market and acquired the majority shareholding in Oy Waco Logistics Finland, an air and sea freight corporation. This was a powerful signal that points beyond Northeast Europe. 28 DACHSER magazine NETWORK: FINLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES “Talsinki”: this creative, unofficial moniker labels a new and dynamic economic region that is burgeoning in Northeast Europe between Finland’s capital city of Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn. Approximately 1.5 million people live along the Gulf of Finland, separated by only 80 kilometers and a mere 100-minute ferry ride. Ever since the former Soviet republic of Estonia became an EU member state in 2004, the two capitals have grown together. In the process, they have brought their historic ties back to life, developing and improving a proven, reliable exchange. These days, up to 400,000 people each month make the commute across the Gulf of Finland. The passage is among most frequently traveled routes in Europe, second only to the line connecting Dover and Calais. Beyond the cultural and day-to-day interpersonal exchange, this connection has resulted in bringing tremendous momentum to the entire Baltic Sea region, first and foremost from an economic standpoint. h Gate to the world of the North: the Port of Helsinki Strengthening network ties “That is one of the reasons why we entered the Finnish overland transport market in 2014,” explains Michael Schilling, COO Road Logistics at Dachser. A joint venture was established for this purpose with the ACE Logistics Group, headquartered in Tallinn. Dachser has already been collaborating with the company in the Baltic States for the last 18 years or so. Working together, the partners opened a location in Vantaa, a bedroom community near the Finnish capital. They now hold around 1200 square meters of transit and warehouse space there. Goods can be distributed from this site within fixed time slots via the Eurohubs throughout all of Europe. On the land route from Germany, they primarily include consumer goods—like automotive parts, machinery, and chemical products. Conversely, Finland ships mostly wood, paper, pulp, oil, and electronics—such as premium quality heart rate monitors and sports watches— to Germany. Vantaa was the perfect choice for the site. “A total of 85 percent of the Finnish overland transport market takes place in the triangle formed by Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere,” highlights Tuomas Leimio, Managing Director of Dachser Finland Oy. The majority ‡ DACHSER magazine 29 NETWORK: FINLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES Finland’s capital Helsinki The cathedral of Tallinn of the Finnish export and import customers are situated within its immediate vicinity. The Helsinki region in particular—where a majority of the 5.5 million Finns live— really serves as the backbone; approximately one third of the gross domestic product is generated here. The majority of Finnish and international corporations are also domiciled within the greater Helsinki region, not the least because of the logistics network and the The Gulf of Finland is an approximately 390 kilometer-long bay in the Baltic Sea that stretches across an area of 29,500 square kilometers in a westeast direction. The mouth of the Neva River is located at its eastern end. At its deepest point, northeast of Tallinn, the Gulf descends a full 121 meters below sea level. pool of available labor. Such companies as telecom servicer Elisa are among them, as well as the Otava and Sanoma media groups, and retailers like Kesko, HOK-Elanto, and the Stockmann department store chain. Logistics: key to success All benefit from the nation’s logistics, running like a well-oiled machine. According to the Logistics Performance Index of The INFO Finland, as an business location, benefited disproportionately over the past ten years from globalization. So, logically, the losses from the global economic crisis were likewise very significant. According to the Finnish Ministry of Finance, after two consecutive years of GDP decline, stagnation is anticipated for 2014. In 2015 and 2016, the economy is expected to experience a slight recovery. Economic development in Finland Real gross domestic product (change in %) -1,0 2012 0,2 1,0 1,1 2014 2015 2016 -1,4 2013 Source: Foreign Chamber of Commerce Since 2011, the economic cycle in the Baltic States has progressed more favorably than in other EU member states. In addition to shipping, logistics and telecommunications, the processing industry belongs to the most important economic branches. In Estonia, its share of the gross domestic product was 18 percent; in Latvia, 14 percent; and almost a quarter in Lithuania. An important role in this regard is played primarily by the wood, paper, furniture and mechanical engineering industries; in addition, in Lithuania, the chemical and textile industries also play a significant role. 30 DACHSER magazine NETWORK: FINLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES Finland is a market with a future. We want to make Dachser one of the leading logistics brands in Northeastern Europe IN BRIEF hh Tuomas Leimio, Managing Director, Dachser Finland Oy, and Juha Isohanni, Managing Director, Dachser Finland Air & Sea Logistics Oy World Bank, which studies the attractiveness of locations in 155 nations, the “Land of a Thousand Lakes” was among the top ten in 2012. Finland has admittedly slid further down the ranks since then. The Finnish government is planning on expenditures of around EUR 4.8 billion by 2022 to expand and improve infrastructure. Between 2012 and 2015, around EUR 445 million will be spent on railroads and EUR 710 million on roads. Jens Lengefeld, Head of Partners, Hub, & Traffic Organization at Dachser, and his team are working with all horses running: they want to ensure that a plethora of trucks and containers with Dachser’s emblematic blueand-yellow branding will soon be covering these routes. Because in a time when global climate protection is paramount, an increase in heavy oil taxation is being repeatedly discussed, and as a result, the logistics experts anticipate a substantial shift in the near future from transport of goods by sea routes to roads. One of the steps already implemented is a precision-timed service by truck from Poland via Tallinn to Helsinki, which has Always on the move: ice-breakers in the Gulf of Finland improved the connection between the regions by making it more direct and optimizing the runtimes. And because one thing is clear: if Finnish manufacturers seek competitive advantages on the international markets, they will achieve them first and foremost by optimizing delivery times. “Our customers seek a service provider who has a Europe-wide presence and can offer the same quality everywhere,” Lengefeld stresses. “Currently, Dachser is loading over 8,000 shipments to Finland per month. That opens up a world of possibilities.” There are daily connections from Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, and the Netherlands. Finland Area: 338,424 km2 Population: 5.439 million (2013) Capital: Helsinki GDP: EUR 265.49 billion (2013) Estonia Area: 45,226 km2 Population: 1.325 million (2013) Capital: Tallinn GDP: USD 24.48 billion (2013) Latvia Area: 64,589 km2 An exceedingly attractive market Population: 2.013 million (2013) In 2013, Finland’s foreign trade increased by five percent to 104 million tons of transported goods. “That makes Finland an exceedingly attractive market for air and sea freight,” explains Thomas Reuter, COO Dachser Air & Sea Logistics. By last year, Dachser had already stepped up its commitment here in a targeted manner and taken over the majority share interest in the Finnish air and sea freight company Oy Waco Logistics Finland. “Since October 2014, we have been working as Dachser Finland Air & Sea Logistics Oy,” explains Juha Isohanni, Managing Director of Dachser Finland Air & Sea Logistics Oy. Last year, the company generated revenues of EUR 28 million with its 52 employees at four locations in Vantaa and Lahti in the south, Oulu in the north, and Tampere in southwest Finland. “Since 2011, we have increased our revenues by 50 percent, and earned a ‘AAA’ rating in 2013, 2014, and 2015,” Isohanni reiterates. “A majority of our customers are currently small and medium-sized companies from Finland. Establishing a good balance between import and export orders is critical to our growth strategy.” He added that, generally speaking, future growth is Capital: Riga GDP: USD 30.96 billion (2013) Lithuania Area: 65,200 km2 Population: 2.956 million (2013) Capital: Vilnius GDP: USD 45.93 billion (2013) Source: The World Bank planned on four equal pillars: sea freight, air freight, imports and exports. Together with colleague Tuomas Leimio, he is now working on making the Dachser name even more recognized in the future among Finland’s logistics managers. The conditions are already there for that to happen: because Dachser Finland Oy and Dachser Finland Air & Sea Logistics stand for a global network that is supported by a comprehensive, extremely capable IT system. For Finland’s industry, there are good opportunities to optimize shipping times and Supply Chain Management. As the next step, another location for Dachser Finland Air & Sea Logistics is being planned for the west of the country. K. Fink DACHSER magazine 31 BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE BERNHARD SIMON SPEAKS WITH... KISHOR SRIDHAR Is it possible to “inoculate” a company against crises? Bernhard Simon speaks with Kishor H. Sridhar, behavioral economics expert and best-selling author, about the future viability of robustly positioned companies within a networked world. Did you run into any unreasonable or irrational behavior today? Kishor Sridhar: During my train trip here, I shared a compartment with another passenger who had purchased the wrong ticket and underpaid by 7.90 euros. When he wanted to upgrade his ticket at ticket inspection time, the conductor treated him like a criminal. The matter was not resolved until, after some back-and-forth, the conductor finally calmed down. All of this commotion was absolutely irrational. However, the passenger’s conclusion—never to travel with this carrier again—seems quite rational to me. Are reason and well-planned, systematic action inextricably tied together? Homo irrationalis corresponds to human nature far better than the rational homo oeconomicus hh Kishor H. Sridhar 32 DACHSER magazine Bernhard Simon: Indeed, they go hand in hand! But that is not to say that a certain level of “irrationality” per se precludes the ability to come up with a well-reasoned plan. I can only talk about irrationality if I have previously experienced its opposite—wellreasoned planning. You sometimes have to break out of that corset that is constricting you and rewrite the game rules—when it comes to achieving progress, that can be the deciding factor. For corporate management, this means: once the handling of every issue or concern is carved in stone and controlled down to the last detail, then a company’s progress lurches to a halt. K. Sridhar: Homo irrationalis corresponds to human nature far better than the rational homo oeconomicus. And that’s a good thing. Always doggedly following your plan closes off opportunities to move freely if the environment changes and the sunk-cost effects start being felt. Which means? K. Sridhar: Psychologists Hal Arkes and Catherine Blumer discovered the sunk-cost effects and proved them in numerous experiments. This means that the greater an investment is, the less willing people become to break off a project initiated with that investment—even if the chances of success are approaching zero. In other words, this is about the human predisposition to throw good money after bad—true to the motto: “Now that we have put so much work into the project already, we can’t just stop here.” And this is precisely what leads to sinking more and more money into the project. Past mistakes do not justify making future mistakes that you are making with your eyes wide open. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves the question time and time again: would I still do today what seemed like the right thing yesterday? B. Simon: This attitude has significant effects on strategy. Classic strategy models took a very deterministic approach, meaning that all events—in particular future ones— are clearly determined by their preconditions. However, since markets, enterprises, and the actors involved do not adhere to this theoretical concept, deterministic strategies proved to be much too static to be successful in the long term. Today, enterprises must be as dynamic as the world around them and in markets that are changing more rapidly than ever. Success comes to those who are able to react to ever-changing scenarios and difficult and sometimes surprising situations and who can provide new responses to the challenges. K. Sridhar: Particularly in this era of globalization, we must constantly rethink things BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE To achieve defined goals, sometimes a detour is necessary to get the best result—just like in nature because everything is always in flux. To revert to a strategy that was previously determined and to stop pursuing new ideas means that you are surrendering your responsibility and letting go of the reins. I like to compare challenges with intelligent navigation systems. If you want to drive according to traffic conditions and avoid traffic jams, it’s always necessary to make changes in order to find the most efficient route, arrive reliably at your destination, and remain relaxed while you’re driving. Strategies should provide guidelines but not erect walls that make it impossible to correct your route. What role do executives play in this process? K. Sridhar: It is their responsibility to create a climate in which each employee can continuously analyze himself/herself and his/her actions in a critical and yet constructive way. And this must happen at all levels; after all, significant innovations generally come from the corporate base. Such analysis and open, cross-divisional dialogue always spawn new ideas. B. Simon: In this process, employees need dynamic objectives with which they can identify emotionally. In order to release ener- gy, develop new solutions, and explore new horizons, you need appropriate communication arenas within the company. What does this mean for communications within the company? B. Simon: In the course of Dachser’s history, it was always about inspiring enthusiasm for ideas so that the ideas themselves develop in an entrepreneurial way and to bring your own fresh, new perspectives to the company. For example, this is how the Dachser colors that characterize our image today originated. Around 30 years ago, some Dutch colleagues had the idea of presenting the company at a local trade fair using the colors yellow and blue, which they simply found more modern and fresher. Of course, this “wild” disobedience initially caused an indignant outcry at company headquarters, but ultimately, everyone liked it so much that it resulted in today’s Dachser color scheme. Mr. Sridhar, you recommend that companies “inoculate” themselves against crises. How is that supposed to work? K. Sridhar: The “crisis inoculation” of a company is similar to the inoculation of a liv- ing creature. We cannot predict every illness in our future, but we can give our immune system the tools it needs to be able to react flexibly and quickly to dangerous viruses and germs. A vaccine consists of three components: external recognition, self-reflection, and internal communication. In other words, we must recognize and assess the symptoms of a crisis and ensure that the steps we take are comprehensible and transparent for everyone involved. In particular, the crossdivisional networking of the company, which is necessary for this process, demands that we proceed with caution. After all, the individual departments are safe havens for the employees who work there; this is where things are familiar and where they know how to navigate. However, curling up into a ball is not a helpful strategy in a crisis. A body does not battle an illness by having each unit isolate itself from the rest of the organism. B. Simon: At Dachser, our decentralized organization is a significant factor of such resilience. We are crisis-resistant because our branch offices act as companies within the company. Patriarchal, top-down decisions would not get our management very far. Every idea must blaze its way through ‡ DACHSER magazine 33 BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE the markets. I see this often in companies managed by the owners, where the patriarch pushes his ideas through by hook or by crook, driven by the thought: “I made this company what it is today, and I know best what’s what. The difficulties cannot possibly be my fault.” B. Simon: Decisions need an idea to keep them alive; it must be believable and the actors must not only be committed to it, they must internalize it. Otherwise, it has no prospect of success. In this respect, family companies have an advantage over exchangelisted corporations because they can follow their path more consistently, without having to consider transitory short-term effects that may impact the price of their shares. In these cases, even outstanding managers often don’t get an opportunity to lift the company out of the crisis with a steady hand in the spirit of a “crisis inoculation” and to raise it to the next level in close communication with their staff. PERSONAL FILE company history, as committed Bernhard Simon Trying out new ideas and running the risk of possible failure sounds good. But who can really afford to do this? the company before it can establish itself on a broad basis. This also applies to the ad-hoc decisions that are occasionally necessary. But because our internal communication structures are intact and effectively support the opinion-building process at all levels, we are able to rapidly communicate with the entire company throughout all of its subsidiaries, branches, and divisions with their 25,000 employees so that the company supports our decisions with positive sentiment. K. Sridhar: Arbitrary and unilateral topdown decisions can generally no longer serve as an adequate response to today’s ever more complex challenges that are posed by B. Simon: Logistics is an industry that is always facing new challenges and, at the same time, has very narrow margins and profits. We receive hardly any support from the political arena because our services are complex and often require explanations before they are understood. There is not much room for error here. Every single day, we must think about how we can be more efficient and make our customers even more successful. This motivates us and helps us find the right responses to the new challenges that we are constantly encountering. K. Sridhar: Constant pressure to change actually has a positive effect on the resilience and robustness of corporations—it’s like a tree whose trunk may have to grow up around a corner, but still manages to turn into a large tree. The key to lasting success is always having to adapt to new situations, learning from mistakes, crises and your responses to them, and continuing to grow. B. Simon: And it’s crucial to always be forward-looking and to reject complaisance. One of our mottos is: nothing is a bigger risk for success than success itself. Ideas, energy, and empathetic collaboration is what drives us at Dachser. And it is what makes every day exciting and worth living. Once the handling of every issue or concern is carved in stone and controlled down to the last detail, then a company’s progress lurches to a halt hh 34 DACHSER magazine Kishor H. Sridhar is a management consultant, author, coach, and lecturer at various German and international institutions of higher learning. Based on behavioral economics and behavioral psychology, he develops concepts on how to address and remove impediments to development and solutions for restructuring and corporate development. In the “crisis inoculation” of companies, he sees “human irrationality as the key to success.” Bernhard Simon sees Dachser, with its 85-year to ongoing change and adaptation to new market situations. “It’s always the people who shape innovations,” says Simon. Their experience and the continuous and open exchange of ideas amongst themselves and with customers always come back to the company’s origin and its mission and help them to build bridges to the future. GOOD NEWS MUNIQUE – MUNICH – MÜNCHEN “Logistics makes it happen.” This is the motto of the 15th transport logistic trade fair that takes place May 5 to 8 in Munich. The leading international logistics exhibition is also a highlight for Bianca Barella from Dachser Brasil. The communications expert for Latin America is part of the Dachser trade fair crew that consists of employees from various company locations. “I’m particularly looking forward to the many personal meetings with customers and colleagues from around the world,” says Bianca Barella who works for Dachser in Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, twelve hours by plane from Munich. “The trade fair will certainly be a unique and valuable experience. I’ll see you at the Dachser booth in Hall B6!” DACHSER magazine 35