IMPERIAL
02 | 2016
NEWS
The Next Generation
Digitisation is changing everything: welcome to the next generation
of logistics solutions from IMPERIAL Logistics International
Editorial
“Look forward to the logistics
of the future with us!”
Dear readers,
When they hear the phrase “a glimpse of the future”, many people think of looking into a
crystal ball; they associate the idea of the future with a leap into the dark and endless possible interpretations.
However, our glimpse of the future is crystal-clear. IMPERIAL Logistics International has
a clear picture of where it is heading. The takeover of Palletways (pages 12 and 13) shows
how IMPERIAL is deliberately tapping into markets with a great deal of potential. The
takeover of the chemical logistics company Van den Anker was just as focused. With
the integration of Van den Anker, Hans van den Bosch immaculately shows on pages 20
and 21, how you can bring together the best of two worlds. Future orientation, however,
is not restricted to goal-oriented growth and the formation of successful teams. We are
already focusing intensively on the challenges of tomorrow now. IMPERIAL NEWS has
questioned research scientists about the future of logistics. When you read their answers
on pages 15 to 17, one thing will become clear: IMPERIAL Logistics International is
already well on the way to the future today. After all, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 means
that we must introduce digitisation and we have already responded to this with our new,
ground-breaking IT strategy (pages 4 – 7).
Look forward to the logistics of the future with us!
I trust you will be stimulated by what you read in the latest issue of IMPERIAL NEWS.
Best wishes,
Carsten Taucke
CEO of IMPERIAL Logistics International B.V. & Co. KG
2
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
In a nutshell
In focus
4
In the company
8
IMPERIAL Logistics International is arming itself
with a new IT strategy to meet the challenges
of the digitisation.
The complete Group has undergone a consistent process
of reorganisation during the last few months and this
has greatly simplified its structure.
In trend
Research scientists have cast their eye on the future of
logistics. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will change
logistics enormously. The future scenarios bring with
them challenges, but also opportunities.
04
15
In contact
18
In profile
20
In the spotlight
22
Successful teams do not stand still; they continue
developing. IMPERIAL Logistics International has
strengthened its resources with new arrivals.
Bringing together the best of two worlds: IMPERIAL NEWS
describes how Hans van den Bosch is integrating the
Van den Anker group into IMPERIAL in an ideal way.
Carsten Taucke, who is Chairman of the Transport
Committee on the Federation of Wholesale, Foreign Trade
and Services (BGA), is in close contact with German
Transport Minister, Alexander Dobrindt.
14
20
15
In trend
What is science fiction today is reality
tomorrow. Futurologists show us plainly how close the future really is. The individual areas of logistics will change at
different speeds in their view. But it is
absolutely clear that logistics will not
remain as it is.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
3
In focus
Precise and highly transparent
IMPERIAL Logistics International is arming itself with a new IT strategy for the company’s new
strategic orientation. The Group’s new multi-faceted portfolio will then be provided with digital
solutions with top quality levels so that they match the situation precisely.
When is the right time to introduce a new IT strategy?
IMPERIAL is absolutely convinced that the right time
is now. Following a number of takeovers and restructuring operations within the Group, there are now
many isolated solutions in the IT landscape. These
extremely local structures require a high degree of
effort in terms of maintenance and support. Michael
Lütjann, CIO of IMPERIAL Logistics International,
has assumed responsibility for the task of uniting
these isolated IT solutions to establish a common one,
achieve transparency and look after each section in
the best possible way.
Fully on course for the future
IMPERIAL Logistics International is fully in tune
with the latest trends in introducing its new IT strategy. For business experts are forecasting that only
companies, which press ahead with digitisation and
provide their customers with value added as a result,
will be successful in future.
IMPERIAL has committed itself to achieving transparency along the complete supply chain, speed in
handling items and quality in its services within the
new IT strategy. Formulating these kinds of goals is
one thing. It is quite another to introduce them.
IMPERIAL is adopting a model approach with regard
to their implementation. Instead of introducing a
new system from the top downwards, the company is
tackling the project from the bottom up. The team
centred on Michael Lütjann used a number of assessments to discover the current situation and gain some
idea of what the individual business units wanted.
The units described their current situation in detail
and worked out where their “pain points” were. The
IMPERIAL Freight Management System IFMS (see
4
page 5) is a perfect example of a customer project that
has been created from this procedure; it is a system
that will have a great influence on inland waterway
shipping operations.
A bimodal approach achieves the desired results
The extensive analysis work showed IMPERIAL that
only a bimodal IT approach would lead to success.
After all, the Group needs both “sprinters” and “marathon runners”. However different these two types
are, both of them are essential. It must be possible to
handle the sprinter solutions quickly so that they are
up and running within a few days or weeks.
Marathon solutions, on the other hand, are aimed at
long-term cycles. The sprinter solutions are required
for customer-oriented activities – but the marathon
solutions need to be launched for internal Group processes. This bi-polarity runs through the whole strategy, which is based on three pillars: “customer solutions”, “core” and “control” – i. e. a focus on customers,
the IT core business and strong controls or management. IMPERIAL’ s bimodal approach is already
fulfilling one task required in the future, for futurologists are calling on logistics specialists to focus on
“localised and smart structures”.
A diverse mix for a multi-faceted portfolio
IMPERIAL’s broad portfolio means that the IT department has to cope with very different tasks during
the renewal process. “We’re aiming for an IT landscape with a balanced mix,” Michael Lütjann explains.
Standard solutions will be the dominant elements at
some points; in other areas, software products, which
have been developed in-house and/or those based on
workflows, will be used. The IT infrastructure also
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
provides the foundation for the complete ongoing
development work. The future IT infrastructure will
be hybrid: that is to say, there will be a mix of on-site
and cloud-based infrastructure components. The Next
Generation Infrastructure project has been specially
launched for this purpose. This project will enable the
complete IT infrastructure to be reorganised by the
end of 2017 – ranging from the data centre to data
networks and even user terminal devices. Depending
on the existing situation, the new solutions may
represent a drastic break with normal procedures in
individual cases. The example of the IMPERIAL
Freight Management System, known as IFMS, which
is being introduced for inland waterway shipping,
illustrates how radical the change may be. Jens Kleiner,
CFO of the IMPERIAL Transport Solutions division,
explains the remarkable leap in technology, which the
company is accomplishing, in this interview:
Freight exchanges have been used to bring
together transport space and loads for road
transport operations for many years. Why
not for inland waterway shipping too?
Kleiner: Experience teaches us that traditional processes last longer in the world of inland waterway
shipping, although in many cases this is a waste of
resources. Unused inland waterway vessels and potential loads are often just 100 metres apart, but do not
know anything about each other. Our IFMS e-commerce platform is designed to prevent this wastage.
How does the IMPERIAL Freight Management
System work?
Kleiner: Independent owner-operators of vessels can
use the platform to indicate when and how much
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
cargo space they can make available and under what
conditions.
Does this mean that owner-operators of
vessels, who work exclusively for us, are
at a disadvantage because of the IFMS?
Kleiner: No, on the contrary. They gain access to consignments, which make better use of the capacity on
board their vessels and reduce empty trips, as a result
of the IFMS. And we’ll include our exclusive owneroperators in the platform as our first priority. We’ll
then activate the IFMS for the complete owneroperator market in January 2017.
Does the IFMS replace the personal contact
between the vessel and the scheduler?
Kleiner: Not at all. If the customer or the owner-operator prefers to arrange everything on the phone, that
is still possible. We view the IFMS as an operational
support system to link vessels and loads. Our volume
of consignments (50 million tonnes per annum)
should motivate many owner-operators to use the
IFMS.
When will the IFMS be fully operational?
Kleiner: Our customers will be able to completely feed
in the data on their loads from the middle of 2017
onwards.
How will the IFMS affect the German inland
waterway shipping market?
Kleiner: I want to be careful about using superlatives,
but our e-logistics platform with its dimensions could
well be revolutionary for inland waterway shipping
operations.
5
In focus
Apps from the modular system
Apps play an important role within the new IT strategy. Thanks to the modular structure of the Group’s
software, selected functions can be exported to
smartphones. Apps can be defined for a special need
in the modular system, so to speak. Employees in
the logistics centre, for example, can use a barcode
scanner integrated in the app in order to acknowledge
consignments without any difficulties. All the apps
have one thing in common: all the data obtained is
compatible with the higher-level system and this
makes a significant contribution towards achieving
transparency.
Employees can also photograph damaged goods with
their smartphone and provide the photos with attachments in order to describe the damage or errors in
greater detail. The use of apps provides benefits for all
those involved: the apps can be used externally to
track consignments and internally they guarantee the
quality of the logistics processes.
Quality and transparency are also the major focus
when managing fleets. Customers of IMPERIAL Fleet
Management, for example, can retrieve important
data using the smartphone app or make enquiries on
the term of the contract or the date for the next major
overhaul. The app also analyses driving behaviour and
6
compares the agreed kilometres with the number
actually driven. The user can use this for guidance
purposes and save resources. In an emergency, customers can immediately send the damage report to the
right place thanks to a form that is integrated within
the system.
An app for retail logistics is another prominent
example for the growing significance of mobile systems. IMPERIAL is quickly and pragmatically
modifying a standard solution provided by SAP
here on the basis of customer requirements. Michael
Sterk, Director Retail & Consumer Goods, handles
about 1,500 shop openings around the globe every
year. He is delighted by shorter delivery times, lower
costs and risks in future – all thanks to the app. In the
light of the short time that is normally available to fit
out a shop, it is important to keep an overall view of
things at all times, particularly if a guaranteed opening
date has been set. The interior fittings are often first
transported from a central warehouse to an intermediate storage area near the new shop so that deliveries
can be made from there in good time.
As you can see, the new IT strategy is geared towards
precise and highly transparent operations in all the
departments. IMPERIAL – a forward-looking and
customer-oriented business partner.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
“We’ve not just
recognised the need for
digitisation, but we’ve
already responded to it.”
Michael Lütjann,
CIO IMPERIAL Logistics International
B.V. & Co. KG
Four questions to Michael Lütjann:
What do digitisation and the
Internet of Things mean to
you?
Michael Lütjann: Digitisation and
the Internet of Things mean that
logistics has to dovetail the latest
information and communications
technologies. We at IMPERIAL
want to achieve greater transparency, higher speeds and even
better quality levels. They may be
what you might call classic goals,
but it will be impossible to achieve
them in future by using classic
methods. We must demonstrate
our ability to adapt and that’s what
we will do. Our employees play a
central role in this process. We
need talented young workers and
must therefore make IMPERIAL
more attractive in the market place.
That’s part of our IT strategy too.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
What’s the core goal of the IT
strategy?
Michael Lütjann: Our core goal is
to press ahead with digitisation at
the highest level. Our own development skills with a high degree
of automation form the basis for
this. We want the best possible
solutions so that our employees
can serve customers. IMPERIAL
has a broad portfolio of services
and we need to respond to this
fact in the IT department with a
balanced mixture of system solutions.
What benefits does the new
strategy provide for the Group
and what are the benefits for
customers?
Michael Lütjann: Apart from the
benefits in our individual departments, the new strategy gives us
an advantage that is of central
importance: the new IT strategy
is enabling us to carve out for
ourselves a crucial advantage over
our competitors. Our customers
then benefit from this too. They
discover that we are a business
partner, which can offer the latest
processes and services thanks to its
technological cutting edge. And
the company, which best knows
what customers need, will be
successful in the end.
How do you see the future
of IMPERIAL in the age of
digitisation?
Michael Lütjann: IMPERIAL can
look to the future with optimism.
We’ve not just recognised the need
for digitisation, but we’ve already
responded to it and are in the
middle of an exciting process of
change. We’re ideally equipped to
face the challenges of digitisation
with our highly effective and motivated IT team, which has the
right mix of experienced experts
and young high-flyers who have
joined us. Each employee within
the Group is also required to share
in the responsibility for digitisation. Digitisation will work
out best for us if we cope with it
together as a team!
7
In the company
Strategy and inspiration
Following the restructuring of IMPERIAL Logistics International, the whole Group
has now been consistently reorganised during the last few months and has strongly
simplified its structures based on what is happening in South Africa. This strategy is
geared towards supporting customers as a strong partner with intelligent solutions.
This orientation also finds expression in our new image.
The customers of IMPERIAL operate on a global scale. The divisions,
which in the past were largely defined according to geographical regions,
will not be able to cope with this situation in the long term. That is
why the Group’s Management Board decided to markedly simplify the
structure of the IMPERIAL Group and replace the former six divisions –
“IMPERIAL Logistics South Africa”, “IMPERIAL Logistics Rest of Africa”,
“IMPERIAL Logistics International,” “Vehicle Import, Distribution and
Dealerships”, “Vehicle Retail, Rental and Aftermarket Parts” and “Motor
Related Financial Services” – with two divisions: “IMPERIAL Logistics”
and “Vehicles” for the automobile sector. The new “IMPERIAL Logistics”
division now incorporates the previous divisions of “IMPERIAL Logistics
South Africa”, “IMPERIAL Logistics Rest of Africa” and “IMPERIAL
Logistics International”. This new division is managed by a joint leadership team under the direction of Marius Swanepoel, who took over the
South Africa
Rest of Africa
22,000 employees
Geographical aspects have taken a
back seat in the focus of the new
structure. The Group is following
the increasingly global orientation
of its customers in the new
breakdown of services.
Shipping
8
position of CEO of the IMPERIAL Logistics division on 1 July. IMPERIAL
Logistics International is now represented by Carsten Taucke and Thomas
Schulz on the newly created board at IMPERIAL Logistics. Michael
Lütjann (IT) and Wolfgang Kortus (HR) have also become members of the
new executive committee in the new Logistics division. Michael Lütjann
has been appointed as Chief Information Officer to take effect on 1 April
2017. “Vehicle Import, Distribution and Dealerships”, “Vehicle Retail,
Rental and Aftermarket Parts” and “Motor Related Financial Services”
have been merged to form the “Vehicles” division and this will be led by
Mark Lamberti, the CEO of the Group, as Executive Chairman. Osman
Arbee, the current CFO of the whole Group, will take over the position of
CEO of the new division on 1 January 2017.
The new CFO of the whole Group will be Mohammed Akoojee on 1 April
2017; he is currently the CEO of IMPERIAL Logistics Rest of Africa.
Road
Road Express Freight
8,300 employees
incl. Palletways
Automotive
Industrial
Retail &
Consumer
Goods
Chemicals
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
At first glance
In a nutshell
The restructured Group forms a strong unit. And that is what people are
supposed to see at first glance. That is why the whole company now has
a uniform brand image. For example, more and more trucks are on the
road with the “IMPERIAL” logo. The logo also decorates other modes of
transport and company buildings. “We want to show that there’s a strong
partner behind the many services, which we offer our customers, along
the supply chain. That strengthens our joint image, generates trust and
increases our brand awareness,” says Dr Rembert Horstmann, Head of
Marketing.
In order to make the work as simple as possible for customers and
enable their long-term success, all the services have been divided into two
divisions using the strong corporate IMPERIAL Logistics International
brand: IMPERIAL Transport Solutions represents the shipping, road
and express freight transport services.
IMPERIAL Supply Chain Solutions serves the automotive, industrial,
retail & consumer goods and chemicals sectors. “Thanks to these
transparent, flexible and quick-response structures, we can meet the
constantly increasing requirements of our customers in terms of quality,
response times and the scope of our services to an even better degree,”
says Christian Jabs, Head of Sales.
A website acts as a company’s business card and fulfils an enormously
important function. IMPERIAL Logistics International is well aware
of this fact and is presenting the reorganisation in a modern and informative manner at the new website. Clear, user-friendly, informative
and appealing, the website combines all the important information
about the company and its services and expertise. Visitors can see at a
glance which solutions are available in the Transport and Supply Chain
sectors – ranging from road and tanker transport to tank interior cleaning
and even purchasing, production, warehouse and distribution logistics.
But there are also presentations on special services like process management and fleet management.
IMPERIAL Logistics International – your integrated specialist!
The modern and informative website at
IMPERIAL Logistics International gives
people a quick and comprehensive view
of the company’s range of services.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
9
In the company
Fit for future Developing employees, establishing expertise, reducing costs, living out
sustainability and increasing quality – IMPERIAL Logistics International
is making itself fit for the future.
The world is changing at an increasingly rapid rate and is becoming more
and more dynamic. The level of communication and the amount of
information available have reached a level unknown in the past.
Companies are required to confront this development, rethink
structures and processes, act in a flexible manner and develop
a common set of shared values – for this is the only way to
be a successful market player in future. This particularly
applies to operating in a sector where transport plays a
more important role than in any other: logistics.
IMPERIAL Logistics International has risen to this
challenge and developed a new strategy. It is based
on the following pillars: market and portfolio expansion, cost and process leadership, quality and
compliance and developing into a high-performance organisation. However, because it is only
possible to achieve such ambitious goals with
outstanding employees, the issue of personnel
management has become much more the focus
of attention. IMPERIAL Logistics International
offers future specialists and managers long-term
career prospects and incentives so that they can
pursue their career goals within the company. Employees are encouraged and supported in their professional and personal development with the goal
of establishing expertise, enhancing capabilities and
strengths and tying high achievers and individuals
with key expertise to the company in the long term.
Managers are also intensively prepared for their management tasks as part of the IMPERIAL Academy Leadership
Programme. The “Develop Yourself ” programme has also
been launched for young specialists and managers to provide
instruction on issues like leadership and holding talks, resolving
complex tasks and team leadership and conflict management.
Our colleagues in Poland are also making great efforts to attract and
encourage talented young workers to the company. For this reason, the
company has taken over the patronage of two logistics classes at a college.
During their training to become logistics technicians, the students benefit from work experience, lectures and gaining special insight into the
world of logistics. The company has also had a cooperation arrangement
10 IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
with the University of Logistics since 2004. The students are ideally prepared for their work in their professional careers during the sandwich
course. Experienced trainers also offer training programmes for forklift
truck drivers, German courses and practical training sessions in a wide
variety of fields at training centres near Poznań.
Achieving more together
Promoting personnel development and communications and reducing costs as a result, improving services and pressing ahead with
sustainable business practices: they are also the goals of the
Group’s LEAN Excellence initiative. Work within the whole
company should become even more efficient in the long
term so that all the employees pull in the same direction
and make full use of their expertise. Employees have
developed hundreds of ideas for improvements on
how LEAN Excellence can be implemented at the
workplace, even during the first few months. “We are
thrilled about how involved the employees have
become in this process. They are readily using the
opportunity to help shape their workplace in a
positive manner and so position the company
in the best possible way for the future,” says Dr
Andreas Hucht, Head of Process Management.
The Integrated Management System (IMS) also
promises to provide greater efficiency, falling
costs and higher quality levels; it is currently being
established within the company. The IMS brings
together existing management systems from the
energy management, sustainability, health and
safety at work and security departments. Risk
management is due to be added to the list too, for
it plays an important role, particularly in chemical
logistics. Lou Marcel Greven, the Head of IMS, is relying on a slim central department and strongly involved
business units.“ Regardless of whether we are focusing on
sustainability and digitisation projects or energy management, those involved should be thinking and acting in relation
to the overall picture,” he says. An energy management system
(EMS) – based on the ISO 50001 standard – will be introduced
and certified in many European and all the German companies at
IMPERIAL Logistics International by the end of the year. The primary
goal here is to save energy and therefore protect the environment and
use resources as efficiently as possible.
Fit for future – after all, standing still means that you are moving backwards.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
11
In the company
Shaping the future together
IMPERIAL Logistics International has entered the market for palletised express freight
by taking over Palletways Group Limited in Lichfield near Birmingham.
IMPERIAL Logistics International
has expanded its portfolio in
another attractive field of business.
Palletways Group Limited is Europe’s largest
network provider for palletised freight. The
company was founded in Great Britain in
1994 in order to meet the constantly growing
demand for solutions to ship palletised goods
efficiently and quickly. Palletways can demonstrate impressive, profitable growth and a tried
and tested business model.
These features played a major role in accelerating the purchase of Palletways. IMPERIAL
has taken over 95 percent of Palletways Group
12 Limited from the British private equity company Phoenix Equity Partners. The remaining
five percent remain in the hands of the current
management team at Palletways.
“The business model at Palletways fits ideally
into our strategy,” says Carsten Taucke; “it expands our geographical presence particularly
in Great Britain, Italy and Spain.” And James
Wilson, CEO at Palletways, adds: “The management team at Palletways is delighted to be able
to take further development steps in new mar-
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
kets in conjunction with IMPERIAL Logistics
International.”
Closely knit network
The company was founded in 1994 and has
since established an impressive, close-knit network for palletised express freight. More than
350 network partners now move about 38,000
pallets day by day. The business model is just as
clear as the company’s structure. Palletways
operates a franchise system, which mainly involves small and medium-sized enterprises.
Huge growth prospects open up for them as
network partners. Palletways has been the market leader for palletised express freight in
Great Britain, Italy and Spain for a long time.
Palletways has also had its own business sites in
the Netherlands and Germany for several years.
Palletways currently operates in 20 different
European countries. However, the company is
not sitting back on its laurels: it has expansion
plans to the north and the east: its catchment
area is due to be extended to include Eastern
Europe and Scandinavia.
350 partners, 14 hubs and 400 depots
Palletways handles the huge volume of express
freight pallets with cross-border transport operations via 14 European hubs and 400 depots.
The relevant network partner picks up the express freight within its pick-up area and transports it to the Palletways hub. There the freight
is handled efficiently in terms of costs and time
with the help of innovative IT solutions. The
shipments are prepared for onward transportation in line with their postcodes and assigned
to the network partner responsible for the destination area. All the vehicles at Palletways are
only loaded and unloaded at the sides – this provides benefits in terms of time and costs. Even
the extremely low damage rate of 0.1 percent has
its roots in this approach.
The network partners pay monthly franchise,
marketing and software fees and hub costs. In
return, they receive payment for the main transport run and delivering the pallets that they pick
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
The Palletways network covers
large parts of Europe.
up at the hub; the amount depends on the number of zones that they travel through.
The network partners at Palletways benefit in
several ways. They can offer regular transport
runs in a close network and promise their customers precise transit times. Another plus point is
the fact that the consignments can be handled
with high IT standards.
A takeover with far-reaching
consequence
The market located between traditional pallet
logistics and parcel services is growing quickly and promises to generate growth of more
than ten percent per annum. Palletways will
continue to grow thanks to the strength of its
brand, its leading position in the market, its
high service quality and thanks to its unique
opportunities across Europe – supported by
IMPERIAL Logistics International.
13
In the company
BMW is reorganising its
global after-sales logistics:
the animation shows the
new central warehouse
in Wallersdorf.
All over the world from Wallersdorf
IMPERIAL Logistics International will manage BMW’s new central warehouse in the
Lower Bavarian town of Wallersdorf. BMW will supply its regional and continental
distribution centres around the world with spare parts and accessories from there
in future. IMPERIAL Logistics International is able to combine its expertise in automotive and spare parts logistics in this project.
The largest building site in Bavaria at the moment is
located in Wallersdorf. This is where BMW’s central
spare parts warehouse, which will measure 170,000
square metres, is currently being built. IMPERIAL
Logistics International has been awarded the contract
to manage the automobile manufacturer’s spare
parts warehouse. The contract award took place on
16 March this year and the plant is already due to start
operating on 1 December 2016. So there is little time
left for the 20-man project team under the leadership
of Tobias Fenzl, Peter Lowet and Rainer Vosbeck, who
are preparing the launch in BMW’s project building in
Dingolfing.
Once the centre in Wallersdorf is fully operational, the
employees in the Business Unit Automotive, Western
Europe, will supply all BMW’s regional spare parts
centres (Regional Distribution Centers) with large
14 numbers of fast-moving accessories, i.e. those in frequent demand, as Christian Seidl, Director Business
Unit Automotive, explains. “We’ll guarantee the supplies through the individual tasks of handling incoming goods, warehousing, picking, packaging and
outgoing goods,” Christian Seidl continues. So-called
A parts – e. g. doors, brake discs or dashboards – will
either be supplied as a complete truck load or be
picked up from the distribution centre directly next
door; it measures 30,000 square metres and is being
managed by a different logistics specialist.
IMPERIAL Logistics International will serve distribution centres ranging from Hanover to Bratislava and
even Shanghai and South America from Wallersdorf
and will ship the items by air freight, transport them
by rail to the ports in an eco-friendly manner or also
use trucks of course from 2017 onwards.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
In trend
What the future will bring
Apps, robots, autonomous vehicles, swarm intelligence – what sounds very much like
a science fiction film is already reality in many companies – or at least will be in the
not too distant future. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing logistics. Here is a
look into the crystal ball.
John lives in a small cyber town. His “work
playing field” is a combination of a huge data
centre and a logistics centre incorporating the
latest design. In order to identify himself, John
only needs to look at the camera installed in his
smart device. It contains all the apps that John
needs for his work. Data glasses reflect important information on to his retina. John works
with a fluctuating group of cybots: autonomous
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
vehicles, drones and mechanical walking horses, which travel around among hundreds of
autonomously moving shelves.
John’s story takes place in the year 2025. It was
told by Professor Dr Michael ten Hompel, the
Managing Director at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), at the
2016 IFOY Awards. “Of course, it’s fiction. But
all the technologies that appear in the story
have already been invented or exist as prototypes. Some of these machines are the much
quoted cyber-physical systems and they therefore form the basis for the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
“As a moving system, logistics plays a
crucial role in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, which will be associated
with a fundamental change. Computer
technologies will become the crucial
competitive factor – ranging from
the design of the products to the
management of supply chains.
Service providers will only be
successful in future if they press
ahead with digitisation and
therefore generate their
own apps and digital
services, which offer customer benefits that are
directly tangible,” says ten Hompel. There is,
after all, no way round the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. The expert is absolutely convinced
of this. “The development towards more and
more individual products combined with the
challenges of climate and demographic change
make it necessary for us to digitise things. That’s
the basis for being able to operate efficiently in
the national economy in future.”
As a result of the increasing individualisation of
goods, production processes will shift increasingly in the direction of logistics. “Because of
ever shorter delivery times, logistics specialists
will have to take over more production stages
close to customers. There is no other way of
coping with small batch sizes or even individualised production coupled with short delivery
times,” ten Hompel explains. The increasing
degree of self-management for individual production and logistics processes provides real
benefits for all the companies involved. Driverless transport systems are already managing
their trips through factories and warehouses
and are learning from the “experiences” of other
vehicles using swarm intelligence.
Extensive networking of things provides the
basis for this and this will therefore probably
increase to an enormous degree in the next few
years. Germany needs to get involved, particularly in the field of this hybrid economy, i. e. the
networking of the physical and digital worlds,
in order to be one of the leading players in future,” ten Hompel, the Professor of Materials
Handling and Warehousing at the Technical
University of Dortmund, demands.
In addition to transport systems, containers
and shelves, trucks will operate autonomously
too in future. “The time is coming closer when
15
In trend
trucks will increasingly be controlled by technological intelligence, initially on motorways,”
says Norbert Dressler, a partner of Roland
Berger and an expert on commercial vehicles.
“During the phase of full automation, independently operating vehicles will be able to operate
in any traffic conditions, possibly even without
a driver at all.” Dressler assumes that this technology will be available much sooner than the
transport sector believes – and this will fundamentally change the way of truck driving and the
transportation of goods overall.
The use of robots is also opening up new dimensions. Collaborating robots with a lightweight design already support the employees,
who are working on the assembly of shock
absorbers at the Ford factory in Cologne. The
sensor technology is so sophisticated that a
light touch from a worker is enough for the robot to withdraw its arm.
Humans and robots will also work hand in
hand in future at the Volkswagen factory in
Wolfsburg. “The
robots support the
employees with demanding routine activities, which pose ergonomic
problems. The human being controls and monitors the processes.
We can then ideally combine the
strengths of human beings and robots
and simultaneously reduce the production
time,” André Kleb, Head of Plant Planning at
Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, explains.
The world of logistics is also increasingly using
robots. The systems take over the transportation of pallets, stacking and unstacking units,
preparing jobs and they will soon handle
loading operations too. “This reduces costs and
the solutions are becoming more and more
sophisticated that it will no longer be long before robots make their way into the warehouse
business on a large scale,” says Roland Berger
expert, Mehdi El Alami, forecasting the future.
This has long since been
reality for John. An intelligent
shelf is waiting at his workplace
and it welcomes him with the words, “Hi John,
welcome to your workplace. You’re looking
good and your pulse is 65 beats a minute. We’ll
be able to package a lot of parcels today. Your
personal record is 632 picks per hour – the high
score is 748.”
”We need a strategy of elegant logistics“
Trend and future expert Matthias Horx talks about future scenarios,
mega trends, opportunities and challenges in an interview.
Drones, tunnels, robots and co. – what will
logistics look like in 2030 or even 2050?
I fear that the current container and truck system, which is predominant on roads, is very
tenacious – even if it’s not ideal for human
beings or the environment. We really need to
see radical solutions like tunnel systems in urban areas, but also robot vehicles. They’ll come,
but not until after 2050, because established
systems like “truck drivers operate cheaply” will
only change through powerful disruptions. We
first need generally automatic driving systems
before the containers can move in a fully automatic way. I tend to think drones will be used
in niche situations like deliveries of medication
or spare parts. In the end, logistics is always an
action involving space, time and price and the
pressure on costs has always had the last word
16
in the end and this is hindering technical innovations. In short, as long as there are people
who work more cheaply than autonomous
driving, the good old truck is unbeatable. However, we’re gaining access to much better and
faster computer systems, which are networking
the systems for goods. But we’re still some way
off that at the moment.
Which scenarios are probable?
One important scenario, which is often overlooked, is what we might call a “silent scenario”,
i.e. one, which doesn’t look all that sensational.
This involves the relative decline in freight
transport operations generally. There are already signs of this on a global scale: China will no
longer be the world’s bank in future; that means
that fewer and fewer containers are making
their way across the world’s oceans with cheap
goods. The huge differences in wages globally,
which drove globalisation in the past and led to
more and more outsourcing, are shrinking.
Production is becoming more local again – up
to and including 3D printing, which many
logistics specialists already view as the substitute for delivering parts. Our factory system is
becoming more focused on small parts, more
networked and more local. And vegetables are
increasingly being planted locally in cities.
“Urban mining” enables the re-sourcing of
raw materials from the city itself. That’s to say,
the whole system is becoming more focused on
small parts, more intricate and involves shorter
routes. It’s possible that we’ll soon see the “peak
of lorry operations” – the maximum number of
kilometres driven by trucks.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
“So logistics means integrated
modular molecular production.”
Matthias Horx, trend and future expert
Does that mean that logistics will become
even more important in future?
Is that really possible? We’re already extremely
dependent on deliveries just in time at the
moment and the mail order business on the
Internet has only accelerated this whole process. But there are some boundaries here too.
The cities are still on the verge of collapse in
terms of traffic and that’s a huge problem for
logistics specialists – there will be restrictions
placed on actual traffic flows in big cities like
London or Paris. It won’t be possible to meet
deadlines and even if immediate delivery services are experiencing a boom at the moment,
the roads will have reached saturation point
soon. Many cities are increasingly converting
their centres to make them suitable for pedestrians and cyclists.
What can or must logistics specialists offer
as a result to remain successful?
They need a new strategy of “elegant logistics”
in order to prevent bottlenecks, which affect
both the energy consumption in logistics and
also their land usage. We can probably compare this to the energy sector ten years ago,
which was relying on large-scale power stations
and investments lasting decades and was fast
asleep as the energy revolution took hold. This
kind of shift towards localised and “smart”
structures, which renewable energy sources
automatically create, will take place in logistics
too. There won’t be as many trucks travelling
from Vilnius to Palermo and returning empty
again in future.
And what challenges do they have to
master?
One of the most important will be the CO2
emissions from fleets. All transport users will
have to make a huge contribution towards
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
reducing them. Airlines will have to switch to
algae fuel at some stage. The question is:
which ground-breaking decarbonisation
technology can be used in the world of
logistics? We’ve not seen that many innovations here yet; everything tends to be
more cosmetic in nature, but we’ll not
make real progress just by reducing the
number of litres of fuel consumed per 100
kilometres.
Which roles will the Internet of Things
and autonomous vehicles play?
RFID – or its ensuing technology – will have
largely taken over as the standard system in 20
years’ time at the level of digital networking.
Autonomous vehicles will take longer – not
because it’s not technically feasible, but because
the whole legal structure, the “meta system” is
still unclear. Allowing a truck to drive itself,
while a truck driver sits in the cab and monitors
the machine, is basically pretty absurd. Because
the man and the machine cost even more than
ever before and the result is more or less the
same.
And finally: which mega trends will affect
the world of logistics tomorrow?
75 percent of people will be living in large cities
and these “mega cities” will be cleaner, quieter
and more pedestrian-friendly – so logistics has
to offer solutions, which allow goods to be transported within the “new urban spaces”. Just think
of Copenhagen or Amsterdam, where there will
soon only be electric vehicles or bicycles on the
roads in the city centres. The challenge is completely different when it comes to organising
delivery traffic in Nairobi or Dhaka.
Secondly, there’s a long-term trend towards dematerialisation. We’re using more and owning
less, because we’re becoming more mobile.
Cradle-to-cradle manufacturing creates a system where we always gain raw materials from
things that already exist. The raw material
cycles then come full-circle and the old system
of “a factory produces and a truck delivers”
will then come to a complete end. Logistics will
then involve “integrated modular molecular
production”. But first of all, we still need to
create models to determine what this will look
like.
17
In contact
Fresh faces
IMPERIAL Logistics International is pursuing ambitious goals and has consistently
adapted and strengthened its team with a view to the tasks of the future.
Christian Berlin has not only been
the successor to Inga Ludwig since
1 May in the strategy implementation department at Group level,
but he has also been providing
support as the CEO’s assistant.
Berlin proved his ability to handle
this position through his work as
Managing Director of Shanghai
IMPERIAL International Freight
Forwarding Co. Ltd. during the
past four years.
Christian Boschner took over the
position of Manager Operation at
the new Wallersdorf business location in Bavaria on 1 August. He
has been working for IMPERIAL
for eight years and has now moved
from the business unit Industrial
to Automotive.
Reimund Fehrecke took over
the overall responsibility for the
Langelsheim business location on
1 July. He began his IMPERIAL
career as logistics manager at the
Langelsheim branch in 2001, then
moved to Duisburg and had been
responsible for customer services
and scheduling at the Wolfenbüttel
business location since 1 July 2010.
18
Christian Jabs has been Head
of Sales at IMPERIAL Logistics
International since 1 May. Jabs is
responsible for the detailed expansion of an active sales organisation
within the company in this new
position. He has been working for
the company since 2012. He was
Senior Manager Business Development in the business unit Industrial recently.
Sabin Jeanson joined the company
as Manager Business Architecture
Road on 1 August. Jeanson joins
us from DB Schenker and worked
there as the Head of Department
for Business Architecture Land. She
will press ahead with launching the
process at the operational business
locations at IMPERIAL and be responsible for approving and implementing IT solutions.
Lara Kiencke-Klebor has been
working as Senior Project Manager in the Human Resources department with responsibility for
the Core Data project since 1 June.
Working closely with the parent
company, IMPERIAL Holdings
Ltd., she is responsible for coordinating the cooperation between all
the persons involved, both internally and externally. She previously worked as a project manager in
investment banking, among other
things.
Jürgen Krüger has been gearing
the IT department to the business
activities of the company in the
best possible way as Head of IT
Governance since 1 May. Krüger
joins us from DB Schenker and
was Head of Global Solutions
there until recently.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
Christian Lohmann becomes
Director Industrial on 1 October.
He previously worked for Schenker AG (Head of Project Management in the Corporate Contract
Logistics/Supply Chain Management department) and Fiege (Key
Account Manager, as a branch manager abroad and the person responsible for regional business
development).
Inga Ludwig has been Senior Manager Shipping/Rhine since 1 May.
She is very familiar with the world
of shipping. She was responsible
for projects and controlling in the
dry shipping department in what
was then known as the IMPERIAL
Shipping Group. She successfully
helped organise the market launch
of the business unit Shipping in
South America and the introduction of the new strategy at Group
level.
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
Uwe Öhlmann has been the new
Managing Director of Niedersächsische Verfrachtungsgesellschaft mbH since 1 August. Öhlmann spent the lion’s share of his
career at Rhenus SE & Co. KG,
most recently as head of the Hildesheim, Peine and Sachsenhagen
branches and as Managing Director of Hafenbetriebsgesellschaft
mbH Hildesheim.
David Penschek has been Site
Manager of the Krefeld-Uerdingen
branch since 1 July. He was previously Business Development Manager at the same branch. Penschek
is a trained freight forwarding and
logistics specialist and has an MSc
degree. He has been working at
IMPERIAL for nine years.
Since 1 April Babak Salek has
been Head of IT Infrastructure at
IMPERIAL Logistics International.
He brings with him more than 20
years of experience in various management positions, including the
supervision of IT departments,
complex IT programmes and interdisciplinary teams. He was previously acting as Head of IT Operations in an international biotechnology company.
Martin Überall took over the position of Head of HR at IMPERIAL
Logistics International on 1 September. The industrial manager,
fully qualified lawyer and solicitor
joins us from TÜV SÜD and held
various positions there, most recently as head of the new central
human resources department.
Überall will now dedicate his energy to the services and processes of
HR business partners and their ongoing development based on the
corporate strategy.
Since 1 June Oliver Schweers has
been managing the business of the
Luxembourg company IMPERIAL
Shipping GmbH and its associated
subsidiaries. Schweers is managing
the companies’ business jointly
with the current Managing Director Andrès Davids. He is a fully
trained lawyer and had worked for
the Sovereign Group since 2003,
most recently as Managing Director of Sovereign Direct GmbH and
as HR Director (authorised signatory) for Sovereign Network GmbH
in Hamburg.
19
In profile
A man for any situation
Four dangerous goods warehouses with 100,000 pallet spaces in all, a distribution fleet of
more than 50 company trucks, 150 employees – and this on top. Hans van den Bosch is
handling a special challenge: he is integrating the Van den Anker Group into IMPERIAL.
Hans van den Bosch combines the
best practices from Van den Anker
and IMPERIAL Logistics International.
Poisonous, corrosive, dangerous – distributing,
transporting and storing dangerous substances
requires an especially high degree of sensitivity
and responsibility – but also logistics expertise.
After all, hazardous goods logistics is subject to
a comprehensive raft of measures, which are
designed to guarantee the safety of people, the
environment and goods at any time. This causes
drivers, warehouse workers, but also managers
to face challenges on a daily basis. One of these
people is Hans van den Bosch. The head of the
Warehousing & Distribution International
department in the business unit Chemicals,
however, does not just need an excellent
knowledge of the sector. Qualities like motivational energy, analytical thinking, creativity and
organisational talents are more in demand than
ever before at this time.
20
Why now particularly? At the end of 2015
IMPERIAL Logistics International took over
the Dutch family business, Van den Anker. For
Hans van den Bosch, that meant taking responsibility for four additional hazardous goods
warehouses with 100,000 pallet spaces in all at
sites measuring 60,000 square metres, a distribution fleet of more than 50 company trucks
and the same number of subcontractors and a
workforce of about 150 Van den Anker employees. The Dutchman by birth is therefore now
responsible for three times more employees
than in the past. “It’s particularly exciting to
see that employees, who did not know each
other in the past, are now tackling challenges
together. I enjoy being somebody who is in
charge of this interplay of human beings, characters, cultures and existing procedures and
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
“You may have an
exceedingly successful firm –
but it won’t work without
well-functioning logistics.”
Hans van den Bosch,
Director Business Unit Chemicals,
Warehousing & Distribution International
moving them all in the right direction. The many
small success stories release new energy day by
day, so we can tackle the goals that have been set
with all our energy,” says the 54-year-old.
The father of four also gains strength by jogging
and hiking. And his two dogs are always with
him. “I try to take 10,000 steps every day. It often
doesn’t work out, but by counting them daily and
focusing on this issue, I’ve been able to increase
the daily average from 5,000 to 8,000.”
Van den Bosch is also focused when he tackles
the integration of the Van den Anker Group into
existing structures. The previous Van den Anker
managing director, Léon Jacobs, is supporting
him in this matter. This – and the fact that
Hans van den Bosch is familiar with challenging
management tasks – is helping him to complete
the job. Before joining IMPERIAL Logistics
International, the Dutchman was CFO at the
Frans Maas freight forwarding company in
Germany. But he has also worked in industry
and is therefore fully aware of the demands that
customers have and how enormously important
smooth logistics operations are. “You may have
an exceedingly successful firm – but it won’t
work without well-functioning logistics.”
In order to be as available as possible for customers and employees, van den Bosch commutes
between the business locations. “I now work
three days a week in Son near Eindhoven, the
headquarters of Van den Anker, and two days
in Rotterdam. “Little has changed in my overall
routine,” he explains – understating his case
more than ever. In the end, his field of work
has become the figurehead for the European
internationalisation of the chemical logistics
activities at IMPERIAL Logistics International.
The new additional capacity, which is now available through the takeover of the hazardous
goods warehouse stockist and distributor of
IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
packaged chemicals, is not just a dream for him
and his colleagues.
“Customers, for whom proximity to the ports of
Rotterdam and Antwerp is important, are particularly benefiting from the new business locations in Roosendaal and Wetteren,” van den
Bosch says. His goal is to make the best use of
the potential of both companies. To achieve this,
he works very hard, but without making a great
fuss about it. “It’s much more important to bring
together the best employees than focus on me,
for that’s the key to success. Instead of imposing
IMPERIAL systems, I use the best practices from
both sides.”
Van den Anker, for example, was further ahead
in monitoring performance in its warehouse
and transport operations, which is why van den
Bosch is extending this system to the complete
Warehousing & Distribution International
division. It is currently undergoing a process of
complete restructuring. All the warehouse, distribution, import and export activities are being
combined in the “Operations” division, while the
“Central Services” cover the business development, finances, human resources management,
technical services, freight forwarding and
quality assurance departments. Employees from
both sides (IMPERIAL and Van den Anker) are
responsible for the new sections.
It does not matter what van den Bosch is doing.
He always has the overall picture in his sights, as
he says himself. In this case, van den Bosch
means internationalisation and integrating the
chemical activities more closely within the
Group. As regards integration, he says, “We’re
assigning the individual Van den Anker companies to our business divisions and then renaming
themaccording to our system. One thing is
certain: the next distribution vehicles will be
supplied with the IMPERIAL logo.”
21
In the spotlight
Carsten Taucke meets German
minister Alexander Dobrindt
German Transport Minister Alexander
Dobrindt (left) wants to hear the
views of Carsten Taucke, the CEO
of IMPERIAL Logistics International.
22 IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
The last meeting of the executive committee of the Federation of German
Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) in June 2016 focused fully
on a dialogue on transport policy. Carsten Taucke was elected to the
executive committee in October last year and took over as chairman
of the transport committee at the same time.
Contact partner for decision-makers
The BGA is an umbrella organisation based in
Berlin and is regularly the expert contact partner for decision-makers in the fields of politics,
administration and the media as part of its
policy consultancy work.
Executive committee
meeting with the
Transport Minister
“The motorways in North Rhine-Westphalia in
particular are important transit routes“, Carsten
Taucke said. „Crumbling bridges, road works
and congested motorways cause great economic damage.“
“Poor infrastructure
damages the economy”
Reducing
bureaucracy
In addition, Taucke criticised the excessive burden
of levies and bureaucracy
placed on companies with
intensive transport operations. He also rejected any introduction of the
blue sticker, which would practically lead to a
ban on diesel vehicles, and the calls from the
Ministry of the Environment to decarbonise
transport by 2050. “It’s important to keep realistic goals in our sights,” Carsten Taucke said,
summing things up.
Carsten Taucke,
CEO of IMPERIAL Logistics International
Carsten Taucke discussed
the state of transport infrastructure in Germany at
the executive committee meeting in June with
the German Minister of Transport and Digital
Infrastructure, Alexander Dobrindt, who is a
member of the Bundestag. They also talked
about the federal transport plan for 2030 and
not least the expansion of truck road tolls to
cover all long-distance main roads.
Tell us your opinion!
Do you have any ideas and suggestions for topics?
Would you like to pass on any criticism or praise?
Send your feedback to:
[email protected]
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IMPERIAL NEWS 02 | 2016
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