EDITION 4/2012
magazine
THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENT LOGISTICS
WANTED:
DISCOVERERS
GLOBALIZATION
AS CROSS-CULTURAL
TEAMWORK
AIR FREIGHT
FRANCE
NEW SAFETY RULES
A MARKET IN FLUX
NUMBERS THAT COUNT
WINTER-PROOF
Off to the south? When temperatures in the northern hemisphere turn frosty,
we can expect it to be warmer at the other end of the world, can’t we?
GERMANY
100,000 tonnes of
gritting salt were stored
in Germany in 2011
as a “national reserve”
for harsh winters.
NAGANO/JAPAN
Japan’s biggest skiing
resort, Shiga Kogen,
operates 70 lifts
and funiculars.
BETHEL/MAINE/USA
The tallest snowman
ever built (in 2008)
measures 37.21 metres.
h
ort
°n
4
4
st,
we
°
70
t,
es
°w
0
7
h
ort
°n
2
5
st,
ea
°
13
uth
so
°
33
st,
ea
3°
SAN ALFONSO/
SANTIAGO DE CHILE
The biggest (salt-water)
pool in the world holds
250 million litres of water.
At 29° C in December
it promises a divine bathing
experience.
DACHSER magazine
uth
so
°
54
STRAHAN/TASMANIA
145 waterskiers in a row:
in January 2012
a new world record is set
“made in Australia”.
BOUVET ISLAND/
SOUTH ATLANTIC
93 percent glaciers,
0 inhabitants,
no need for gritting salt.
02
8°
13
h
ort
°n
6
3
st,
ea
th
ou
°s
2
4
st,
ea
°
5
14
CONTENTS
COVER STORY
Internationalization: Learning from
one another in a globalized world
04
FORUM
People and markets:
Sought-after EDI interface competence;
subterranean goods flows
and the high art of calligraphy
Communication: Earthly misunderstandings
10
14
04
COMPETENCE
Air & Sea Logistics: Countdown for
a new era in air freight security
Food Logistics: Sausage lore –
contract logistics for Houdek
Report: Keen noses in airport operations
16
18
21
NETWORK
Warehousing: Dangerous goods competence
Dachser France: Repositioning for a new era.
Interview with Frédéric Dumort
Network competence: News from
the world of Dachser
Norway: Building bridges
from Scandinavia to Europe
22
24
16
26
28
BUSINESS LOUNGE
Dachser face-to-face: Aiming high.
Bernhard Simon meets Olympic high-jump
champion Heike Henkel
32
18
GOOD NEWS
Aid project with terre des hommes
35
F
Our DACHSER
eLetter is packed with even
more information.
To find out more, visit:
www.dachser.com/news-en
28
Imprint
Published by: Dachser GmbH & Co. KG, Memminger Str. 140, 87439 Kempten, Germany, Internet: www.dachser.com Overall responsibility: Dr Andreas Froschmayer Editorin-chief: Anne Huschka, Tel.: +49 831 5916-1423, Fax: +49 831 5916-8-1423, e-mail: [email protected] Editors: Martin Neft, Christian Weber Publisher: Burda Creative
Group GmbH, Konrad-Zuse-Platz 11, 81829 Munich, Germany, Tel.: +49 89 30620-0, Fax: -100 Managing director: Gregor Vogelsang, Dr-Ing. Christian Fill Project manager Burda
Creative Group: Marcus Schick Design: Ralph Zimmermann Photos: all photos Dachser except iStockphoto (pp. 1, 2, 3, 4–6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21, 27–29, 30, 31, 35),
fotolia.com: Senoldo, 1Gallery, Elwyn (p. 15), fotolia.com: fotowebbox (p. 21), Heike Rost (p. 12), fraport (p. 16), Illustration: Ralph Zimmermann (pp. 32–34) Printer: AZ Druck und
Datentechnik GmbH, 87437 Kempten, Germany Circulation: 38,000/53rd volume Publication: 4 x per year Languages: German, English, French. The DACHSER magazine is printed
on NovaTech paper certified in accordance with the FSC® mix for sustainable forestry.
DACHSER magazine
03
COVER STORY
04
DACHSER magazine
COVER STORY
WANTED:
DISCOVERERS
Globalization is bringing people and markets
closer together. By sending employees on assignments
abroad Dachser builds bridges to a structured
professional and cultural exchange. To the benefit
of its customers.
Beyond the horizon the road continues. At least for Irshad Muhammad.
At just 24 years old he already feels completely at home in the globalized world.
No wonder. After leaving school, the young
Pakistani left his home soil to learn languages
first in Italy and then in Berlin, where since
2010 he has been studying business administration with a focus on logistics at the Berlin
School of Economics and Law (HWR). As
part of a dual course of studies, Irshad moves
h
in a 12-week rhythm between lecture theatre,
offices and warehouses at Dachser. “The
combination of theory and practice in English, the language of business, is very exciting,” Irshad enthuses. He earned his first
spurs at the Neuss branch office. Then it was
back to school, followed from May to August
2012 by a stint in Johannesburg at Dachser’s
country organization in South Africa.
“Every student should have the opportunity
to get to know a Dachser country organi- ‡
DACHSER magazine
05
COVER STORY
Every student
should have
the opportunity to get
to know a Dachser country
organization from the inside
hh
Bernhard Simon,
head of Dachser’s
management board
zation from the inside,” says Bernhard
Simon, head of Dachser’s management
board. “Our company and our customers
have a growing demand for internationally
trained staff with individual personalities
who are not only familiar with the diversity
within the company, access to markets and
standardized processes in theory, but have
also experienced them hands on.” Dachser is
therefore now also promoting placements
abroad with its newly created “International
Assignments” coordination office attached
to the Corporate Human Resources division.
The new office is headed up by HR expert
Verena Bischofberger in close cooperation
with the branch offices and country organizations. It addresses all employees from students to executive staff. Although currently
international assignments are for the most
part organized from Germany, the aim for
the future is for more staff members involved
in training, for project assignments and
longer term placements to move at the multilateral level.
Johannesburg/South Africa
Verena Bischofberger also gave full support
to Irshad on his way to South Africa. „We
plan the placement, the assignment on the
ground and support by mentors and trainers
in consultation with the employees and
our local partners,” Bischofberger says. For
Irshad Muhammad this meant: “Everything
in the lead up and on site was perfectly
organized. Basically all I had to do was pack
my bags and get on the plane.” The adventure
could begin. “To begin with the international assignment was something of a challenge
for all of us – for our first dual-studies logistics student in South Africa whom we
welcomed in Johannesburg, as well as for us,”
recalls country manager Detlev Duve.
Irshad’s study focus on warehousing suited
the up-and-coming country organization
very well. “Everything I‘d so far learned on
the topic during my studies and in Neuss was
06
DACHSER magazine
met with great interest,” Irshad says. And you
can detect a degree of pride in his voice at
being accepted by his colleagues as a serious
dialogue partner. But it was a special sporting
passion that additionally helped his integration into the company: the game of cricket,
the national sport of Pakistan. “Dachser has
an indoor cricket team in Johannesburg that
regularly plays regional league fixtures,”
Irshad explains. No wonder the team would
be happy to welcome their young colleague
back to South Africa in the near future.
Such interested and flexible team players are
rated very highly at Dachser. “You can only
really get a good understanding of logistics
if you consider it from the global perspective,”
explains Uwe Ebling, head of HR Management ASL Global. Dachser’s personnel
development therefore focuses on internationalization. “In order to achieve success in
globally integrated markets and inspire
customers each and every day,” Ebling says,
“our staff need international competence –
both on the professional and cultural plane.”
International experience is their gateway to
the world.
At the start there are many questions: who
are the most suitable candidates, what are
their learning goals, which company divisions
are involved, how can they reconcile the
assignment with their personal and family
life, what does the posting mean in terms
of social security contributions, how will they
be integrated on the ground and above all
reintegrated when they return home? Verena
Bischofberger provides one crucial answer
straight off: “An assignment abroad is no
holiday, neither is it sponsored free time.” For
the HR manager, professional requirements
are just as important as the respective language skills when it comes to deciding where
the journey is headed. “Our focus is always
on content and future benefit – for individual career planning as well as for the company as a whole,” Bischofberger says. Private,
local or locational wishes or preferences have
COVER STORY
to take a back seat. The coordinators from
Kempten see themselves as partners; they
support HR managers and staff members in
making the experience abroad as trouble-free
and transparent as possible.
“We want to integrate experiences proactively into the organization, develop and promote the best talents and help them plan
their career choices,” Bischofberger says, explaining the concept. “The overriding question is always: How can we better leverage
our potential?” Foreign assignments are always teamwork, she adds, involving HR
managers as well as specialists from the fields
of labour law, payroll accounting and travel
management.
ization really means will play a key role in
the future of our company. In a Europe without borders international experience and
knowledge about regional differences are
an absolute must for any globally operating
company.” The company expects assignees
to be open-minded, internationally experienced and multilingual, she adds. Country
manager van der Meer set a good example:
“I spent a few years gaining international
experience in Paris. That has stood me in
good stead for my own career development.”
He advises young people to get a sound training under their belts and gain work experience abroad, even if only for a few months.
“This will definitely have a positive effect
on their CV.”
“International Assignments” addresses all
employees at Dachser,
from students to
executive staff. The
programme includes
a wide range of foreign
assignments; within
the scope of a study
course, as a trainee
or as a member of a
project team, for
instance in the context
of software rollouts
or system integrations.
Waddinxveen/Netherlands
The branch offices welcome their temporary
members of staff with open arms. They may,
after all, one day be sought-after colleagues.
Aat van der Meer, Dachser Netherlands’
country manager, shares this view: “Precisely
because we come from a small country the
exchange benefits us enormously in our international business. Working together on a
day-to-day basis with colleagues from our
partner countries helps us to learn from one
another and ultimately better support our
customers.” Marcel Gorski is one such young
cosmopolitan. He is studying business administration with a focus on forwarding and
logistics in his third semester at the HWR.
The internationally-focused dual course of
studies is just the ticket for the 21-year-old
from Berlin, whose family roots extend to
Poland and the Netherlands and who therefore speaks fluent Dutch. Marcel gained his
first hands-on experience with the fundamentals of logistics at Dachser’s branch office
in Rheine. He was then thrilled at the opportunity to take the next practical step in
Waddinxveen near Rotterdam. “Every day is
a new, exciting experience,” says the young
Rotterdam fan, drawing a positive balance.
His tasks included actively supporting and
controlling logistics processes in the branch
office as well as working in key account customer service. “I particularly enjoyed having
direct contact to customers.”
For Ivonne Buijk, who as HR manager at
Dachser Netherlands accompanied Marcel’s
placement, such foreign assignments are
an important element of personnel development in her country organization: “Good
young talents who know what international-
Hong Kong/Greater China
In Kempten Verena Bischofberger points to
an inscription at the entrance to Dachser’s
head office – “Openness and respect”: “This
is part of our corporate culture. Those who
embrace Dachser’s values will quickly find
their feet in the organization anywhere in the
world.” The biggest challenges of a foreign
assignment for students as well as staff
members, she believes, lie in overcoming
language barriers and social and cultural differences. “Here all sides have to adjust to a
completely new situation in a very short
time,” Verena Bischofberger explains. “At
the same time this means the company and
the respective departments have to create
the necessary preconditions for this.”
Grace Lo from Dachser Far East came
from Hong Kong to central Europe,
for example, in order to better get to
know the company and the opportunities it offers: “In addition to my own,
the possibility to familiarize myself
with the daily routine of colleagues
with a different cultural background
has been hugely valuable for my work
as a project manager in a multicultural
Air & Sea Logistics team.” In the
three months spent in Germany and
Switzerland she has not only gained
Dachser-specific expertise, she
says. “We have also grown together as a team. For me as a
project manager and a mediator between cultures this is of
existential importance.”
At Dachser Far East as many
as 17 staff members are ‡
Moving between two worlds:
Irshad Muhammad gains experience
in Berlin, Neuss and Johannesburg
DACHSER magazine
07
COVER STORY
Verena Bischofberger,
Corporate Human Resources
International Assignments
& Health Care
08
DACHSER magazine
We want to integrate experiences proactively
into the organization, develop and promote the best
talents and help them plan their career choices
hh
COVER STORY
currently employed at various locations
outside their own country. These include
young people as well as long-serving members of staff who have been with the company over 13 years. In the past four years
an additional 11 interns or trainees mostly
from Germany have come to Hong Kong
to learn more about topics such as sales,
controlling, marketing and communication
or tender management in a new environment.
“Integration is relatively easy because the systems are standardized and therefore familiar,”
notes Carol Lee, head of Human Resources
Dachser Far East in Hong Kong.
In a totally unfamiliar cultural setting,
small crises are sometimes unavoidable.
These may be triggered by communication
problems, cultural misunderstandings and
pitfalls or quite simply homesickness. “This
is perfectly normal and part of life,” Verena
Bischofberger points out. “In such cases we
encourage our staff members and students
at an individual appraisal meeting not to
throw in the towel and offer help wherever
we can.” Verena Bischofberger draws a positive balance of structured work placements:
“It’s not the quantity but the quality that
counts. In international assignments, spotting and promoting talents goes hand in
hand. No matter where in the world.” In
South Africa at any rate country manager
Detlev Duve intends to keep in touch with
Irshad Muhammad. “We are looking forward to having him back. He’s still got two
more internships to go on his course, but
soon we can start to think in earnest about
a future position for the student.” Beyond
the horizon the road continues. M. Schick
IN DIALOGUE
Better together
Gabriele Fehr, Marketing & Sales Support manager, and Tracy Merry,
Human Resources manager Dachser USA in Atlanta, on the challenges and
opportunities of international assignments.
Where do you see the biggest challenges of a foreign assignment?
Tracy Merry: It is essential that those sent on foreign assignments take personal
initiative to succeed and demonstrate willingness to integrate into a foreign
culture and environment.
Gabriele Fehr: The destination should fit with the professional focus. Local staff
also should understand the goals of the assignment to strike a balance between
daily tasks and other specific learning objectives of their temporary foreign
colleagues.
How do you go about integrating the new colleagues?
Gabriele Fehr: That’s not so hard because I find that people around the world
aren’t so very different. Everyone contributes their own experiences and we all
share the same Dachser ideals and values.
Tracy Merry: We all work together, using an attitude of openness and in the end,
we all learn from one another.
Gabriele Fehr: Personally, I have had very good experiences with this.
Following my dual course of studies, I worked in European Logistics at Dachser
in Kempten. I then completed a training course in Air & Sea Logistics, before
moving to Atlanta in 2007.
What prospects do you associate with international assignments?
Tracy Merry: International assignments are a wonderful opportunity for personal
growth and provide key development for individuals, as well as for our company.
Gabriele Fehr: My advice to everyone is to make the most of the opportunities
in front of you and go abroad. It is good for your personality development and
for the company. Because of this, Dachser already is seeing the next generation
of globally-aware logistics managers.
Gabriele Fehr (left)
has been working in
Atlanta for several years;
Tracy Merry supports
staff on assignments in
North America
DACHSER magazine
09
FORUM: PEOPLE & MARKETS
Communication
EVERYBODY DOES IT
Electronic data interchange is the key to successful logistics.
Dachser has just welcomed the ten thousandth EDI user.
Electronic Data Interchange, EDI in short,
is the formula for a modern, deeply integrated customer relationship in logistics. This
autumn, with Rudolf Wild GmbH in Berlin,
Dachser registered the 10,000th EDI user.
In cooperation with the producer of ingredients and intermediate products for the food
industry, the logistics provider has now
established a complex link of both warehouse and transport information via EDI.
Just like Rudolf Wild GmbH, more and
more customers are utilizing the benefits of
10
DACHSER magazine
EDI to transmit their data electronically
to the Dachser EDI centre, the central communication platform between the logistics
provider, its customers and partners. On this
basis, all processes can be comprehensively
controlled and made transparent at all times.
For the most part in paperless form.
In the past EDI was integrated into
Dachser’s Software Systems department, but
as of the beginning of December all EDI
topics are now consolidated at a new centralized point of contact, the “Business Integration” department. “EDI allows participating
companies to significantly increase their
efficiency because they both save time and
avoid errors,” says Petra Bögle, head of the
new department. The logistics provider
currently exchanges over 40 million EDI
messages a year with its EDI partners. And
a further increase is to be expected.
INTERFACES
FORUM: PEOPLE & MARKETS
Dachser EDI: a success story
The growing number of EDI users reflects
the increasing demand for deeply integrated
customer relationships.
5,000
users
10,000
users
2009
2012
3,000
users
2,000
users
1,000
users
Start
1985
2003
2006
2007
INFO
What are the benefits of EDI?
Cost savings through automated and speedy processing
Avoidance of repeated data entries and changes of data format
Higher data quality and transmission reliability
Time flexibility
Avoiding mountains of paper
If all EDI processes in 2012 had been submitted to Dachser
or its customers on paper, the pile of forms, at over 5,000 metres,
would have been higher than Mount Blanc.
DACHSER magazine
11
FORUM: PEOPLE & MARKETS
THE FOREST
WARDEN’S
INSPIRED
REVOLUTION
He described himself as a “forest
warden without a forest“. But really
all Josef Ressel (1793 – 1857) was
lacking was fortune. The son of a
Bohemian tax collector was both
Friederike Straub at the “genius loci”
district forest warden and an inspired inventor. 200 years ago he
Calligraphy
revolutionized the nautical world –
THINK BIG
but received no recognition during
Big ideas should be written large.
Friederike Straub has turned this
into an art.
his lifetime. While studying technology in Vienna in 1812, Ressel conWhen Friederike Straub commits her
structed the world’s first propeller,
ideas to paper, she needs space. And the
which he demonstrated on a trial
“genius loci”, a very special place. For
off the coast of Triest in 1829. The
example the collection of casts of classical
propeller principle worked a treat,
works of art in Munich or the Capitoline
Museums in Rome. In these excellent
which unfortunately could not be
surroundings, the Munich-based calligrasaid of the steam engine. The ship
pher and graphic designer has transcribed
owners felt confirmed in their sceplarge-scale text fragments in Japanese
ticism and for the time being conink onto lengths of paper measuring 1.50
tinued to rely on sails and paddlemetres wide and up to 50 metres long
wheel. However, there was no stopas part of her “genius loci” art project.
Contrary to the general trend: according
ping the progress of Ressel’s idea.
to a UK study, one in three adults have
Today the biggest propeller ever
not written anything by hand in the past
cast weighs in at 130 tonnes with a
six months. Those interviewed had not
diameter of 9.6 metres. This beheput pen to paper for an average 41 days.
moth drives the world’s biggest conAlmost all communication nowadays
tainer vessel, the “Emma Mærsk”.
takes place either via text messaging or
e-mail. Friederike Straub on the other
hand continues to draw her XXL characters on paper “letter perfect” with giant
bamboo quills. As her next
“genius loci” she has her sights
on Hamburg. At a traditionrich shipyard she is seeking a
ve started
loyees ha
p
m
geographical reference to New
e
g
n
any
509 you
r in Germ
York City, where she intends
h Dachse
it
w
ing
g
in
in
tra
ey are be
to spectacularly complete her
cations, th
lo
8
7
t
A
o IT,
this year.
calligraphy cycle.
mercial, tw
m
o
c
e
re
th
al
trained in
e technic
l and thre
ia
tr
.
s
u
d
Calligraphy as an art form
le drivers
two in
ods vehic
o
g
s
a
r
o
ns
e enrolled
occupatio
dents hav
tu
s
2
6
r
e
study.
A furth
ourses of
c
r
lo
e
h
c
a
on dual B
IN BRIEF
12
DACHSER magazine
FORUM: PEOPLE & MARKETS
BELOW INSTEAD OF
ABOVE GROUND
Congested traffic! Inner-city goods transport is becoming
less and less fun. This fires up the innovation drive of
traffic planners. One of these is Dr Werner Marnette, for-
Peter-Josef Paffen, management
chairman of AGCO/Fendt, (r.) presenting
the award to Bernhard Simon
mer economics minister of Schleswig-Holstein. According
to a report in the trade journal Logistik Heute, he wants to
get a “pneumatic container delivery” system up and
AWARD-WINNING WORK
running in Hamburg. What form this might take is demon-
International agricultural machinery manufacturer AG-
strated by “Cargocap”, a project that is being promoted
CO/Fendt has awarded Dachser the “Supplier of the
with the support of the Chair of Machine Parts and Ma-
Year” prize in the category “Best Service Provider 2012”.
terials Handling at the Ruhr University in Bochum. The
Bernhard Simon, head of Dachser’s management board,
system foresees a series of underground pipelines through
accepted the prize on behalf of all participating Dachser
which transport vehicles – the Caps – each with a transport
branch offices. AGCO/Fendt and Dachser have been
capacity of two europallets, convey goods either direct
partners for over 70 years. At the award ceremony the
to the consignee or to stations with corresponding logis-
chairman of AGCO/Fendt’s management board, Peter-
tics links to the surrounding area. Marnette views this
Josef Paffen, emphasized that Dachser had built up a very
or similar “pneumatic container delivery” systems as a
high level of trust over decades as a successful service
win-win situation for Hamburg and the metropolitan region,
provider. The commendation Best Service Provider means
forwarders, ship owners and the port terminals. He puts
going the extra mile and surpassing customers’ expecta-
the investment sum at around 1.7 billion euros.
tions by offering outstanding products and processes.
Criteria for the award were the reliable connection via
“Pneumatic container delivery” for Hamburg
Dachser’s IT system for efficient order processing, high
visibility of goods flows via Tracking & Tracing, the
management of all inbound consignments from German
suppliers and the implementation of just-in-time deliveries.
MEGA-PROJECT
WITH A DEEP IMPACT
In Wilhelmshaven the “JadeWeserPort”, Germany’s first and only
deep-water container port has opened for operations. It is located
directly on the shipping channel and has a depth of 18 metres, which
means that ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) can call at the
Large-scale investment:
the new JadeWeserPort in
Wilhelmshaven
port at all times, independently of tide levels. “The JadeWeserPort
is a once-in-a-century kind of project,” said Lower Saxony’s premier,
David McAllister, at the inauguration ceremony. “The port will make
Wilhelmshaven a key hub for international container traffic. Containers from around the world – above all from Asia and
South America – will be loaded and unloaded here in future. The entire North German coast stands to benefit.” An even deeper
draught can soon be anticipated in China where Shanghai currently comes first in the world with a handling volume of
13 million standard containers (2011). In the east of the country the world’s biggest port is under construction in Qingdao;
with an annual handling volume of up to 30 million standard containers after completion in 2020 it will be around ten times
the size of JadeWeserPort, where 2.7 million standard containers can be transshipped annually. Even ships with a draught of
20 metres will be able to call at the XXL terminal.
DACHSER magazine
13
FORUM: ESSAY
EARTHLY
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
Product samples from China, video conference
with the US: modern logistics and telecommunications
mean that once far-off goods and words are now
always within easy reach. People are more
closely networked than ever before – and nevertheless
often talk at cross purposes. It is the “software”
in our minds that is to blame.
The Voyager probes have been
whirring through space since 1977
transmitting data and image material from
distant planets. By the same token, one day
these scouts may become ambassadors for
humanity. Be that as it may, just to be on
the safe side, NASA has installed golden
discs on board. They contain 27 pieces of
music, 35 sounds and 115 images.
These data media are associated with an
astonishing assumption: that somehow aliens
will manage to understand us humans. That
they will be able to make sense of croaking
frogs, piano sounds and anatomic drawings.
While these strange messages are waiting
to be discovered, their senders grapple with
very earthly communication problems. Modern logistics makes it possible to transport
goods to the other end of the world in next
to no time. Telecommunications networks
transmit words and data virtually in real time.
And yet time and again we are forced into
realizing that even on one and the same
planet, understanding and making ourselves
understood are fraught with difficulties.
h
The interstellar space
probes Pioneer 10 and
11 have been whirring
through space since
1972. On a gold-plated
plaque images of a
man and a woman
greet possible aliens.
Momentary language
Amusing misunderstandings can occur even
between Brits and Americans: An Englishman says that he nearly had a heart attack
on a flight in the United States when the
American pilot announced that the plane
would be airborne “momentarily”. In British
English, “momentarily” means “for a moment”, and he thought the pilot was suggesting an imminent crash soon after takeoff.
14
DACHSER magazine
In American English, however, “momentarily” means “in a moment”, and the pilot was
merely appeasing the impatient passengers.
Confusing? Certainly is. Irrelevant in business
life? Certainly not. As numerous car manufacturers (or should we say automakers?) can
testify: no other industry has fallen foul of
so many expensive past linguistic faux pas.
Mitsubishi, for example, inadvertently
named one SUV model “Pajero” – which in
South America is a swearword. And Toyota‘s
“MR2” does not sound very flattering when
pronounced the French way. In Finland,
Fiat’s “Uno” model met with an amused reception: in Finnish the name means “dopey”.
Operating system of values
Misunderstandings of this nature should
actually be avoidable. But even with experienced interpreters people still regularly get
their wires crossed. When back in the 1970s
cultural scientist Geert Hofstede asked IBM
employees in over 60 countries about their
understanding of values, he discovered that
people function with different “operating
systems”, that they follow different culturally conditioned algorithms of the “software
of the mind”.
Seasoned business travellers not only learn
that Latin Americans welcome physical
contact, while their Japanese counterparts
may even shy away from a handshake. They
also learn something about values. In China,
for example, gifts are often quickly put
aside, which In Europe would at first be
considered a sign of ingratitude. Closer con-
FORUM: ESSAY
sideration, however, shows this to be a noble
gesture, since it implies that for the host the
person giving the gift is more important than
the gift itself.
International experience is of course no
guarantee for greater mutual understanding.
Even on one and
the same planet,
understanding and making
ourselves understood
are fraught with difficulties
hh
Not everyone is equally willing to take
different cultural values into account. While
one person may be upset by the apparently
unappreciative Chinese, the next tries to
understand the rationale behind the gesture.
Technologically speaking, the conditions for
cross-cultural understanding have never been
more favourable: thanks to the Internet
we can discover the world from in front of
our home computer.
On the Voyager mission, too, technology
shouldn’t be the stumbling block: in case
the aliens don’t know what to do with the
golden discs, they’ll also find instructions
for building a record player.
S. Ermisch
Understanding and
body language differ
from place to place.
While in one culture
a handshake conveys
intimacy, in another
it may be awkward.
DACHSER magazine
15
COMPETENCE: AIR & SEA LOGISTICS
STOP!
SECURITY CHECK!!
From March 2013, all air freight consignments must either originate from
certified “known consignors” or be checked before being loaded onto the aircraft.
In future, only if these requirements are complied with may goods be transported
by air without incurring massive delays.
On 19 August 1911,
a single-engine
Harlan on a flight to
Frankfurt/Oder marked
the beginnings of
air freight in Germany
with a consignment
of hot-off-the-press
copies of the “Berliner
Morgenpost” newspaper. 100 years later
93.1 million tonnes
of air freight is transported worldwide.
16
DACHSER magazine
In air freight speed is of the essence.
Consignors are at risk of losing this
advantage from spring 2013 if consignments
get held up due to security checks. The
reason for this is new security regulations
that are likely to lead to significant delays
in air freight in the coming year. By 25
March 2013, consignors must apply for
certification as a “known consignor” by the
Federal Office of Civil Aviation (LBA) and
be registered in an EU database if they
want to continue to dispatch cargo by air
quickly and without holdups. This is when
the transition period, which has up to now
allowed companies to produce a security
declaration identifying them as “known
h
consignors”, expires. The previous “known
consignor” status then loses its validity.
“This will change the world,” says Jan
Bender, head of the Foreign Trade Compliance department at Dachser Air & Sea
Logistics. In future every consignment that
does not come from a certified “known
consignor” will be subject to extensive security checks before being loaded. However,
Germany’s airports in many cases do not have
sufficient capacities to check all cargo that
originates from uncertified consignors and is
therefore automatically classified as unsecured. “Implementation of the regulations
would currently bring air freight operations
to a complete standstill,” fears Klaus-Dieter
COMPETENCE: AIR & SEA LOGISTICS
Ruske, head of the Transport and Logistics
division at the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). So far over 95 percent
of air freight in Germany has been loaded
onto aircraft without further security checks.
problematic as the hurdles are high. To be
eligible for certification consignors must
show that they have a comprehensive security concept in place. This includes for example designating a security officer for every
facility that ships goods by air. All staff with
access to air cargo must receive adequate
security training. Companies must ensure
that unauthorized persons have no access to
air cargo. In many cases this will require
them to create the necessary prerequisites, for
example by installing security interlocks.
The entire security concept must be detailed
in the application to the Federal Office of
Civil Aviation. Prior to issuing its final certification the LBA also inspects and evaluates
the facilities and the security programme.
Where companies operate internationally,
each foreign branch office must be individually certified in the respective country.
PwC is anticipating a considerable backlog in
the processing of applications as many companies become aware over the next few
months that time is pressing. Currently there
are around 65,000 “known consignors” in
Germany. However, only roughly 5,000 of
them have so far submitted an application
that will permit them to retain their status.
Many consignors apparently seem to be
relying on their logistics provider. This is
because unsecured air freight consignments
can be turned into secured consignments by
a “regulated agent” who then performs the
Own certification
The best way to ensure consignments are
processed smoothly is to apply for certification by the LBA. A “secured” consignment
can then be handled by companies with the
status of “regulated agent” without being
subject to further security checks. Regulated
agents are officially approved handlers such
as forwarders or airline companies.
However, obtaining approval could become
Jan Bender, head of the
Foreign Trade Compliance
department at Dachser
Air & Sea Logistics
Securely loaded
Top 10 airports
by freight volume
Hong Kong
3,968,397 t
Memphis
3,916,535 t
Shanghai
Anchorage
Incheon/Seoul
3,103,030 t
2,625,201 t
2,539,222 t
Dubai
2,269,768 t
Frankfurt/M.
2,215,181 t
Louisville
2,187,766 t
Paris
Narita/Tokio
2,095,773 t
1,945,110 t
Source: Airports Council International 2011
freight checks – for example by screening
the consignments or using explosive detection devices. To meet this demand, Dachser
has already installed x-ray equipment at its
Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne airport offices. It is planned to add more airports in
the next few months.
But sometimes even an x-ray machine is not
a universal tool. Packages too large for the
1.75 x 1.75 metre x-ray tubes have to be
opened and manually checked. This leads to
further delays. “For air freight forwarders this
means adapting their processes completely
in order to meet air freight transit times,”
Bender explains. Dachser therefore relies on
close cooperation with its customers, such as
that with Hamburg-based tesa SE. The company is currently being certified as a “known
consignor”. Dachser additionally operates a
“secured” distribution warehouse that meets
all regulatory requirements.
A. Heintze
For air freight forwarders this means
adapting their processes completely in order
to meet air freight transit times
hh
DACHSER magazine
17
COMPETENCE: FOOD LOGISTICS
It’s all in the mix:
logistics brings assorted cold cuts
to retailers’ chiller cabinets
THE SPICE
IS RIGHT
A Bohemian family recipe for a spicy salami laid the
foundations for a Bavarian success story. Dachser supports
tradition-rich meat and sausage specialist Houdek along
the entire supply chain: from transport of the raw ingredients,
via finishing, to delivery to retailers’ shelves.
18
DACHSER magazine
COMPETENCE: FOOD LOGISTICS
Some like it hot: the original Houdek
Kabanos, or cabanossi, meet the taste
of many customers who like a bit of a kick.
The family enterprise based in Starnberg
produces hot-smoked and air-cured raw
sausages and traditional Bavarian specialities. But the company made its name with
its spicy pure pork salami which is hot
smoked over beech wood. “The recipe was
developed back in 1926 by my great uncle at
his butcher’s shop in Bohemia,” explains
Robert Houdek, grandson of the company’s
founder and present-day managing director.
Today the company employs a staff of over
500 at its Bavarian production sites in
Glonn and Arzberg and the administrative
office in Starnberg. Over 500 food retailers
in Germany and a dozen other European
countries feature Houdek Leberkäse meatloaf, salami, debrecziner sausages and rissoles in their product range.
h
To the exact gram
Dachser has no small part to play in ensuring
that retailers’ shelves are always stocked with
plenty of fresh Kabanos & Co. “We support
Houdek along the entire supply chain from
collection of the raw ingredients through
to delivery to retailers,” says Stefan Hohm,
Dachser branch manager in Hof. Dachser
has provided services for the traditional
company for the past seven years. During
this time the cooperation has become closer.
Today Dachser collects some of the raw
ingredients from suppliers via its food logistics network. All incoming goods are
checked carefully for correctness, completeness, undamaged condition and temperature
and then labelled to ensure everything can
be traced back to source.
Dachser’s staff check whether the allergens
contained in seasonings correspond to the
information on Houdek’s product packaging
and weigh individual samples as orders are
picked for production according to recipe.
This service significantly simplifies Houdek’s
production flows. After scanning, Dachser
stores incoming goods either in its refrigerated warehouse or at 12 to 18 degrees Celsius
as required and notifies them to Houdek.
Daily inventory reconciliation enables
Houdek to continually keep track of its current goods inventory. The warehouse data
can be accessed at all times via the Internet,
allowing goods to be scheduled and withdrawn for production as and when needed.
Since 2009, Dachser has also operated a dry
goods warehouse for the customer that has
2,300 pallet spaces for packaging films, cardboard packaging and the seasoning mixes.
Five shuttle transports depart from Dachser’s
warehouse for Houdek’s production plant on
a daily basis. After unloading, each semitrailer truck is immediately reloaded with
finished products from production. Back at
the Dachser warehouse, temperature checks
are carried out before the finished products
are either forwarded on directly or temporarily stored as buffer stocks. Dispatch orders –
as well as picking orders, notifications and
confirmation messages – are exchanged between Houdek and Dachser exclusively via
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
At Dachser, every consignment is scanned at
the transit terminal on arrival and departure.
This ensures Houdek has complete transparency in real time concerning the delivery
status of every consignment. Houdek is automatically notified of any irregularities in
the shipment process via Active Report,
enabling the company to respond before its
customers take action. “Meat and sausage
production is a sensitive area. Here it is
vital to be able to ensure high delivery reliability and correct product handling, as well
as traceability back to the original batch of
raw ingredients,” says Robert Houdek.
“Dachser is a highly competent and reliable
partner. Over the years we have built up a
very close collaboration based on trust.”
We support
Houdek along the
entire supply chain from
collection of the raw ingredients
through to delivery to retailers
hh
Stefan Hohm, Dachser
branch manager in Hof
DACHSER magazine
19
COMPETENCE: FOOD LOGISTICS
In the production and sale of meat and sausage
products it is vital to be able to ensure high delivery
reliability and correct product handling, as well as traceability
back to the original batch of raw ingredients
hh
Robert Houdek, managing director of the Houdek group
Contract logistics is also the recipe …
Value added services
such as finishing
of display pallets and
assortment boxes or
sleeving, combined
with customized
outsourcing solutions,
are integral to modern
food logistics.
Customers expect
competent advice,
from optimum choice
of location to
implementation in
day-to-day operations.
20
DACHSER magazine
… for reliable production
Intelligent scheduling
This collaboration was most recently extended in 2011 by customized value added
services. For a number of retailers Dachser
creates mixed boxes and display pallets.
“We recently had a presentation box for the
Munich Oktoberfest featuring a variety of
Bavarian sausage specialities,” Stefan Hohm
points out. From single-article boxes Dachser
staff create shelf-ready mixed boxes containing a variety of products.
Outsourcing procurement, distribution, warehouse management and supplementary logistics services helps Houdek to optimize its
process costs and focus fully on its core business. “All processes are IT-assisted, enabling
us to plan efficiently and schedule intelligently. By ensuring high capacity utilization of
our vehicles and avoiding empty runs we
reduce CO2 emissions to a minimum,” says
Stefan Hohm, summing up the advantages.
Indeed, environmental stewardship is another Bavarian tradition, he adds. Guests as well
as locals should be able to continue to enjoy
long walks and excursions in the unique
Bavarian forests and mountains. And when
they stop for a rest or a glass of beer, a Houdek
Kabanos is the perfect snack.
D. Kunde
SHORTHAND
Houdek group
Meat and sausage
products
Founded: 1926
Production: sausage specialities
such as Kabanos and salami,
as well as convenience products
Production sites: Arzberg, Glonn,
Starnberg
Staff: approx. 500
Revenue: EUR 146 million
COMPETENCE: AIR FREIGHT
KEEN
NOSES
ON THE JOB
Sniffing for greater
security: detector dogs
at cargo airports are
especially good at
nosing out suspicious
consignments.
They turn up for work accompanied by
their handler. They react to short,
sharp orders. And they are deployed wherever human senses are not refined enough
and robots and x-ray machines are unsuited.
At airports sniffer dogs are the new experts
for narcotics, explosives and toxic substances.
“K9 units” as they are known, which is a homophone of canine. After 12 weeks of training
and passing a test they are officially known in
a number of European countries as “scent
trace matching dogs”. However, they continue to learn throughout their whole doglife.
Training exploits the dogs’ natural playful
instincts. Here, ‘Officer Super Sleuth’ is
trained to sniff out toys – that have been
spiked with the scent of suspect substances.
h
Maximum sniffing range
A dog possesses 250 million olfactory cells
compared to our mere five million. While
the most a human being can detect with a
freight consignment is the smell of the wooden pallet, a dog can recognize the slightest
traces of odours even through extremely
thick plastic wrap and cartons.
Even the most sensitive detection devices
are no match for these keen noses. When a
dog detects a suspect odour it sits or lies
down with its snout pointing at the source.
Extreme caution is called for because if
the dog were to start scratching at the sus-
picious object or rooting with its muzzle, it
could trigger an explosive detonator.
Dogs – accompanied by an explosives and
narcotics expert – are increasingly being
used at airport cargo centres. Jan Bender,
head of Dachser’s Foreign Trade Compliance
department: “Thanks to the dogs’ keen
sense of smell freight consignments with particularly complicated packaging no longer
have to be opened. So far the dogs – mostly
German and Belgian shepherds – are being
used in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We hope they will soon be permitted
in Germany.” A dog’s life that comes with
a job guarantee.
T. Schlosser
Better than some technical devices:
sniffer dogs have finely honed senses for
detecting hidden dangers
DACHSER magazine
21
COMPETENCE: DANGEROUS GOODS
ON THE
SAFE SIDE
Handling dangerous goods not only
demands sophisticated technology. Above all
it calls for competent staff.
The Globally Harmonized System for
classifying chemicals
(GHS) was adopted
by a UN commission in
2002. For the first time
it created a globally
uniform system for
the classification
of dangerous goods.
22
DACHSER magazine
It had flown off course. Just a little bird.
In Dachser’s dangerous goods warehouse in Ploiesti, Romania, it made acquaintance with some pretty sophisticated safety
technology. “That was enough to trigger the
alarm,” reports Traian Dumitrescu, Dachser
country manager in Romania. “It flew across
the laser beams that detect smoke fumes. The
safety system informed us immediately that
something was up.” The warehouse staff
quickly noticed the false alarm and caught
the bird. The chain of alarms that otherwise
alerts authorities, the fire brigade and the
management when an incident occurs
was not set off. “So far this is the only time
our technology has had to prove it works,”
h
Dumitrescu says, satisfied. After all, no one
wants a real accident to happen, especially
because the warehouse stores dangerous
goods such as pesticides, paints and varnishes
or pressure gas units.
Sensitive goods
Especially since the accidents that occurred
in Seveso in 1976 or in Bhopal, India, in
1984, industry, politics and society around
the world have been highly sensitized to the
need for responsible handling of dangerous
substances. After all, they occur in practically all areas of work and life, for example as
paints, varnishes, pesticides, industrial gases
or cleaning agents. As raw materials, consumables and supplies they offer practical
assistance in our everyday lives. However,
accidents involving dangerous substances can
be devastating for the people and regions
affected and involve heavy costs for those
responsible.
COMPETENCE: DANGEROUS GOODS
We provide training
for all staff members
who come into contact with
dangerous goods
hh
Steve Heidner,
Central Dangerous Goods
Management at Dachser
foil. Sensors measure dangerous concentrations, for example of solvents, in the air,
enabling an immediate response in the
event of an accident. For reasons of safety,
the warehouse is divided into six fire protection zones.
Know-how for everyone
Legislators have responded to this situation
nationally and internationally by successively adopting ever more stringent rules. Two
regulations currently form the principal legal
framework for dangerous goods warehouses:
the Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
and the Seveso II Directive. The European
Union has also reached further harmonization with Seveso III; the new directive, which
provides for further classifications and additional obligations concerning the provision
of information and public participation and
controls, must be incorporated into national
law by 31 May 2015.
“With our dangerous goods warehouses in
Hungary and Romania for example we are
pioneers when it comes to safety. We are
setting new standards on the market in
this field,” says Armin Blaschek, Contract
Logistics Projects team leader within the
Logistics Consulting division. The dangerous goods warehouse in Ploiesti near the
Romanian capital Bucharest is for example
the first in the country to meet the strict
Seveso II Directive requirements. What
does this imply for day-to-day operations
in the dangerous goods warehouse? Should
a sack unintentionally tear, a fork truck by
accident damage a canister or a fire break
out, the facility and, more importantly, the
staff are prepared. “Each of our 11,500
pallet spaces is for example equipped with a
fire extinguisher sprinkler system with foam
additives so that in the event of a fire the
flames can be smothered where they originate,” Dumitrescu explains. A sophisticated
piping system ensures that each and every
sprinkler is supplied with water at a pressure
of six bars – in winter, too: even at Arctic
temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius,
as recently experienced in February 2012,
a heating system ensures that the extinguishing water does not freeze. With two
times 2,000 cubic metres, Dachser stores
twice the amount of water ready for use as
is legally required. The retaining basins for
extinguishing water or escaping liquids are
large enough to collect any contaminated
water in the event of a fire. To ensure that
no toxic substances can seep into the ground
the floor of the warehouse has been additionally sealed with a special chemical-resistant
But even in the Ploiesti warehouse all this
technology is not just an end in itself.
“Our first priority is always the safety of our
staff,” explains Steve Heidner from Central
Dangerous Goods Management at Dachser.
“We therefore provide special training for
all staff members who come into contact
with dangerous goods. This not only goes
for staff directly in the warehouse itself,
but also for colleagues in administration and
sales. Everyone should have the knowledge
they need to be able to correctly assess the
risks associated with hazardous substances
and handle them accordingly.” In 2011 alone,
over 133 staff members received training at
the DACHSER Academy in the transport
and storage of dangerous goods. These
experts have in turn assumed the task of
passing on their knowledge to more than
9,500 colleagues in Dachser’s branch offices.
The effort is well worth it: as a result of
the good experiences already made in the
distribution of its products via the warehouse in Pilisvörösvár in Hungary, chemicals
giant BASF is now also utilizing the facility
in Ploiesti. From here the company supplies
southeastern Europe.
Chr. Merten
INFO
Dangerous goods warehouse
Ploiesti
Pilisvörösvár
Investment
EUR 10 million
EUR 7 million
Inauguration
2012
2006
Warehouse area
6,500 square metres
7,000 square metres
Separate fire
protection zones
6
6
Pallet spaces
11,500
16,000
Sensors
smoke, gas and
temperature sensors
smoke, gas and
temperature sensors
Extinguishing water supply
2,000 cubic metres
2,000 cubic metres
Fire service
Own plant
fire service with
six employees
Connection to
municipal fire brigade
in Budapest
DACHSER magazine
23
NETWORK: DACHSER FRANCE
“ON THE
MOVE”
Integration of the French
country organization into Dachser’s
global network is completed.
Frédéric Dumort, head of the
management board of Dachser
France, talks to Dachser magazine
about markets in flux and
the dynamics of a new culture.
Logistics is a growth market. Is this also
true for France?
Frédéric Dumort: No, generally speaking
the logistics market in France is not currently on a path of growth! Over the past thirty
years and in the last decade especially, the
contribution of French industry to GDP
has fallen from 24 percent to 13.6 percent,
which is 50 percent lower than for Germany!
At the same time, the logistics sector is
facing a radical transformation: of the industry top ten, in the past five years five companies have disappeared altogether, or have
either been taken over or strategically repositioned. This has brought profound structural changes and the process is still ongoing.
What strategy is Dachser France employing in response to this development?
In 2007 the decision was taken to fully integrate the French subsidiary into the Dachser
network. This also encompassed expanding
our export groupage services, optimizing productivity by aligning our national offering
hh
24
with the freight structure of the network,
developing our warehousing activities and
finally consolidating our international expertise with Cargoplus and Air & Sea Logistics.
What are your USP vis-à-vis customers?
First of all, being part of an international
group whose business model is based on a
solid and stable ownership structure allows us
to pursue a coherent and consistent corporate
policy independently of political influences
dictated by financial markets and public investors. This point is key with regard to other French industry players in ensuring the
company’s long-term continued existence.
Secondly, our highly integrated pan-European network enables us to offer our customers a reliable and seamless service coupled with established competence in such areas as warehousing or value added services.
Finally, our decentralized management model permits us to respond faster to market developments and offer our customers solutions
in line with their needs.
Where do you currently see the focus of
Dachser France?
At the beginning of 2011 we brought our
French organization into line with Dachser’s
international transport and logistics services
network with the operational goal to place
the French subsidiary back on course for
growth. In other words, a concerted effort
went into utilizing and optimizing the new
tools to enable us to reap the benefits of
the investment and seize the opportunities
presented by the Dachser network. Today
we can say that we have achieved this objective: across the network we now work with
the same decentralized management models,
the same tools and to a great extent the same
standardized processes and services.
What role have colleagues from other
Dachser country organizations played in
this?
During the transition phase our branch managers were supported in the optimization of
the new tools by their German colleagues
Dachser France has in some ways experienced a big bang in the course of the past five
years. It wasn’t always easy, but we have come out of it stronger Frédéric Dumort
DACHSER magazine
NETWORK: DACHSER FRANCE
PERSONAL FILE
Frédéric Dumort,
46, is head of the management
board of Dachser France. The
business administration graduate
and father of two has been with
Dachser since 2008 and was
appointed to the management
board in 2011.
within the scope of a formal partnership.
The accompaniment of this process was in
my opinion a decisive factor, which is why
we have unanimously decided to prolong it
in 2013.
In 2011, you were appointed one of the
three members of the board of management of Dachser France. Does this not
revert back to a centralized model of
leadership?
No, definitely not! The board of management is very keen to encourage the active
participation of all players. Since 2011,
Dachser France has been managed by the
extended board, made up of heads of Finance
& Administration, Sales & Contract Logistics, Network, HR and Cargoplus as well as
the branch managers represented by their
spokesman, Dominique Charbonnier. The
creation of branch manager circles in which
collectively initiated proposals and suggestions are discussed speeds up decision-making
processes. This is a major step forward.
What, in your opinion, are the strengths
of Dachser France?
Dachser France has in some ways experienced a big bang in the course of the past five
years. It wasn’t always easy, but we have come
out of it stronger. Now not only are we well
positioned, personally I am convinced we
even have a certain competitive edge in the
French market. Dachser has a coherent corporate structure and range of services and in
the international sphere offers its customers
Europe’s most deeply integrated network. In
2011, we recorded growth of 10.7 percent
across all business fields. This year the growth
trend is set to continue at around six percent in the groupage, contract logistics and
Cargoplus segments. These are impressive
figures given the current economic climate
and a sign that our offer corresponds to
market expectations.
The head office of the French country
organization is in La Verrie. What are
its tasks?
The staff at the head office in La Verrie play
a key role in the success of our undertaking.
They act in an advisory, coordinating and
controlling capacity. They provide advice by
placing their extensive expertise at the branch
offices’ disposal, use their global vision to
help the branch offices find the most efficient solution for the Dachser network and,
because every decentralized system depends
on a certain degree of control, ensure the rules
are complied with and the strategy actively
pursued. It is this complementarity on the
one hand and unity on the other that makes
us so efficient.
What direction does Dachser France intend to pursue in the future?
The European network occupies a central
place in our services offering. We now have
the instruments to enable us to efficiently
leverage this network to the benefit of our
customers. In groupage, our aim is to secure
our position as a market leader in France.
However, growth is not our only goal. One
of our highest priorities is quality. In my
view the greatest growth potential is to be
found in European groupage operations,
which already account for 21 percent of our
revenue – a figure we are aiming to double
over the next five years. We are also continuing to develop our contract logistics activities,
which offer combined transport and warehousing solutions. With a capacity expansion
of 30,000 to 40,000 square metres a year we
have recorded growth rates in this field of
30 and 26 percent for 2011 and 2012 respectively. In 2013, our total warehouse area is
expected to exceed 200,000 square metres.
This pace is likely to continue over the next
few years.
What goals are you pursuing over and
above Dachser’s European network?
In the field of Cargoplus we are reaffirming
our leadership in the Maghreb states on
a day-to-day basis and can also attest to
strong growth in freight services to and
from Turkey and the CIS states. Parallel to
our groupage services, we are also in the
process of building up a cost-effective panEuropean full truck load service. Finally,
despite the difficult global economic situation, we have also set ourselves ambitious
goals for our Air & Sea Logistics business
field. Only recently under the management
of Vincent Touya we expanded our Le
Havre location by 2,000 to a total of 6,000
square metres in order to meet the growing
demands of our customers.
integration of a company
qSuccessful
without interrupting normal operations
From left to right: Philippe Hennetin,
Jean-François Deflandre, Vincent Hahn,
Frédéric Dumort, Dominique Charbonnier,
Daniel Lucas, Frédéric Jurado
requires a tour de force on the part of all
those concerned. You can read how this was
achieved in France in the full-length
interview at www.dachser.com/dumort
DACHSER magazine
25
NETWORK
COMPETENCE
CARGOPLUS IN POLAND
Grzegorz
Lichocik,
Dachser
country
manager
in Poland
As of September, Dachser is also offering its Cargoplus services in Poland. “This
offering results from our Mobile 2015+ strategy and is our response to the demand
of many key account customers who expect their logistics provider to be able to fully
cover all their transportation needs,” says Grzegorz Lichocik, manager of Dachser’s
country organization in Poland. By focusing on the Cargoplus service segments
“pan-European full load freight services and specialized freight services to the CIS
countries, the Maghreb states and Turkey”, the Polish country organization is enhancing its attractiveness in these markets. From a geographical point of view, Poland is
an obvious choice as a platform for transport operations between the East and the
West. Close integration into Dachser’s European transport network opens up new possibilities for groupage shipments to Russia and other CIS regions. The new Cargoplus
office is located in Stryków, branch manager is Dorota Ruszkiewicz.
SWS BECOMES DACHSER
Dachser’s SWS Karlsruhe subsidiary is now resplendent in the colours yellow and blue. Following rebranding in Dachser’s corporate design, the facility is on course for continued
growth. The company is investing some EUR
Dachser’s colours now also adorn
the new building in Malsch
25 million in the new operating site in Malsch,
to which the Karlsruhe branch office will relo-
cate at the end of 2012. In addition to the two existing warehouses, which together measure 36,000 square metres and provide 60,000 pallet spaces, Dachser is constructing a
10,000-square-metre transit terminal with 126 loading bays and a 4,100-square-metre
office building. Dachser Karlsruhe will bring all of the modes of transport under one
roof in Malsch, thus creating an optimal environment for the two business fields Dachser
European Logistics and Dachser Air & Sea Logistics to dovetail with comprehensive
contract logistics services.
RADEBURG TRANSPORT HUB
Around 12 kilometres north of the capital of Saxony, in Radeburg, Dachser’s new
Dresden logistics centre is under construction. Located close to the A13 motorway, the
13-hectare site has optimal accessibility. With a EUR 22.5 million investment, Dachser
is constructing a 3,500-square-metre administration building as well as a 7,500-squaremetre transit terminal for industrial goods and a 4,500-square-metre transit terminal
for foodstuffs. Over the next five years, Dachser intends to create over 100 new jobs
in the region. Dachser has been active in the region for 20 years. The logistics provider
currently employs a staff of around 170 in Radeburg and handles over
40,000 tonnes of industrial goods and foodstuffs per month.
26
DACHSER magazine
NETWORK
+++ STRONG IN STYRIA +++
At the beginning of October, Dachser’s
Lannach branch office in Austria
moved to new premises. On the new
approximately
22,500-square-metre
site in Wundschuh near Graz, Dachser
+++ EXPANSION IN ZEVENAAR +++ Nine months after the start of
operates a 4,100-square-metre transit
construction, Dachser moved into its new premises in Zevenaar in
terminal at which up to 45 trucks can
September. The facility encompasses a three-storey office building
be loaded and unloaded simultaneous-
and a transit terminal with over 7,200 square metres and 82 bays.
ly. The facility also encompasses an
“This new build leaves us ideally placed to accompany our customers’
administration building with around
growth over the next few years,” says Aat van der Meer, country man-
1,000 square metres and is certified
ager of Dachser Netherlands. The Zevenaar branch office is strategi-
in compliance with HACCP (Hazard
cally located on the A12 motorway, which is the east-west route
Analysis and Critical Control Points).
across the Netherlands, becoming the A3 motorway in Germany. One
This ensures the safe handling of sen-
of the special features at the new facility is the drag-chain conveyor
sitive foodstuffs by regularly trained
system. “The drag-chain conveyor system plays a key role in our
Dachser specialists and with the right
transshipment logistics,” van der Meer explains. +++
technical equipment. +++
Network expansion in the Middle Kingdom
+++ GROWTH IN VIETNAM +++ Dachser Vietnam Co.
Ltd., which opened its doors in Ho Chi Minh City in
October, is gaining momentum. The range of services in
one of the most dynamic growth markets in South-East
Asia extends from air and sea freight business to customs clearance and a variety of other logistics services.
In the short term the company, in which Dachser Far
East Ltd. has a controlling majority, plans to employ a
staff of 20. Additional branch offices in Vietnam are in
the pipeline. +++
+++ NEW BRANCH OFFICE IN NANJING +++ Dachser
is extending its network of locations in China with a new
branch office in the Yangtze River Delta. “The cities along
the Yangtze River are experiencing enormous growth in
the manufacturing and processing industries, which is
also leading to a steep rise in demand for logistics
services,” says Thomas Reuter, managing director of
Dachser Air & Sea Logistics. From Nanjing air and sea
freights services will be provided for the entire region,
including the cities of Yangzhou, Zhenjinag, Wuhu,
Nantong, Zhangjiagang, Wuhan and Yichang. +++
Dynamic Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City
DACHSER magazine
27
NETWORK: NORWAY
FOCUS
THE NORTH
Oil and gas are fuelling growth in Norway.
This also drives up demand for intelligent transport and
logistics solutions in Scandinavia and Europe.
28
DACHSER magazine
NETWORK: NORWAY
It is summer in Norway. The mercury
column on the thermometer indicates
25 degrees in the shade and Hans-Thomas
Andersen, branch manager of Dachser’s
Oslo branch office has hung his jacket over
the back of his chair. Despite the summery
temperatures, his mind is already focused on
the depths of winter. His desk is covered
in order lists and schedules of one of his
key accounts. For Antra, a Norwegian im-
h
porter and dealer of Kässbohrer PistenBully
snowgroomers and cross-country tracksetting machines, he is in the process of organizing delivery of the new equipment and
related spare parts logistics.
He needs to do his homework in good time.
Because when it is dark from morning to
night, snowflakes dance on the windscreen
and the roads are covered in a sheet of ice,
mobility – like everywhere in Scandinavia –
becomes a huge challenge. Norway is not
only a land where distances are long; it is
also a land with comparatively few motorways. According to Eurostat, in 2010 the
country could boast a mere 381 kilometres. ‡
On the same latitude
as North Alaska: Tromsø
on Tromsø Sound
DACHSER magazine
29
NETWORK: NORWAY
A logistics specialist
through and through.
In August 2012,
Finn S. Pedersen
celebrated 40 years
in the transport and
logistics business.
Since 2005, the
57-year-old has contributed his knowledge
and experience as
a director of Dachser
Nordic A/S.
30
DACHSER magazine
And of the 90,000-plus kilometres of road
altogether, only 70,000 kilometres are tarmacked. The equipment needs to be delivered on behalf of Antra before the peak
season for downhill and cross-country starts.
The next challenge is ensuring rapid delivery
of spare parts during the peak season from
November to March. Here, reliability is key
to making sure the slopes remain skiable.
VOICES
“For me, Norway is the legendary
fjords, the beautiful scenery and
unspoilt nature.”
Jeroen Wouters, Inside Sales, Willebroek,
Dachser Belgium
“With Norway I associate nature,
Desirable locations
wild salmon in the rivers and frosty
In Norway, the region around the capital,
Oslo, has far and away the greatest relevance
for the logistics sector. Desirable locations
are in the motorway corridor formed by
the E6 to the north in the direction of
Gardermoen airport, the E6 to the south in
the direction of Oppegard and the E18 to
the west in the direction of Asker. Here,
on a newly established industrial zone to
the south of the Oslo metropolitan area,
is exactly where Dachser chose to locate
this summer. The 11,000-square-metre site
accommodates a 1,900-square-metre transit
terminal which handles incoming and
outgoing goods via 26 bays at precisiontimed intervals. This gives customers like
Antra and Medinor, one of Scandinavia’s
oldest and biggest providers and distributors of pharmaceuticals, value
added healthcare products and
services, parameters they can
rely on. The new facility in
Oslo is closely integrated into
Dachser’s European network and
with direct links to the NorwegianSwedish north-south E6 motor-
temperatures!”
Jane Wong, administration manager, Hong Kong
“When I think of Norway, four
things spring to mind: cod, Vikings,
snow and the polar lights.”
António Gamboa, IT manager, Alverca,
Dachser Portugal
way and the Oslofjordtunnelen accesses even
remote corners of the country. Within a
radius of 100 kilometres Dachser’s staff take
care of distribution themselves – for greater
distances the company contracts partners.
“The new site is a big step towards the
future,” says branch manager Hans-Thomas
Andersen. At the previous building in
the centre of Oslo trucks were continually
held up in traffic, resulting in a loss of
valuable time.
“The decision to set up a new location in the
region answers the increased demand for
intelligent transport and logistics solutions
and will hopefully continue to ensure the
consistently high level of quality in the area.”
NETWORK: NORWEGEN
The Dachser branch office
to the south of Oslo
In Norway, broad perspectives
are everywhere
Hans-Thomas Andersen,
Dachser Oslo
branch manager
Increasing flows of goods
And this is in high demand. Because thanks
to the Norwegians’ high purchasing power
flows of goods to Norway continue to grow.
In 2011, the Norwegian statistical office
reported record import levels the equivalent
of around EUR 67.5 billion.
Export revenue also rose by 13.3 percent
to EUR 118.4 billion, a scale that fifty
years ago not even notorious optimists could
have imagined. Since the country began
developing its oil and gas reserves at the
beginning of the 1970s, Norway has experienced outstanding economic growth. What
was once one of the poorer western European nations that relied above all on shipping,
fishing, agriculture and forestry is today
the world’s seventh biggest oil exporter and
second biggest gas exporter. Nowadays
Norway has one of the highest per capita
incomes in the world and Oslo has become
one of the world’s most expensive capital
cities. Not only does Forbes list the headquarters of seven of the ten top Norwegian
companies here; the location is also ideal
for accessing Dachser’s branch offices in
Sweden, Denmark and Germany. “This
The new location answers
the increased demand for intelligent
transport and logistics solutions
hh
considerably strengthens the northern part
of Dachser’s closely meshed European network,” says Finn S. Pedersen, managing
director of Dachser Nordic A/S, explaining
the strategy.
“The new branch office in Oslo allows
Dachser to cope even better with the
continuing increase in shipment volumes,”
Michael Schilling, managing director European Network Management & Logistics
Systems at Dachser, points out. The logistics
provider has been present with its own
country organizations in Norway, Sweden
and Denmark since 2005, employing a staff
totalling 330 at seven branch offices. The
company has plans to establish additional
facilities. Bergen is interesting above all
because of its seaport and the shipbuilding
industry and is strongly impacted by
Norway’s oil production activities. Many
international oil companies are also based in
Stavanger: for example Norway’s biggest
company, StatoilHydro. Thanks to Værnes
airport and Norwegian State Railway links
to Oslo, Bodø and Sweden, Trondheim is
also an important traffic hub for the north
of Norway.
K. Fink
SHORTHAND
Kingdom of Norway
Area: 323,458 km2
Capital: Oslo
Population: 5 million inhabitants
National language: Norwegian
Currency: Norwegian crown
Commodities: oil, gas, iron ore,
titanium ore, wood, cereals, meat,
fish, furs
Main exports: oil, oil products, gas,
fish, shellfish, chemicals, iron, steel
DACHSER magazine
31
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
BERNHARD SIMON MEETS...
HEIKE HENKEL
Those who aim high need a plan. Bernhard Simon spoke
with Olympic high jump champion Heike Henkel about exceptional
achievements. In sports as well as corporate boardrooms.
Mr Simon, what does sport mean for you?
As an athlete I have
learned that I can’t
achieve my goals unless I have
a plan and a structure
hh
Heike Henkel
Bernhard Simon: I’ve found there are
two ways to leave the stress of everyday
life behind me. Either by unwinding completely, which is often difficult on a dayto-day basis, or by doing sports. Extensive
exercise and the right breathing technique
are an excellent way of letting go and finding room for new, creative ideas. It helps me
to find the right balance even in stressful
situations.
Heike Henkel: This balance is crucial. As
a top performing athlete I combined sport
with studying graphic design. That forced
me to focus on other things and helped me
find my inner equilibrium. That’s the key to
success.
B. Simon: Sport helps you to switch off
and get an all-important different take on
things. But I can’t help wondering how you as
a top athlete manage to find sport relaxing?
H. Henkel: By constantly having a crack
at new things. For example I’ve recently
discovered running. For 20 years I’d stubbornly resisted; jogging just simply didn’t
appeal to me. But you live and learn. I took
up walking and slowly built up from there.
Then I got hooked and found I wanted to
do it regularly. I looked for like-minded
partners and now I go running three times
a week. And I really enjoy it.
Does professional life in fact offer enough
scope for this withdrawal into the inner
self?
B. Simon: To be successful in the world of
business you need to have enough energy
to be able to pass some on to others as well.
If you simply run like a hamster in a wheel
you’ll lose sight of the bigger picture and
32
DACHSER magazine
won’t have the capacity to create new perspectives. A good manager therefore has to
maintain a healthy equilibrium between
body, mind and his own energy balance. It’s
never a question of not having the time,
but usually of not setting the right priorities. That’s why doing sports and exercising
every day are just as essential fixtures on my
calendar as any important meeting.
H. Henkel: As an athlete I have learned that
I can’t achieve my goals unless I have a plan
and a structure. There are always plenty of excuses for not doing what’s actually necessary.
In order to consistently implement my own
plan I need to pursue both short-term and
long-term goals. They set the framework for
my inner structure.
Is “faster, higher, further” the leitmotif?
H. Henkel: Nowadays performance often
has a negative touch because it is associated
with stress and is very time-consuming. But
striving after top performance isn’t everything when it comes to achieving major goals.
Rather, we must continually find new ways to
exploit our own personal potential as optimally as possible. When I first started out
I never in my wildest dreams imagined I
might one day win the Olympics. That’s
something you tend to grow into gradually.
And along the way new and often surprising
possibilities, and with them new potential,
continuously open up.
B. Simon: Performance also means taking
pleasure in achieving something out of the
ordinary. This is what helps me to push my
own boundaries and broaden my horizons.
And this also functions without excessive
ambition or competitive pressure, but simply
because it’s fun.
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
Learning from sport: progress
starts with the first step
Performing at your peak all the time: is
that feasible?
H. Henkel: If you look after yourself and
your body sensibly, then you can keep it up
for quite a long time. As an active athlete
I was able to compete at the top level for a
relatively long time. But I only managed it
because as well as sticking to my small and
bigger goals I also took care of myself and
didn’t try to run with the hare and hunt
with the hounds.
What is the difference between regeneration and laziness?
H. Henkel: Regeneration is a must. By
contrast with being lazy and letting yourself
go, I always associate it with the desire to
hit the ground running again afterwards
with renewed energy.
B. Simon: Regeneration also implies that
I have actually “generated” something in
the first place. Thus it stands as a counterpoint to a previously achieved performance.
There is an active relationship between the
two. I associate laziness on the other hand
with an uninterrupted straight line with
no significant peaks and therefore no need
for regeneration.
Is there room for regeneration in growthoriented companies?
B. Simon: If we want to accomplish and
achieve great things with people, then we
sometimes need to find ways to take a step
back from what we have achieved. This is
essential when identifying where we stand
today and where we are heading. It’s the
only way to keep track of where we are going
and to navigate successfully. Not only sports,
but also music, art or meditation, are good
ways to integrate other life situations into
your general advancement.
the already attained, the targeted and the
visionary goal.
B. Simon: It’s much the same in companies.
When a project becomes gridlocked, it may
become necessary for the stakeholders to
detach themselves from it, otherwise they
will just keep knocking down the bar. Often
enough the reason for the current stumbling
block is that the project stakeholders aren’t
sufficiently diversified, that work processes
are too entrenched, or aren’t clearly thought
through or too many unarticulated emotions
are hanging in the air. Letting go, reshuffling
and reorganizing ultimately provides the
decisive impetus. And experience has shown
that the team usually makes up more time
than it has purportedly lost.
But what if there’s still no advancement?
H. Henkel: When I am having trouble
clearing a certain height it’s important to
be able to detach myself from it. For this
I have to already set my sights on the next
level in order to break away from the previous one. If I’m aiming to clear two metres,
I need to focus on two metres five. In other
words, there’s not just the one mark, but
Athletes usually have role models whom
they attempt to emulate when competing.
Do companies need winning models for
orientation?
H. Henkel: Everyone needs role models.
Be they our parents or people from our social
or media environment. In the working world
it’s no different. Role models may be ‡
DACHSER magazine
33
BUSINESS LOUNGE: DACHSER FACE-TO-FACE
gold. So why shouldn’t I have a stab at it as
well? That gave me a whole new horizon.
What do images inside our head mean in
terms of success or lack of success?
Sport helps you
to switch off and
get an all-important
different take on things
hh
Bernhard Simon
work colleagues, your boss or someone who’s
achieved something very special.
B. Simon: Models for Dachser are those
who set their own personality aside and yet
continuously support the team effort in an
achievement-oriented way. And they do so
knowing that the energy they have put in
will flow back twice and three times over.
This requires good communication skills in
order to optimally foster the good potential
of the respective other side.
H. Henkel: For me personally Ulrike
Meyfarth is one such role model. I was there
when she became Olympic high jump champion at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
That was when it first became clear to me
that a German athlete can also win Olympic
34
DACHSER magazine
H. Henkel: When competing, I always had
an exact image of the movement before my
mind’s eye. I could see myself as I leapt over
the bar. On the third attempt to clear 1.97
metres at the Olympic Games in Barcelona it
was either “pack up and go home or jump to
win”. So I played out precisely this film in
my head and it worked. Four years earlier in
Seoul these positive images that are key to
success had been missing. Before I even got
there everything seemed so alien. There was
no way the necessary inner confidence and
conviction could develop. I didn’t even make
it into the finals, although I was in great physical shape. I was in a totally different, negative
film. Even back then in Seoul I knew the same
thing wouldn’t happen to me in Barcelona.
I went there so full of determination and came
home with gold.
PERSONAL FILE
Heike Henkel
is a mother of three and married
to former decathlete Paul Meier.
For over a decade the Kiel-born
athlete was among the best
track and field athletes in the
world. In three successive years
she won the European championship, world championship
and in 1992 Olympic gold in
Barcelona. Today Heike Henkel
among other things advises
companies on topics such as
motivation, physical fitness and
positive stress management.
Bernhard Simon
is a passionate amateur sportsman. The head of Dachser’s
Is there actually any such thing as pleasurable effort?
management board is not so
H. Henkel: The idea sounds like a contradiction at first. I associate it with pride
at achieving something that initially only
seemed strenuous and hard work. My coach
Gerd Osenberg taught me at the time that
to be successful I had to do things I didn’t particularly enjoy. For me as an athlete my training partners and the members of the support
team were especially important. One example:
once my training group and I had to do a
cross-country run through the dunes on the
island of Sylt and I didn’t enjoy it at all. But
I took part in the run, overcame my reluctance
and today I am still reaping the benefits.
B. Simon: When I go jogging first thing in
the morning after perhaps not getting much
sleep, of course I sometimes think it might
be nicer to be enjoying a leisurely breakfast.
But once I have overcome that first strenuous
round it progressively gets easier and then
pleasure takes over from chore and the day
is saved.
as in “continuing to broaden my
What sporting event would you still like
to compete in?
H. Henkel: Definitely not a marathon. At
the moment I can manage over 30 minutes
with ease. 60 minutes would be good. That’s
a nice goal.
much interested in competing
sporting horizons”. Preferably
in the company of friends.
Whether, as in the past, traversing the Alps by bike or on
a coast-to-coast run across
Iceland. “I’m sure we’ll continue
to come up with new goals,”
he says, “that will enable us to
share new experiences with
one another that we will never
forget.”
GOOD NEWS
MOVING
FORWARD
In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Dachser
and the children’s relief organization terre des
hommes have been supporting a joint aid project
since 2005. The results for 2012 are impressive:
at three vocational training centres in Mahauli,
Kanduni and Rasulpur 124 girls and young
women have received vocational training, 86 are
in the meantime working as full-time seamstresses
and two have opened their own sewing schools.
In Varanasi 245 girls earned qualifications
in sewing, embroidery or computer tasks and
839 attended summer camps and were taught the
basics of sewing, cosmetics or toy production.
In Sitapur 68 young women have laid the
foundations for an independent future with their
own sewing machines.
DACHSER magazine
35
THE CROWNING TOUCH
FOR LOGISTICS GOURMETS.
DACHSER Food Logistics
Everything that’s good, from one provider: our contract logistics
specialists can put together a package of many different services
that are tailored to your needs. This intelligent combination of
transport, warehousing and value-added services will make your
logistics operations efficient and help reduce complexity, thus
allowing you to focus on your core business.
www.dachser.com