NETWORKERS - dachser.sk

Finn Skovbo Pedersen,
managing director of
Dachser Nordic A/S
“Many major companies see this as a way
of making their logistics processes leaner and
concentrating them at a single point.” The
consequence, he says, is that major Dachser
customers with Europe-wide operations
have fewer and fewer logistics managers in
each individual country. “These customers
are looking for logistics providers with pan-
European networks.”
Thinking outside the box
In Denmark, one of the first network integration
steps taken was the introduction of
Dachser’s proprietary Domino transport
management system, which is used in 17
European countries and offers a high level
of security and reliability. This makes communication
problems between different systems
a thing of the past. Another advantage
is that Domino offers customers transparency
from collection right through to shipment
delivery. “Our employees had to completely
change their way of thinking,” Pedersen says.
Today, Dachser Denmark works according
to exactly the same standards as the rest of the
group. Whereas in the past Haugsted collected
goods twice a week from each of its
50 partners, they suddenly had to cope with
a completely different line management.
That had consequences. Haugsted’s partner
network collapsed. Almost overnight, the
50 partners had become competitors, because
Dachser’s European network took over their
tasks.
The customer profile also changed radically.
The Danes parted from customers in the
field of long steel goods, which had been
combined with Haugsted’s consolidated
freight services. “It no longer fits in with
Dachser’s groupage system,” Pedersen says.
Haugsted’s export business also used to be
weakly positioned. Today, Dachser Denmark
delivers palletized goods for final customers
to, among others, DIY stores across Europe.
Famous Danish durable goods designer
brands such as Bodom, Menu or prestigious
Our employees had
hh to completely change their
way of thinking Finn Skovbo Pedersen
Royal Copenhagen porcelain are transported
by Dachser Europe-wide to the point of
sale. Around one quarter of all Dachser
Denmark’s deliveries are destined for Sweden
and Norway. Many of the shipments are
made up of Danfoss heating thermostats
that are supplied to France and Spain.
Five years after the extensive integration
process, Pedersen takes stock: Dachser
Denmark has meanwhile managed to build
up a national network on a scale that hadn’t
existed previously. Although a few of the
238 staff members left the company in the
early days, the workforce has in the meantime
grown to 320. Two years ago, a terminal with
an area of 4,300 square metres and 43 loading
bays was opened in Kolding, Denmark –
already a Dachser location before the integration.
While five years ago the facility handled
13,000 consignments per month, in the
meantime that volume has jumped to 36,000.
Moreover, in September a new terminal with
an area of 4,200 square metres and 41 bays
was inaugurated in Copenhagen. Here, too,
the number of monthly consignments has
risen from 8,000 five years ago to around
27,000 today. In addition to Dachser Nordic’s
administrative departments, the 3,000 square
metres of office space also accommodates
the Air & Sea Logistics business segment.
And: “In terms of customer satisfaction, we
are out there with the best,” Pedersen says
enthusiastically.
A favourable position
with customers
The standards practised at Dachser in Denmark
since 2005 apply across the entire
pan-European network – in the meantime
28 countries including Serbia, Bosnia and
Bulgaria. Three Eurohubs represent important
nerve centres within the network from
where markets in central, western and eastern
Europe are served: in Überherrn/Germany
since 2002, in Bratislava since 2008 and from
July 2011 in Clermont-Ferrand/France (see
COVER STORY
On route to Europe: integration brings
markets closer together
also page 7). Dachser also operates 129 terminals
of its own, as well as 101 partner locations
in Europe, for example the family-run
company Azkar in Spain and Fercam with
more than 30 locations in Italy.
“We have almost 6,000 of our own swap
bodies and over 1,000 of our own trailers in
operation across Europe,” Janda says, explaining
further strengths of the pan-European
network. Thanks to double-deck loading,
the box vehicles provide a high degree of
load security. This was one more reason that
convinced the Danish family enterprise,
Haugsted, to opt for integration into
Dachser’s extensive European network and at
the same time for a new entrepreneurial environment,
thus paving the way to a positive
future. “With increasing Europeanization
and globalization,” says logistics expert Professor
Peter Klaus, “companies able to offer
high-quality and efficient international services
without a doubt have greater development
potential.” S. Machens
DACHSER magazine 19