Annual Report 2006 by Gebrüder Weiss

the orange world in 2006

ION

FCL and LCL

IT services

Procurement

B LO

4PL

I C

Customs

tectraxx

fashionet

ULE

TRANSPORT

Air freight

Rail transport

N RA

leisure & sports logistics

GW network traffic

E VIC

x|vise

T US

L SO

TI VA

We’ll get you there.

Sea freight

CUSTOMER

LOGISTICS Fulfilment Distribution

dicall

EuroExpress

inet logistics

National distribution

Warehouse logistics

Europe system Exhibition and relocation logistics

Distribution

Parcel service Research and Development Procurement

AGENT NETWORKS

Joint ventures

Partner alliances

automotive logistics

The world has become just that much smaller again. In addition, in 2006, we’ve increased the options at our disposal to reach our customers’ goals even more efficiently. The way to get there often starts with an idea born in our orange world. In this global, close-knit network of expertise, the complex tasks involved in modern logistics will be handled even more smoothly in the future. Our success all boils down to a motivation which has set us apart for more than 500 years as a private freight forwarder: no matter the goal, we’ll get you there.

Annual Report 2006 Department Reports

Complexity

14 20

Gebrüder Weiss Holding AG

Complex systems – Actually quite simple

GW Logistics – Complex, not convoluted Aspiration for perfection

Future

The future of logistics in the year 2040 – Looking

into the crystal ball

Wholly local – SLK research project

Anything but trivial – Interview with Prof. Kummer

Rail taxi for goods transport – genuine innovation or gimmick? Interview with the Senger-Weiss family

GW Addresses worldwide

104

78 82

gw world

Lauterach, Bludenz, Feldkirch, Feldkirchen, Graz, Hall, Hörsching, Kalsdorf, Leopoldsdorf, Leoben, Leobendorf, Linz, Maria Lanzendorf, Maria Saal, Pöchlarn, Salzburg, Sulz, Wels, Vienna, Wiener Neudorf, Vienna-Airport, Wolfurt, Wörgl G E R M ANY Frankfurt, Memmingen, Hamburg, Lindau, Passau, Nuremberg SWITZERLAND Altenrhein, Basel, Zurich Airport I TA LY Bolzano C R O AT I A Zagreb S L O VA K I A Bratislava, Banská Bystrica, Košice, Nitra, Persov, Poprad, Prievidza, Senec, Ziar nad Hronom, Žilina SLOVENIA Ljubljana, Brnik, Koper C ZEC H R E PU B LI C Rudná/Prague, Brno-Modřice, AUSTRIA

České Budějovice, Ostrava-Zábřeh H U N G A RY Dunaharaszti, Vecsés B U L G A R I A Sofia, Kazanlak, Varna R O M A N I A Bucharest, Arad, Brasov, Constanta S E R B I A Novi Beograd H O N G K O N G Kowloon C H I N A Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Tianjin, Urumqui Xinjiang, Xi’an, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, Shenzhen S I N G A P O R E Singapore J A PA N Tokyo TA I WA N Taipei U S A Atlanta, San Francisco, Wood Dale, Cranford, Torrance, Miami, Houston CANADA Toronto UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai U K R A I N E Kiev, Mukachevo

gw world

Orange on the move around the world

All employee figures are average values for the fiscal year 2006 (consolidation is not reflected).

Membership in System Alliance Europe (SAE) was inked. There are now 20 contracting parties encompassing 102 branch offices in 14 countries. Additionally two new field warehouses totalling 3,000 m2 were rented in Memmingen and the “Logistics Solutions” department was established.

In April, Orange Dragon kicked off – GW’s first intercontinental campaign. Co-ordinated market activities in Europe and China as well as new standards in service led to a very positive result: 22 percent more consignments than the previous year.

Das China Kunden-Magazin von Gebrüder Weiss Air & Sea

Austria

45 locations 2,646 employees

In Rif near Salzburg a new GW field warehouse was instituted on the 1st of April. In co-operation with Bosch Robert AG, part of the building is dedicated to the operation of a shared project – a jointly-implemented “ship to line” concept. Here, GW directly supplies the Bosch production lines with individual diesel pump components, transfers the finished products and prepares them for shipping throughout all of Europe. GW Salzburg uses the other half of the new logistics location for customers in need of logistics solutions.

tectraxx high-tech logistics

Gebrüder Weiss and ICA (Intercontainer

became the new logistics agent for Austria’s Unito Group in September. The experts in high-tech logistics not only deliver electrical appliances and consumer electronics, they also manage technical services – from customer returns to repair logistics.

Austria) launched a new rail connection for seafreight containers. On the 4th of September, the first “Hamburg-Bodensee Sprinter” departed from the Wolfurt freight depot. This connection is destined to replace up to 5,000 truck runs annually.

Germany

Switzerland

6 locations 168 employees

6 locations 171 employees

Passau: new construction and renovations The new

Since March a new rendezvous traffic route has been up and running between Basel and the Ruhr district. GW Basel is thereby expanding its range of services.

warehouse depot was taken into operations in January 2006 and the renovated office premises were ready for occupancy by May.

The Wörgl location underwent an expansion of more than 2,000 m2. Investments of nearly two million Euro further ensure an optimum infrastructure for logistics projects.

Italy 1 location 2 employees

As of September 1st

In Maria Saal a new

GW has a new freight forwarding agent in Northern Europe. Known as Combi fragt in Denmark and the Baltic countries, Roadlink in Sweden, Universal in Norway and the postal service in Finland, all four enterprises are part of the Itella Group.

handling facility was opened in September. The impetus behind this major investment was a tripling of staff within the past five years and the 2006 milestone of exceeding 100,000 consignments.

Since July 1st GW has been using the barcode system across the board. Ever since this red-letter day, more than 47,000 parcels are scanned daily – from Basel to Budapest.

Five years of Air & Sea in Bolzano – at your personal service. To mark this After just 14 months of construction the company’s largest logistics facility with a size of 105,000 m2 was opened on the 3rd of July. GW invested approximately 60 million Euro in the Maria Lanzendorf branch.

ceremonious occasion, sales activities in Italy were intensified and supported by various different marketing campaigns. Of course, all based on the slogan: We welcome your challenges. And we’ll find a way.

gw world

Czech Republic

Hungary

Slovenia

Croatia

Serbia

Slovakia

5 locations 265 employees

2 locations 168 employees

3 locations 24 employees

2 locations 46 employees

2 locations 17 employees

12 locations 278 employees

In February 2006

As of November 2006 daily traffic into the

Since the port of Koper has developed into

Air & Sea now on the move in Serbia. The

CEE network has been the rule. All pick-up and delivery trucks were adapted to meet the accepted GW/CI standards in 2006.

an important logistics hub, GW opened its own branch there on the 1st of October. This Istrian port has experienced considerable growth in the past few years; since just last year, the amount of Austrian freight handled there shot up by 18.8 %.

GW Croatia was not only able to maintain its position despite intensely strong competition, but in fact even made distinct inroads. Most notable were the services this branch provided to Siemens â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the largest logistics customer in all of Croatia. GW Croatia transported the base stations for Mobitel to virtually all corners of the country, right on schedule and to the fullest satisfaction of the customer.

March 2006 saw the acquisition of M&G Spedition and M&G Expres Spedition. As part of this merger, international freight forwarding operations were relocated from Senec to BratislavaRaca in August 2006. Since then, the location in Senec is acting wholly as a logistics provider.

Regional Manager Reinhold GraĂ&#x;er appointed Harald Prohaska the new National Manager for the Czech Republic with immediate effect, thus gaining an experienced specialist for freight forwarding processes.

By virtue of an optimised infrastructure daily connections to all Central and East European countries have been a reality since 2006.

Logistics terminal expansions Dunaharaszti: an additional 4,000 m2 of logistics warehouse space was taken into operations in April 2006.

Employees at the Ljubljana branch office moved into new facilities at the end of May. The new terminal comprises 3,850 m2 of warehouse and handling area as well as ten docking gates.

Cargo T. Weiss joint venture came into being in Belgrade in October 2006. This branch now has five employees working under Dimitrije Nikolic.

Ever since 2006 regular groupage traffic has been running both between Serbia and the Netherlands as well as between Serbia and Montenegro.

GW Slovakia wooed and won a new key account at the beginning of the year: Degussa AG operates a total of 216 locations around the world.

gw world

Romania

USA

5 locations 75 employees

3 locations 50 employees

2 locations 4 employees

7 locations 62 employees

Air & Sea opened a port

Since 2006 Bulgaria is benefiting from state-of-the-art technology – both SAP and CIEL were implemented.

On August 1st a sales office for surface transport and Air & Sea activities was opened in Kiev. Three new employees handle customer services and consignments and monitor the consignments from Kiev.

Early last year

office in May in Constanta, the largest Black Sea port.

Bulgaria

Ukraine

The Arad warehouse now expanded and

saw the opening of our San Francisco branch office.

As of October 2006 GW has its own groupage container steaming one to two times a week from Hamburg to the Eastern seaboard of the USA, with Chicago and New York being the most important destinations.

China and Hong Kong

United Arab Emirates

15 locations 227 employees

2 locations 16 employees

The first intercontinental “Orange Dragon” campaign

In the second half of the year WR Dubai and WR Shanghai joined forces to work on the consignment of three large projects being shipped from China. A total of 3,000 tonnes of material were imported, mainly for the construction industry. Due to the sheer size of the individual components, even the partial chartering of a gen eral cargo ship had to be arranged.

truly roared like a triumphant dragon. The first-ever “Orange Dragon Post” – a newsletter tailored specifically to GW customers in China – came out in midApril. The first direct mailing on the Chinese market was sent out in the Shanghai region (“Win a trip to Sissi Castle”).

Weiss-Rohlig shared a booth at Shanghai’s “Transport and Logistics Fair 2006” with the Vienna Airport, Austrian Airlines and other freight forwarders.

modernised was taken into operation in 2006.

Preparations for Romania’s entry into the EU meant formidable challenges for the national GW organisation, which were handled with aplomb.

Two new offices

Canada

were opened in Chengdu and X’ian. An additional six offices in China received the coveted A license.

Singapore

1 location 7 employees

2 locations 20 employees

A 40 percent increase in consignments was recorded in

Additional logistics activities were success-

Canada, yielding a positive annual financial statement just 1½ years after the opening of the Toronto office.

fully accomplished last year in the supply chain for Leica Microsystems BU SOM: packing and warehousing in Singapore and air imports to the Leica Logistics Centre in Switzerland.

Annual Report 2006 Department Reports

14 20

Gebr端der Weiss Holding AG

Annual report 2006

Gebrüder Weiss Holding AG Annual report 2006

The year 2006 was marked by many ups, several downs, great changes, important innovations and finally by remarkable success. Powered by an upward economic trend, significant growth was achieved, which led to record sales on the one hand, and on the other hand heavily challenged the organisation’s staff, technical facilities and capacities.

It is particularly pleasing that the high economic targets were reached despite the significant investments made in facilities and technology. In this context the projects in Maria Lanzendorf, Wels-Pernau, Wörgl, Passau and Maria Saal as well as the introduction of the barcode/colli scanning by July 1st, 2006 are just some charac-

Distribution of added value to business segments

Logistics

26%

Courier, express and parcel services

15%

Air & Sea

11% International surface transports National transports

32% Customs

11%

teristic examples. After the start-up, the synergetic effects did not always develop to the desired extent as the complexity (of a simultaneously clearly increased number of consignments) was underestimated in one case or another. Exceptional commitment was necessary in order to guarantee operations of a high quality. There is, however, no doubt that these steps were absolutely vital for the further development of GW and the respective expectations will be met in the coming years. As far as human resource/organisation development and HR management is concerned, all levels (apprentices, trainees, high potentials and young graduates) were once again clearly emphasised. The opportunities for further qualification provided by the Ferdinand-Weiss Fund were adapted, extended and very well received. Taking a look at the individual business segments, the excellent development of CEP/parcel is particularly striking. The results of national transport (focusing on Austria), ICD (consignments within the orange network), European surface transport and Air & Sea are also highly satisfactory. The consulting service area has once again proven to be a strategically important component of the GW portfolio. As far as logistics are concerned, the necessary preconditions

Wolfgang Niessner CEO

for even better success in the promising solutions business area (customer-specific logistics overall supply) were created. From a regional point of view the performance of the region West (Vorarlberg, Switzerland, Southwest Germany) has to be especially highlighted. In the regions North (Upper Austria, the Czech Republic, Southeast Germany) and South (Styria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia) an excellent job was done, which also goes for Tyrol, Salzburg/Carinthia as well as China, Hong Kong and the USA (each in co-operation with Röhlig/Bremen). In Eastern Austria, alongside the very strong performance of Pöchlarn, the opening and start-up of Maria Lanzendorf, the largest logistics terminal within the Gebrüder Weiss network, needs to be stressed, through which ideal conditions for a lasting positive development were created. The CEEC organisation was marked by two integral influences – firstly, the integration of the acquired companies M&G Expres and M&G Spedition, thanks to which Gebrüder Weiss is now market leader in Slovakia, and secondly, the preparation for the EU accession of Bulgaria and Romania on January 1st, 2007. Even though the expansion or consolidation of the orange surface and Air & Sea network in Eastern Europe ties substantial resources and success does not

always develop directly and in the short term, Gebrüder Weiss will continue on its chosen path and even intensify its efforts. For this purpose, the supervisory board has agreed on a further investment campaign for the coming five years. In the short and middle term, the following objectives will be aimed for consistently and with priority: strengthening the position in Central

Net sales

2006

871.3 2004 789.3 708.3 2003 607.2 2002 573.9 2005

00/01

555.2 98/99 499.5 97/98 423.6 405.8 96/97 357.4 99/00

283.8 SFY 2001

Annual report 2006

Eastern Europe, expanding the worldwide connections with a focus on Asia and North America, pushing logistics solutions and the seamless organisation, emphasising quality/service excellence as a competitive advantage (and thus our excellent staff as well), acting proactively and innovatively and placing the market/customer at the centre of our considerations. Thanks to the solid base and clear orientation of our organisation, GW can face the future, which holds major tasks and abundant opportunities, with optimism. A special word of thanks goes to the shareholders, supervisory boards, customers, partners, friends and employees of our company, whose continuing support and exceptional commitment are the foundation on which we will continue to build with confidence and enthusiasm.

June 2007

Wolfgang Niessner, MBA Chief Executive Officer Gebr端der Weiss Holding AG

Wolfram Senger-Weiss

Peter Kloiber

Wolfgang Niessner

Heinz Senger-Weiss

Department Reports

97 , 100 000

The number of REWE Group Austria suppliers whose goods are regionally consolidated every day.

logistics Individual customer solutions If all the diverse services Gebrüder Weiss offers in its product portfolio are taken as a sophisticated whole, it’s easy to see how it all comes down to customised logistics. Ready-made logistics simply doesn’t stack up. Of that, Harry Stiastny has no doubt. For the Logistics System Manager, the utterly special requirements of each and every customer are, therefore, at the very heart of all that Gebrüder Weiss does. “Only when we recognise and understand this, can we embed customised solutions deeply into the company’s value chain.” In order to do justice to this belief, expert logisticians can be found company-wide at all branches – and are thus readily available to customers. “Our goal is to position Gebrüder Weiss as an innovative provider of need-based logistics solutions on the market,” confirms Mr. Stiastny. REWE Austria had the need to lighten loads at its central warehouse in Wiener Neudorf as bottlenecks became ever more frequent. No wonder, as numerous suppliers from each country in Europe were arranging their deliveries through their own freight forwarders. “The food company primarily concentrated on making purchasing as economical as possible,” says Mr. Stiastny. “At that time logistics was only ever an issue from the central warehouse to the REWE markets.” On the one hand, Gebrüder Weiss took over deliveries on behalf of REWE Austria to nearly 450 branches throughout the country from REWE’s central warehouse in Wiener Neudorf. GW expeditors are on-site to manage and

process all the transports. On the other hand, Gebrüder Weiss logistics experts analysed and optimised the entire procurement process. The end result was grouping the suppliers into regions, collecting their goods at the closest GW branch and forwarding them on to the various REWE warehouse locations. “By the end of 2006, we had already established business relationships with 97 suppliers and were seeing a transport volume of almost 100,000 pallets per year,” notes Stiastny. Since Gebrüder Weiss began co-ordinating deliveries, far fewer trucks have been crowding the platforms. The central warehouse in particular is enjoying great benefits in this respect. The warehouse locations have also been alleviated of the interim storage of goods, mostly delivered in huge amounts. The branches are supplied directly by the individual suppliers or by the GW branch. “This physical grouping has made the flow of goods equally transparent and manageable,” explains the logistics manager. “REWE Austria now has a handle on the entire procurement process.” Harry Stiastny emphasises that the procurement logistics was not restructured from one day to the next. “We took the changes one step at a time, very gradually, very carefully, and always in close contact with those in charge at REWE Austria.” This large-scale project is also an ongoing project. “Things change constantly, there’s always something new. New suppliers come, old suppliers go. A lot of the goods are seasonal, the demand determines the volume.” Reason enough for GW to design operations so that they would be flexible enough to adapt to the changing conditions. Mr. Stiastny is extremely pleased with the conditions at present: “Right now, we’re at a stage where we already have controlling coordination over a high percentage of REWE’s suppliers.” And this will continue to grow in the future.

pallets handled annually within the REWE supplier network.

surface transport western europe Network density The largest agent reorganisation of the last 15 years, barcodes for System Alliance Europe and new prestigious customers for EuroExpress – all this and more in 2006. From Basel to the Black Sea – Gebrüder Weiss has made a name and a home for itself in numerous Central and East European countries. In places where GW is not yet operating its own branches-, regionallyestablished transport and logistics enterprises provide fast, economical and dependable transport services. All the strands of this agent network come together under European system management. Oskar Woisetschläger and Ulrike MoriSchwarzenberger, sharing responsibilities for the West European region, are more than pleased with the progress made in 2006. “The business trend in general was extremely positive,” says Mr. Woisetschläger. “More than 1.2 million consignments were transported through the agent network and that corresponds to 9.1 percent growth over 2005.” Particularly exceeding expectations was Germany’s traffic, which constitutes about 60

percent of the entire transport volume. As expected, spectacular growth rates were also noted in the Central and East European countries. The volume of export consignments jumped by 26 percent while the import volume shot up by 41 percent. Nordic Connection Over time, the connections forged between GW’s core markets and Northern Europe developed into major traffic routes. Such circumstances could not be allowed to fall by the wayside, even after the former agent for the Nordic countries, DSV-DFDS, withdrew from the co-operation. A challenge, admits Oskar Woisetschläger: “Restructuring our agent community in seven countries took a great deal of time, especially with respect to the initial preparations.” A new co-operation with the Finnish postal service ITELLA was born in the fall of 2006 in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Consistent, regular traffic connections between Scandinavia and GW’s core region in Central and Eastern Europe are thus guaranteed. “With the new ITELLA grouping, we’ve found an excellent solution for our customers,” contends Mr. Woisetschläger. “This new constellation allows us to establish joint standards and quality guidelines more easily, put them into practice quicker and monitor them better.”

Department Reports

45 20 3

member partners in System Alliance Europe (SAE) in 2006.

European countries represented in the SAE.

times bigger SAE coalition in 2006 than in 2005.

SAE: Triple the clout System Alliance Europe (SAE) has become appreciably stronger. In 2005, the partial load network was comprised by its 16 founding members. By the end of 2006, it had tripled in size – to 45 members in 20 countries. “New partners came on board left and right and especially from strategically important countries such as Great Britain, Sweden, Finland and Portugal,” relates Oskar Woisetschläger. Gebrüder Weiss Romania and Bulgaria have meanwhile also joined System Alliance Europe. The network transports a steadily increasing number of consignments and the sales figures are climbing accordingly. “All the expectations we had in the initial phase have been met,” relates the System Manager pleased about SAE’s striking development. “This holds true from the introduction of the highest mandatory quality guidelines encompassing regular controls to IT standards such as consignment tracking and optical archiving.” Barcode-supported consignment processing promises even more transparent and efficient information logistics. As of January 1st 2007, all SAE partners are required to scan each package at the handling terminal. As a consequence, the services provided by System Alliance Europe will reach even higher levels in the future.

EuroExpress When goods need to be delivered in the shortest possible time frame, EuroExpress jumps to the challenge. Since it was first established in 1982, prestigious medium-sized companies operate this express distribution network which forwards time-critical goods across Europe. The member companies offer nationwide service in their respective countries and are connected by both daily scheduled services as well as a common data pool. Consignment figures from the past fiscal year were good, reports Product Manager Ulrike Mori-Schwarzenberger: “We recorded a six percent gain in exports; five percent in imports.” A notable increase was also seen in transports to Eastern Europe. “This is why the EuroExpress agents use the Gebrüder Weiss network .” A number of prominent new customers placed their confidence in the strengths of EuroExpress in 2006: KTM awarded EuroExpress a commission to distribute its bicycles in Italy and France. Moreover, EuroExpress continues to be on the move for Bosch with its express consignments to Germany, France and Italy.

central and eastern europe Fingers on the pulse

“By teaming up with the Wim Bosman freight forwarder, we’ve set up regular groupage traffic between Serbia and the Netherlands,” explains Zlatanovic.

Bulgaria/Romania As of January 1st 2007, the European Union is comprised of 27 member states and home to approximately 490 million people. A great deal of time was spent in Bulgaria and Romania on the final preparations for entry into the EU. Moreover, 2006 had GW Bulgaria preparing to be linked to the organisation’s internal data network. “The office staff will soon be working with the freight forwarding software and SAP,” according to Business Developer Siegfried Hauser. “This will yield a continuous flow of information and, as a consequence, a streamlining of processes.” Business has also experienced an upward trend over the past fiscal year – the logistics warehouse is full. In neighbouring Romania, Gebrüder Weiss put the expanded, modernised warehouse at the Arad location into operation. “As the previous facility was pushed to the brink of its capacity, we now have an ideal environment for targeting new logistics business,” affirms Mr. Hauser.

Slovakia March really came in like a lion for Gebrüder Weiss with its acquisition of M&G, the leading freight forwarding and express service provider. This acquisition is the largest company take-over yet in the history of the GW organisation. “The experienced team from M&G Expres has been handling the national distribution for GW since August,” reports Thomas Moser, Regional Manager for the area. The strengths of M&G Spedition Bratislava, which include international transports, have meanwhile been fully integrated with the strengths of GW’s Slovakian organisation. Positive news is also reported from warehouse logistics. “Gebrüder Weiss Slovakia has strongly established itself as a logistics solutions provider,” says Mr. Moser. “Our capacities at the Raca and Senec locations are almost at full volume.”

Croatia The heightening prospects for Croatia’s entrance into the EU can now be felt throughout the country. Economic development is particularly being driven by an investment euphoria which sweeps all branches of industry. GW Croatia meanwhile focused on its own strengths in 2006. “We were able to reacquire the substantial business of an international automobile company,” notes Country Manager Jadranka Eisenwagner. “That’s also why we’re now operating the national distribution system ourselves.” Serbia Since 2006, Gebrüder Weiss Serbia has also been transporting for a group specialised in the metal packaging of daily-needed goods. This group brings more than 10 billion cans to the market each year. The raw materials it needs such as tinplate come from factories in Serbia and elsewhere. The group needed an agent to transport these goods to their production plants – and they found a solid one in Gebrüder Weiss. “Since April, we’ve been transporting roughly 65 truckloads each month to Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and France,” according to Milan Zlatanovic, Managing Director of GW Serbia. The European network also made headway in 2006.

Slovenia GW Slovenia’s relocation to new freight forwarding facilities in Ljubljana-Vizmarje was nothing short of a catalyst. “Thanks to the improved storage possibilities, we gained new customers including the Ljubljana dairy,” reports Erich Schafer, Regional Director for the southern region. He is pleased to present a few impressive figures: “An almost 30 percent increase in consignments is accompanied by a sales growth of 45 percent.” At the same time, the organisation had the currency reform on its plate. The Euro went into effect as Slovenia’s legal tender on January 1st 2007. Czech Republic On the heels of Switzerland, Germany and Austria, the Czech Republic also introduced road pricing on January 1st 2007. The truck toll had already been looming in the previous year. The preparations were tricky, according to National Manager Harald Prohaska, who also took over management of the Rudna branch in 2006: “It was a big challenge for the organisation to deal with this glaring increase in toll charge.” On the one hand, internal circles had to be convinced that these costs definitely needed to be passed on to customers as a type of tax. On the other hand, this recognition of course also had to be understood as such by the customers. “In the end, the transition went very smoothly,” says the

Department Reports

relieved National Manager. Apart from introducing the toll, the past fiscal year was marked by a successful quality offensive. “After completing our restructuring measures, we were able to optimise our agent-based delivery services in the Czech Republic,” according to Prohaska. The availability of consignment status information additionally rose from 98.7 percent to 99.4 percent, “plus, we also exhibited clear quality improvements in our inbound and outbound flows of goods.” Hungary “Growth needs space,” claimed Alfred Gastgeb, as he announced the large-scale expansions of the Dunaharaszti logistics terminal in 2005. The expansion works were completed in 2006. The National Manager reports that GW Hungary’s optimised infrastructure means the organisation is now able to offer daily connections to all Central and East European countries. “We’ve increased our volume of departures by approximately 60 percent and now have daily departures to Poland, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.” In addition, a new line connects Hungary with Moldavia twice a week. Thanks to the regular traffic – especially to non-EU countries – Gebrüder Weiss has secured a very good competitive position for itself in Hungary and once again offers proof of its expertise as a transport and logistics service provider for Europe’s newly emerging markets. Ukraine The Ukrainian economy is on the rise again. An economic growth of seven percent was reason enough to rejoice in 2006, as was the transport industry, being one of the branches with the highest growth rates. Gebrüder Weiss has opened its second branch in this emerging market, directly in the capital of Kiev. The GW organisation first became active in the Ukraine in 2005. Regional Manager Thomas Moser is appropriately satisfied with the underlying business activity trend: “In order to address the increasing transport volumes, we substantially increased our departures from Vienna in 2006.”

surface transport in the gw network On the road to paperless freight forwarding The upward trend continues: surface transport logs record increases in the home markets – from sales and volume of goods to quality. Whether distributing nationally or transnationally – when it comes to surface transport, Gebrüder Weiss continues to be clearly focused on partial loads. “And we are well on our way,” confirms Walter Konzett, Product Manager for Surface Transport. As in the previous year, domestic distribution systems again contributed substantially to auspicious company results in 2006. ICD traffic was again strongly showcased. “ICD – Intracorporate Destinations” stands for smooth connections between all Gebrüder Weiss branches in Europe. Volume within this internal transport system has virtually doubled over the last three years. “We sent a total of 397,000 consignments through the ICD system in 2006, 35 percent more than last year.” Sales rose by more than a third. While increased consignments were noted both from Central and East European countries to Western Europe and vice-versa, “the growth in CEE imports was clearly higher,” according to Mr. Konzett. Paperless processes Every day brings us closer to paperless freight forwarding. In the meantime, the voucherless transfer of goods has become a reality in all surface transport branches of the GW organisation. “Instead of a printed list, we just look at the scanner display,” explains Georg Wetzel. The depot foreman at Gebrüder Weiss in Wolfurt could not be happier that the “paper trails” of the past are now history. The July 2006 introduction of the barcode was handled quite smoothly after lengthy advance preparations . Walter Konzett is obviously pleased as he takes stock: “Penetration rates are very high everywhere. Our service quality profited enormously from switching over to the barcode system.” The upshot: far fewer misloadings, lower shortages and a clear drop in damages. With company-wide scanning now in all handling terminals, the framework is in place. The actual specifics have been undergoing fine-tun-

397,000 35

consignments processed through ICD in 2006.

percent increase in ICD consignments in 2006.

ing since the fall of 2006. The objective is the electronic tracking of all consignments at the individual parcel level over the course of their entire transport – from initial pick up to final delivery – an objective set to become a reality in the foreseeable future. “And in a subsequent step, we intend to further optimise all barcode processes in terms of productivity and even higher quality,” notes Mr. Konzett with reference to a few future goals. Quality offensive Internal quality assessments showed a steep upward trend in the past fiscal year – not solely due to the barcode project. The establishment of quality standards had a substantial impact on minimising errors. Internal achievements which exceed objectives are financially rewarded, which means the respective department profits directly. Quid pro quo, departments have to compensate any unsatisfactory performance. Walter Konzett on the experiences made to date: “The bonus/penalty index naturally creates an added incentive to meet the standards, something which also ultimately trickles down to the customer.”

Active environmental concepts While climate change has the whole world talking, Gebrüder Weiss tackled the question of how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and came up with the following: special GPRS systems to optimise local traffic routes. A move which will save countless kilometres. “We came to a target agreement for Austria with klima:aktiv, the climate protection initiative from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management,” reports Mr. Konzett. “By the year 2008, we intend to reduce CO2 emissions by 410 tonnes.” Increasing rail traffic also reflects such environmental concepts. Gebrüder Weiss services the long distance routes for one food company from Vienna to Tyrol and Vorarlberg exclusively by rail. Trucks don’t enter the picture until the regional distribution stage. The Product Manager is quite pleased with the multi-modal transport: “We get a lot out of it from the environmental standpoint, but also in terms of transit times and costs.” The future will see steadily more transports being handled by rail.

Department Reports

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Air & Sea salespeople committed to excellent customer service.

people now employed by Weiss-Röhlig joint venture companies.

percent increase in consignment volume since the Orange Dragon campaign.

air & sea The Year of the Dragon China and Europe are closing ranks, Gebrüder Weiss is established in the most important WeissLand ports, the global network has been further cemented and the alliance with Röhlig continues to prove its strength. 2006 was quite a successful year for Air & Sea. Our powerful and committed Air & Sea brigade has a market zeal unlike any other. 85 salespeople cultivate close customer relationships and guarantee personal support around the globe. New markets are thereby well served with proven products, as Heinz Senger-Weiss, the Board of Management Member in charge of Air & Sea, reports: “We take the traditional groupage transports with which Gebrüder Weiss made its name in surface transport and adapt them for air and sea freight.”, Partial loads are, for example, now consolidated in China and shipped by the shortest routes to WeissLand destinations via groupage containers. “All our Air & Sea terminals in Austria as well

as our locations in Zagreb, Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Bucharest are now destinations serviced by regular, direct sea freight containers,” notes Heinz Senger-Weiss. In addition, the Air & Sea offices in Sofia, Belgrade and Kiev shall soon be integrated into this system as well. These sea freight groupage containers have their origin in the “Orange Dragon campaign”, the first transcontinental marketing campaign ever waged by Gebrüder Weiss. In line with the targeted market preparations made in Europe and China was not only the efficient groupage system introduced but also a host of new minimum service standards for transports to and from China. “The Orange Dragon campaign marked a milestone in service development,” according to Heinz Senger-Weiss. Special training courses were held to familiarise employees with the different countries, their residents and their cultural identities. “Our goal was to build a basis which would stand the test of time so we would be able to assert ourselves as the market leader for transports between China and WeissLand.” The organisation is a giant step closer to this goal after the campaign, if the 22 percent increase in consignments is any indication.

After opening a branch in Constanza, Gebrüder Weiss also opened its own Air & Sea office in the Slovenian city of Koper in October 2006. An important step, according to Mr. Senger-Weiss, “because this gives us our own local presence in the most important ports in WeissLand.” A great future awaits these southern ports. The Air & Sea Director is utterly convinced of their growing importance: “Even today freight forwarders are re-routing some of their transports from the overcrowded northern ports to the south and the volume of freight being shifted like this will continue to increase.” In order to ideally optimise the hinterland connections to the northern ports, Gebrüder Weiss acquired fixed capacities from rail companies and container operators for specific routes between Central and Eastern Europe and the ports. In order to bolster shipping operations in the Lake Constance region, the Hamburg-Bodensee Sprinter went into operation this past fall. In early September, the first unit train departed from the Wolfurt terminal for Hamburg, loaded with 60 sea freight containers. Once the Sprinter was established, the demand was enormous. “Just three months after the maiden voyage of the Bodensee Sprinter, we were able to increase the direct traffic frequency between Wolfurt and the German ports,” reports Heinz Senger-Weiss. Since then, cargo capacities have almost tripled and Bremerhaven is now also serviced directly. The Bodensee Sprinters provide a double benefit. “Firstly, to get the goods out of the overcrowded ports faster on our own trains and secondly, to ensure fixed cargo capacities.” The highest objective on the agenda for 2006 was cementing the existing global network. Opening up new countries was actually not planned, admits the Air & Sea Director. Nevertheless, Gebrüder Weiss is now also a vital Air & Sea presence in the Ukraine. “The Kiev branch just sort of happened on its own,” he laughs. The national organisations in China and the USA have also been improved. “In China, we opened a new location in the country’s interior, in Chengu, as well as a sales office in Chongqing – which, by the way, happens to be the largest city in the world.” In America, the offices in Atlanta and San Francisco were added to the mix. Positive developments are also noted from the network in Dubai and the Middle East, a region in which Gebrüder Weiss has started operating only recently. “The area offers us boundless

opportunities, there’s so much room for development,” states Mr. Senger-Weiss. Accordingly, Gebrüder Weiss is placing great importance on the Middle East. Apart from its own Air & Sea branch, the organisation has opened a local office of the x|vise logistics consultants in the economic hub of Dubai. “We see our commitment there as an investment in the future,” emphasises Mr. Senger-Weiss, “and in 2006, we laid the groundwork for long-term success in this economically powerful region.” Last but not least to bear fruit was the alliance with the Bremen overseas freight forwarder Röhlig, initially forged in 1999. “All the countries in which we operate outside of Europe jointly recorded above-average growth in 2006,” notes a pleased Senger-Weiss. This working relationship with Röhlig, close as it already is, will be further intensified: “We are no longer connected only in the geographic sense,” explains the Air & Sea Director, “but we’re now also connected by IT systems, by our marketing and sales efforts and by purchasing fixed rates for the air freight.” The joint venture companies now employ a total of 400 people. The main focus is placed on top quality. “Our overriding concern is providing our customers with consistent, uniform standards of quality – and that on a global basis,” affirms Heinz Senger-Weiss. He reveals that one of the secrets to the success of Gebrüder Weiss Air & Sea is the overseas posting of employees: “By fostering this kind of operative exchange, both knowledge as well as cultural aspects are exchanged – not just within Europe, but more significantly on a global scale.”

Department Reports

gebrüder weiss parcel service Austria’s most innovative package of services Parcel service from Gebrüder Weiss is not only on technology’s cutting edge, it also gives customers their own very sweet edge. Most business parcels in Austria pass through the hands of DPD employees. Holding an approximate 25 percent market share, the parcel service leads the pack in B2B services, while the competition has trailed far behind for years. The partner team of Gebrüder Weiss, Lagermax and Schachinger operates a total of 13 distribution warehouses across Austria, seven alone for the Gebrüder Weiss parcel service (GWP). In 2006 GWP even managed to further its lead in the areas it serves. “We recorded substantial volume increases,” according to Managing Director Ewald Müller. “We actually had the export trade with its 9.2 percent increase making a stronger showing than the domestic business.” The positive economic trend is also reflected in the sales figures. GWP generated more than 104 million Euro in sales, a jump of 7.5 percent over the previous year. Apart from handling the challenging day-to-day operations with aplomb, the parcel service still found time to introduce innovative products and set new technical standards. By converting from traditional hand-written tracking to the new mobile barcode scanners, DPD broke new ground. “Our customers can now track the current status of their parcels in real time,” states Müller, “because each scanner is linked online through GPRS.” Any obstacles to delivery which might arise are thus immediately pinpointed, enabling new delivery arrangements to be made quickly and flexibly. The introduction of the global barcode system, in the works since 2005, the new scanner technology and the added security measures create more than just added transparency according to Müller: “They lay the groundwork for the further expansion of our international agent network as well as for the integration of new services.” GWP had already added Single Point Of Logistics (SPOL) to its primetime range of products in 2005. “That allowed us to relieve our cus-

tomers from having to split up their shipments among different transport service providers,” states Müller. For this purpose customers simply affix their own individual barcode to their packages and send the barcode data, the recipient information as well as any additional services desired to the parcel service via Remote Data Transfer (RDT). “A receiving programme individually designed for each customer then selects the best transit route based on a number of different factors,” explains the GWP Managing Director. “Among the options are processing through DPD, shipping via primetime or transferring on to Gebrüder Weiss.” The new service proved its market mettle in 2006 and by now more than 500 parcels are being routed through the SPOL service per day. primetime also showed its cool innovative spirit this past fiscal year in temperature-controlled transports. The parcel service provider developed a temperature-controlled transportation chain under the working title of TRC (Temperature Range Control) in response to the revised transport requirements of the new pharmaceutical manufacturing ordinance (AMBO). “The gist of the AMBO is that pharmaceutical products must be kept at the same ambient temperatures during transport that they are subject to in storage,” says Müller. The TRC project took care of hammering out the necessary precedents to meet this challenge. Such sensitive goods are collected from the sender in climate-controlled vehicles or containers, transported along their route in climate-controlled vehicles and constantly controled by an appropriate monitoring system. “This gives primetime premium positioning at exactly the right time in this market segment which is so vital to pharmaceutical customers,” contends Müller. When it comes to rewarding customer loyalty, DPD also has a completely new edge in its DPD Genießer Club, a series of events focused on wine. The DPD Genießer Club appeals to aficionados of the fruits of the vine, those in continual pursuit of new tastes or those who simply want a bit more background knowledge into the fascinating world of wine. The first highlight was the aptly-named “1st One” – a specially-created DPD wine.

, 19 900,000 deliveries were made in 2006 using the Gebrüder Weiss parcel service (GWP).

subsidiary companies and brands x|vise The logistics strategists x|vise takes a more hands-on approach because theories alone can’t activate the hidden potential of logistics. Companies that want to hold their ground in the market for the longterm never rest. They grow, overhaul ingrained structures, network across national borders and continents, go out and conquer new sales markets. Their logistics requirements multiply with each such step,. Raw materials and unfinished goods must arrive on time and the final product must be sold as quickly as possible. Maximum efficiency is the order of the day. “Logistics has become a key strategic element of company operations,” observes Harry Stiastny, Managing Director of the x|vise consulting firm. “It’s something that management everywhere is turning an ever closer eye to.” One real-life example of corporate management focusing on logistics in 2006 is Bitbau-Dörr,

a Tyrol building supplier. “The primary emphasis was on analysing the company and its business relationships, simplifying its in-house operations and developing a powerful internal logistics organisation,” explains Stiastny. The x|vise team was not only on board as a consultant to the extensive project from the very beginning, but at the same time developed the appropriate logistics strategy. In the German-speaking area x|vise operates offices in Lauterach, Vienna and Graz to serve the core market of Austria as well as Eastern Switzerland and Southern Germany. In a foresighted move, the logistics consultant also opened a branch in Dubai in 2005. “There has been so much investment in the infrastructure and in developing capacities of late that the city is quickly becoming the global logistics hub,” contends Stiastny. The Managing Director views the commercial metropolis as a foothold: “Our focus is not limited to the United Arab Emirates.” The company’s operational reach has since grown to encompass the entire Middle East region.

Department Reports

inet-logistics Strong positioning The software solutions from inet logistics are now also sought-after on the German market. Customers are now serviced from the new office in Frankfurt. Globalisation is driving transport costs up. Whilst available cargo space is shrinking, legal requirements on goods movement are becoming tighter and more comprehensive. Streamlined and cost-effective logistics processes are a competitive factor for many companies – making innovative IT systems utterly indispensable. The GW subsidiary inet-logistics already released an integration platform back in 2000 to provide powerful solutions for the planning, managing and running of company-wide logistics processes. In the years since, logistics-server® has been continually updated and further developed. At the present time, 6,000 companies are managing their logistics needs with the standard software from Wolfurt. The 50,000 registered users process approximately 20 million orders annually. “We added several new key accounts in 2006,” beams Oswald Werle, Managing Director. “Thyssen Krupp Materials now uses logisticsserver ® to support its transport and freight charges management for all of Europe and Geberit sanitary systems instated freight charges management throughout their entire group.” SAS Autosystemtechnik Verwaltungs GmbH, headquartered in Karlsruhe, now also monitors their loading equipment using the internet-based standard software from inet-logistics. Werle considers the biggest success of the past fiscal year to be the company gaining a tenable foothold in the German market. “It wasn’t only the prestigious new accounts that confirmed we’re on the right course. There has also been a huge demand for our products.” In order to be closer to its German customers, inet-logistics has now opened an office in Frankfurt. 2006 also saw the introduction of a new solution: the Shipment Localization Kit (SLK), jointly developed by GW IT and v-research was first used in a pilot operation. Werle explains what makes this solution so distinctive: “It tracks consignments around the world 24/7.” This means that it allows customers to reliably plan their production and sales efforts and at the same time

lower their costs. Based on radio frequency identification technology (RFID), SLK is even able to monitor shipments of temperature-controlled goods along their entire cold chain.

dicall Always an ear for customers 2006 – Year one as customer care centre. It seems to be an undeniable fact of modern life: no matter where in the world you are, those telemarketers will find you. They’ll disturb your meals, insolently hound you with sales pitches and raise your blood pressure. Telephone calls like these one can gladly do without and yet the dicall company in Graz is invariably proving the exception to the rule. This GW subsidiary has steadily been building itself into a highly successful customer service centre with its top-level standards of quality, innovative technology and employees who are just as friendly as they are knowledgeable. In 2006, the 38-member team generated the highest-ever profit since its founding. Acquiring customers, collecting bids, processing complaints and setting up personal appointments for the field staff. Gebrüder Weiss Parcel Service East put their entire marketing activities for selected customer groups in the hands of dicall this past fiscal year. “We were on the phone for a total of 11,781 hours on behalf of GWP East,” says Florian Maurer, his staff processing close to half a million contacts along the way. Maurer calls the transition from a classic call centre into a customer care centre a “milestone in dicall’s evolution.” dicall’s ingenuity is also gaining recognition abroad. When DPD Geopost Deutschland decided to set up their own customer service centres in 2006 for the distribution warehouses in their Western division, they brought the Graz call centre service provider on board right from the start. “Together with the Research and Development department at GWP East, we were there every step of the way,” elaborates Maurer. From the initial employee training to introducing the quality standards and implementing the call centre software – dicall proved the driving force.

20,000,000 6,000 orders processed by inet in 2006 with logistics-server©.

companies now rely on logistics-server©.

gebrüder weiss rail cargo On track for success GW rail transports surge past the million mark in 2006. Economic prosperity is in full swing and the volume of goods to be transported continues to rise. Good news to be sure, but certainly not the only reason for the upward surge in railway traffic. Overcrowded motorways, rising costs for truck tolls and even environmental considerations serve to make rail transport an increasingly attractive option. In 2006 Rail Cargo, the Gebrüder Weiss rail forwarding subsidiary, also benefited from this development,. “We transported over a million tonnes of freight,” exclaims Managing Director Walter Dolezal. “That’s an increase of 14.8 percent compared to last year.” The best growth rates are seen in cross-border transports, which exclusively use the foreign railway system. “This is a perfect example of where good contacts play a very important role, like those we’ve established with the ÖBB in Austria and the other European railway authorities,” Dolezal adds. The rail forwarder was not in the least daunted by such sudden increases in freight volume.

Even though the heightened rail volumes had staff scrambling at times for available rolling stock, Rail Cargo was essentially able to process all orders right on schedule. More than anything else, the new Convention on International Carriage by Rail (COTIF), which came into force on the 1st of July 2006, brought drastic changes of a legal nature. The introduction of revised freight bills was definitely a challenge for the Rail Cargo employees. “We spent a lot of time dissecting the nuts and bolts of the convention so we would in turn be able to expertly explain all the new guidelines inside and out to our customers,” says Dolezal. The effort paid off: “Our customers were very satisfied with this added level of service.”

Department Reports

38 , 11781

employees now on the dicall team.

telephone hours for dicall in 2006 on behalf of GWP East.

automotive logistics Time for the experts As the logistics needs of the automobile industry become ever more complex, automotive logistics are at the ready. “A growing number of clients are rethinking the regional strengths of logistics service providers,” explains Kurt Pichler, responsible for Gebrüder Weiss automotive logistics. Just one of the many reasons the Competence + Solutions Center for the automotive, sub-supplier and motorcycle industry is running at full speed. With its industry-specific logistics systems for the supply chain management, automotive logistics has already been a trusted, experienced partner for years on end. 2006 also saw the acquiring of numerous new customers. “For Mitsubishi, we manage their after-sales and spare parts deliveries from their Central European warehouse in Holland to Eastern Europe by way of Hungary,” says Pichler. The transports go to France, the Netherlands and Sweden. “And for Scania, we’re now handling deliveries from Austria and Switzerland as well as Central and Eastern Europe.” Other impres-

sive names on the current list of customer references include Hella Innenleuchten-Systeme GmbH, SKF Logistics, Takata Petri GmbH (Saxony), Peguform, Thyssen Krupp Nirosta and the world’s largest crankshaft manufacturer, Thyssen Krupp Gerlach. Pichler still describes the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as the main regions of focus, “although Russia is gaining a lot of momentum.” Time-critical deliveries with perfected information logistics at optimised costs are in demand. Recent market developments have also included an increasing demand for concepts offering multi-solution variants. Especially given the fact that location planning is often projected many years ahead into the future in the auto mobile industry, such concepts represent a particularly exciting challenge.

leisure+sports logistics Playing with the big boys

tectraxx high-tech logistics One for all

As a logistics provider to the sports and leisure industry, leisure+sports logistics largely sets the playing field. A review of the fiscal year 2006 reveals that the awareness level of the leisure + sports logistics industry solution is increasing as are the number of project inquiries and sealed deals. An awakening has gripped the market, especially in Germany, Austria and Central and Eastern Europe. “Because brands are luxuries,” according to Klaus Bannwarth, responsible for leisure+sports logistics at Gebrüder Weiss. “And luxury is not only fashionable, but also in heavy demand.” Adidas and Reebok are just two of the sporting goods manufacturers now relying on the expert ise of the GW organisation. The leisure branch also operates for numerous renowned textile companies. Bannwarth points out: “We generally focus on the industry’s major players.” While Reebok was acquired by the threestripe sporting goods manufacturer back in the fall of the previous year, this merger had a particularly strong impact on the leisure+sports team in 2006. Bannwarth comments on the project: “Working closely with Adidas, we hammered out the integration of Reebok logistics at the Dutch locations.” The German sporting goods company was obviously pleased with the results as leisure+sports was awarded bids for distribution in Austria as well as Central and Eastern Europe.

Outsourcing in the technology sector is back in vogue. Leading the bandwagon is the partner who can dispel most of the work. “The trend toward complete outsourcing and comprehensive logistics solutions was unmistakable in our sector in 2006,” states Wolfgang Leuthner, Manager of the tectraxx business unit. His take on this development is that it will only intensify in the years to come. Clients are turning to tectraxx in ever increasing numbers to handle their end customer services. The business unit did, for example, take over the delivery, installation and on-site servicing of beverage and mini-fridge vending machines for both Coca-Cola and Linde. In addition, electronics companies such as Samsung and Grundig were convinced by tectraxx with individual logistics concepts. Yet a major project for the Unito Group was even a challenge for the experienced high-tech logisticians. tectraxx has been active since 2006 handling orders for electrical appliances and consumer electronics received by Universal Versand or Otto Versand. Leuthner spells out the process: “Customers place their order and we take it from there – picking up items and delivering them wherever they need to go in Austria, setting up the equipment and getting it running. We even take care of disposing of the old equipment, processing returns and handling repair logistics.” The uproar surrounding the new Microsoft Xbox 360 game console started even before it went on sale. From the USA to Europe, ardent “gamers” waited impatiently for this new device. The manufacturer relied on an “all-in-one” logistics solution by tectraxx for marketing the product line in Austria. “We guaranteed them costeffective, on-time provision of their presentation materials like flyers and brochures and of the game consoles they wanted for demonstration purposes,” reports Leuthner. tectraxx supplied specialist retailers, chains and even special customer events. The service component of this project included picking up the demo units, cleaning them, checking their functional operation and, if necessary, completing any possibly needed minor repairs to the equipment.

Department Reports

customs services Always a step ahead Gebrüder Weiss benefits from the latest tariff reform. While national borders may be fast disappearing in our united Europe, customs on goods traffic continues to play a primary role in times of globalisation. Following Austria joining the EU in 1995 and the EU’s Eastern enlargement in 2004, the freight forwarders had to take on the next big challenge this past fiscal year: the introduction of e-zoll – the largest national tariff reform in recent history. Taking a proactive approach, the Gebrüder Weiss logistics organisation had already addressed most of the pending tasks beforehand, introducing the new system as early as August 2005. This was earlier than any of its competitors. “Our customs experts worked with the Federal Data Centre and the Ministry of Finance on optimising the programme,” reports Thomas Zeillinger, Head of the Gebrüder Weiss Customs Department. Consequently, all branch offices from Lauterach to Vienna were already fully geared up for the mandatory transition which went into effect on the 1st of April, 2006. In its pioneering role, Gebrüder Weiss widened its lead in customs clearance even further over its Austrian competitors. Zeillinger goes on to explain that in the fiscal year which just ended, GW was able to acquire numerous new customers who were looking to outsource their customs procedures because of the increased complexity. Moreover, he notes clear improvements with the new procedure. “Goods are now available significantly faster than in the past.”

international marketing & sales A close market fit 2006 was a good year for International Marketing & Sales. Integrated logistics solutions, value-added services and generous flexibility proved to be aces in the hole. “Many high-tech companies are increasingly concentrating on their core competences,” notes Renate Glisic, responsible for the high-tech end of International Marketing & Sales. With rising internationalisation and the current trend toward concentration, the linking of technical and logistic processes has taken on a commanding significance. Transsector and transnational logistics solutions are more important than ever before. With concepts to meet these challenges, value-added services and a due portion of flexibility, International Marketing & Sales scored several notable customers for Central and Eastern Europe in the high-tech field in 2006. Among them is Medion AG and the projects for this corporation range from waste management at the production facilities to distribution and repair logistics. “We also strengthened our ties with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 2006,” adds Glisic, referring to the cross-docking processes which are carried out under the highest security precautions for the group. Targeted marketing activities for Gebrüder Weiss increased its level of awareness among the target groups in the High-Tech, Sports & Leisure and Automotive sectors to 86 percent. International Marketing & Sales recorded an increase in sales of nearly 20 percent compared to the previous year. “Single Point of Contact” solutions also made great strides this past fiscal year. Decentralised solutions are falling out of favour as companies make increasingly more decisions at their main headquarter level. “Integrated logistics solutions with national and regional focus is the way we approach solutions for large international customers,” relates Renate Glisic. The dense network of Gebrüder Weiss branches in Central and Eastern Europe ensures that all respective national needs of the international business can be ideally met.

14.8

percent increase in business for Rail Cargo over the previous year.

it services The digital heart of freight forwarding Efficient logistics thrives in the fertile ground of high-performance information technology, an environment providing all the right conditions to ensure smooth, cost-effective business procedures. When an entire factory is shipped from Europe to India. When you order a flat screen television online and have it hanging on your living room wall two days later. When it’s taken for granted that supermarket shelves are filled with fresh regional food and products from around the world every day. Whenever goods are at the right place at the right time, a continuous flow of information – and a skilfully-monitored flow of goods – made it possible. The Gebrüder Weiss IT Service employees mastered the entire process in 2006 at the new logistics terminal in Maria Lanzendorf near Vienna. IT Director Klaus Heim recounts: “We invest-

ed more than 13,000 project hours consolidating existing locations and integrating the new branch into the GW network, both on the technical level as well as in terms of the scope of the applications.” One of the developmental highlights is a sophisticated control system to monitor all the truck traffic on the premises. Directly coupled to the transport software, it enables communication with the drivers via pager. At the same time, it regulates access authorisation and enables the vehicles to be sequentially and quickly called up for unloading and loading. The GW computer scientists in Wolfurt also programmed the necessary freight forwarding interfaces for the handling terminal’s ultra-modern electrical hanging conveyor system for pallets. Barcode scanners have been status quo in all handling terminals company-wide since the middle of 2006. “All loadings and unloadings have been paperless ever since,” says Mr. Heim. “We were soundly tied into this large-scale project, especially in the run-up.” From developing the scan functionality to structuring the radio networks at the handling facilities and implementing the new technology at numerous warehouse

personnel development

, 13 000 18,000

man-hours were invested in 2006 in integrating Maria Lanzendorf into the Gebrüder Weiss IT network.

consignment data records are transmitted each day within the IT network.

logistics customers, GW IT Services paved the way for a thoroughly smooth operation. During the same period in which the barcode was being introduced, the percentage of EDI orders from customers and freight forwarding agents shot up dramatically. Over two-thirds of all orders, approximately 18,000 consignments per day, are meanwhile being transmitted electronically. As a consequence, the order data is not only available considerably faster, but it is also of a very high quality. Since late 2006, the Gebrüder Weiss organisation has been working with the CIEL freight forwarding software on a company-wide basis for its surface transports. Last year also saw the final nut being cracked – Cyrillic characters. Like all other GW locations, the Bulgarian branches use CIEL for processing transport operations. “Now we have an additional software module to print those documents which need to be available in the national language,” says Klaus Heim. The module largely enables automatic translation of the data into Cyrillic.

CIEL, the backbone of freight forwarding, will be used even more intensively in the future. In a next step, the company software will be integrated into the air and sea freight offices around the globe. The GW IT experts have already performed the bulk of the preliminary work for this migration and the pilot operation will get underway in the summer of 2007.

The future in our sights There’s no question that motivated employees are exceptionally valuable. Together with the management, personnel development creates the environment most conducive to supporting and promoting our esteemed GW staff. Supervising employees. Devising recruiting efforts to be as efficient as possible. Drawing together the right mix of people. Moderating teamwork, leading workshops. Working closely with schools and organisations offering apprenticeships to find and foster the qualified personnel of tomorrow. Marketing Gebrüder Weiss as a great, futureoriented employer. All that and more is what the 23 personnel developers active throughout the organisation accomplish day in and day out. “By now it’s as if there’s a kind of corporate identity how people are drawn to the company and guided in their development,” muses Helmut Schöpf, Personnel Development Director at the organisation’s main headquarters, not without a touch of pride. Such efforts of course have an inevitable reward and again in 2006, GW employees rated their working environment as excellent. In the annual “Austria’s Best Employer” competition, the orange group was yet again easily voted into the top 20 enterprises. Our “Orange College”, the encapsulation of all the training and continuing education measures at Gebrüder Weiss, has something for everyone – whether it’s interest in a specific specialised topic or one’s own personal development. By now, more than 1,300 employees take part in our in-house training courses and workshops each year. In 2006 a strong focus was placed on foreign language courses, especially English. “Given our background of internationalisation, especially the eastward expansion, English is simply turning into a necessity in daily business,” explains Mr. Schöpf. After an interlude of four years, Personnel Development at headquarters again organised a special development programme for executive managers this past fiscal year. “Called FKE, this programme lasts a total of two years and reflects the orange way* – the corporate culture inherent to Gebrüder Weiss – every step along the way,”

according to Mr. Schöpf. At the same time, extensive continuing education pervades the organisation’s ultimate underlying strategy and that all around the world. Mr. Schöpf has no doubts about the quality of the programme: “As the past has shown us, the result will be a highlymotivated, well-oiled management team – across the entire organisation.” Under the project direction of Monika Mandl, 2006 also saw the “Orange Future” trainee programme for recent graduates and “high potentials” from within the company. The first contingent started in 2004. After they graduated, all 27 found prime positions at Gebrüder Weiss. Helmut Schöpf calls the new project “more thorough”, adding that “we’ve thrown in everything we learned from the previous participants and from their suggestions for improvements.” One such change will be letting the “Orange Future” participants have more influence over the direction the training courses take. The Personnel Development Director is additionally pleased to see the higher ratio of women: “There were only men participating in that first training programme. This time, a full third of the participants are women.”

Complexity

Complex systems – Actually quite simple

GW Logistics – Complex, not convoluted Aspiration for perfection

Each reality has an accessory: coincidence

also see Triviality Banality Simplicity

Sometimes a feather can bring on a storm.

Complexity Complexity is relative. Relatively exhilarating.

Complex tasks can well do without complexes.

Complexity is defined differently

com|plex <adj.> [lat. complexum], Source: complecti = entwine, enfold, merge;

depending on the author and scientific field.

Complex systems exhibit a vast array of individual attributes. Minor disruptions to the system or slight discrepancies in initial conditions can potentially and rapidly lead to very different results..

Complexity is a general theory which can be applied not only to natural systems but also to social systems. Non-linearity is an integral component of complex systems; meaning that the many individual elements will always interact simultaneously.

Complexity

I L L U S O R Y C O M P L E X I T Y The supply chain is a complex entity. Business game exercises can sharpen understanding of how individual decisions impact “ the entire chain. It sounds complicated. About ten years ago, Richard Schaller played a game. But it’s not. It’s complex. “What we had to do was make paper cups,” he And we should never explains. “We had to cut out pieces of coloured card- confuse the two. „ board, glue them together and decorate them.” An uninformed fly on the wall would have thought he had stumbled upon a crafting session. The practical exercise had the objective of helping management realise what work procedures, employees and warehouse solutions would result in the best design for producing paper cups. “It was one of those ‘Aha!’ moments,” says Schaller, Sales Manager for major printed circuit he attributes its own reality to every system that board manufacturer AT & S in Leoben. Whether designs itself. It’s not a matter of “right” or procurement, sales or production – in fact the entire “wrong”, but one’s own perspectives, one’s own priorities. supply chain as a whole – adding a touch of light to Biochemist and environmental researcher the complexity of economic circumstances through Frederic Vester orients his biocybernetic games is a popular approach. From innumerable approach to the ingenious model of how nature computer games to a vast array of board games. deals with changes. He focuses on how a system in its complex context functions within the interArguably the world’s best-known is the Beer Distribu- connected structure. tion Game, developed in the 1960s by researchers at “Are people even able to think in systems, the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. with due consideration of all the concurrencies The Beer Game is more than a tutorial in logistics and far-reaching impacts?” asks Dietrich Dörner, “or has thought only developed so far in evoluchains. It also demands social communication and tion to allow ‘ad hoc’ problem-solving?” teamwork because it involves several people sitting He experiments with this, develops strategy games to simulate complex situations and lets around a table and exchanging strategies. 1

If it were only so simple

Consider ... a shipment of teddy bears to Barcelona. They’ve been carefully packed up in cardboard boxes which are now stacked atop three pallets. The local pick-up service takes them from the customer, delivers them to the terminal, they’re scanned upon arrival, transferred to the transshipping area, loaded onto the truck bound for Spain, scanned upon departure, and off they go. 23 hours later, it’s the same procedure with the agent in the Catalan capital, only reversed. And the shipment arrives undamaged and on time at its destination, the toy retailer quite pleased with the reliability of his supplier. And the latter with the reliability of Gebrüder Weiss. Sounds very simple. And yet it’s not. Because a freight terminal is like a magnifying glass: everything produced and consumed in that particular geographical region comes together here. And magnified: several thousand different shipments per day, lightweight and heavy, long and wide, easily-handled and unwieldy, rugged and fragile. Coming in from every direction, going back out for delivery in every other direction. At different times. Some shipments are put in storage and retrieved piecemeal. Others must be at the customer’s location at a precise time. Yet others require specific storage conditions, safety precautions or special equipment to transport them through the handling terminal. Many systems mesh here and many variables have to be perfectly co-ordinated. What if local pick-up of our teddy bears is late yet the Spain-bound truck has to leave on time? What if there’s only enough room left for two pallets and not three? Because

another shipper unexpectedly needed more space for his order that same day. What if loading is delayed because a docking bay jammed? Or when three additional people are suddenly called over to help get an unwieldy shipment out of a truck, making another shipment late? Decisions are made ad hoc. There are always solutions, sometimes also consequences which require new decisions in turn. It sounds complicated. But it’s not. It’s complex. And we should never confuse the two. The complicated is like a knot where we can’t find the continuity. On the other hand, the complex is the whole – the actual continuity – which we have to come to grips with. All of us, every single day. “Complexity is the existence of many related attributes in a snapshot of reality,” as psychologist and researcher in the field of complexity Dietrich Dörner once said. When we turn one cog in the system, the others turn right along with it. Many scientists from different disciplines have grappled with complexity: engineers, physicists, cyberneticists, biologists, environmental researchers, organisation developers, sociologists, psychologists, just to name a few.

Yet they all start from the same premise: we live in highly-complex, intertwined structures and systems in which we need to think, plan, negotiate. But complexity is something different from one person to the next. Engineers turn to cybernetics and its automatic control loop. There is a target state and then the actual state, each subject to influencing variables. When variables teeter out of a state of equilibrium, the equipment self-regulates them. A straightforward, contained approach. Heinz von Foerster differentiates this in that

experienced managers play them out. And sees similar results over and over again. The players solve the problems they’re faced with without considering how their solutions in turn cause further problems. Intelligently-considered measures ultimately lead to a situation far more complicated than in the beginning. 1 So how can we even handle complex situations at all? How far ahead are we thinking when we hastily grab an aspirin for a headache, when we reach for a pesticide for the bugs in our garden, or when we hop in our cars yet again for the short distance to the post office? We do it simply because it solves a problem. Even if it may trigger or expedite further problems over the long-term. We make a decision, although we don’t know all the decision criteria. We may possibly not even be in a position to know it all. And we likely don’t have the time right

2 O U R E C O S Y S T E M It doesn’t get any more complex. And it impacts us all. When man invented the automobile, put heating systems throughout homes, industrialised the economy and intensified agriculture, he sang the praises of progress and didn’t give a second thought to the complex impacts down the road. What we now have is the result. Climatic researchers have identified a direct connection between the greenhouse gases man produces (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and the rise in global temperature. And the warming has consequences. If the earth continues to warm, the Greenland ice sheet will melt. That will raise sea level by several meters, which in turn will mean the flooding of countless coastal regions in Northern Europe. Island nations like the Maldives will simply vanish. The oceans will warm up, absorbing more CO 2 and acidifying. This will put the fish, shellfish and coral populations at fatal risk. If the Indian Ocean warms up, this will lead to extended droughts in Eastern Africa. A higher evaporation rate due to a higher temperature will then lead elsewhere to catastrophic flooding and the intensified erosion that brings with it. then and there to take all the pros and cons into consideration. Because before we’re even able to regard all the various attributes, they’ve already changed, they’re no longer the same. Situations are subject to dynamics, ongoing evolution. There’s time pressure. What is really important? Which attributes do we include and which do we dismiss in making necessary decisions? In our contemplations, some attributes may in fact be hidden to us or we draw the wrong conclusions from them. After all, how we view a specific situation is subjective. Based on past practices, experience and values. A teenager who just got his license will view the task of manoeuvring through heavy downtown traffic as being far more complex than will a taxi driver twenty years on the job. 2 Companies want to reduce complexity. “When things become too complex for a manager, a management method always steps in to the rescue,” observes Dörner. Such ingenious systems consolidate the requirements of various different company divisions into one uniform structure, put them into relationship with one another. The objective is twofold: making use of synergies and bundling resources and creating clarity amidst the size. Indices which indicate whether a company is functioning or floundering. “Many management systems are rooted in the business or the technical end,” notes Lothar Wenzl, Managing Director of Train Consulting in Vienna. If the figures don’t jive, people look for errors in the system, as with a machine. With pro-

complex world 1

cesses then being modified, structures streamlined, high-level people let go. “If five management boards in a row have been replaced, by that point at the latest the realisation hits that things can’t continue on as they have been,” explains Wenzl. Companies are in fact also social “living” systems, and incapable of reaching their goals without the strength of their employees. They don’t submit to cybernetic rules, they can’t just simply be “repaired”. If an organisation lacks its own culture or selfimage or shared goals, values and visions to which employees can orient themselves, its chances of success are negligible. A new dimension of complexity which does not follow the conventional input-output formula. But how do we deal with it? Continued on page 54.

In order to be able to manage complex logistics functions even more efficiently, the locations at St Marx, Leopoldsdorf, Inzersdorf, Erdberg and the Vienna Airport were consolidated into the new Maria Lanzendorf location on 1June, 2007.

complex world 1

complex world 1 Gate No. 11: Between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. every single day, all the inland bin from Vienna and surrounding areas are unloaded here. The process is helped immensely by a so-called WAB; a “swap body” which can be separated from the carrier vehicle and used interchangeably on others.

Employing 470 people, the location ranks as one of the region’s largest employers. And with 700 arrivals and departures, one of the largest handling terminals in the GW network.

Perhaps the site’s most important “distribution centre”: the cafeteria, where opinions and first-hand information are processed, sorted out and forwarded on. Gate No. 28: All inland bin from Western Austria are unloaded here by 5:00 a.m. Followed by the loading of the cartage. Unloading of the international bin gets underway at 11:00 a.m.

Complexity pervades Gebrüder Weiss: even at the truck parking lots and the loading points. Regardless of where a delivery is headed, GW’s decentralised company structure means we can deliver wherever our services are needed. Efficient logistics solutions also mean we deliver on schedule.

Truck lounge. Room for the transporters while their drivers are on their minimum 9-hour break.

Suppliers bring in goods daily, which we then forward on to GW customers and locations.

“Structures and processes are in essence only tools to organise decisions,” according to Wenzl. “The quickest and best solution to reduce complexity in social systems is trust.” Here he quotes a pivotal principle from Niklas Luhmann’s system theory. 3 Is reducing complexity always the right solution? “Complexity is the basis of infinite variations and possibilities,” believes Birger Priddat, Professor of Political Economics, “a never-ending source of alternatives and new solutions.” The diversity to the species and the competition that it provokes is ultimately what fuels evolution. Clearing out the complicated from one’s life based on the “simplify your life” motto also drives out any exciting new possibilities for develop-

D E V E L O P M E N T A L A I D In a village in Gambia, aid officials introduced a new species of rice that grew in four months instead of the five previously required. Once the rice was fully grown, it had to be harvested quickly, much quicker than the previous species. Previously, the women working the fields would cut about five kilos per day with a kitchen knife, bunch them up into a bundle and carry them back home on their heads. In order to accelerate the harvest, aid officials recommended using sickles. But the much large quantities could no longer be carried atop the women’s heads; the rice had to be threshed immediately. They had portable threshing machines built. Once threshed, the rice needed to be immediately filled into sacks. And the women refused. In their Islamic village, a tenth of the harvest went to the community and it was too difficult for the women to determine a tenth of a sack. So they used cups to fill the rise into the sacks and every tenth cup went to the community. Bottom line: the women ended up expending much more effort on new routines for just a little extra rice. Each innovation imported from one culture to another has consequences. That which aid officials conceive of with the best of intentions may seem horribly improper to other cultures and may lead to completely different results than expected. 4

SOCIAL SYSTEMS HEAR A DIFFERENT DRUMMER

The lady from the mailroom comes by every morning at the same time. She’s usually in a great mood, takes a minute or two to share the latest gossip before she’s off again, pushing her mail-filled cart down to the next office. She knows all the employees. She knows that the Sales Director is expecting an important letter and the Executive Secretary her first grandchild. She likes her work and the environment she does it in. And the people she sees every day enjoy how she slips in a smile or two along with their mail. Should the lady from the mail room have only just recently stepped off the boat from a faraway country and not yet have mastered the language, she would have more trouble conjuring up smiles, because she would be racked with homesickness. She wouldn’t deliver letters to the right places because she wouldn’t yet know all the ment. And turning to conventional widespread management tools often only returns what othpeople in the organisation. The lady from the mailroom is a small cog in the com- ers have already long experienced. Yet as the degree of complexity and integraplex “organisation” system, which does not necessar- tion and the number of influencing variables rise, ily follow the laws of cybernetics. It is a social, living situations can easily seem beyond clarity, system in which people have converged in order to be unmanageable. Too much information then leads able to co-ordinate and master complex tasks. A bal- to helplessness and in turn to tackling problems on an individual case basis. Our “information ance has to be found between the economic needs of society” is reduced to absurdity. the enterprise and the needs of the individual employ- “It’s a mistake to believe that complexity can ees in terms of happiness, contentment, recognition be mastered with more precise and ever larger amounts of data,” asserts Biochemist Frederic and self-fulfilment. Vester. The value of information lies in its selection, not in its abundance. Vester refers to a further attempt to equalise complexity; the pigeonholing of reality into different departments, divisions, specialities, faculties. A mistake because each distinctive system understanding ends up being lost. For Dietrich Dörner, the players in complex systems can be likened to chess players having to play with a dozen or so chess figures bound together with a rubber band, where moving one piece will also cause the others to move unpredictably. One action causes the expected, yet perhaps also the unexpected. Dörner observed that many people juggle complex scenarios in his business games. And always walk straight into the same traps over and over again. In order to prevent this, he developed concrete procedural instructions such as: “No negotiations before a situation analysis”; “Define concrete goals”; “Consider possible long-term or side effects”; “Factor in procedural

operations”; “Differentiate between important and urgent.” When priorities blur under time pressure, one ends up grasping at straws. “Don’t just make repairs” – by only attending to that which is right before your eyes, it’s quite possible that all you’ll ever solve are the wrong problems. 4 One must thus understand the complexity of setting tasks, as well as the conception and visualisation of optimal, individual solutions. That’s exactly what logistics does. And logistics is complex. Three pallets need to be shipped from Austria to Spain, how many cogs must mesh just for this one simple procedure alone. One single shipment affects any number of company activities – from taking the initial order to tracking the shipment to issuing the invoice, from the local truck driver to the warehouse worker, the product developer to IT. And all these cogs have to mesh with the countless other cogs processing other shipments. A logistics service provider meshes with its customer’s complex company situation, adjusts itself to their specific needs and requirements, to different products, time windows and specifications. And thereby reduces complexity for the customer. Logistics services are coming ever closer to customers and their production processes. Meaning that in order to optimise the alliance, approaches also need to change, from one’s own operations to those of the customer, to his specific processes and requirements. The logistics consultant must be able to clearly see, and to listen even closer, to what the customer defines as

“

Complexity offers unlimited opportunities and possibilities, and just as many escape routes in the opposite direction.

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his wants and needs, the problems he’s having with his current system, the problems he wants to solve. The job of a logistics consultant is to dispel the complexity and develop bulls-eye solutions. “Complexity offers unlimited opportunities and possibilities, and just as many escape routes in the opposite direction,” according to Complexity Management Consultant Wilhelm Backhausen, “We have to deal with complexity, simply because there’s no other way around it.”

Complexity

complex world 2

Complex, not convoluted

From just-in-time deliveries to pallet tracking, monetary transfers in Kazakhstan to cell phone repair and return service: the complexity of the requirements placed on logistics service providers is only getting higher. As the challenges heighten, so does the Gebrüder Weiss endeavour to meet all the needs of its customers. The field staff is somewhat rankled. Philipp Wessiak and Alexander Kieslinger are sitting before them with their backs turned – discussing the last three days of the workshop the two consultants just led. “The way I see it, there’s still a lot of work to be done on that atmospheric tension between the sales reps and the logis tics people,” says Wessiak. “You’re right,” agrees Kieslinger, “the chemistry’s just not right – it’s amazing the losses we can attribute to friction here.” Philipp Wessiak and Alexander Kieslinger are Senior Consultants for the x|vise logistics consulting firm. The two experts know that all the field staffers of the domestic industrial company gathered behind their backs are hanging on every single word of their supposed private conversation – as was the intention. What comes in the guise of private feedback over the past few days of seminars should above all be food for further thought. “We use systematic methods like these to try to dispel some of the complexity from the multi-faceted topics of the workshops,” explains Wessiak.

Strictly neutral Painting a picture, envisioning the future of the company, being posed seemingly abstruse paradoxical questions, and even not so private reflections at the end of a workshop – these systematic methods primarily serve one goal: consultation starts with focusing on the complexity of a problem and after jointly scrutinising each main topic, identifying the changes which will bring the most improvement. “For instance, if a customer comes to us with a detailed problem, we have to get him to see it more in terms of the big picture,” says Wessiak. If, on the other hand, a customer has more of an abstract conception of problems, the gist has to be distilled from the whole. “The concept of an optimised logistics chain first requires reflecting on which segment of the flow of goods is crucial to success,” according to the x|vise consultants. After decades of experience in dealing with the continually rising complexity so inherent to logistics, x|vise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gebrüder Weiss, has a number of very impressive customers. Domestic giants like Telekom Austria, Philips, Billa and Intersport all trust the systematic x|vise consulting approach. One of the Continued on page 62.

Goods from all over Europe converge on the GW handling terminal for further shipping. Each country is assigned its own specific space in the warehouse. Barcodes now help to simplify freight forwarding complexities.

complex world 2

Quality assurance also plays a crucial role in the warehouse: since barcode scanning was introduced, we can check whether a package is right where it should be within the handling terminal at any time.

To make certain that everything will be at or sent to the right location at the right time, trained employees ensure that each part of the operational system functions smoothly.

The barcode system indicates when a shipment is complete or which packages are still missing, making freight transport as efficient as possible. The forklift operator stores goods from Hungary in a specific temporary location before they leave here for Basel.

These goods from Great Britain must be shipped as quickly as possible to Germany and are being loaded right now onto the ready trucks.

Barcodes make the complex storage system transparent and more manageable. Each item which bears a barcode can be automatically, accurately and readily located. Items are assigned an interim storage location in the handling terminal before being reloaded onto the next truck.

Even if an item occasionally ends up in the wrong place, the barcode system will help locate the package quickly and get it right back on track.

Complexity

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It’s always exciting to see how participants excel once they’ve gained experience in complexity.

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If a customer comes to us with a detailed problem, we have to get him to see it more in terms of the big picture.

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main x|vise formulas in its consulting is strict neutrality: after all, more than a few x|vise customers also work with Gebrüder Weiss competitors. Like clockwork Wolfgang Brunner’s position was born from the complexity of daily logistics. Brunner leads the Logistics project team at Gebrüder Weiss – and thereby has an interdisciplinary function in the highly decentralised hierarchy of the logistics service provider. He is a project manager, following national customer projects from the initial bidding phase – resource planning, in other words – up to their ongoing smooth operation day after day. To get an idea of the complexity of the problems the project team leader encounters, we can consider the example of customer Hewlett Packard. Gebrüder Weiss processes HP’s entire Eastern European distribution through its Maria Lanzendorf hub. “Our service begins with picking up the various different components from the Western European production sites,” says Brunner. That includes monitors from France, processors from Germany and keyboard and mouse units from Holland. The correct mix based on the concrete orders from dealers throughout Central and Eastern Europe has to be amassed – like clockwork – in Lower Austria. “HP also demands exact monitoring from us,” adds Brunner. “They want to know when the components arrive here, when they’re commissioned, when they’ve been sent on their way – and when they arrive.” Often, problems won’t crop up until those last few miles. From making the monetary transfers in Kazakhstan, transactions which can differ considerably from Central European protocols, to repacking the goods for fine distribution, Brunner had a big hand in designing this complex service chain, one which has now functioned to the customer’s satisfaction for many years. “My job in the very

decentralised matrix is to ensure the same Gebrüder Weiss quality at all locations, even the more exotic ones,” states Brunner. “And in doing so, making sure that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single time.” Contact partner The customer should be spared as much as possible of the behind-the-scenes complexity of a supplier shipping his goods and a consignee receiving them. As soon as the logistics chain is in place, the so-called SPOC – Single Point of Contact – relieves the customer of such daily operational complexity. Peter Schafleitner, Branch Manager at Gebrüder Weiss Salzburg relates: “The system ensures that the customer has just one contact partner for any given problem.” The person responsible for monitoring the logistics chain is both the contact for complaints and statistical data (for instance, tracking the goods) as well as the information clearinghouse for all individual sub-processes of the customer solution, plus is also trained to handle unusual problems. Schafleitner illustrates the SPOC concept using the example of KTM. GW has handled the procurement and sales logistics for the motorcycle manufacturer for years. “We pick up shipments of tires or accessories from suppliers in Italy, Germany and Slovenia and deliver them for production in Salzburg just-in-time,” explains Schafleitner, KTM’s own SPOC. Schafleitner’s creativity was especially put to the test for the logistic challenges involved in producing the first prototypes of KTM’s new “X-bow” car. The GW logistics specialists transported vital spare parts – and even actual X-bow prototype models for the world premiere of this innovative vehicle – clear across Europe, not just as an express shipment but also flanked by flashing blue emergency lights the entire way. “It’s of course a very special honour

when a customer calls and says, ‘Peter, handle this for us – we trust you to do it’,” reflects Schafleitner. Certified The quality of one’s employees can make or break complex operations like those involved in the procurement of production-critical small parts. To ensure management quality standards are at the same equally high level throughout the entire decentralised organisation, GW founded its own Orange College years ago. The college catalogue, accessible through GW’s intranet, currently offers 45 different seminars on topics ranging from personality development and project management to sales and languages. The so-called Orange Future Programme provides additional courses on specific freight forwarding and logistics aspects for high potentials and trainees and thus lays the groundwork for a strong contingent of future managers for the organisation. Helmut Schöpf, Personnel Development Director at GW headquarters, is particularly proud of the company’s internal project management course of study. This project manager training, specifically developed for the requirements placed on a GW logistics service provider, was certified in 2006 by Austria’s Project Management Group (PMA). Schöpf comments that “it’s always exciting to see how participants excel once they’ve gained experience in complexity.” How managers of national sports teams enter the picture Even before the 15-day theory course ever starts, the preparatory seminar places a hurdle before the students which is not to be underestimated. “The students are put into project groups and asked to hold conversations with unlikely personalities about their job motivation,” says Schöpf. What begins as a mental exercise

must end in reality. Whether a companion to someone who is dying, a national soccer coach or a philharmonic conductor: the challenge for the students is being able to integrate the people they’re holding these conversations with into the study group. Switching to the offence Helmut Schöpf’s own career is almost a mirror of how complexity in logistics has risen at Gebrüder Weiss. Schöpf, today Director of Central Personnel Development and responsible for all the training at 100 branch offices around the world, began his career almost 35 years ago as an apprentice in freight forwarding. “At that time, our business was – to put it bluntly – transporting goods from point A to point B,” remembers Schöpf. “Today, our vast array of services encompasses warehousing and distribution, even cell phone repair and full project logistics – and that world-wide.” Exactly these types of complex operations will likely be the organisation’s unique selling point in the future. “What we’ve done in the past for complex projects like the ones we worked out for HP and KTM was more a case of us coming up with the solutions rather than seeking them out. The customers came to us because they thought we’d be capable of doing it,” according to Wolfgang Niessner, Gebrüder Weiss Chief Executive Officer. Now, going more on the offensive, target customers will be identified and approached with solutions for their respective logistic challenges. “In sports, they’d say: switching to offence,” notes Niessner. The orange organisation is wellpositioned to take the offensive: apart from the excellent infrastructure, dedicated and qualified employees, a high name recognition and broad market reach, the company has already proven itself in numerous ambitious projects.

Complexity

complex world 3 Aspiration for perfection

Modern industry and trade interests generally pursue the goal of short to medium-term maximisation of profit. Contributory factors of success range from low production costs and high supply availability (albeit low warehousing inventories) at optimum costs. Reconciling the conflicting goals inherent to the whole is the grand art of logistics service providers. Customers are becoming more demanding and their decisions invariably less predictable with each passing day. And this sensibility applies to more than just the private consumer. One approach industry and trade take to counter this trend is an increasing proliferation of offers and customer-specific products. Another is companies reducing their in-house production in order to lower their volume of tiedup capital while simultaneously attempting to minimise purchasing and production costs by relocating to so-called low-wage countries or increasing their reactivity to market changes with production sites in customer proximity. The end result is higher operational complexity, coupled with increased co-ordination and logistics costs in order to realise optimum supply availability and on-time delivery across longer routes of transport. This in turn conflicts with the financial target of steadily reducing costs. Environmental issues and CO2 consumption will also take on added significance in the future, as will the necessity of paring down the channels and costs from the manufacturer to the customer. The magic of communication Resolving these conflicting goals and obtaining ideal results or the highest degree of perfection possible, takes all members within the supply chain – from the raw material producer to the finished product’s end customer – acting in concert. Sales forecasts and planning as well as primary requirements planning must be co-ordinated, logistics costs must be taken into account even when just formulating initial plans to relocate production or seek out new suppliers. Procurement and distribution goods flows should be planned and coordinated holistically wherever possible. Information on market fluctuations and changes

impacting the product mix must be promptly communicated to all. This is the only way the necessary transport capacity be purchased in a timely and economical manner by the logistician, while at the same time consistently meeting the relevant requirements. Focusing on the essential As skilled as a logistics service provider may be in reducing warehouse inventory to its absolute minimum, there is still the first and foremost need to reduce complexity in terms of products, inventories and processes for production, distribution and procurement. Examples from different branches of industry show that consequential cost savings can be realised by focusing on those items which generate between 80–90% of sales. The Gebrüder Weiss organisation provides its customers with a wide array of logistics services, manages local, regional and intercontinental transports and warehousing, consolidates shipments from countless sources and individualises them again later in even more countries. Above and beyond all that, they also put their full expertise at their customers’ disposal as well as the software programmes necessary to analyse inventories and operations throughout the entire supply chain and additionally support customers in optimising their supply chains (reengineering). And this strategy isn’t always directed just to the big-time. Sometimes all it takes is an objective peek from the outside and just a tad of tweaking to bring the mightiest results. This needs to remain a continuous process because the market itself is in continuous change. The perfect supply chain will always be an unattainable goal; the aim is perfecting it to the greatest extent possible.

Surface Transport Directors are responsible for co-ordinating up to 120 employees. They can also draw on the able support of Department Managers as well as Group and Team Leaders.

complex world 3

After a large order has been processed, there’s still the debriefing: exchanging the experiences made on a project is vital to further developing and optimising operations.

To handle large projects, several workgroups join forces in order to obtain optimum results. Teaming up for complex tasks affords better planning and realisation.

The moment a shipping order is accepted, processing begins and project organisation is initiated. Special attention is always paid to loading efficiency, for example that trucks are loaded to their best possible capacity.

Proactiveness is an important factor in Gebrüder Weiss sales. Reliability when dealing with customers plays a large role and reflects the company’s orientation to its customers.

Shipment orders are either received online through iOrder, by phone or by fax. iOrder simplifies administrative efforts for GW’s customers and at the same time ensures the quality of the shipment data.

The daily scheduling agenda is one full of complex procedures: planning, assigning and controlling operations are all handled simultaneously. An important employee task is reconciling all the individual customer requests with the system’s requirements.

Great achievements are only made as a team: consolidating employee experience allows us to develop the best possible solutions together.

Future

The future of logistics in the year 2040 – Looking

into the crystal ball

Wholly local – SLK research project

Anything but trivial – Interview with Prof. Kummer

Rail taxi for goods transport – genuine innovation or gimmick? Interview with the Senger-Weiss family

78 82

What developments will logistics be integrating in thirty years? What might our goods supply chain for consumers and companies look like? Which factors will be crucial in realising successful logistics concepts? Some experts are already thinking about logistics trends that we might be seeing by 2040.

The future of logistics in the year 2040

Looking into the crystal ball

One thing will certainly hold true: shipment volume will continue to rise around the world over the next few decades â&#x20AC;&#x201C; even if the growth rates forecasted for China or India are only approximates. If the Kyoto Protocol or any other revision yet to be drafted for curbing CO2 emissions is implemented, this could likewise have an enormous impact on the transport and logistics industry. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hot topic of climate change will necessitate a very responsible approach to the rising tide of transports â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one far more capable than what we have today.

And only close interaction between all carriers will put us in the position of being able to efficiently manage the rising flow of goods we can expect in the future. The role RFID technology might play in the future in coping with the transport volume remains to be seen. Using this example of RFID, its proponents believe that not only will it be able to further optimise logistics and retail processes, but it will also afford more efficient systematising of the global transport flows and, as a result, make at least some contribution to the problems associated with climatic change.

Future

Physical transports remain the measure of all things “Not even the most intelligent commodity will be able to fly like a bird or manoeuvre like a flying carpet in the year 2040,” notes Prof. Dr. Ingrid Göpfert, Chair of Business Studies and Logistics at Philipps University in Marburg. “Neither today’s latest generations of the original RFID technology nor our now highly-sophisticated supply chain management concepts can do anything to change that.” When all is said and done, it comes down to physical transport. Logistics service providers who began transport networking as early as the beginning of the century will still be profiting from this pioneering strategy in 2040. Prof. Dr. Göpfert thus contends that physical transports will lead the list of “Logistics Services in the Year 2040”. Compared to physical transports in 2007, they will be marked by revolutionary innovations. “The insight of transport being its core service is what will inspire the innovative fancy of the logistics service providers,” claims Göpfert. “Just the simple fact of global companies from industry, trade and service forming strategic transport alliances has magnified the pooling effects tenfold in 2007.” Transport and contract logistics have thereby achieved an entirely new dimension from a qualitative perspective. Logistics service providers are creating far fewer customised logistics/transport solutions or supply chains for individual companies and increasingly more for entire strategic industry and commercial alliances. One example of this is the transport alliance between Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW and General Motors, which recently signed a transport alliance contract with the winner of the 2004 Logistics Service Provider award.

THE FUTURE BEFORE US 1

Transport airships Zeppelin

Underground goods movement and neighbourhood logisticians Dr. Klaus-Peter Jung, a management executive at the Miebach logistics consulting firm in Frankfurt/Main, sees a further possible future scenario in the underground supplying of goods to downtown areas. “Although this idea of freight by subway has always failed to find funding in the past, it’s still out there as a viable option for the future.” Freight could be transferred by underground trains from warehouses located outside the cities and then delivered to large retail distributors within the urban areas. “One conceivable alternative to today’s truck traffic would be the example of electronically or physically docking trucks. This would have the effect of greatly improving what has long been the accustomed daily grind of bumper to bumper traffic,” Jung adds. “Even getting food to people in populated areas under the adage of the “Last Mile” will become increasingly important in the future from the logistics standpoint.” The “neighbourhood logistician” could even run errands for our growing senior population, offer postal services or take away old glass bottles for recycling. A new service concept would be born.

Likely reviving of early industrial logistics structures “Logistics as practised today is an integral management function,” according to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Horst Wildemann, Chair of Business Administration, Management, Logistics and Production at the Munich University of Technology and Managing Director of the TCW corporate consulting firm. “Acting as an integrator and a co-ordinator of the flows of goods and information, logistics is the crucial factor on which the success of global companies hinges and moreover takes on a profound security role when it comes to protecting against plagiarism and piracy.” More and more functions will be automated in the coming decades; the processing of goods, material and information flows will be increasingly standardised. Wildemann cites environmental protection trends and available energy options as being significant factors which he believes will influence the logistics of tomorrow and the day after. “Future generations will not be able to afford the luxury of global sourcing as we know it today.” Radically reducing the pollutants we emit and having our oil sources run dry will force us to come up with new transportation technologies and means – by 2040, they could lead to standardised and driverless modes of transport on a global scale. Should no alternative solution be found, global sourcing will only be a memory by 2040. The result would be markets being served by their respective local producers and suppliers.

Luftschifftechnik GmbH is closing in on the airship vision: the first measure entails classifying the smallest possible “lighter-than-air assemblages” and getting them on the market. Just as the Cargolifter AG intended to develop an airship which can transport up to 160 tonnes, the future will also see larger transport airships being built.

“Even getting food to people in populated areas under the adage of the ‘Last Mile’ will become increasingly important in the future from the logistics standpoint.” The neighbourhood logistician could even run errands for our growing senior population, offer postal services or take away old glass bottles for recycling.

Future

Communication and micro formats Prof. Dr. Franz Vallée, Chairman of the Institute for Logistics and Facility Management as well as Director of the Logistics Master’s degree programme at the Münster University of Applied Sciences, speaks of two highly crucial long-term developments. Firstly, fostering sincere and trustworthy personal interaction and secondly, reducing the complexity of IT. “Because if business partners cannot communicate in a reasonable manner, no efficient supply chains can ever be developed,” maintains Vallée. “Research efforts and the development of methodologies are especially needed in this field; things still have to happen.” And it’s precisely this intercommunication which is made all that more difficult because of how complicated our IT structures have and continue to become, oftentimes concealing the very transparency of operational processes we’re actually seeking. “We need to wrestle much greater long-term control over our IT complexity, which will in turn give a considerably higher transparency over the flow of goods to all links within the supply chain. Prof. Dr. Hans Georg Graf of the St. Gallen Centre

for Futures Research in Switzerland is of the opinion that: “The emerging plausibility of producing goods on demand in micro-factories will make the transport of prefabricated parts unnecessary – rail, road and air transport services could all be replaced by a type of pipeline network. Such nano-factories are already a reality and since they can also reproduce themselves, their production enables great economies of scale, not to mention scope effects.” Graf speculates that both value – less preliminary work on cargo – as well as volume will lessen, particularly since regional connections are always preferred.

THE FUTURE BEFORE US 3

Transatlantic bridge Length: 3,439 km, from France to the USA, reaching a height of 800 m. The first structure to have a foundation floating in the heavens, suspended from three satellites in geostatic orbits. Construction time: 35 years. Cost: 3.23 trillion Euro. For this utopic vision, students Michael Sebastian Haas and Kai Olaf Zirz at the State Academy of Design in Karlsruhe won the Renault Traffic Design Award and the 4th German Students’ Award from the Körber Stiftung in Hamburg.

THE FUTURE BEFORE US 2

The electric vehicle The Chevrolet Volt can travel 60 kilometres on a full battery – sufficient for most people for their daily trips between home, work and shopping. Afterwards, the Volt needs to be plugged into a socket and charged for six hours.

Future

Wholly local

A GW invention achieves that previously held to be impossible: the international localisation of freight – inside and without tying up the entire logistics chain. The trip the orange Gebrüder Weiss truck took from South Tyrol to London last fall was a test run like no other – equipped with a device that identifies the cell pockets of mobile network operators in Italy, Austria, Germany, the Benelux countries and England. As of September, the exact position of any truck driven for GW will be retrievable at any time. With the kind of data from all the radio cells this provides, the pilot operation of a Tracking & Tracing project was given the go-ahead in October. And it made a splash, now going by the name of Shipment Location Kit (SLK). Placing small cell phones without a keyboard or display in with cargo allows the whereabouts of a truck to be pinpointed to within just a few hundred meters. Internationally local “This has two unbeatable advantages over previous detection systems,” boasts Markus Nigsch, Research Director at Gebrüder Weiss. “Unlike a GPS connection, a GSM solution is not only possible under an open sky, but also in closed areas, even including warehouses or inside. In addition, SLK functions completely independent of the other parties in the supply chain.” The trucks do not need to be retrofitted with any localisation devices – a monumental undertaking, and one which would be impossible right now, especially in Eastern Europe. International positioning with GSM has failed in the past due to the lack of co-operation between the European mobile network operators: while provider-based positioning existed within the respective countries of Italy, Austria, Germany and Benelux, an international localising service or a transfer of data from one national provider to another was non-workable. “Off Track” From the logistic standpoint, the Shipment Location Kit has what it takes to hit the jackpot: SLK allows misloadings and even theft to be detected virtually immediately. The device affixed to the goods is activated – via remote-controlled SMS – whenever it detects a virtual gate; i.e., a cell pocket. Position information is imported every half-hour or hour into the software at the company head-

quarters. “That’s where the supply chain monitoring takes place,” explains Nigsch. “When a truck doesn’t reach a virtual gate within a certain amount of time, an alarm issues.” The system then actively transmits to the SLK and polls it to determine whether the goods are just “off time” (i.e. stuck in traffic) or whether the cargo is “off track” (misloading, lost driver or theft). “There are then different escalation scenarios to establish contact with the truck driver,” says GW Research Director Nigsch. When the Supply Chain Verifyer detects an error, it automatically generates an email to the dispatcher, who in turn calls the truck driver. “We have a secret code word we would use in such cases, just so we can still guarantee safety even in the event of a truck being hijacked,” adds Nigsch. Coming clean The domestic tobacco goods manufacturer Austria Tabak has already successfully tested the system over the past few months with its deliveries into the provinces of Austria. The company has a distinct interest in the secure and punctual delivery of its goods. After all, stolen cigarettes are still in very high demand most everywhere – and when deliveries go missing, the company is still liable for the entire tax burden (including the taxes normally paid by the consumer!). Therefore, the transport route for the not insubstantial domestic production to the provinces of Austria has been monitored via SLK for some time now. Despite the relatively high cost of about 300 Euro per SLK unit, it was an undertaking well worth every cent. Thankfully, there has never been a case of entire truckloads being misplaced. And yet the dispatchers nevertheless made a juicy discovery: on a regular basis, every Friday afternoon, one of the truck drivers was “off track”. The delays were not considerable and the local strays were not really all that noteworthy, but the frequency of their occurrence piqued the dispatchers’ curiosity. Research revealed that every Friday, the truck driver made a small detour to wash his truck. The driver has since ceased his weekly cleaning activities during working hours.

Markus Nigsch GW Research Director

Future

Anything but trivial

Sebastian Kummer, chair of the Transport and Logistics Department at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, on the changing image of the sector, the chances for regional providers and the merging of production and logistics up to the year 2040.

So far, logisticians have not been able to do much about the negative image of the transport sector in Austria. Is it just wishful thinking that this sector will one day have a better reputation? Sebastian Kummer No, I don’t think so. In the coming decades more and more people will find jobs in this booming sector and this will have an positive overall effect on the attitude towards logistics. The stronger support of the population will also trigger a re-thinking process amongst politicians. They will make decisions which today are almost unthinkable. This includes, for example, allowing 60-tonne trucks in Austria, which will reduce emissions by about 25 % per tonne-kilometre. Why are you so optimistic? Sebastian Kummer There are indications that our lives will be further simplified by logistics. In the future the worldwide exchange of goods, services and information will be even easier than it has been so far. This is a result of progressing globalisation which has also helped to spread logistics know-how. In 33 years general cargo networks will thus be as common in China and India as they are today in Austria.

Even now traffic jams on the streets and congestion in ports are the order of the day. Might an increased exchange of goods not completely overstrain capacities? Sebastian Kummer I am sure we will be able to make better use of the existing capacities through technical and organisational development. In a couple of years, all carriers will be equipped with systems that facilitate a more efficient management. First steps in this direction have already been taken. Just think of the traffic management systems on the motorways. Nevertheless, a concentration on a number of international hubs, as it is practised today, is not really safe. Sebastian Kummer That’s true. Due to the increasing exchange of goods the international hubs are becoming true bottlenecks. As far as the European air transport is concerned these are the airports in London, Paris and Frankfurt and for sea transport these are the big North Sea ports. Therefore, I believe that it will be necessary to establish further relations through which the shipment of goods can be organised. In the future I expect logistics to take place on a broader scale.

International providers of logistics services have already reacted by establishing worldwide networks. But is logistics not too versatile for global players alone to handle it? Sebastian Kummer Opinions are divided on this topic. Some experts expect a further consolidation of the sector. Their future scenario sees only three to four large European and maybe ten to twenty worldwide providers. I do not think this is realistic. I believe there will still be a multitude of logistics service providers in 33 years and I expect good chances for those who connect core regions, such as Central and Eastern Europe, with each other. Especially surface shipments are anything but trivial. They require a good understanding of the local customs and this is where local experts can score points. Moreover, the majority of logistics is a business from people for people and I wonder whether large groups are actually able to handle this human component in the different regions with all their finer details. How will the relation between logisticians and customers change? Sebastian Kummer I think that logistics will be linked even stronger with the customers. Moreover, we need to link logistics more to the pre- and follow-up activities such as production. As a consequence, the working capacity will increase. In the future we will need more integration despite all the scepticism which we have harboured against supply chain management solutions in past years.

cars which accelerate faster than a Porsche and the problem with the batteries can probably be solved by modern lithium storage batteries. Great progress has also been made as far as hydrogen cars are concerned. The crucial point will, however, be whether we are able to produce the energy in an environmentally friendly fashion or not.

“

In 33 years general cargo networks will be as common in China and India as they are today in Austria.

„

What will happen if the conversion to environmentally friendly engines does not succeed? Sebastian Kummer In this case the politicians will try to limit shipments by means of embargos or higher prices. The logisticians will react and establish regional structures in order to also be able to manage under more difficult circumstances. Even though such a development would limit the economic growth, it would at the same time create at least as much work for logistics.

You paint a very positive picture of the situation of logistics in 2040. The advantages will, however, only come to bear, if we can come to grips with the environmental problems related to logistics. Sebastian Kummer That’s right. My future scenario is based on the conviction that the vehicles for private and freight traffic will be equipped with environmentally friendly engines. Even today, there are high-performance electric

Future

“The best, not the biggest on the market”

Rail taxi for goods transport RailCab – genuine innovative or high-tech gimmick? Researchers in Paderborn have developed the socalled RailCab, a modular rail system they claim will revolutionise freight transport and become a serious alternative to truck traffic. The RailCab will be able to circumvent the transport bottlenecks expected to bog down traditional traffic routes.

One doesn’t have to be clairvoyant to predict that freight traffic will be increasing dramatically throughout Central Europe in the coming years. Wolfgang Tiefensee, German Federal Minister of Transport (Social Democratic Party) anticipates – in Germany alone – an increase in goods traffic of roughly 50 percent by 2020, with 1.5 million additional trucks on the road. Very similar growth prognoses also apply to Austria and Switzerland. Major reductions in the typical customary transport times possible Relief might come in the form of a rail system that – if it can be realised – would be unequalled anywhere: the RailCab transport concept from the “Neue Bahntechnik Paderborn” consortium would use existing tracks to transport people and freight in small, autonomous and driverless shuttle units which can be linked into non-contact convoys and travel from one starting point straight to a specific final destination without transferring or reloading. The big advantage hereby being that the RailCabs could actually accelerate goods transport immensely since the individual RailCabs are driven independently of one another and thus would enable an extreme reduction in the transport times currently experienced, particularly with respect to the current single waggon mode. For longer distances, the individual shuttle units would be joined together fully automatically into non-contact convoys, which would save energy, and would then continue on to their destinations at the shortest intervals. Just before

reaching its destination, the individual unit would then veer off from the formation while the remainder of the convoy continues on without pause. It is said that these shuttle units will thereby be able to master a substantial portion of the future freight volume in a remarkably flexible way, especially the volumes expected in courier, express and parcel services (CEP). Difficult financing and low user interest The innovative transport system is powered by a magnetic drive, similar to that of the Transrapid maglev high-speed train. Yet, it doesn’t levitate but instead would use existing railway networks, although the tracks would first have to be retrofitted with the drive system and the switches would need to be replaced because the old signal boxes would not allow the individual shuttle units to veer off from the convoy. Apart from funding difficulties, the largest problem for RailCab at the moment is the diffidence on the part of potential users who all seem to be waiting for further developments. Prof. Dr. Uwe Clausen from the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) estimates a cost of at least 20 million Euro just to run tests with a full-size prototype. Whether RailCab will actually revolutionise freight traffic can only be judged in a couple of years.

As an independent regional player with global connections it is our objective to be the best, not the biggest provider of logistics services in our core region. Consequently, our branch network is mainly being expanded in the Central and East European countries as well as in selected overseas markets. The GW organisation will not only grow organically but also in line with demand through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Moreover, we aim to achieve service excellence and organise our internal structures more seamlessly for the benefit of our customers and partners. At the same time, we are creating the conditions for external compatibility in order to enable global information flow and data transfer. Quality leads to reliability which again creates trust. Our services are transparent, we communicate and act proactively, we rely on innovation and state-of-the-art technology and we acknowledge our responsibility towards shareholders, employees, business partners, the society and the environment. Partnerships are highly significant for us and we are primarily interested in long-term co-operations. There are a number of opportunities for development, especially in the East, where our surface transport and Air & Sea departments will offer logistics solutions that take all common carriers into account. The position of GW is excellent with respect to both its staffing and financial situation. We will courageously continue our path, treat our resources with care and responsibility and set the right priorities. Numerous opportunities will arise for Gebrüder Weiss and, as a company with a clear profile, we will leverage them successfully thanks to our wealth of talents and possibilities.

Apart from the classic forwarding business we also see potential for growth in the sector of branch-specific logistics solutions, in expanding our Air & Sea activities as well as in the business development of the logistics consulting sector and supply chain software solutions. Future concerns of GW are to continue the chosen path in a consequent fashion and to place a special focus on expanding the orange network in the East European economic area, on further developing the seamless organisation, on service excellence as well as on market orientation. Closeness to the market combined with the ability to implement individual logistics solutions do, after all, guarantee satisfied customers. Changes in the general economic framework will also play a major role. On the one hand this includes country-specific laws, such as toll fees for trucks, and on the other hand there are ecologic aspects, such as transferring shipments from road to rail, capacities, infrastructure and profitability permitting. We have extremely favourable conditions and will do our utmost to utilise them for the lasting success of our company. Peter Kloiber Board of Management Member at Gebrüder Weiss

Wolfgang Niessner Chief Executive Officer at Gebrüder Weiss

Future

“The best chance for the future lies within ourselves.”

An interview with the Senger-Weiss family about past, present and future challenges in logistics. When you sat together in the seventies as husband and wife and thought about logistics in the year 2007, how did you imagine today’s world would to be? Heidi Senger-Weiss While we were too optimistic in the technical area, we were too careful in the political one. In our vision the truck as we know it was no longer used. Instead, we saw induction-controlled motorways on which trucks could commute without drivers. But that wasn’t all. In addition, we imagined that in 30 years’ time there would be underground pipe lines through which products could be propelled to their target destination. Paul Senger-Weiss As early as in 1969 we expected the automatic waggon coupler with simplified shunting and an influence on the handling platform would soon be introduced. Yet, to date it has not been invented. Instead, progress has been made in other areas. Today a truck uses significantly less fuel than 30 years ago. Heidi Senger-Weiss Basically, that’s correct. In those days a truck used approximately 45 litres per 100 kilometres. We did, however, think that the use of fuel could be reduced by at least two thirds. Technically speaking this would have

been possible, but the idea was not pushed for different reasons. Today, a truck still uses about 35 litres, which is only about 20 % less than in the seventies. 30 years ago the truck was a well accepted means of transportation. Did you expect that it would one day be considered an environmental polluter? Heidi Senger-Weiss In today’s world all negative aspects are dumped on the truck without considering its economic use. We’ve grown used to this, but it is certainly not pleasing. Paul Senger-Weiss A negative attitude towards traffic is also involved here. Back in the seventies the attitudes towards traffic were positive, whereas today it is particularly judged according to environmental aspects. Even road building projects can be overturned for this reason. Heidi Senger-Weiss Yes, that’s true. We would never have believed that neither the A15 nor S18 at the very least would be built. I certainly consider this a grave mistake. Now, 30 years on, we are still driving through the villages, causing traffic jams and polluting the environm ent. In those days we did not expect this kind of over-

democratisation, which impedes a great number of projects, since protests can be filed against everything. Rail-freight terminals are also concerned in this respect. Wolfurt – a prime project that was completed in 1981 and has entirely proven its value – could not have been built ten years later. And what about Vienna Inzersdorf? 20 years ago there was a complete project which GW and other forwarders wanted to invest in. We would have consolidated our flows of goods and organised the onward-transport via rail. Now look at the situation today. The combined traffic is still mainly handled via Vienna Northwest station, thus via a conurbation, and all interested forwarders have built their own terminals somewhere else. In other countries this is different. Just look at Hungary where numerous goods distribution centres and motorways are being built. However, other joint projects such as the DPD parcel service did come into being. In those days this was clearly an exception. Paul Senger-Weiss We never expected to be so successful in co-operations or joint ventures. When we founded DPD at the end of the Eighties, together with Lagermax and Schachinger, we entered completely unknown territory. Today, DPD is the market leader in B2B and contributes considerably to our production and to the success of GW.

Particularly groupage traffic is a highly competitive business, where one has to stand up to the other companies. Heidi Senger-Weiss That’s right. I well remember the brave start of our European direct traffic. In order to understand this story you need to know how we organised exports from Vorarlberg in those days. Even though our ancestors had already run goods directly to Milan, we forwarded every export consignment from GW to Buchs, Switzerland, from where the company Danzas handled the onward-transportation within Europe. The co-operation with Danzas was comparatively easy and profitable. Why did you end it? Heidi Senger-Weiss Mr. Gehrer, the branch manager of GW Dornbirn who is in his eighties now, was responsible for that. He convinced us to establish our own direct truck traffic to and from Rotterdam. That was how it started and within 10 years GW was well connected to Europe from all over Austria. Still today, the better part of the net product comes from the transport business. But GW is positioned as a regional logistics company. When did it become clear that you wanted to develop in this direction? Heinz Senger-Weiss The starting signal for this development was given in my parents’ era. Without this groundwork the situation would be a lot more difficult for us today.

Due to this new focus the tasks of the employees have also changed. How challenging is logistics today? Heidi Senger-Weiss The share of cognitive and creative work has clearly increased at GW. By this I refer to everything that is related to scheduling, sales, marketing or product development. At the same time the routine work in the administrative area has become considerably less, thanks to the IT support. In the warehouse the situation is entirely different. Here, the technical support is a lot less than we expected. We still need our drivers, we need someone who clears pallets with a handcart, someone who can operate a forklift. Heinz Senger-Weiss We are always trying to find solutions to simple tasks in a way which does not tie up expensive manpower. Having said that, our labour costs are way above 50%. And this will stay this way in the future, because neither machines nor IT programmes can handle logistics as we imagine it. Only our employees can do that. Nevertheless, IT plays an important role at GW today. Did you expect this when you purchased the first PC back in the seventies? Paul Senger-Weiss No, not at all. We considered the computer an auxiliary means which would facilitate our work. By the way, we bought

our first computer on January 1st, 1973. I can still remember it exactly,because it was a small sensation for GW. The basis was a computer with eight kilobytes, which we shared with an industrial enterprise. We only had one third of it. The first memory typewriter – its memory had a capacity of three A4 pages – came seven years later. We had no idea where these investments would lead. And today we sell IT services to our customers. In the past 30 years the political stage has also seen drastic changes. How surprising have they been for you? Heidi Senger-Weiss In those days nobody could ever have anticipated the fall of the Iron Curtain or that the East European countries would join the EU further along the line. Had someone told me that in the seventies, I would not have believed it. The development in China also took us by surprise. When we visited the country in 1978 there were increasing signs of a slow change but the end of the Cultural Revolution was only a few years back. Today, China is an important market for us. I am convinced that the potential for change in the coming 30 years will also come from areas which we do not expect now.

Due to the progressing European integration more and more borders have opened. What significance does this have for a logistics organisation like GW? Wolfram Senger-Weiss So far, we have lived very well from the fact that the hurdles in Europe were as high as possible. Be it complicated customs formalities or other national regulations – the larger the challenge, the better for the experts amongst logisticians. As a consequence, a change process, in part painful, was set in motion. In our 500 year history, GW has repeatedly been required to adapt flexibly to the changing situations on the market. Which consequences do you expect if transport should become even more costly? Thanks to the upward economic trend shipping space is in great demand at the moment. Wolfram Senger-Weiss We are currently experiencing a considerable price increase. As a consequence, those responsible in the shipping economy are more aware of logistics and its costs and a stronger focus is being placed on supply chain management – more intelligent solutions are needed. This requires experts and, therefore, we can benefit from this development. Generally, I believe that if transport becomes more costly and complicated, this is rather an advantage for us.

Heinz Senger-Weiss I think that there will always be a need for communication between the world’s crucial economic areas, also with respect to goods. The sales market has changed significantly these past years. Where is logistics sought after today? Paul Senger-Weiss Nowadays we are especially looking to the Far East and to China. We first visited this huge unknown country 30 years ago. Back then, the USA and the Middle East were of particular interest for us, but also countries such as Nigeria were amongst our most important overseas markets. By the way, in 1980 we were also operating a branch in Baghdad. Which path will GW take in the future? Heinz Senger-Weiss This has already been decided. We will continue to develop towards an independent logistics service provider. We transport goods in the most sensible way. We influence the production procedures of our customers in order to show them how to operate in an ideal manner. This can, for instance, be the objective to give environmentally friendly means of transport a chance. I consider this a good chance to really integrate logistics know-how into the economy and not merely handle its implementation.

Wolfram Senger-Weiss Independent, personal, dependable, long term – these are the characteristics which GW stands for. Independence is a crucial matter, especially with respect to the co-operation between the older and the younger generation. We also pay particular attention to designing our own values and our own culture, as this is what really matters. Being a family enterprise, we can ensure that our employees work in an appropriate environment. We do not know if another owner would be able to guarantee this in the same form. Today you sit at a table with your parents and think about the future. How do you envision logistics in 2037? Heinz Senger-Weiss Such considerations are like taking a look into a crystal ball. I am not a university professor who forecasts developments. I am a businessman who has to make decisions even though I am not in on all the grey areas. I think it is necessary to think seriously about the future without trying to interpret it too clearly. The important questions are: Where do my strengths lie? What are my values? How will the market develop? From these questions a clear strategy needs to be derived, which is followed consistently and challenged in regular intervals. Nevertheless, we need to remain open in order to

be able to seize any opportunities that arise. Moreover, we must never forget that the small decisions taken on a daily basis do matter, as they may support further business development or, with hindsight, also impede it. All this will not change in the coming 30 years. Which risks must not be disregarded under any circumstances? Wolfram Senger-Weiss I consider the ongoing consolidation of the sector one such risk. When logistics giants emerge it may become difficult to manage for medium sized logistics companies and their networks. Another risk is our position in the supply chain. As logisticians we are sitting on the weakest branch. The industry – our customers – is situated on both sides and thus is clearly in a stronger position, which usually leads to a shifting of responsibilities. An example of this is the topic of security or the eco audit, where customers tell us that this is none of their concern and that we should find a different solution for same price.

considered a natural thing and there is little willingness to pay for it. But I think there will be a rethinking process and we will also get the chance to participate in the added value which we create financially. Heinz Senger-Weiss The greatest opportunity lies within ourselves. We have to remain innovative and react swiftly to changes on the market. If we are able to accept this challenge, together with our employees, Gebrüder Weiss will continue to thrive for a long time to come.

The coming 30 years surely also promise some positive developments, do they not? Wolfram Senger-Weiss We are in a continuously growing market. I see a lot of potential in the service sector. In our culture service is still

Future

Logistics means communication. Availability

is a cornerstone of customer satisfaction. My job is connecting people – internally and externally. The modern

business world is characterised by precision and speed. That’s how I see my contribution to GW Service Excellence. Gertrude Schieder, 37 CEO Administrative Assistant

The main opportunities I see from working together with GW come from a solid network, even if that may be associated with a certain risk of dependency. However, the greatest advantages come from the fact that important information can be relayed in real-time and different operations can be standardised and simplified. I’m especially thinking here of accounting, processing credit notes, managing the various modes of transport and rental containers and how quick electronic quotes are. These things are not 30 years down the road; they’ll be standard within the next five to ten years. Mag. Christian Steurer, 42 Central Logistics Division Manager, Adler-Lacke

Gertrude Schieder CEO Administrative Assistant

I have no doubt that GebrĂźder Weiss will continue to expand eastward in the future and will thus continue to cement the existing Eastern European network. I feel that GW has to expand in order to stand its ground in the market. I see this investment offensive as both a challenge and an opportunity for the future of GW. Florian Wieder, 28 Manager National Distribution/Central Eastern Europe

I can imagine that in the future logistics companies wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t only be transporting goods but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll actually control the market as complete providers of everything related to shipping, storage/logistics for goods and passenger transports, perhaps even data transport. GW should expand

through its own internal growth or by acquiring other logistics operations that integrate perfectly into GW.

Maik Hoffmann, 28 Forwarding Merchant

Florian Wieder Manager National Distribution Central Eastern Europe

Zukunft

It’s important for GW to remain flexible in the future, particularly in how it co-ordinates and consolidates traffic – both import and export – as well as in the air freight and sea freight sector. I do see opportunities to improve the interface between air freight and surface transport in the future, especially transit times; that would bring about a continuous increase in the quality standard. Stefanie Benseler, 24 X-Dock Administrator

Logistics companies are destined to become even more efficient, faster, more cost-effective and more customer-oriented in the future. I think there’s still untapped potential in the communication between GW and its freighters. They should treat

their goods as if they were their own. I see only opportunity in that and nothing impossible. Michael Moser, 38 Managing Director, Kaiser + Kraft

The EU needs to investigate piggyback networking within Europe. For piggyback traffic to come into its

own and thus appeal to shippers, piggyback rail stations must be established across all of Europe. Train departure frequencies must of course also be well-timed and adequate – from here to there just once a week is not enough! Norbert Blenk, 50 Sales Director

Stefanie Benseler X-Dock Administrator

Future

Customer orientation will be the key to long-term success. GW

will therefore need to offer added value in the future, for example putting itself in the shoes of the customer and analysing his business processes, ultimately being able to offer the relevant proposals and solutions for logistic improvements and optimising the flow of information. GW should come across as an able partner. What shouldn’t be forgotten in the course of the normal business day is finding the right balance between one’s work and one’s personal life. Wolfgang Bartholomäus, 38 Salesperson

To achieve the shortest routes, we’ll no doubt see a more decentralised approach again than we have in the past. I see technical innovations in dual drives for trucks, even greater globalisation and a medium-term return to one’s own fleets. The skills needed in the business world will remain the same – ongoing continuing education, being a fast learner, and the ability to communicate well and work in a team. Michael Knarr, 28 Administrator, CCC

Wolfgang Bartholomäus Salesperson

Future

The future will call for more flexibility, mental flexibility will be indispensable! Work could be done at home in the future; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not even really a problem anymore today. This would bring companies substantial advantages like reducing operating costs, just as one small example, and they could in turn be passed on to the employees. Harald Markus, 29 Surface Transport Expediter

How do I see the teamwork between GW and our company in the future? I envision that GW will be available to us at all times and will always provide enough capacity for these endeavours. The employees must have the necessary specialised knowledge, the local language is almost equally as important. GW is an important component of our distribution chain and thus contributes to Geberitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation as far as its high level of delivery service is concerned. Josef Lehmann, 54 Logistics Director, Geberit

Greater value will be attached to the concept of transport and logistics in the future, since goods will always need to be co-ordinated and transported. GW will continue to make strides in efficiency just by concentrating its efforts on keeping its regular customers and acquiring new ones.

I think opportunities are inherent in the GW image and brand: keep on supporting their further development! Rafael Thiem, 20 Air freight Export

Rafael Thiem Air freight Export

A beneficial trend in the business world will be working from home. It saves money on petrol, there’s no wasted commuting times and one’s hours are more flexible. Operations may be automated, but for freight forwarders, the key aspect is service. I rather doubt machines will ever be able to provide that in the future – nor should they! Andreas Rupp, 35 EDP Applications Consultant

For me, the keyword for the future is globalisation and this is also something that greatly impacts Gebrüder Weiss.

I also see safety requirements as an important issue in GW’s further development, meaning in connection with additional certifications. GW could concentrate more heavily on bids in the future in order to remain just as strong in the competitive transport and logistics industry as in the past. Thomas Zeillinger, 38 Customs Department Manager

Thomas Zeillinger Customs Department Manager

101

The customer and the customer relationship are immensely important for the future in order to remain attractive as a partner over the long term. And I don’t mean only in terms of price or product. Significant value is placed on the employees: they should be particularly qualified to recognise and fulfil customer needs. Andrea Dobrota, 24 Surface Transport Administrator

Freight forwarding and logistics companies are going to need to be very quality conscious in the future. Customer requirements keep rising higher in this field, by that I mean delivery reliability and quality, and the flow of information in general. I see opportunities for companies such as GW in their ability to respond flexibly to customer requests. Helmut Böhm, 57 Logistics Director, Sony

Terminals will have rail connections in the future, meaning it would be prudent to buy property suitable for rail connections near manufacturers. Services such as commissioning, shipment processing, etc. will continue to function similar to how they do today, only the resources will become more modern. As far as technical innovations are concerned, I actually see more of a return to past trends. Jürgen Beiter, 39 Forwarding Employee (Trucking Dispatcher)

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Andrea Dobrota Surface Transport Administrator

GW Addresses worldwide

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The Addresses of Gebrüder Weiss

HEADQUARTERS A-6923 Lauterach Bundesstraße 110 T +43.5574.696.0 F +43.5574.70928 service@gw-world.com

A-4020 Linz Prinz-Eugen-Straße 33 Postfach 309 T +43.732.7655.0 F +43.732.771311 gw.linz@gw-world.com

Austria

A-2326 Maria Lanzendorf Wiener Straße 26 T +43.1.79799.0 F +43.1.79799.7100 gw.wien@gw-world.com

A-6700 Bludenz Äuleweg 14-16, Postfach 22 T +43.5522.334.0 F +43.5522.334.533 gw.bludenz@gw-world.com

A-9063 Maria Saal/Klagenfurt Wutschein 46 T +43.4223.5050.0 F +43.4223.5050.34 gw.kaernten@gw-world.com

A-6800 Feldkirch Reichsstraße 149, Postfach 29 T +43.5522.334.0 F +43.5522.334.41 gw.feldkirch@gw-world.com

A-3380 Pöchlarn Manker Straße 55 T +43.2757.4004.0 F +43.2757.4004.4860 gw.poechlarn@gw-world.com

SURFACE TRANSPORT

A-8055 Graz Alte Poststraße 376, Postfach 18 T +43.316.2904.0 F +43.316.296515 gw.graz@gw-world.com

A-5020 Salzburg Robinigstraße 57, Postfach 159 T +43.662.88912.0 F +43.662.88912.112 gw.salzburg@gw-world.com

A-6060 Hall Löfflerweg 35 T +43.5223.206.0 F +43.5223.206.324 gw.hall@gw-world.com A-6923 Lauterach Bundesstraße 110 T +43.5574.696.0 F +43.5574.79303 gw.lauterach@gw-world.com

A-4600 Wels Terminalstraße 91 T +43.70.7655 F +43.70.7655.790

106

A-6961 Wolfurt Am Güterbahnhof, Postfach 3 T +43.5574.696.0 F +43.5574.696.1110 gw.wolfurt@gw-world.com

CH-4057 Basel Uferstrasse 90 T +41.58.458.5015 F +41.58.458.5055 service.basel@gw-world.com

SK-971 01 Prievidza Nabrežná 4 T +421.46.543 81 83 F +421.46.542 18 16 zakaznicky.servis@gw-world.com

Croatia

SK-911 05 Trencˇ ín Bratislavská 119 T +421.32.658 07 34 F +421.32.652 23 40 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com

A-6300 Wörgl Gewerbepark 9 T +43.5332.70011 F +43.5332.70011.25 gw.woergl@gw-world.com

HR-10000 Zagreb Jankomir 25 T +385.1.3436.945 F +385.1.3871.834 gw.croatia@gw-world.com

Germany

Slovakia

D-87700 Memmingen Karatasstraße 6 T +49.8331.9844.0 F +49.8331.9844.225 service.memmingen@ gw-world.com

SK-903 01 Senec Dial’nicna Cesta 2 T +421.2.4020 05 00 F +421.2.4020 05 60 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com

D-88131 Lindau Heuriedweg 20 T +49.8382.708.0 F +49.8382.708.300 service.lindau@gw-world.com D-94036 Passau Industriestraße 14b T +49.851.807 F +49.851.807.10 service.passau@gw-world.com Zinner Transport GmbH. D-90431 Nürnberg Kirchhoffstraße 2 T +49.911.958886.0 F +49.911.958886.20 info@sped-zinner.com

Switzerland CH-9423 Altenrhein (SG) Werftstrasse 1 T +41.58.458.5511 F +41.58.458.5522 gw.schweiz@gw-world.com service.altenrhein@gw-world.com

SK-010 65 Žilina Košická 2 T +421.41.500 40 08 F +421.41.500 40 09 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com SK-040 01 Košice Prešovská 4 T +421.55.729 86 49 F +421.55.729 86 51 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com SK-831 06 Bratislava Na Pántoch 10 T +421.2.492.97900 F +421.2.492.97902 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com SK-949 01 Nitra Bratislavská 3 T +421.37.651 82 72 F +421.37.652 82 70 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com

SK-974 01 Banská Bystrica Rudlovská cesta 53 T +421.48.416 23 16 F +421.48.416 24 84 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com SK-058 01 Poprad Hranicˇná 689/22 T +421.52.772 41 64 F +421.52.772 41 66 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com SK-080 01 Prešov Jilemnického 1 T +421.51.773 14 09 F +421.51.772 46 00 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com

CZ-664 42 Brno – Modřice Central Trade Park Modřice, Evropská 870 T +420.548.427.219 F +420.547.217.102 gw.czech@gw-world.com CZ-370 04 České Budějovice Žerotínova 1 T +420.387.313.060 F +420.387.313.036 gw.czech@gw-world.com CZ-70030 Ostrava – Zábřeh U Studia 2253/28 T +420.597.010.130 F +420.597.010.113 gw.czech@gw-world.com

Hungary Gebrüder Weiss KFT. H-2330 Dunaharaszti Pf. 33, hrsz. 7600 MO-Dunaharaszti leágazás T +36.24.55.55.55 F +36.24.55.55.00 gw.hungary@gw-world.com

Bulgaria Slovenia SI-1000 Ljubljana Celovska cesta 492 T +386.1.5134550 F +386.1.5134564 gw.slovenia@gw-world.com

Czech Republic CZ-25219 Rudná/Praha K Vypichu 986 T +420.311.659.111 F +420.311.659.110 gw.czech@gw-world.com

Gebrüder Weiss EOOD BG-1582 Sofia Prof. Tzvetan Lazarov Bldv. 97 T +359.2.9700.400 F +359.2.9700.431 gw-bulgaria@gw-world.com Gebrüder Weiss EOOD BG-6100 Kazanlak 53, Rozova Dolina Blvd. T +359.431.625.73 F +359.431.641.95 ilia.iliev@gw-world.com

SK-965 01 Žiar nad Hronom Priemyselná 628 T +421.45.672 74 00 F +421.45.672 47 02 gw.slovakia@gw-world.com

107

GW Addresses worldwide

Gebrüder Weiss EOOD BG-9000 Varna 5th Floor, Office No 15 Devnya Str.12B T +359.52.612.111 F +359.52.612.414 yavor.hristov@gw-world.com

UA-04070 Kyiv Naberezhno-Khreschatytska 3-A T +380.44.5361258 F +380.44.5361258 valeriy.bordyuk@gw-world.kiev.ua

Air & Sea Terminal A-1300 Wien-Schwechat VIE-Speditionsgeb.Obj. 263/1 T +43.1.7007.32444 F +43.1.7007.33329 air-sea-vienna@gw-world.com

BUSINESS UNITS

Air & Sea Terminal Wien A-2326 Maria Lanzendorf Wiener Straße 26 T +43.1.79.799.7770 F +43.1.79.799.7771 air-sea-vienna@gw-world.com

Romania Gebrüder Weiss S.R.L. RO-061129 București Bd. Iuliu Maniu, 598 D - 600 A Sector 6 T +40.21.4076.600 F +40.21.4076.609 office@gw-world.ro Gebrüder Weiss S.R.L. RO-310345 Arad UTA Industrieal Park Str. Poetului 1C T +40.357.423.913 F +40.257.289.022 office@gw-world.ro Gebrüder Weiss S.R.L. RO-500152 Brasov Strada Turnului Nr. 5 T +40.268.420.431 F +40.268.420.431 office@gw-world.ro

Serbia SRB-11070 Novi Beograd Beograd office park Djordja Stanojevica 12 T +381.11.217.91.11 F +381.11.217.91.21 office.beograd@gw-world.net

TECTRAXX HIGH TECH LOGISTICS Brown Boveri-Straße 6 A-2351 Wiener Neudorf T +43.1.79.799.7600 F +43.1.79.799.7639 office@tectraxx.com

Air & Sea Terminal A-8073 Feldkirchen Flughafen Graz/Thalerhof T +43.316.294249.11 F +43.316.294249.16 air-sea-graz@gw-world.com

AUTOMOTIVE LOGISTICS A-4600 Wels Terminalstraße 91 T +43.732.7655.784 F +43.732.7655.790 automotive@gw-world.com

LEISURE+SPORTS LOGISTICS A-3380 Pöchlarn Manker Straße 55 T +43.2757.4004.4831 F +43.2757.4004.4840 sports@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal A-4063 Hörsching Flughafen Linz-Hörsching Flughafenstraße 1 T +43.7221.64580.20 F +43.7221.63824 air-sea-linz@gw-world.com Air & Sea Terminal A-6060 Hall Löfflerweg 35 T +43.5223.206.273 F +43.5223.206.482 air-sea@gw-world.com

Austria

Air & Sea Terminal A-9063 Maria-Saal/Klagenfurt Wutschein 46 T +43.4223.5050 F +43.4223.5050.34 air-sea-klagenfurt@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal A-6960 Wolfurt Senderstraße 34 T +43.5574.696.0 F +43.5574.696.840 air-sea-wolfurt@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal A-5020 Salzburg Robinigstraße 57 T +43.662.88912 F +43.662.88912.80 air-sea-salzburg@gw-world.com

AIR & SEA

Ukraine UA-89600 Mukachevo Wul. Kooperatiwna 46, Techno Center “Karpati” Zakarpatska T +380.3131.37973 F +380.3131.37973 gw_andrianna@mk.uz.ua

108

Germany

Serbia

Czech Republic

Weiss Ocean+Air Cargo GmbH D-20459 Hamburg Herrengraben 3 T +49.40.54005.0 F +49.40.54005.157 gw.hamburg@gw-world.com

Carog Team Weiss SRB-11070 Novi Beograd Beograd office park Djordja Stanojevica 12 T +381.11.217.91.11 F +381.11.217.91.21 office.beograd@gw-world.net

Air & Sea Terminal CZ-16008 Praha 6 Terminál Menzies/P.O. Box 132 T +420.220.114.791 F +420.224.281.054 air-sea-prague@gw-world.com

Switzerland Croatia Air & Sea Terminal CH-8058 Zürich-Flughafen Frachthof West, Büro 2-305 T +41.58.458.5200 F +41.58.458.5248 zuerich@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal HR-10150 Zagreb – Airport Pleso b.b., P.O. Box 30 T +385.1.6265211 F +385.1.6256491 air-sea-zagreb@gw-world.com

Slovenia Bulgaria Air & Sea Terminal SI-4290 Brnik Aerodrom Airport Ljubljana T +386.4.201.8490 F +386.4.201.8494 air-sea-ljubljana@gw-world.com Air & Sea Terminal SI-6000 Koper Port Vojkovo Nabrezje 30a T +386.5.6630.444 F +386.5.6630.438 air-sea-koper@gw-world.com

Slovakia Air & Sea Terminal SK-831 04 Bratislava Stavitel’ská 7 T +421.2.4920 50 45 F +421.2.4920 50 50 air-sea-bratislava@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal Gebrüder Weiss EOOD BG-1582 Sofia Prof. Tzvetan Lazarov Blvd. 97 T +359.2.9700.400 F +359.2.9700.431 air-sea-sofia@gw-world.com

Romania Gebrüder Weiss S.R.L. Air & Sea Terminal București RO-012101 București Blvd. Expozitiei nr. 1, Etaj 8 T +40.31.80.555.70 F +40.31.80.555.69 air-sea-bukarest@gw-world.com Gebrüder Weiss S.R.L. RO-900900 Constanta Incinta Port Constanta, Cladire Radacina Mol 3, Cam. 113-115 T +40.241.480.955 F +40.241.480.958 air-sea-constanta@gw-world.com

Air & Sea Terminal CZ-700 30 Ostrava – Zábřeh U Studia 2253/28 T +420.597.010.160 F +420.597.010.123 air-sea-ostrava@gw-world.com Air & Sea Terminal Brno CZ-66442 Brno-Modřice Central Trade Park Modřice Evropská 870 T +420.548.427.234 F +420.548.216.787 air-sea-brno@gw-world.com

Hungary Air & Sea Terminal H-2220 Vecsés, Lőrinci út 59. Airport Business Park, C4 Épület T +36.29.553.990 F +36.29.553.955 air-sea-budapest@gw-world.com

Italy (Joint Venture) Brigl Weiss Air & Sea Cargo SRL I-39100 Bolzano Via Mitterhofer 1 T +39.0471.246.247 F +39.0471.246.180 peter.graus@briglweiss.it

109

GW Addresses worldwide

Japan Gebrüder Weiss Ltd. Stage-Sendagi 102 5-50-2 Sendagi Bunkyu-Ku Tokyo 113-0022 Japan T +81.3.3828.7450 F +81.3.3828.7451 kazuyoshi.fujiwara@ weisslogistics.jp

WEISS-ROHLIG

Hong Kong Weiss-Rohlig Hong Kong Ltd Kowloon, Hong Kong Unit A, 3/Floor, Pioneer Building 213 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong T +852.2268.9300 F +852.2345.6060 jan.skovgaard@ weiss-rohlig.com.hk

China Weiss-Rohlig Shanghai 200021 Shanghai, PR China Rm 1714-1719, 1 Corporate Avenue No. 222 Hubin Road T +86.21.6340.6000 F +86.21.6340.6858 info-shanghai@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Beijing 100027 Beijing, PR China F-7-F, Fu Hua Mansion, No.8 Chaoyang Men Avenue (N) T +86.10.6554.1916 F +86.10.6554.3090 info-beijing@weiss-rohlig.com.cn

110

Weiss-Rohlig Dalian 116001 Dalian, PR China Rm 2110, MingShi Fortune Center No. 20 A, GangWan Road, Zhongshan District T +86.411.395.69.111/222 F +86.411.395.69.000 info-dalian@weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Nanjing Rm 13A, Deji Mansion 210018 Nanjing, PR China No.188 Changjiang Road T +86.25.8681.6006 F +86.25.8681.6007 info-nanjing@weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Ningbo 315020 Ningbo, PR China Rm 406, No. 132 Renmin Road, Bund Mansions T +86.574.2788.8201 F +86.574.2788.8211 info-ningbo@weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Qingdao 266003 Qingdao, PR China Rm 3-C-1, Huiquan Dynasty Hotel No. 9 Nan Hai Road T +86.532.8607.7890 F +86.532.8287.6140 info-qingdao@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Tianjin 300042 Tianjin, PR China B22 D-E, Mansion of Triumphal Arch No 66 Nanjing Road, Hexi District T +86.22.2339.8246 F +86.22.2339.8248 info-tianjin@weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Urumqui 830011 Xinjiang, PR China Rm 1109, Markor Plaza No.26 South Beijing Road Urumqi T +86.991.3665.806 F +86.991.3665.807 info-urumqui@weiss-rohlig.com.cn

Weiss-Rohlig Xiamen 361006 Xiamen, PR China Rm 619 Minmetal Building No. 226 Dongdu Road T +86.592.5619.984 F +86.592.3107.498 info-xiamen@weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Guangzhou 510080 Guangzhou, PR China Rm 2411, 24/F, Guangfa Bank Center No. 83 Nonglinxia Rd. T +86.20.22370388 F +86.20.87311700 info-guangzhou@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Zhanjiang 524000 Zhanjiang, PR China GuoMao, Bldg. B, Suite 6B06 No. 53 Renmin Nan Road, Xiashan District T +86.759.2660500 F +86.759.2660400 info-zhanjiang@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Shenzhen 518001 Shenzhen, PR China World Finance Centre, Tower A, Suite 6B No. 4003, East Shennan Road Luohu District T +86.755.2595.1800 F +86.755.2595.1900 info-shenzhen@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn Weiss-Rohlig Xi’an 710075 Xi’an, PR China Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone Unit 505B, Huoju Building No.48 Gaoxin Road T +86.029.8831.7047 F +86.029.8831.7078 info-xian@weiss-rohlig.com.cn

Weiss-Rohlig Chengdu 610015 Chengdu Sichuan, PR China Unit H, 8th Floor Guoxin Mansion No.77 Xiyu Street T +86.028.8619.8000 F +86.028.8619.8001 info-chengdu@ weiss-rohlig.com.cn

Singapore Weiss-Rohlig Singapore PTE.LTD. Singapore 169877 171 Chin Swee Road #04-01 San Centre T +65.6535.3345 F +65.6535.7747 lincoln.waters@weiss-rohlig.com Weiss-Rohlig Singapore PTE.LTD. Singapore 819454 119 Airport Cargo Road #04-02 CCAM 1 T +65.6785.3393 F +65.6785.0300 lincoln.waters@weiss-rohlig.com

Taiwan Weiss-Rohlig Taiwan Ltd. Taipei 6/F, No. 213 Sec. 5 Nan jing E Road T +886.2.2766.1000 F +886.2.2766.0002 franz.haghofer@weiss-rohlig.tw

Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 20 Commerce Drive, Suite 226 Cranford, NJ 07016 New York T +1.908.931.1500 F +1.908.931.1593 markf.nyc@weiss-rohlig.us Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 3400 Torrance Blvd, Suite 102 Torrance, CA 90503 Los Angeles T +1.310.540.2394 F +1.310.540.7307 briana.lax@weiss-rohlig.us Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 7200 NW 19th Street, Bldg 5, Suite 511 Miami, FL 33126 T +1.305.716.0884 F +1.305.716.0885 julianar.mia@weiss-rohlig.us Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 1300 North Sam Houston Parkway East, Suite 200 Houston, TX 77032 T +1.281.227.6666 F +1.281.219.3631 danielaw.iah@weiss-rohlig.us

USA

Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 4820 Clark Howell Highway Suite C-7 Atlanta, GA 30349 T +1.404.209.3922 F +1.404.209.3923 billd.atl@weiss-rohlig.us

Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 1555 Mittel Blvd., Suite A Wood Dale, IL 60191 Chicago T +1.630.694.8341 F +1.630.694.8546 robertp.ord@weiss-rohlig.us

Weiss-Rohlig USA LLC 1250 Bay Hill Drive, Suite 113 San Bruno San Francisco, CA 94066 T +1.650.588.1392 F +1.650.588.1792 gregoires.sfo@weiss-rohlig.us

Canada Weiss-Rohlig Canada Inc 703 Evans Avenue, Suite 201 Toronto, On M9c 5e9 T +1.416.621.1600 F +1.416.621.5656 arnaud.majstorovic@ weiss-rohlig.ca

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Weiss-Rohlig U.A.E. LLC Al Shamsi Building, 1st Floor, Unit 120, Karama P.O. Box 2737, Dubai United Arab Emirates T +971,4.337.2340 F +971.4.334.8143 jochen.humpeler@weiss-rohlig.ae

GWP – GEBRÜDER WEISS PARCEL SERVICE (DPD) Depot 621 – Zentrale A-2333 Leopoldsdorf bei Wien Arbeitergasse 50 T +43.810.810.110 F +43.2235.432.89 depot621@dpd.at Depot 626 A-6060 Hall in Tirol Schlöglstraße 45 T +43.5223.5802.0 F +43.5223.53439 depot626@dpd.at Depot 628 A-8401 Kalsdorf bei Graz Feldkirchenstraße 14–16 T +43.810.810.110 F +43.3135.57770 depot628@dpd.at

111

GW Addresses worldwide

Depot 630 A-8700 Leoben Waltenbachstraße 7 T +43.810.810.110 F +43.3842.8347.214 depot630@dpd.at Depot 622 A-2100 Leobendorf bei Wien Industriezeile 2 T +43.810.810.110 F +43.2262.6819.223 depot622@dpd.at Depot 623 A-3380 Pöchlarn Manker Straße 55 T +43.810.810.110 F +43.2757.8867 depot623@dpd.at Depot 627 A-6832 Sulz Industriestraße 16 T +43.5522.74520 F +43.5522.74520.63 depot627@dpd.at

Germany

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

inet-logistics GmbH D-61440 Oberursel In der Au 19 T +49.6171.694.16.10 F +49.6171.694.16.05 office.frankfurt@inet-logistics.com

x|vise innovative logistics Dubai Airport Free Zone P.O. Box 54731 T+971.50.6403224 F +971.4.3614510 office@xvise.com

A-6960 Wolfurt Büro Gemeinschaftszollamt T +43.5574.696.1258 F +43.5574.696.1182 A-6890 Lustenau Grenzübergang T +43.5577.827491 F +43.5577.827490

Switzerland CH-9430 St. Margrethen Altfeldstrasse 9 T +41.58.458.5330 F +41.58.458.5340 gw.schweiz@gw-world.com kundencenter.schweiz@ gw-world.com

Switzerland DICALL inet-logistics GmbH CH-5000 Aarau Bahnhofstrasse 70 T +41.62.823.93.21 F +41.62.823.93.22 office.aarau@inet-logistics.com

Weiss Logistik Systeme GmbH A-8401 Kalsdorf bei Graz Feldkirchenstraße 14–16 T +43.3135.54879 F +43.3135.2002.529 office@dicall.com

A-6845 Hohenems Grenzübergang T +43.5576.73771 F +43.5576.77186 A-6812 Feldkirch-Meiningen Grenzübergang T +43.5522.74104 F +43.5522.78084

X|VISE

Austria

GEBRÜDER WEISS RAIL CARGO GES.M.B.H.

x|vise innovative logistics GmbH A-6923 Lauterach Bundesstraße 110 T +43.5574.606-0 F +43.5574.606-363 office@xvise.com

A-2326 Maria Lanzendorf Wiener Straße 26 T +43.1.79799 F +43.1.79799-7079 rail.cargo@gw-world.com

x|vise innovative logistics GmbH A-1110 Wien Simmeringer Hauptstraße 24 T +43.1.74040.494 F +43.1.74040.493 office@xvise.com

FASHIONET-AUSTRIA TEXTILSPEDITION GMBH.

A-6800 Feldkirch-Tisis Grenzübergang T +43.5522.76449 F +43.5522.78138

CH-9434 Au Grenze T +41.58.458.5300 F +41.58.458.5309 gw.schweiz@gw-world.com service.altenrhein@gw-world.com A-6960 Wolfurt Gemeinschaftszollamt CH/AT T +43.5574.696 1258 F +43.5574.696 1182 gw.wolfurt@gw-world.com kundencenter.schweiz@ gw-world.com

A-6800 Feldkirch-Mäder Grenzübergang T +43.5523.54170 F +43.5523.54185

INET-LOGISTICS GMBH

Austria inet-logistics GmbH A-6961 Wolfurt Holzriedstraße 29 T +43.5574.806.0 F +43.5574.806.1599 office@inet-logistics.com inet-logistics GmbH A-1010 Wien Annagasse 5 T +43.1.512.7771.100 F +43.1.512.7771.150 office.wien@inet-logistics.com

112

x|vise innovative logistics GmbH A-8055 Graz Alte Poststraße 376 T +43.5574.606-380 F +43.5574.606-363 office@xvise.com

A-2333 Leopoldsdorf Arbeitergasse 50 T +43.223.547838 F +43.223.543839 info@fashionet.co.at

CUSTOMS OFFICES

Austria A-6912 Hörbranz Autobahnzollamt T +43.5573.83112 F +43.5573.83112.6

113

We would like to thank all the

Gebrüder Weiss GmbH

people instrumental in the

MAKOM

production of this annual

Bundesstrasse 110

Project Team

Copy Editor

Text

report, especially those who

A-6923 Lauterach

Wolfram Senger-Weiss

Sternkopf Communications

Elke Burtscher

supported us with regard to

Austria

Johannes Angerer, Sina Balke

Mag. Michaela Seiß

Raimund Fink, Thomas Konrad

MB International Languages

photography.

Poster

Yearbook

Gabi Schneider

Photography Johannes Rodach

Lithography Text

Günter König, Oskar Uchrin

Jörg Heiden, Barbara Koch

Inga Weber

Rudolf Loidl

Printed by

Susanne Nusser-Bayer

BUCHER Druck Verlag Netzwerk

Ursula Schmeling, Vanessa Voss Thomas Wöhrle, Olivia Zischg Photography Johannes Rodach Peter Rigaud (P. 18-19, 83) Graphic Design Dalpra & Partner Joachim Zettl, René Dalpra Matthias Steu Michael Mittermayer

Styling

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