Capital Equipment News February 2018

innovation drive as the technological revolution continues apace. While it is important to have intelligent systems in place, I am of the view that people will always remain the epicentre of this fast-changing industry. The digital edge is key in helping simplify the logistical processes, but no computer will replace the human touch. We have to keep in mind that the inter- personal relationships of companies are the ones that make the company grow and we cannot replace those with computers. This business thrives on humans. You can help them do their work better by comput- erising the systems, but if you don’t have a workforce that understands the clients, how to interact with them, then you are at risk of loosing touch. MS: What are you doing to keep your workers aligned with the new digital initiatives? DD : Intelligent logistics also requires ongoing commitment to education and skills development. DACHSER South Africa runs an apprenticeship program as well as being involved internationally in various educational programmes. Educating new generations of logistics workers is a very logical investment to make. As DACHSER South Africa, we train up to 10-15 learners each year, and since the inception of the programme in 2012, we have been able to employ 70% of our graduate learners. We have since been recognised by the Institute for Quality (EID) in South Africa for our commitment to contributing to a skilled South Africa through the DACHSER Learnership Programme. We scooped a Silver category award for leading in skills development at the 29th Logistics Achiev- er Awards ceremony late last year. MS: Looking ahead, what are some of the areas of growth for DACHSER SA? DD: Mining and automotive are some of the markets in our sights as key growth areas. The inter-country market is also very important for us and we are busy doing route development in that regard. We are targeting North America, Europe and China. We started our own consolidation containers out of Europe sometime and are now starting the same initiative out of India. Hopefully the product will spread to China and the United States this year. The consolidation on air freight has always been going well out of Europe and the same is intended to happen this year for China and the Americas. Those are key growth areas for DACHSER. b

globally has proven to be a very strong point for DACHSER. We have the capabil- ity of utilising our Interlocking solution, a sophisticated, networked process that enables our customers to tap into new markets around the world. As a logistics company with a footprint in land, sea and air, Interlocking enables the implementation of global consolida- tion, warehousing and distribution to hap- pen in an effective and seamless manner. For example, the system allows us to help our clients pull together shipments from various suppliers in Europe, bring them all to one central point on our own trucking fleets, load them onto one container, and bring the whole consignment and clear it as a single shipment, therefore lower- ing freight charges tremendously, while saving time. Our track & trace platform allows us to actually view what is going on with the shipment, where it is and what stage of the process it is at. Our eTrack & Trace platform is a DACHSER internal solution which is being launched in South Africa. We are able to offer the same solutions as our European offices offer at the moment. There aren’t many freight companies that have got the coverage and capability that DACHSER has globally. That has helped us to grow the business and set our compass forward. MS: You mentioned that intelligent logistics is a growing concept globally. What does intelligent logistics entail? DD: For us, it’s about working with clients in such a way that the partnership is seamless. It’s about having all our systems talking to each other, with everyone who is part of the process knowing what they are supposed to do. It’s also about having SOPs for our clients integrated into the same systems that we use, using the best solutions for the clients without asking them. For example, we have our own consoli- dations coming in from Europe on airlines and with our Management System, we ensure that we have enough space on our consolidations to ensure timeous deliveries. An active warehouse manage- ment system is a real time, web-based integration technology that offers full customer visibility, with a bar code scan- ning module, integrated order system and automated reporting capabilities. It also integrates with our distribution system. MS: What is the role of people in such a digitalised setup? DD: Logistics is perhaps one of the industries at the forefront of the

WHO IS DETLEV DUVE? Detlev was born in Germany and grew up in South Africa. He matriculated in SA and then went overseas to study for his tertiary qualification. He started off his freight career at a freight company in Germany. He came back to SA in 1995 and joined his father in a family business called Jonen Freight at the time, which had a total workforce of 10 people at the time. The company grew to about 120 staff before DACHSER from Germany acquired a stake in the business in 2011. Since then the company officially became DACHSER South Africa.

DACHSER SOUTH AFRICA FIGURES Air & Sea Logistics Own locations:

Four (Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town)

Employees:

234

Air, Sea & Road Logistics performance indicators Air freight tonnage: 4 2 82 t Air freight shipments: 10 013 See freight tonnage (FCL/LCL): 3 729 t Sea freight shipments (FCL/LCL): 7 208 Total TEUs: 7 751 Total road shipments: 16 826

DACHSER GLOBAL KEY FIGURES 510 900 air freight shipments 481 400 sea freight shipments Active in 37 countries

172 branch offices 4 1 68 employees €1 542 million in sales

last year over a period of six months. We also embarked on an intensive training programme to align our staff with the new IT system. We had staff travelling overseas to receive the necessary training, and lo- cally we had trainers going across our four South African branches to train staff. We have since developed in-house knowledge since the implementation of the new IT system, which has been a success. MS: As the technological revolution continues apace, just how important is it for the logistics industry to adapt accordingly? Detlev Duve (DD): To remain competitive, it is principal for logistics providers to leverage digital technology to deliver intelligent solutions. All new generations are going the digital route and if we don’t move with the times we will be left behind. The integration of our whole system

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS FEBRUARY 2018 33