Dachser makes quality and integrated IT its USP

Source: Supply Chain Digital

Date :26/11/2007 11:51:00

As one of Europe's leading logistics providers, DACHSER draws on years of experience, state-of-the-art IT systems, and daily cooperation between large numbers of highly motivated people

Written by James Hurley and Produced by Paul Radbourne

UK Managing Director Nick Lowe explains how the company’s UK operations fit into a wider European network

Founded in Germany in 1930 by Thomas Dachser, the first product shipped by the company was Allgäu cheese, destined chiefly for the Rhineland. The company's first branch offices - in Memmingen and Neuss - were opened in 1934. By 1938, Dachser already had twenty vehicles, making it the leading transport company in the Allgäu region.

Since then, the company has played a major role in the history of European logistics, and continues to set trends for the future. As outsourcing has become standard practice and ‘freight forwarders’ have become ‘logistics providers’, transport and warehousing are no longer separated from procurement, production and sales, but have come to be regarded as an interface between these functions. In this environment, Dachser has thrived. It now employs some 15, 000 people globally and has a turnover of €3.1 billion.

A strong network

In the UK, Dachser’s operations are relatively low key by comparison; it employs 140 people and has a turnover of £31 million. The company operates from two depots in Northampton and one in Dartford. “Compared to the size of the organisation, we’re relatively small in the UK,” says Nick Lowe, Managing Director of the UK operation, Dachser Ltd. Leveraging the group’s capabilities allows the company to punch above its weight in the UK, he says. “We’re linked to this very strong network, which is especially true of our financial and IT capabilities.

“One of the great things we have in terms of our export services is that we link into the whole European network through the main gateways, and France and Germany in particular. For groupage consignments we can link right through to all the major European destinations, and that’s all connected through the IT system that we have which provides superb visibility.”

An integrated European IT system is good news both internally and for the company’s customers. “In Germany, 99 percent of the consignments that are...

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