34


Issue 7 2014 - Freight Business Journal


///GERMANY


Following successful pilot projects in other European countries, DHL is now testing the use of bicycles for the express delivery of


Couriers get on their bikes Aga gives Hellmann a warm feeling


documents and


smaller parcel items in Berlin and Frankfurt. Two different models will be under close scrutiny until the end of September. The first is the ‘DHL Parcycle’, which has a sealable


140-litre transport


box. The second is the more manoeuvrable DHL Touring Bike, primarily suited for use with a courier backpack. The tests will soon be


expanded to two other major cities in northern and southern Germany. “Using bicycles to make


deliveries has made us significantly more flexible and faster in downtown areas and conurbations,” said DHL Express Germany divisional board


member, Tobias Wider. “Unlike delivery vehicle drivers, bicycle couriers can always drive right up to the recipient’s door, are not affected by downtown traffic volumes or access restrictions and at times can even use shorter routes.” The bicycles also allow DHL to meet the requests


Express of many customers for greener


transport. “Our aim is to utilize bicycle couriers in the next few years anywhere they can improve our customer service and effectiveness,” Wider emphasized. DHL Express has deployed


bicycle couriers in nine European countries


so far –


including the UK, Netherlands, France and Italy.


Nagel Group: feeding Europe


Nagel Group is one of Germany – and Europe’s – largest food logistics companies. At close on a million square metres of warehousing, 6,000 trucks, 4,000 trailers, 11,000 employees and 100 logistics centres, the family-owned company operates a unique network in 17 different European countries. Nagel specialises entirely in


food transport and logistics, explains CEO Bernhard Heinrich, a complex business. It offers a regular service across Europe, connecting all its 100 logistics centres with regular services, and it also moves


full loads and offers


contract logistics services. But Nagel also has to provide this service across five different temperature segments - frozen, ‘ultra fresh’, chilled, ambient and dry. It services food manufacturers, moving


ingredients to production sites, and retailers, or even direct to restaurants. And it also offers value-added services such as pick and pack or sorting products ready for the shop shelves. Its warehousing sites range from 200-pallet capacity to 400,000 pallets. Some contracts last a season, others having being going on for 15 years. Needless to say, everything


is connected by the latest in IT systems, planning tools, real- time tracking and tracing, there is comprehensive temperature- monitoring and an in-house software team. This last makes it much easier to make system tweaks in response to customer requirements, says Heinrich. Everything operates to food


industry standards and is regularly audited; inspectors often


make unannounced


visits to facilities to ensure that everything is up to scratch. Nagel is mainly focussed


on the intra-European market, though it does a certain amount of container stuffing and unstuffing, plus airfreight. Nagel operates in most major


west and central European countries, including the UK. The main areas not currently included on its map are Spain – where it is building operations – and Ireland, which is a market that Heinrich would certainly like to get into. Germany itself is of course


a very important market for Nagel. The country’s food industry is a colossus, employing 556,000 people and turning over €174.5bn, of which €54bn is earned abroad, mostly in Europe. German bakery products are especially popular. Nagel Group has a major


multi-temperature complex at Wustermark, just outside Berlin. The German capital is an interesting choice of location. Although the city is not quite in the centre of the country – it is offset somewhat to the east – it is a very convenient location for distribution to the rest of the country. From Wustermark, Nagel guarantees 24-hour delivery to all but the southernmost provinces of the country, and even they can be reached within that time-scale


The ‘feel good’ factor in Germany continues, says commercial director at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Matthew Marriott. He says that the economy remains strong, exports are performing well, and the country continues to lead the EU. However, “the overall European economy remains an unstable base, so Germany can’t and won’t get ahead of itself,” is his analysis. UK exporters are having


some success in penetrating the German market, but not enough, he continues. “Although the


UK economy is recovering, the investment focus has been on construction as opposed to exports. A weak economy is actually an appealing market for exporting, as trade is usually viewed as being cheaper – now that our economy is growing, we may have missed an opportune window, and hence the trade gap still exists. However, we have a very small market share, so even in a recession, in theory, we could still grow – which is something that has been witnessed within UK car


manufacturing.” Hellmann in Germany


launched a new partnership with Cretschmar Cargo in May 2014, allowing services to Dusseldorf and central regions, in addition to servicing the north and south. Hellmann has also extended its network advancement in the south west of Germany. Marriott adds: “Our new partnership with AGA also sees us strengthen and maximise our network across Europe – so we are pleased with developments to date.”


Look: no pilot – DHL to trial robot Parcelcopter


DHL Parcel is to launch a drone service


to deliver medicines


and other urgent items to the North Sea island of Juist. The experimental ‘Parcelcopter’ link will be the first time in Europe that an unmanned aircraſt will be operated outside of the pilot’s field of vision in a real-life mission. It is the latest stage in the Parcelcopter research project it launched in December 2013. DHL and its


two research


and development partners, the Institute of Flight System Dynamics at RWTH Aachen University and Microdrones Parcel have completed a comprehensive consultation and


approval process led


by Lower Saxony’s Ministry for Economics, Labour and Transport and a restricted flight area for the 12km flight to the island has been set up exclusively for the project. CEO of Deutsche Post DHL’s


Post – eCommerce’s Parcel Division, Jürgen Gerdes, describes the DHL Parcelcopter 2.0 as “already one of the safest and most reliable flight systems in its class that meets the


at a push. But as the capital of Germany,


Berlin is also a major population and consumption area in its own right, with around 3.5m people and, following reunification, it is once again the largest city in the country. (Before 1990, West Berlin was entirely surrounded by the territory of the then East Germany, an enclave divided


requirements needed to fulfil such a mission.” To


ensure that the DHL


Parcelcopter operates reliably, flies safely and always lands at the right


location, an autopilot


with automated take-off and landing functions was developed. It can fly at up to 18 meters per second (65km/h) depending on wind speed and will operate when ferries and manned flights are not available from the harbour in Norddeich. Currently, there are no


specific plans to use the DHL Parcelcopter in normal parcel delivery operations, but DHL says that the use of Parcelcopters


off from the rest of the city by the infamous Berlin Wall.) By the standards of cities like Frankfurt and Munich, though, Berlin is comparatively poor, and unlike those cities there is a ready supply of labour for operations like pick and pack or reworking product. According to Eurostat, Berlin has some of the country’s


to deliver urgently needed goods to thinly populated or remote areas or in emergencies is an interesting option for the future.


l called


EU transport ministers for


European-wide


standards for civil drones to be developed when they met in Luxembourg on 8 October. Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said that, with over 2,200 drone operators already approved in Europe, the market is still extremely fragmented and member states were tending to legislate at national level. EU- wide standards would help the industry develop, he argued.


highest unemployment rates


– 8% as against under 4% in the prosperous south


– and


lower than average household income. At the same time, Berlin is a major centre for food production. Government grants have encouraged companies to set up factories in and around the city over the years.


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