nightstar KEEPING EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY! NEW TEAM MEMBER: QUALITY COACH ANDRÉ JEHN 2/2014

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1 nightstar expresscustomer magazine 2/2014 KEEPING EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY! NEW TEAM MEMBER: QUALITY COACH ANDRÉ JEHN

2 EDITORIALCOMPANY NEWS DOWN 12 PER CENT CO 2 EMISSIONS CUT nightstarexpress IS GROWING CUSTOMER MAGAZINE RELAUNCHED That is the pleasing result of efforts to reduce our carbon footprint last year. Although Night Star Express handled more consignments and therefore more weight in 2013, we released considerably fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, namely kg of CO2 per kilo of goods we transported. This sharp fall in our CO2 emissions was primarily thanks to the modernisation of our vehicle fleet. Almost 60 per cent of our vehicles now comply with the Euro 5 or Euro 6 standard. This share rose by 25 per cent last year alone. Eco-driving courses are also provided. Staff attend regular environmental training sessions which teach them how to conserve resources, and energy from alternative sources is used wherever possible. In the last issue of our customer magazine, I was pleased to report in my editorial that business at Night Star Express had continued to develop positively in Today, I once again have the pleasure of announcing further growth at Night Star Express. You probably noticed this expansion as soon as you picked up this issue: our magazine now has more pages than before it has grown. As our company has expanded in recent years, the content we report on here has also become more diverse. Our customer magazine will now be even bigger than before to provide enough space for all these topics. But that s not all: we have also revamped the look of our magazine. They say that all good things come in threes, and a digital version of our customer magazine nightstar express will be available in English too from now on. Anyone who would like to read it in English can find the PDF online at I 2 I We hope you enjoy reading our magazine! Best regards, Ihr Matthias Hohmann Issue 54 no. 2/2014 Circulation: 4,700 copies Published by: Night Star Express GmbH Logistik, Unna ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND LEGAL NOTICE Editor-in-chief: Christine Kuhlmann, central coordination office in Unna (christine.kuhlmann@night-star-express.de) Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 1, Unna, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) Editorial board: Herbert Remensperger, Key Account Manager, South Marcel Tüscher, Night Star Express Schweiz AG Josef Schöllhuber, G. Englmayer, Spedition GmbH, Austria Kirsten Willenborg, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Carolin Heinrichs, Zufall logistics group Robert Overgoor, Night Star Express Hellmann B.V. All of the above can be contacted via: Editor-in-chief Editorial team: Tina Pfeiffer-Dresp, transparent (tptransparent@t-online.de) Marienstraße 4, Iserlohn-Letmathe, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) Design: Y-Design, Michael Franz (info@ydesign-online.de), Burchardtstraße Aschaffenburg, Germany, Tel.: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) Copy deadline for issue no. 3/2014: 25 July 2014 Date of publication for issue no. 3/2014: Week 39 September 2014 Bylined articles do not necessarily reflect the editorial team s opinion. The editorial team reserves the right to shorten any readers letters which are published for space reasons. Please send articles, letters and comments straight to Christine Kuhlmann, Night Star Express GmbH Logistik in Unna (address above).

3 NEWSINNOVATIONS IT: THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE WEB APPLICATIONS ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY Logistics are driving business* and IT is fuelling the future of logistics companies. Using IT applications to manage business processes has long since become the norm. Comprehensive process management is particularly crucial for logistics companies which form a fixed part of the value chain to succeed. Following the trend towards cloud computing, more and more applications are being moved online. Night Star Express is also capitalising on this trend and has been offering two new Web-based services since April One is a central recipient database and the other is a returns tool. With the aid of these applications, customers and recipients are actively involved in the processes. In other words, services like these also serve as an all-new form of communication between clients and service providers. CENTRAL RECIPIENT DATABASE The central recipient database contains the details of all recipients who have signed a drop box agreement with Night Star Express. All registered recipients are sent a personal access code and can make changes themselves at any time. New recipient customers who would like to enter into a drop box agreement can register and input the details of their collection drop box into the database themselves. The advantages for recipients are that all relevant information is stored online and can be accessed by Night Star Express companies immediately. RETURNS TOOL On top of this, Night Star Express offers a returns tool which means that everyone involved can track items that are being returned to the sender. Customers can even actively help to steer the returns process. Here s how it works: the original sender submits a collection request for the returns parcel online; the recipient receives a link to print the necessary returns label and prepares the goods for collection. This action simultaneously places an order with Night Star Express to collect the parcel to be returned. The sender or recipient of the returns can track the process at any time online, keeping them informed as to when the goods will arrive at their warehouse. The returns tool is integrated into the new and improved tracking ng, which customers have been able to use to track parcels since the beginning of DEPOT.NIGHT-STAR-EXPRESS.DE TRACKING.NIGHT-STAR-EXPRESS.DE All online services are available for registered customers only. * Source: the German logistics association BVL. I 3 I

4 SERVICESAME-DAY DELIVERY WHEN FAST ISN T FAST ENOUGH I 4 I

5 SERVICETAGBELIEFERUNG EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH is responsible for ensuring that Autoteilewelt an independent car parts division of the Emil Frey Group always keeps the promise it has made to its customers to provide a fast and reliable service. This primarily means regularly and quickly supplying car dealerships and garages with original spare parts from a total of 20 different manufacturers via its overnight express service. Providing rapid servicing and repairs is becoming increasingly important in the automotive industry, meaning that these clients often need urgent parts on the same day, within a matter of hours. Night Star Express has been implementing the necessary logistics concept for EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH for over a year now in first-class quality. As well as delivering to customers throughout Germany overnight, it makes as many as 45 delivery runs from the central EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH warehouse in Friedberg every weekday. The car dealerships and garages receive the parts they need one to five hours after they place an order. Customer focus and SAME-DAY DELIVERY FOR GARAGES personal service are priorities for Night Star Express. The Night Star Express shareholding partner Zufall shows how this can be put into practice in the case of EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH: daytime deliveries are scheduled by a Zufall employee at the client s premises. Together with the relevant staff from EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH, a route plan has been developed and distributed to all recipients. This means the garages and dealerships can place an order up to 30 minutes before a given delivery run commences and know when the parts will arrive. The Zufall employee Merim Kazic is responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly on site in Friedberg. His responsibilities include route planning and checking that vehicles are loaded safely. He is also the contact for staff at EFA Autoteilewelt Logistik GmbH and is constantly in touch with the business owners and drivers. Merim Kazic knows the daytime runs better than anyone else, having started his career in logistics years ago as a delivery driver on these routes. His wealth of experience is valued highly by the recipients too. As he knows many of them personally, he regularly receives direct calls when urgent parts are needed in double-quick time. ON-SITE ZUFALL EMPLOYEE MERIM KAZIC (R) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE DAYTIME RUNS GO SMOOTHLY MATTHIAS MENTZ, ZUFALL, AND MERIM KAZIC LIAISE WITH ONE ANOTHER REGULARLY I 5 I

6 WHO DOES WHEN, HOW W COVER STORYQUALITY This is the question that is always asked when it comes to improving business processes. The quality management team are usually the people who know the answers. Night Star Express is no different in this regard. In line with our first-class overnight express philosophy, we have been looking at this question very closely for a number of years now. The objective of our central quality management unit is to enhance service quality in such a way that we can offer our customers top quality 24/7. I 6 I

7 TITELTHEMAQUALITÄT WHAT AND ITH? AN INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW QUALITY COACH ANDRÉ JEHN sation. For instance, I talk to clients about the packaging solutions which are most suitable for transporting their goods. I also teach the transfer depot staff and drivers how to handle different goods correctly. Ultimately, identifying weaknesses throughout the process chain and eliminating them is associated with a general improvement in quality. Editorial team: What have your experiences over the first few months been like? André Jehn: My experiences have been thoroughly positive. What impresses me most is the fact that we re all pulling together. Where necessary, the local staff at the Night Star Express companies are working really hard with us to optimise our workflows. After all, teamwork is crucial if we want to achieve successes which our customers will also recognise. send and receive consignments benefit when goods are delivered undamaged, of course. That doesn t just reduce administrative work and costs it also prevents potential stress for everyone involved. And we all ultimately benefit from that. André Jehn joined the team at the central Night Star Express quality management department in November 2013 in the role of quality coach. He has extensive industry expertise, having worked for the Night Star Express shareholding partner Zufall in Fulda for several years, holding various positions relating to the overnight express service. Our editorial team talked to him in person about his new responsibilities, his aims and his experiences during his first few months. Editorial team: Who benefits from your work? André Jehn: I can answer that question very quickly and easily: everyone! First and foremost, customers who use our company to Editorial team: What do you aim to achieve with your work? André Jehn: In principle, the aim of my work is integrated throughout our quality management system: extending our quality leadership. Whenever we notice increased levels of damage, I try to identify all the potential for optimisation and suggest improvements. We have already succeeded in substantially reducing the rate of damage for customers in the automotive industry within a short space of time by improving packaging and providing training. Editorial team: Mr Jehn, you took on the role of quality coach within the quality management team at Night Star Express in November Could you briefly describe your responsibilities? André Jehn: My responsibilities focus quite clearly on helping to reduce damage. That means I look at all the operational processes and filter out the relevant potential for optimi- Editorial team: Thank you for talking to us. We wish you every success moving forwards. I 7 I

8 NEWSFAIRKEP COMPLIANCE WITH FAIRKEP CODE CONFIRMED NIGHT STAR EXPRESS GMBH LOGISTIK REMAINS A FAIRKEP COMPANY I 8 I For the first time since the FairKEP code was introduced, it has been confirmed that Night Star Express GmbH Logistik the central coordinator of the Night Star Express overnight express network complies with the guidelines. The necessary audit was conducted in March 2014 by an independent certifier, Quality Service Hanseatic. This FairKEP audit examined the firm s relationship with its customers, network partners and employees. Environmental and community activities were also taken into account. The auditors made special mention of the company s cooperative organisational cul- ture, calling it a pillar of the whole network ethos, along with the high standard of quality which paves the way for strong customer trust. In 2013, Night Star Express GmbH Logistik received an honorary award for helping to draft the FairKEP code. The code was developed for companies in the courier, express and parcel delivery sector (known as KEP for short in Germany) and provides guidelines for sustainable business management. They include recommendations relating to the market, jobs, the environment, the community, eco-friendly transportation, work-life balance and fair collaboration with haulage partners.

9 INTERVIEWSPECIALIST SALES TEAM To market a special service such as overnight express delivery successfully, we have to give customers sound advice. For our sales staff, that means acquiring the necessary industry expertise and always staying up to date with new developments. With this in mind, the Night Star Express shareholding partner Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has set up a specialist sales team for its customers. Editorial team: Mr Möller, Hellmann has a specialist sales team for Night Star Express. You ve been part of it right from the start what has your experience of it been like? Dominik Möller: It s been an outstanding experience! We re specialists in our segment, and our customers recognise us as such. Our industry knowledge is very sound, which means we can give our customers comprehensive advice from day one, even if colleagues from other product categories attend the customer meetings too. Editorial team: Doesn t having several sales contacts at Hellmann bother customers? Dominik Möller: Quite the opposite I ve been told several times that clients see it as a sign of esteem when we go for joint meetings with specialists from the European land carriage, rail or air/sea units, for example. The specialisations give us excellent cross-selling opportunities. Editorial team: Do you think there are other advantages too? Dominik Möller: We can make decisions quickly. Our Sales Director Stephan Meyer and my colleagues Sandra Krell in Hamburg, Andrea Hoge in Bremen and André Klein in Hannover along with me for Osnabrück can react to new challenges including overarching ones very quickly and effectively. I can only speak for Osnabrück myself, but we ve got a great team there with people who are highly motivated, very well organised and well managed. They identify very strongly with Night Star Express, and that makes for very high quality. Editorial team: That all sounds very positive. Is there anything you think should be better? AN OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE AN INTERVIEW WITH DOMINIK MÖLLER FROM THE NIGHT STAR EXPRESS SPECIALIST SALES TEAM Dominik Möller: Personally, I d like it if Night Star Express wasn t primarily seen just as a spare parts specialist in the traditional overnight express sectors. Our range of services is getting more and more varied for example, we are already involved in sanitaryware, trade supplies and even the fashion industry. Editorial team: What changes would you like to see at Night Star Express in the future? Dominik Möller: It s important that we keep developing as a matter of course. Innovative new solutions, expanding into more sectors, and perhaps even daytime deliveries and a comprehensive concept for the last mile of B2C deliveries. Maybe we will also establish special industry solutions in the future. I think it s very important for us to look at the big picture and work on visions for the future. Editorial team: Thank you for talking to us, Mr Möller. Profile: Dominik Möller (32) Eight years at Hellmann Member of the Night Star Express specialist sales team for five years Married with two children aged one and four Hobbies: football, mountain biking I 9 I

10 EUROPESWITZERLAND CUSTOMS MADE EASY NO NEED TO PANIC WITH NIGHT STAR EXPRESS Does the thought of customs pre-clearance, Incoterms, fiscal representation, T1 and transit documents make you shudder? There is no need to panic if you re a customer of Night Star Express because we will take care of the customs formalities for you. Staffed by a team of 45, our 24/7 customs competence centre for Germany/Switzerland completes customs clearance for several thousand consignments every month. I 10 I It s really very simple: to send a normal parcel to Switzerland with a merchandise value of up to Euro (or a weight of up to 995 kg), all you need is an invoice and a set of shipping instructions. If the consignment is worth between Euro 1,000 and Euro 5,999.99, you need a pre-cleared export declaration in addition to the invoice and shipping instructions. If you don t want to produce the export declaration yourself, simply grant us power of attorney and we ll do it for you. We will complete the transit document for you at the same time including pre-clearance from anywhere in Germany. THERE ARE STILL A FEW THINGS YOU NEED TO DO: First, you need to request that we collect the consignment. Second, submit the invoice and for merchandise worth more than Euro 6,000 the certificate of origin to us by 6.30 p.m. Third, provide us with your shipping instructions (Incoterms = instructions about how the consignment is to be delivered). There are several codes within this system. Night Star Express uses the following three: DDP, DAP and EXW. Select the right code and enclose the original documents, signed by you, with your consignment. Then the goods are ready to collect. COLLECTIVE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE If you want to clear all your consignments for recipients in Switzerland through customs in

11 DNK one go, Night Star Express will take care of that for you too. Collective customs clearance saves time and money. You simply give us the name of the importer for the customs clearance application and send us a collective invoice for all of that day s consignments using a predefined electronic format. EUROPASWITZERLAND/SOUTH TYROL EVEN AT THE WEEKEND and deliver them nationwide by noon We even make it possible to clear customs on Monday. The only slight drawback is that and import goods at the weekend. Especially deliveries of this kind always require an export at harvest time, clients from the agricultural declaration. However, the staff at our customs machinery sector are always glad if urgently competence centre for Germany/Switzerland needed spare parts aren t held up at customs. are on hand to help and advise you on this We can collect them on a Saturday or Sunday issue too, around the clock. NOW IN SOUTH TYROL TOO! G. ENGLMAYER EXPANDS ITS SERVICE PORTFOLIO G. Englmayer has been operating as a successful franchise partner for Austria and Eastern Europe within the international Night Star Express network for a number of years now. Another region was recently added to the firm s service portfolio: South Tyrol. From Vipiteno, Bressanone and Bolzano to Avelengo and Laces from now on, the company delivers urgent goods to customers throughout this region too from Tuesday to Saturday, usually before the working day starts at 8.00 a.m. This reduces unnecessary waiting and downtime for businesses and enables clients to plan their work much more flexibly. Tracking and tracing using online delivery scanning (GPS) rounds off the service. Germany South Tyrol Austria Hungary IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT: JOSEF SCHÖLLHUBER, TEL.: +43 (0) , J.SCHOELLHUBER@AT. ENGLMAYER.NET I 11 I

12 EUROPASLOVENIA WHAT IS GOING ON IN SLOWENIEN? GOOD TO KNOW G. ENGLMAYER IS AT HOME HERE TOO I 12 I

13 EUROPASLOWENIEN The Austrian-based company G. Englmayer has adopted a long-term strategy of increasingly cultivating the current growth markets and future potential of Eastern Europe and that includes Slovenia, of course. With this in mind, G. Englmayer opened its first Slovenian base more than 12 years ago, on 23 April 2002, in Dravograd not far from the Austrian border. It operated its first daytime/overnight express and general cargo haulage services throughout Slovenia from this site. International express consignments from Germany, Benelux or Denmark sent via the Night Star Express service are delivered nationwide on day B, with goods destined for Ljubljana arriving by 2.00 p.m. All parcels are initially taken to the northernmost depot in Dravograd for subsequent distribution throughout the country. WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE? JOSEF SCHÖLLHUBER IS HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUES- TIONS ABOUT SLOVENIA TOO. CALL HIM ON +43 (0) OR J.SCHOELLHUBER@ AT.ENGLMAYER.NET Exports bound for Germany or BUSINESS DEVELOPS APACE Just three years later, G. Englmayer moved its Slovenian headquarters and offices to the heart of the country, close to Ljubljana. Dravograd was kept on as a depot. The relocation enabled the firm to cater better for the centrally located capital and positioned it in close proximity to Slovenian customers. This resulted in continuous growth. Nevertheless, the company remained on the lookout for further improvements and set up another depot soon afterwards in Celovška, just a few hundred metres from the motorway and right on the edge of the capital city. Slovenia has a population of approximately 2.1 million and an area of 20,273 km². That makes it roughly the same size as Wales. It may not be a huge country, but the firm established another depot in the northern city of Maribor in 2013 to optimise its accessibility and service for customers throughout Slovenia. Ten employees now manage operations in Slovenia from the offices in Ljubljana. Along with the three depots, they ensure that consignments are distributed quickly and effectively, both day and night. Regular services to and from all the countries served by G. Englmayer mean that the firm can offer extremely competitive delivery times. OVERNIGHT EXPRESS SERVICE PORTFOLIO The company currently offers an overnight express service for national deliveries within Slovenia and also places a strong focus on consignments from Austria and Hungary, which have strong mail-order industries. Overnight express parcels arrive at the Dravograd depot at 1.00 a.m. and are delivered throughout Slovenia by 8.00 a.m. Benelux from Slovenia can be delivered in 36 hours: Day A collected in Slovenia Day B in transit Day C delivery by 8.00 a.m. via the overnight express service SOME OF THE TEAM IN LJUBLJANA (LEFT TO RIGHT): ALJAŽ OREŠEK, MAJA NAGLIČ, ŽAK VERDNIK, BRANKO STEHARNIK (OFFICE MANAGER) AND PETRA ROBLEK I 13 I

14 SERVICEQUICK-RESPONSE WAREHOUSES GERMANY-WIDE EMERGENCY PARTS SERVICE CONTROL CENTRE SET UP IN KASSEL Plant interruptions and production downtime for repairs or maintenance cost companies a huge amount of money. That is why firms try to complete essential repair work as quickly as possible. In this kind of situation, it is all the more annoying when the repair team at the client s premises realises that they are lacking a crucial spare part. In emergencies like these when parts are needed incredibly quickly, the Zufall logistics group in Kassel a Night Star Express shareholding partner is now on hand to help in no time at all. A project was recently rolled out, initially for clients at engineering companies, which guarantees delivery of the required components to the repair site within just 90 minutes. In order to meet this logistical challenge, a dense network of quick-response warehouses has been set up. Günther Harder, Head of the Night Star Express Department at Zufall in Kassel, explained the system as follows: A total of 22 quick-response warehouses are planned throughout Germany, each responsible for express delivery within a 90-kilometre radius. Many of them are already operational. Each spare part has to be delivered to the engineer at the client s premises within 120 minutes at the most. VERY FEW STEPS IN THE PROCESS When customer service engineers out on call realise that they need a specific spare part to complete a repair or servicing job, they call the central hotline at Zufall in Kassel. The team there centrally manages all the steps involved in the emergency parts delivery service throughout Germany. As vehicles are stationed at every quick-response warehouse exclusively for this service, deliveries can be made immediately between 7.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. A 24/7 standby service is also possible for round-the-clock deliveries. The quick-response warehouses are restocked the very same day using the overnight express service, meaning that the spare part in question is available again the next morning. We re proud to be able to offer this demanding additional service to our customers, says Günther Harder, and we re delighted that all the processes are already running quickly and smoothly. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 90-MINUTE EMERGEN- CY DELIVERY SERVICE, PLEASE CONTACT: GÜNTHER HARDER FRIEDRICH ZUFALL GMBH & CO. KG GOTTLIEB-DAIMLER-STRASSE KASSEL GUENTHER. HARDER@ZUFALL.DE TEL. +49 (0) I 14 I

15 EUROPANETHERLANDS INCREASING EXPORTS IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR CONTRACT SIGNED WITH LELY INDUSTRIES Night Star Express Hellmann B.V. started transporting exports for the agricultural machinery manufacturer Lely in Duiven (near Arnheim) to Germany on 1 January Since the cooperation began, the overnight express service has not just been delivering reliably to Lely s German customers it has also been serving two Lely production plants in Germany. Lely Industries was established in the Netherlands more than 60 years ago and now specialises in innovative feeding, milking and housing technology. Just before it entered into the new partnership, Lely Industries relocated its warehouse from Maassluis (near Rotterdam) to Duiven. This move and the new collaboration with Night Star Express Hellmann B.V. together deliver two advantages for Lely s customers. Firstly, Lely has been able to substantially push back its deadline for incoming orders, and secondly all urgent parts are delivered by Night Star Express throughout Germany by 8.00 a.m. on the dot, as usual. Ultimately, Lely chose to cooperate with Night Star Express in the Netherlands based on the two firms long-standing partnership in Germany. Lely has been relying on Night Star Express s expertise and service to supply agricultural customers from its bases in Wolfenbüttel and Waldstetten for over ten years. The team from Night Star Express Hellmann B.V. has extensive expertise in overnight express deliveries within the agricultural machinery industry and has succeeded in becoming the Dutch market leader in this sector. With its tailored concepts and personal customer advice, the firm has managed to consolidate and constantly build on this position over the past 20 years. As a result, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics had no problem quickly integrating the first-class overnight express philosophy following its takeover of the company in January Lely sets particular store by the firm s professional handling of its goods and their on-time delivery, meaning that complaints are extremely rare. Deliveries from the Netherlands to Germany were just the first step in the latest business expansion. Later this year, Lely plans to start supplying customers in the rest of Benelux, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia from the EDC in Duiven with the help of Night Star Express too. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT NSE@NL.HELLMANN.NET DIRECTLY. I 15 I

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