nightstar EXPECTATIONS FULFILLED? QUALITY YOU CAN FEEL Customer magazin 4/2014

Transcription

1 express nightstar Customer magazin 4/2014 EXPECTATIONS FULFILLED? QUALITY YOU CAN FEEL

2 EDITORIAL COMPANY NEWS ALL SET FOR 2015! As 2014 draws to a close, I m sure you ve been casting a look back at the past year and a look forward to the year to come. However, I ve decided to do things slightly differently in this issue. Our times are defined by changes, the results of which are hard to judge in the present. One major driver of change is the incredible pace of digitalisation in almost every area of our lives. Industry 4.0 / Logistics 4.0 offers a range of opportunities for our industry because the strengthened networks between customers and service providers can result in much more productive processes. Night Star Express acknowledges these changes and plays an active role in shaping them. Despite all the changes that we will have to adapt to in the near future, one thing in particular is very important to me: At Night Star Express, we will continue to focus on the very highest quality in the development of our overnight express services. After all, quality is valued very highly and, as such, it will continue to characterise our first-class overnight express brand in the future, too. Continuity and reliability are two other values that define us, and these highly prized qualities are precisely what Night Star Express stands for. A NEW EVENING WARDROBE SHOWING OUR COLOURS A company is seen in the way it presents itself, and company uniforms are a factor that has a significant impact on this. Night Star Express represents quality and reliability thanks to a strong, dedicated team that takes to the road for you every single day. We set ourselves high standards and are uncompromising in striving for the best after all, you don t get a second shot at a first impression. For this reason, company uniforms also require high-quality solutions. Our new customised driver outfit also boosts identification with the company. Brand awareness and a sense of solidarity among employees is strengthened, as well as our appearance to the customer. What could make a bigger statement than what a person wears? From now on, we ll be showing our colours a confident midnight blue. In addition to a casual polo shirt for warm summer evenings, the new uniform also features a jumper for the colder months. The new outfit is complemented by long trousers with reflective strips on the legs. And because safety is important for our colleagues who work through the night, the polo shirt and jumper also feature reflective logos on the front and back. Of course, these new items can be combined with our Night Star Express all-weather jacket, which also complies with high road safety standards. Our editorial team has put together plenty of interesting content from the Night Star Express world for your reading pleasure. We all wish you a peaceful festive season and a great start to 2015! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND LEGAL NOTICE I 2 I Best wishes, Matthias Hohmann Issue 56 no. 4/2014 Circulation: 4,600 copies Published by: Night Star Express GmbH Logistik, Unna 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 Wim Mulder und 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. 1/2015: 6 January 2015 Date of publication for issue no. 1/2015: Week 12 March 2015 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 NEWS SURVEY / AWARD SHARE YOUR STORIES FACT CHECK It is hard to deny that, while employing a total of 2.7 million people, Germany s third-largest, fast-developing industry, logistics, still has an image problem. We received confirmation of this news via the publication of the results of a survey conducted among economic and specialist journalists this year. So, what seems to be the problem? The logistics industry communicates or publishes too little, and when it does, it fails in terms of strategic communication. Logistics experts need more imagination to create good stories and positive messages. At Night Star Express, we wanted to know more, so we asked our long-term media partners in the trade press directly. How is our partnership coming along, and what could we do to improve by mutual understanding and in a fast-changing media landscape? Of course we were happy to receive all the positive replies saying things like Everything s just right and You re in a great position keep up the good work, says Christine Kuhlmann, PR manager at the Night Star Express central coordination office. But it was even more important to take heed of the replies that showed us where our corporate communication had room for improvement in terms of the fast changes brought about by the Internet and social media. The key results Despite the Internet, Facebook and so on, good-quality content is still important Images and graphics are increasing in importance Fostering a closer personal contact between the company and media representatives Exclusivity in user reports We took these comments seriously and they will be a factor in our corporate communication strategy wherever possible. AWARD FOR BEST BACHELOR OF SCIENCE GREEN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COURSE, 2014 For the fourth year running, Night Star Express awarded the Study Award 2014 at the BiTS Bachelor Degree Ball on 14 November 2014 in Iserlohn. This year, Stefanie Franke was delighted to receive the award as the Best Bachelor of Science Green Business Management, given in acknowledgement of her exceptional results. Managing director Matthias Hohmann (right) awarding the 2014 Study Award to prizewinner Stefanie Franke. Prof. Thomas Meuser (left) is shown here at her side. I 3 I

4 NEWS RETURNS TOOL RETURNS MADE EASY IT TOOL SUPPORTS RETURNS PROCESSING I4I

5 NEWS RETURNS TOOL Returns management is a major buzzword at the moment and is present everywhere whether it s in the media, from dispatchers or service providers even politicians are talking about returns management. Why? Driven by the immense growth in online retail, the amount of returns handled by CEP service providers has increased dramatically. Returns management has always been of major significance to Night Star Express, too. prerequisite for using this service is a one-off registration. This returns tool enables Night Star Express to offer all customers a central platform on which the entire returns consignment can be processed quickly and easily. Administrative processes are thus optimised and made much more transparent. The information as to which recipients have returns for collection is also communicated to Night Star Express immediately. This makes it easier for everyone involved to manage the returns process more effectively. After being in operation for around six months now, customers and Night Star Express shops alike have formed their initial impressions of the new returns tool. As a Financial aspects and the possibilities opened up by modern technologies have completely changed the requirements of faster and more efficient returns processing. Night Star Express has been offering its customers a Web-based IT tool to enable straightforward, fast processing of returns since early Klaus Klimmek, the project manager responsible for the new returns tool at the Night Star Express central coordination office, explains its benefits and how it works. By using our new returns tool, customers can actively influence the returns process, and can determine the time when the item to be returned is picked up. The customer returning items registers the goods that need to be picked up with the consignor. As the company delivering the original consignment, the consignor then makes an online order for the items to be returned to be picked up. The recipient automatically receives an containing a link so that he/ she can print the required returns label on any standard printer. The only thing the recipient has left to do is to provide the goods to be returned. The online order to come and pick up the items to be returned is immediately transmitted to Night Star Express. Another advantage of using our returns tool is that the customer can track the entire returns process online on our tracking platform, so that he/she has complete control over the consignment of returns. The only Editorial department: Does the new returns tool make for easier handling of returns within the Night Star Express system? Havva Inan: Absolutely! Many of our customers only occasionally have to return an item. Drawing on our service mentality, we take charge of managing returns. Tanja Franz: In addition, the companies picking up the items and receiving the items also get automatic notification of the collection order, which means we re always up to date. Editorial department: How easy is it to use the IT tool? Tanja Franz: Really easy. If the customer notifies us that there is a return, we only need to take a quick look at the consignment tracking status to result, it s the perfect reason for Herbert Remensperger, a member of the nightstar express editorial team, to ask what has changed in the Regenstauf office s day-today work. see when the original order went out. Then we just click on the Returns button and we already have to hand the correct details for the consignor and recipient. All that s left is entering the collection date and address it s as easy as that! Havva Inan: Yes, it takes about two minutes. Two or three clicks and it s sorted it couldn t be any easier. I 5 I

6 COVER STORY QUALITY A HIGHLY PRIZED ATTRIBUTE WHAT DOES QUALITY MEAN TO YOU? The quality of a product can usually be determined fairly accurately using fixed criteria and with technical measuring methods. For services, this process is a bit more difficult because the customer or client often has different criteria in terms of the quality or level of service of the service received, regardless of certification in line with the DIN ISO 9001 quality norm. The overnight express service is no exception to this. As a first-class provider of overnight express delivery services, we have set ourselves the maxim of providing our customers with tailored logistics solutions of the very highest quality. But how satisfied are our customers? What do our customers associate with the slogan first-class overnight express and what does quality or good service mean from their point of view? To answer these questions, our nightstar express editor Herbert Remensperger spoke to Alois Schneider, head of logistics at HORSCH Maschinen GmbH, Schwandorf. Editorial department: Mr Schneider, you are responsible for logistics at HORSCH. What does quality or exceptional service mean for you? Do you agree that there is such a thing as perceived quality, as many people claim? And if so, where does this start? Alois Schneider: Working for the logistics department at the HORSCH Maschinen GmbH headquarters in Schwandorf, we see ourselves as service providers for the upstream and downstream services our company provides. Customer service and the associated replacement parts business are very important areas for HORSCH and our customers. Of course, we strive to fulfil the highest quality standards in the development and manufacture of our machines for soil cultivation, sowing technology and crop protection. However, sooner or later we encounter a case where customers require support from our service team, or a replacement or spare part. While the quality of the products can be measured to a degree, customer service and replacement parts are more dominated by perceived quality. If a customer phones us requesting a replacement part on a Friday afternoon in the height of the cereal sowing season in September and we manage to make the delivery on Saturday morning, we have fulfilled our aim to provide a service that the customer perceives as being of high quality. Editorial department: Why do you supply your clients using the overnight express service, and what benefits do you experience as a result of this express logistics service? Alois Schneider: HORSCH seed drills are only used for about six to eight weeks of the year. Since many of our customers have to farm over 3,000 ha of land with just one machine, they have to work around the clock for seven days a week in peak season. A single day of downtime as a result of a missing replacement part reduces the operating life of the machine and results in the fact that the seeds cannot be sown at the ideal time. Thanks to the delivery of replace- I 6 I From left to right: Alois Schneider from HORSCH explains to Herbert Remensperger that HORSCH not only sets great store by exceptional quality when it comes to its machines, but also when it comes to replacement parts

7 COVER STORY QUALITY The word quality comes from the Latin qualitas, which roughly equates to quality, characteristic or nature. In our everyday lives, we associate the word quality with something to be prized. This not only applies to products, but also to services. If a product or service is of good quality, this simply means that it fulfils specific requirements or expectations. ment parts via overnight express within Germany and neighbouring countries, we can keep the amount of downtime to a minimum. Editorial department: Since the end of last year, you ve been commissioning Night Star Express to provide your customers with supplies via its overnight express service. What convinced you to work with Night Star Express? Alois Schneider: At our Landau an der Isar office, we have been working together with Night Star Express for several years now in order to supply our crop protection technology customers with replacement parts. In this time, we have come to appreciate the fact that we have an expert, reliable partner right on our doorstep in the form of Kiessling-Spedition in Regenstauf. By moving our entire HORSCH replacement part supplies business from Landau to the central warehouse in Schwandorf, we ve also taken the service provider for overnight express deliveries with us. Even though we have significantly increased the amount of consignments, our positive impressions in terms of performance and up-to-date information have been reinforced. Editorial department: What are the three most important quality characteristics you have of us? Alois Schneider: As I just mentioned, both performance and information, as well as a high degree of flexibility, are all major criteria that we have of a logistics service provider. We of course assume that Night Star Express delivers our consignments at the agreed time and in perfect condition. We also know that there are many factors that can make it hard to achieve this level of performance every time. In such cases, we expect to be kept informed by the overnight express service provider in order to work together with our customers to find a suitable solution. The maximum flexibility of the service provider is required in order to implement this solution. It s no use to the customer waiting impatiently for the urgent replacement part if all the other HORSCH replacement parts are delivered on time that night. The customer requires a flexible solution as fast as possible for the fast delivery of the required parts so that no valuable time is lost. Editorial department: Night Star Express sees itself as a firstclass overnight express service provider. What do you associate with this slogan? Alois Schneider: In line with our slogan Landwirtschaft aus Leidenschaft (A Passion for Agriculture), we offer our customers high-quality products and excellent service in agricultural technology. As a result, we expect the same complete service and passion for exceptional performance from a first-class express service provider. Editorial department: Mr Schneider, thank you for speaking to us today. HORSCH Maschinen GmbH is the fastest-growing and most dynamic company in modern agricultural technology and in the regions where HORSCH is represented. As a leading manufacturer of technologies for soil cultivation, sowing and crop protection, we have made an excellent name for ourselves around the world. As such, the name HORSCH not only represents technology, but also innovative, future-oriented agriculture. When we were thinking about the perfect slogan to reflect HORSCH, Landwirtschaft aus Leidenschaft (A Passion for Agriculture) came to us very quickly. After all, passion is what s behind each one of our products and it s also what s behind the actions of every single one of our 1,100 or so HORSCH employees. Agriculture and the human food supply are the future, which is why the hard work is worth it both for farmers as well as for manufacturers of agricultural technology. Every time a farmer looks in the rear-view mirror of his tractor and sees the colour red, he should know that he has opted for the very best HORSCH quality standards. I 7 I

8 NEWS SALES PORTRAIT RETURNS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM A HIT WITH CUSTOMERS A GREAT FEELING! For André Klein, 7 October 2014 is a very special day. The travel chaos in Hanover brought about by the rail strike barely dampens the 35-year-old sales rep s mood. We ve been working on the development of a Night Star Express returns management tool for our customers for months. Today marks the roll-out it s a great feeling! Together with his colleague Jörg Witteborn, project manager at the central coordination office in Unna and a supervisor of various ongoing IT projects, André Klein is responsible for the roll-out of the new returns management system in the Hanover region. Klein worked on the development of the system right from the start, and it looks set to gain favour with customers especially due to its information flow and transparency. It all started with an Excel table in order to achieve higher transparency for our returns. Now we ve developed a system that can meet our customers expectations in terms of ease of use, efficiency and customisation options. The roll-out went ahead without any problems for the customers. In total, Klein and Witteborn only need about ten minutes to set up the Web-based system. The tool s user-friendliness is proven with the first live returns from customers. The customers get to grips with the system right away and can see an immediate increase in efficiency. The new system allows me to save around four to six minutes per return because I no longer have to enter the information myself, says Nadine Hahne from Volkswagen Automobile, Hanover region. And this is just the first step for André Klein and Jörg Witteborn. In future, the new system will also be able to integrate consignment information into the flow of communication. We ve got our work cut out, but the roll-out was an important step in the right direction! I 8 I

9 NEWS BUSINESS PORTRAIT Anyone calling themselves part of the German Mittelstand, referring to the country s traditional medium-sized companies, sees themselves as having an obligation. The Mittelstand has its own rules, upheld by strong, confident businesspeople. The nightstar express editorial team asked Kay A. Espey, managing director of Cretschmar- Cargo and Night Star Express system partner in Düsseldorf, where the Mittelstand gets its strength and how it maintains its momentum. When I was younger, I wanted to be a forester, says Kay A. Espey with a smile. The 55-year-old, married with four children, has been at the helm of CretschmarCargo since the end of the 1980s and is the third generation to lead the international forwarding and logistics group with its broad range of services. He got his first taste of logistics when he was still a baby. His grandfather, Arthur Espey, bought L.W. Cretschmar in 1931 and both his son, Artur E.H. Espey and his grandson, have followed in his footsteps with his love of logistics over the decades. It was his father who gave him the passion and careful touch required for the management tasks involved in running an innovative, international company. It took ten years for his shop to get established, says Kay A. Espey. Kay A. Espey WITH PASSION AND RESPONSIBILITY THE MITTELSTAND AS A DRIVER UNIQUE, COURAGEOUS, DEDICATEDT CRETSCHMARCARGO A FAMILY-RUN COMPANY With over 750 employees and over a dozen offices in Germany and Spain, CretschmarCargo is well positioned to provide countless forwarding and logistics services, including general cargo in Germany and Europe, overnight express services, contract logistics, trade fair logistics, air cargo, sea cargo and transhipment in ports. But success isn t a given. As an entrepreneur, Kay A. Espey has to assume various roles: He is the trustee of the family business, a networker with other markets, and a motivator for his employees. As a trustee, I have to make sure that the company entrusted to me remains on course for success. The Cretschmar family lives by the company philosophy every day: a friendly approach, passion for what we do, generating business with long-term efficiency, and sticking together when times get tough. It s very important that all our employees know the direction in which we re headed. In my opinion, that s what characterises family-run businesses in the German Mittelstand the successful combination of risk and liability, as well as the far-sightedness that is typical for this type of company. In addition, people also say I am able to inspire enthusiasm in others. I m particularly happy about this because it s not something that everyone can do and yet it is such an important part of being able to lead a company into the future. I want to be able to continue to do this in the years ahead until the fourth generation of the Espey family can hopefully take the reins at Cretschmar. I 9 I

10 INTERNAL EMPLOYEE WEEKEND EVENT FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR THE NIGHTSTAR TEAM THE TOUR DE RUHR I 10 I Bright sunshine and warm weather greeted of fans. There was much excitement among at that, with the musical STARLIGHT EX- us on 27 September 2014 in Dortmund. It the nightstar team when the First-Class PRESS! A tasteful and exciting programme was an excellent start to this year s employee Night Star Express steam train pulled into was organised in close contact with the art- weekend event, attended by nearly 100 par- the station. The participants chose the best ists from the musical. ticipants from all over Germany and neigh- seats and got themselves settled in the com- It was a dream come true for me! says bouring countries, who met at the Hotel Ra- partments as the 1918 steam train with Sascha Ullrich, Night Star Express Honold, disson Blu for the Tour de Ruhr in Dortmund around 1,180 hp slowly moved off with a jolt Augsburg. Starlight Express is simply fan- on a Saturday in autumn. and a loud whistle. tastic. Fast-paced, exciting and with excep- In order to showcase the lively, diverse After a journey of around one-and-a-half tional performances from all the artists in- Ruhr region for the out-of-towners, the or- hours, reaching speeds of 100 kph, the volved. It s a perfect fit for us, he says, ganisation team really got their thinking caps nightstar team came to the railway museum grinning. on and came up with a historical steam train in Bochum. History buffs had the chance to After the musical, the buses took the ride in the First-Class Night Star Express find out more about the history of the steam nightstar team back to the hotel, where they along the Ruhr Valley. The tour started at the trains and see other vintage trains that have saw out the evening with a few drinks at the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund, for- been lovingly restored by volunteers working hotel bar. So how long did the celebrations merly known as the Dortmunder Westfalen- for the railway museum. continue? No one s really sure. But it doesn t stadion. This stop is very important when The nightstar team s journey continued Borussia Dortmund are playing at home and with an exciting evening event. The theme is therefore built to accommodate long trains here was also trains, and high-powered ones matter the main thing is, everyone had a great time once again!

11 EUROPE NETHERLANDS FROM THE MEUSE TO THE NORTH SEA NIGHT STAR EXPRESS HELLMANN EXPANDS IN MAASMECHELEN After taking over the overnight express business in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2012, Night Star Express partner Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has recently seen the reorganisation of its local operations. Almost all overnight express business in both countries has been consolidated in the Maasmechelen office in Belgium. Maasmechelen is located in the Belgian province of Limburg on the left bank of the Meuse, which forms the border between Belgium and the Netherlands there. In total, over 50 consignments are dispatched from here every night. The positive growth in the number of consignments in the Benelux region has made it necessary to open another office here after just two years. While the team under warehouse manager Alexander Heil previously had a handling area of 2,500 m 2, it now has 3,500 m 2 at its disposal. Further growth can also be accommodated since the current space can be expanded to a total area of 6,000 m 2 if required. This provides the prerequisites for being able to continue offering top-quality overnight express services in the Netherlands and Belgium despite the increasing numbers of consignments. Both countries will be served by the Maasmechelen office in two waves of deliveries. The first wave of deliveries will see four HGVs and 32 vans setting off at 1 a.m., with another 17 vans setting off for the second wave from 2.30 a.m. The second wave of deliveries will ensure that consignments from Germany, Switzerland and Austria can also be delivered punctually by 8 a.m. the next morning. From left to right: The Maasmechelen team under warehouse manager Alexander Heil, alongside supervisors Dimitri Bovens and Maurice Persoon, is delighted with the new space available NIGHT STAR EXPRESS HELLMANN N.V. SLAKWEIDESTRAAT 33A 3630 MAASMECHELEN, BELGIUM TEL.: +32 (0) FAX: +32 (0) I 11 I

12 EUROPE CZECH REPUBLIC CZECH REPUBLIC Friedberg IN 15 HOURS! HOW DO THEY DO IT? Würzburg I give Thomas Siefert a call. He s Friedberg, 6.30 p.m. house and coordinates the load- the head of our hub in Hünfeld and played a major role in setting ing and dispatch. Goods headed for the Czech Republic are also Nuremberg up this route. So Thomas, the dispatched from Friedberg, consignments for the Czech Re- which are then compiled with all real range here tonight. All the public from all over Germany the other consignments on the consignments headed for the only get to you after 10 p.m. It s HGV, which then drives to the Czech Republic are sorted care- over 500 kilometres from where Night Star Express hub in Hün- fully and passed through a sepa- you are to Prague. It s hard to feld. I drive behind the lorry. rate gate for loading and dis- believe that every consignment, patch. regardless of size, can be deliv- Hünfeld hub, 8.30 p.m. ered to the Prague area by the Hünfeld hub, 11 p.m. following day. Thomas Siefert We set off for the Czech Repu- laughs. You know, Herbert, the blic, with me driving behind the route is fixed and you can rely on lorry. We pass Fulda and Nurem- it 100%. Why don t you come berg, heading for the Czech bor- along and see for yourself? I ac- der. cept with pleasure and decide to begin my journey at a customer Waidhaus, 2 a.m. stop in order to track the whole We cross the border into the process from beginning to end. Czech Republic. There s no bor- I meet Dirk Schönberner in Fried- The lorry has arrived and the der controls these days, which berg, to the north of Frankfurt. goods are being sorted. I con- makes our job much easier. This is where Subaru centrate on the consignments Deutschland has its central for the Czech Republic and Service station, 4 a.m. warehouse. The company works there are quite a few of them to- We take a break in order to together with Night Star Express. day. Small parcels containing fil- comply with regulations on I 12 I Dirk Schönberner is responsible for the Night Star Express ware- ters, all the way up to large parts such as car bonnets there s a driving time and rests and have a cup of coffee together.

13 EUROPE CZECH REPUBLIC Night Star Express set up a direct route to Prague in March 2014, offering a service in under 24 hours. How do you manage that? I know from my own experience that the traffic around Prague can be pretty bad. The motorway bypass around the city isn t finished yet. The city is divided by the Vltava river and the individual parts of the city can only be reached via a few bridges, which become bottlenecks at different times of day. It s no easy task for logistics companies. A report by Herbert Remensperger Prague Waidhaus Plzeň Prague, 6 a.m. We reach the outskirts of Prague in the early morning. The Night Star Express depot in Prague is in the east of the city. The traffic is getting heavier. Prague, 6.30 a.m. We get to the Night Star Express depot, which is run by our business partner Englmayer. From here, we offer the Czech Republic, as well as our customers from Germany, a comprehensive overnight express service. Managing director Michal Hadbavný welcomes me warmly and offers me a cup of coffee. The Prague office is staffed by four people in the office and four in the warehouse. They are highly accommodating and the team is always happy to react flexibly to specific customer requirements. Prague, 7.30 a.m. The delivery driver sets off. I m going to follow him as far as the Subaru delivery but I lose him in the city traffic and my satnav directs me through the city centre. Subaru, 8.45 a.m. I arrive at Subaru, where the driver arrived a few minutes before me. The people there are friendly and nice. Since Night Star Express has had its direct route to Prague, we have been able to offer very early deliveries to our customer Subaru. Subaru can now forward the replacement parts on to the dealerships on the same day. With a friendly handshake, I say goodbye and leave Prague. The sun is shining, the customer service is good and it took less than 15 hours. Tired, but happy, I head for home. Postcode area Delivery By 10 a.m. 250 and 251 By 10 a.m By 4 p.m By 4 p.m. Other postcode areas Day C by 4 p.m. Alternatively, overnight express (depot required) day C by 8 a.m. I 13 I

14 EUROPE SWITZERLAND FIVE-STAR ACCOMMODATION FOR TYRES AND WHEELS A NEW SERVICE FROM EMIL FREY BETRIEBS AG I 14 I

15 EUROPE SWITZERLAND A new logistics centre especially for tyres and wheels is due to go online this year for Emil Frey Betriebs AG in Härkingen in Switzerland. This new services will enable the warehousing specialist to centralise its tyre logistics and relieve the pressure on its own garages. According to the Institut für Automobilwirtschaft (Institute for the Automotive Industry, IFA), the external storage of tyres and wheels by a specialist creates added value and generates more turnover for car dealerships. During the peak season in spring and autumn, the employees and lifts in the garages are often at full capacity when it comes to changing wheels. As a consequence, lucrative work such as vehicle checks, consultations and the sale of additional services is sometimes neglected. There are certain tasks within car dealerships that it makes more sense to outsource to external specialists for financial reasons, says the head of the institute, Prof. Stefan Reindl. With the new luxury accommodation for wheels and tyres for the Emil Frey Group in Härkingen, the company aims to benefit from precisely these advantages, in addition to providing storage for various importers and wheel mounting. Every tyre and every wheel will be inspected and checked carefully before being stored, explains Hans-Peter Anderes, managing director of Emil Frey Betriebs AG. This can result in additional turnover during the storage process, including wheel balancing, replacement tyres, tyre maintenance, wheel inspections and wheel washes. In addition, the dealerships and garages are also liberated from the increasingly strict structural requirements and fire safety regulations. The new logistics centre features some impressive dimensions: Floor space and volume: 18,000 m 2 /160,000 m 3 of which fully automated tyre warehouse: 48,000 m 3 In order to keep things running smoothly, transport logistics play a major role some of these services are provided by Night Star Express Schweiz AG: Most dealerships and garages who have their tyres stored in the Härkingen logistics centre receive deliveries during the night. This means that the labelled tyres and wheels are picked up during the night and consolidated at the three Night Star Express Schweiz AG depots. Lashed onto special pallets, the wheels and tyres then reach their five-star accommodation that same night. This means that the tyres that are ready and waiting in the early morning can be washed, checked in and packed off to rest for the season. Everything that is discovered during the storage process is shared with the garage in question so that the customer can be asked whether old tyres should be replaced, rims repaired or individual tyres should be disposed of. This creates added value for our customers and boosts turnover for the supply chain, justifying this major investment, Anderes concludes. The Emil Frey Group s Härkingen luxury accommodation for wheels and tyres, which is currently still under construction, is due to go online this year I 15 I

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