Winners of “Logistics Genius 2011” have been - Hellmann ...

COUNTRY-REPORT
20
bECOMING bETTER ACqUAINTED AND SHARING NEW
OppORTUNITIES IN EUROpE…
Eberhard Scholz, Hellmann Osnabrueck
This is a goal we have set ourselves together
with our longtime European
partners in land transport. In order to
succeed, we have organized workshops
in which representatives from various
operating departments are involved. One
goal of these workshops is to foster and
develop personal relationships between
the employees of the partner branches.
Everyone should know who their
colleagues “on the other side” are, how
they work, and how it may be possible
to bypass the obstacles normally associated
with working partnerships.
Other discussion points include:
Cost optimization
Improvement of services
Transit time stabilization
Customer satisfaction
In November 2011, employees from eight of
our branches have met with Gebrüder Weiss
employees in Munich. Representatives from
all Austrian Gebrüder Weiss branches which
cooperate with Hellmann have attended the
meeting.
In the evening prior to the meeting, the
participants were able to socialize on a more
personal level allowing all participants to con-
centrate on the functional contents the next
day. Some remaining open topics have been
discussed in March 2012 during a second
workshop which took place in Vienna.
On March 16, 2012, a meeting with our
partner Heppner in Strasbourg was held.
Heppner sent representatives from 10
branch offices, while Hellmann employees
from six branches participated.
In the various working groups, opportunities
in each of the mentioned discussion
fields were listed and brought into a plan
of approach. Some decisions were implemented
with immediate effect, others
according to a schedule. A few other projects
will be handled within smaller groups.
All remaining topics will be covered during
a workshop in Osnabrueck, planned to be
held in October 2012.
The meeting that Heppner had arranged
in Strasbourg was very well organized. The
meeting, which set no timely constraints
to creativity and promoted the input of
new ideas, has led to a slight delay of the
planned dinner event set to take place at
a restaurant specializing in cultural cuisine,
which included delicacies such as the famous
Alsatian Flammkuchen.
We have also had the opportunity to exchange
ideas with Essers, our Belgian partner.
On November 11, 2011 our counterparts
from Essers joined us in Osnabrueck where
they were able to share experiences regarding
cargo handling, fleet management and
controlling. At the end of the visit, Essers returned
the favor by inviting their Hellmann
counterparts to visit their facility in Genk/
Belgium on February 29, 2012 in order to
demonstrate how their own organization is
managed.
As a result of the meeting, a second HUB
in West Belgium has been established. Since
April 1, 2012, the Osnabrueck branch has begun
its initial phase with a second HUB in Ternat,
with the other Hellmann offices following
on June 1, 2012.
One thing remains certain: each of these
meetings has effectively improved cooperation
between employees who work together. The
communication through unofficial channels
seems to be effective as everyone is looking after
each other’s needs – a positive outcome from
which the customers will surely benefit.
partner 02/12