Panalpina Annual Report 2006

Sustainable Growth
56 Panalpina Annual Report 2006
Information technology: Powerful, modern
and secure systems
Efficient forwarding and logistics
operations would be impossible without
rapid global transmission of in­
formation. In this field too, Panalpina
is recognized as a leader and continues
to invest in expanding its market
position.
Smooth transportation flows save costs, reduce
environmental pollution and help optimize the use
of employees’ competence. Panalpina’s leading
position in developing and implementing logistics
software is an important pillar of sustained growth
and fosters long­term added value for its shareholders.
For decades, Panalpina has been one
of the principal players in the use of information
technology in the transport and supply chain
management industry. Since the middle of 2005,
the Group has been gradually replacing its legacy
systems with the latest software, based on service­oriented
architecture (SOA), in the interests of
sustainable development. This gives the Company
the flexibility it needs to map specialized services
and product requirements in the context of modern
logistics.
A common platform for air and ocean freight data
The worldwide launch of the two systems Airwarder
and Seawarder (for air and ocean freight respectively)
that Panalpina has developed for an efficient
handling of purchasing, managing and billing of
freight capacities, took place on schedule in 2006.
This was the start of a “new era” for Panalpina,
which plans to continue gradually replacing some
older IT systems with software that operates on
a new open architecture. Using the FOS forwarding
system, another in­house creation, all information
flowing in from operational application systems (air,
ocean and land transport plus logistics) is stored
and linked­up in a central database. This technology
enables parallel developments and the rapid,
secure and productive use of new applications.
Following the global launch in 2005, a new FOS
release with additional features was rolled­out
worldwide in the year under review, offering further
improvements to productivity, data quality and
customer service.
Sector­specific logistics solutions
Panalpina offers supply chain management systems
based on modern IT solutions to meet the complex
logistics requirements of hi­tech, automotive
as well as the retail and fashion industries among
others. The number of customers using this opportunity
to control purchasing processes and stock
levels in real time by means of automated electronic
data exchange rose again in 2006. Panalpina’s
web­based applications enable all interested parties
(customers, suppliers and subcontractors)
to access data relevant to them, whenever and
wherever they wish. This complete overview allows
customers to consolidate their goods for dispatch
more efficiently, thereby reducing shipping costs,
decreasing pollution and increasing process quality.
More comprehensive and transparent reports
The success the company has had in recent years
with SAP software (Business Data Warehouse) for
accounting activities led it to decide to use this software
for all of its reports in 2007. As a result, important
key figures and statistics from operations and
sales (particularly customer relationship management
data) will be made available for reporting purposes,
more rapidly and in a more transparent form.
More reliable and secure data centers
Work on consolidating the company’s original
70 data centers, which were spread throughout the
world, started in 2005. Progress in the year under
review was good, and the process is set for completion
on schedule by 2008. At the six new locations,
long­term leases have been taken out for computing
center sites that meet the highest security
standards and offer complete disaster recovery
in an emergency. Further substantial investments
have been made to protect central IT services
and regional networks.