Every day, DHL Express delivers hundreds of packages for Bauerfeind to Benelux, France, Spain or Portugal. To gain a better understanding of downstream processes in our outbound logistics, a delegation from Bauerfeind visited the DHL hub in Leizpig, which houses more than 6,000 employees, in early July.
Leipzig is one of three DHL Express hubs around the world: More than 90 planes take off and land here in a single night. Their cargo is transported to customers as express packages within a matter of hours. Given these volumes, Bauerfeind's packages make up just about 0.1% of the total amount.
The employees from the logistics and export departments were able to observe how all processes are controlled and monitored in the control station. The conveyor system made a big impression not only for its high speed, but for its size alone: The main sorter is 23 km long.
DHL Express operates with a very high degree of automation. As a result, packages that meet the standard run through the sorting process quickly. Deviations from the standard are expensive and slower. "But this is rarely the case for our packages," reports Julian Musiol, head of the Outbound Logistics department. In Leipzig, he and his colleagues saw how important it is to ensure that goods are protected in shipping cartons - by using stable and volume-optimized shipping boxes. This is because it is entirely possible for heavy packages to slip onto light packages in the sorting system and cause deformations if the packaging is not sufficiently stable.
"These impressions are very important for us to gain an understanding of processes, work on optimizations and know how to explain potential special cases to our customers," concludes Julian Musiol about the visit in Leipzig.