Deutsche Post DHL has successfully implemented various innovative logistics solutions developed bythe group’s Solutions & Innovation unit and more products are being worked on for future
deployment, the unit’s head told CEP-Research in an interview.“We see ourselves as product developers,” explained Petra Kiwitt, head of Deutsche Post DHL’sSolutions & Innovation (S&I) unit. “We give DHL a unique positioning within the market byleveraging the ONE DHL approach, through bundling the expertise of all of DHL’s business units, andby offering our customers standardised end-to-end solutions.” The S&I team has recentlylaunched closer talks with top customers in vertical industries. “We are looking sector by sectorat their requirements,” Kiwitt said.
Solutions & Innovation, set up in 2009 to develop and market cross-divisional customersolutions, now comprises 70 employees and is best known for the bright yellow-coloured DHLInnovation Center at Troisdorf, close to Bonn, in Germany. The unit has recently been integratedinto the new DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation department, headed by DHL Chief CommercialOfficer Bill Meahl.
At the Innovation Center and around the world, DHL experts work with a broad range ofexternal partners, including leading industrial and technology firms as well as academics andresearchers, and present ideas and projects to customers and other visitors. This year DHL plans tohold regular ‘Best Class Excellence’ workshops with customers on specific topics.
At present, DHL is working on 20-25 different projects that could develop into market-readyproducts and services in the short- or long-term, Kiwitt said. “It takes about up to three years todevelop a product to be ready-for-market,” she commented.
Projects of S&I cover the topic Cold Chain, with solutions for temperature-controlledshipping, Recall Solutions for fast recall of consumer electronic products, and other projectsincluding intelligent shipping with RFID, intelligent delivery with Smart Trucks and automation.With the City Logistics programme DHL is supporting Mega Cities with their key challenges: noiseand air pollution and setting trends within the industry.
In the Cold Chain field, DHL last autumn launched its SmartSensor GSM product for thepharmaceutical sector. This enhanced the existing RFID product by adding real-time datatransmission rather than at set intervals. The GSM device is put inside a shipment in order tomonitor temperature, humidity, shocks, brightness and location. It transmits data in real time to aweb-based information portal and sends alerts in case of problems. “The SmartSensor is relevant forall kinds of shipments (Road, Air and Sea). The next step will be to integrate this to the airfreight network this year,” Kiwitt said.
A related product suite is DHL ‘Realtime Solutions’ which offers GPS device-based real-timemonitoring of shipments in terms of location, condition and security. This is run by Agheera, aseparately-branded spin-off subsidiary that also markets its services to third-party clients.Another product developed by Agheera was the Secure Box, a high-security transportation containerfor high-value goods, especially of technology customers.
The Recall Solutions service offers consumer electronics firms, and mobile phone operators inparticular, rapid global recalls of faulty products as a cross-divisional solution using operationsfrom all DHL divisions. It is now part of the ‘Service Part Logistics’ offering of DHL SupplyChain. “We tested this and got it ready for the market. Now it’s being tested by DHL Supply Chain,”Kiwitt said.
One of the most visible products to have emerged from the innovation laboratory is the SmartTruck. This is an “intelligent” pick-up and delivery vehicle that uses several innovativetechnologies, including navigational and traffic intelligence systems as well as software thatrecords shipment volumes in the vehicle, delivery addresses and the traffic situation. The vehiclethus optimises routes and reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
“The Smart Truck is between testing and market entry,” Kiwitt said. After successful initialtests on selected routes in Berlin and Bonn, it is now being piloted under very differentconditions in Bangalore, India. The largest-scale test, however, is now in the German city ofDresden. “Dresden is now being tested with all the tours in the city. We expect this to be assuccessful as the others. Then we would give it over to DHL Express,” Kiwitt said. This could leadto a wider rollout of the SmartTruck in different markets.
In contrast, City Logistics is clearly more of a long-term project due to its complexity andthe need to build up relationships with city officials. DHL has so far carried out various localtests in cities such as Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, while there are trial projects takingplace in Singapore and Istanbul.
