The human factor at the center Approximately 500 employees work for DB Schenker at the Nuremberg hub. And that’s not just during the day, but also at night. Tech support 50 tablet PCs are in constant use within the terminal and facilitate communication. “What a development! In 1874, I had branches in Budapest, Bucharest, Prague and London. Today we have 1,850 locations worldwide.” (Gottfried Schenker) Always on the move The four shunting trucks together achieve a good 1,200 transfer operations per day. Ecologically sound The processes of DB Schenker’s logistics network are almost paperless. Just keep moving Transshipment halls are constantly busy. Otherwise, Nuremberg’s Regional Hub South would quickly get overfilled and shut down the entire logistics network. “Touch and Go” Based on this principle, goods in the Nuremberg hub are to be forwarded as quickly as possible. Know where Each ramp is marked with a number as well as an abbreviation that shows the destination. Next stop: the waterfront Ocean freight: the Nuremberg hub moves some 1,200 containers and 1,300 cubic meters as piece goods monthly. 30 28 29 31 32 33 34 35 36 transports in downtown Nuremberg for several months. “We like to try out new things, even if some technology may not yet be suitable for everyday use,” says Bernd Drossel, Branch Manager Nuremberg Land at DB Schenker. “We always want to know what is possible.” Anyone who works with such mega-volumes as DB Schenker needs the highest level of planning. “Touch and Go” is the name of the principle used in Nuremberg: the goods are reloaded and transported onward shortly after arrival. As a rule, there is no provision for storage. If the site were to be shut down for just a few hours, the halls in Nuremberg would be full to bursting within a very short time. That, in turn, would have an impact on all other branches. “If Nuremberg has the sniffles, all of Europe gets the flu,” says Vollmer. Fortunately, however, this has never happened. In order to further optimize planning, the Group has been using “big data” for personnel and vehicle deployment for some time now. Experts at the global DB Schenker headquarters in Essen have developed an algorithm that is fed with data from previous years – such as quantity of goods, trucks, public holidays, peaks in goods. The algorithm uses this data to produce a forecast for the coming days or even a strategic plan for the next quarter. The variance is currently around four percent. “The system is still being fine-tuned, but already it’s giving us a new line of stability,” Vollmer says. “Despite all the automation, however, our business remains a ‘people’s business.’ We rely on the passion and skills of our employees.” The pallet of toy excavators sets out on schedule at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The truck rolls toward the highway. At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, the cargo arrives in the city of Porto, Portugal. Then another round of scanning, unloading, transferring and loading. The last leg leads to a department store on the outskirts of the city: new supplies for more construction sites in more sandboxes. “The political and economic developments demand agility in the supply chain.” Joachim Schaut, Vice President Intercontinental Supply Chain Solutions at DB Schenker 10
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