Deutsche Post DHL to invest €750m in German parcel network
Deutsche Post DHL has announced it will invest approximately €750m in the modernisation of its German-wide parcel network. Given the consistent growth in parcel volumes, the parcel business has already become an important pillar of the Mail division.
Mail order-business in Germany has seen consistently growing online sales figures, which serves as further confirmation of the potential of the internet and e-commerce.
"This is the largest investment in our parcel infrastructure since the 1990s. It will expand our leading position in the market and ultimately make our parcel business the second strong pillar of our mail business. Our customers are going to see a dramatic improvement in our already market-leading quality and reliability. And we’ll help e-commerce in Germany achieve the final breakthrough," says Jürgen Gerdes, Corporate Board Member MAIL at Deutsche Post DHL.
Since 2007, revenue in the parcel business has increased on average by 3.5% annually. It went up by as much as nearly 10% in the first half of 2011. As a result, this growing market already makes up around one-fifth of the total revenue in the Mail division. Deutsche Post DHL therefore considers this investment an important step to ensure that the parcel business continues to contribute increasingly to earnings in the Mail division. As a result, the parcel business will establish itself as a strong pillar of the Mail division next to the company’s traditional mail business and e-products and play an important role in the success of the whole Group.
In the future parcel centres will process 28,000, 40,000 and even 50,000 parcels per hour, depending on the location, compared to 20,000 parcels per hour at present. The changes will include technologies such as scanners that can read addresses on all six sides of a parcel, partially automated vehicle unloading and new sorting technology, which should further minimise the risk of damage.
At the beginning of the year, Deutsche Post DHL began testing new sorting solutions at three pilot locations in Greven, Kizingen and Neuwied. The tests have resulted in a 40% higher capacity and speed of parcel processing at these locations. Based on these results, seven additional parcel centres will be retrofitted to achieve an hourly throughput of 28,000 shipments. In addition, other measures have already been taken, such as the deployment of 6,000 new parcel delivery vehicles and the redrawing of 650 parcel districts across Germany in an effort to improve the service quality.
Quelle: eyefortransport
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