The Global Institute of Logistics, together with the Hong Kong’s Vocational Training Council, co-organized a highly successful Logistics Study Mission to Germany in late November 2007.
An incentive of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the study group included a number of academics from Hong Kong Universities, representatives from Cathay Pacific and DHL Express, as well as Bruce Stinson, Executive Director Training and Development, and Anastasia Mak, Program Manager, from the Global Institute of Logistics.
Anne Thiesen, Executive Director, German Industry and Commerce Ltd, was the prime mover of the event and put together an impressive list of visits which saw the group highly motivated and interested throughout the week.
Transiting in Frankfurt after the flight from Hong Kong, the group flew on to Hamburg for the first stage of the tour.
MONDAY
AIRBUS
Moving through the huge expanse of factory hangars where much of the assembly of the A380 and other members of the Airbus fleet takes place, the study group was able to see huge parts of the outer shell coming together, wings and tail sections being added and each stage of the process to the painting of the final product.
Cameras were not allowed, but a glimpse of the finished A380 destined for Singapore Airlines fleet made up for that as the group prepared to leave.
After a pleasant lunch at the Tulip Hotel, the group moved on to the Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) where the tour was conducted in the bus as it moved through the terminal.
With a capacity of 2.4 million TEU, planned to expand to 3 million TEU, CTA in the historic Port of Hamburg, which itself dates back to 1189, is regarded as one of the most modern container terminals in the world.
The facility features advanced automation and a very fast throughput of boxes. The study mission was treated to the sight of the largest ever constructed gantry cranes and a fleet of over 60 Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) moving containers rapidly and with complete accuracy. The AGVs transport containers from the quayside to the stacks and move about driven solely by software. They have a positional tolerance of less than one centimeter and automatically pull in to refuel when low on diesel.
Although there is a control station, human involvement is only seen in the gantry crane unloading from the container vessels at the quayside and, on the other side of the terminal, when trucks pull in to a special area to have their containers loaded.
The Port of Hamburg is the nearest deep water port for the Baltic States and serves as Asia’s gateway to Europe.
HAMBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Bruce Stinson, from the Global Institute of Logistics, spoke on the importance of Relationship Orientation in the collaborative supply chain, the Certificate Program the Institute has developed to support the maintenance of good working relationships and announced the opening of the Institute’s Hong Kong training office.
Dr David Ho, Chairman of the Transport Logistics Training Board of the Vocational Training Council spoke about developing the Manpower Infrastructure for the Transport Logistics Industry in Hong Kong.
In the evening an excellent fellowship dinner was held at Landhaus Flottbek.
TUESDAY
HAMBURG UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (TUHH)
Professor Dr Blecker, who is head of the AKJ FutureLogisitcs, Logistics Initiative Hamburg, addressed the group on “RFID Activities in Hamburg”, where a special interest group has been formed to discuss technological innovations. This group has, in turn, formed work groups, which are studying various pilot projects and aggregating outcomes.
Professor Dr Konty discussed the “Testing of RFID Systems” covering the financial criteria and non-financial criteria of RFID and pointed out that problems of efficiency still remained in cases where some liquids and various other substances were part of the subject on which RFID technology was to be used.
Dr Konty said that 99% accuracy could now be obtained regularly and research continues in the attempt to strive for the desired 100%.
Finally there was a presentation of an “RFID User’s Case” involving the company Reyher, a leading company trading in fasteners and “C parts” in Europe with 350 employees and annual turnover in excess of 95-Million Euro.
Reyher employs a “bin” system where the small parts the company supplies are placed in bins on the customers’ shelves. These bins are identified by labels which can be read by a hand-held scanner. Inventory control is vastly simplified in this way.
The study group left Hamburg University of Technology and were joined for lunch at an Italian restaurant momento di by some of the people from the university.
OLYMPUS
The first of two company visits in the afternoon was at the European Distribution Centre of Olympus.
Host Bernd Jordan took the group through the whole process in a tour which lasted almost two hours, covering how the product passes through all stages to final distribution.
Of major interest were the fully automated storage bays, the various methods of “picking” orders, including the use of “sound” prompts, and the labeling and tagging processes employed at various stages of the chain.
Priding itself on its innovative approach, Top’s predecessor company was founded in 1930 by Friedrich H H Wendt, whose son now runs the company together with his daughter. With a focus on service and back-up for IT, Point of Sale equipment, installation of LCD screens and related areas, Top has developed its service chain to a fine art with both same-day and next-day service available backed up by warehousing and 24-hour call-management systems which are second to none.
The final night in Hamburg saw the group visit a traditional German brewery restaurant where fine food and beer were enjoyed by all.
WEDNESDAY
DUSSELDORF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Wednesday morning the mission flew to Dusseldorf and checked in to their hotel before being taken by bus to the Dusseldorf Chamber of Commerce for a luncheon reception and presentations by the chamber and the Dusseldorf City Government.
Of great interest to the Hong Kong group was the presentation by Dirk Baackmann of the city planning section of the local government. Mr Baackmann shared a number of slides of the various re-development efforts, which showed not only the systematic improvement of a number of areas within the city, but also some striking eclectic architecture of all kinds adding to the artistic feel of “new” Dusseldorf.
Many of the study mission felt that Hong Kong’s planners could gain much from a visit to this remarkable city.
DHL INNOVATION CENTRE
DHL Innovation Centre provides a glimpse of the future – today. As global trends shape the future of logistics, DHL has captured those trends, extrapolated them into the future and, using the work of specialists from around the world, built a futuristic display of what “might be” the way logistics is handled in fifteen or twenty years time.
Entering the display area, one member of the mission was moved to liken the initial impression to the movie “The Matrix”. As the tour progressed, however, the general feeling was that tomorrow is not so far away, with a number of the innovations covered already being introduced by DHL in various places, usually on a trial basis, around the world.
Features such as automation, RFID, Last Mile options including “smart vans” which will know which packages they contain and the simple yet practical Packstation where customers will be able to pick up parcels, seem to be literally just around the corner.
Like all visitors to this inspirational venue, the group left in high spirits and headed into the former capital of Germany, Bonn, to visit another famous Deutche Post landmark, the “Post Tower”.
DEUTSCHE POST HEADQUARTERS (“POST TOWER”) BONN
Over dinner, two presentations were made, the first by Dr Winfired Haeser, Director of Environmental Strategy, who spoke with enthusiasm about the company’s “GoGreen” policy whereby Deutche Post is playing its part in environmental sustainability.
Employing over 500,000 people in 250 countries, and with one division - DHL Express – carrying over one billion shipments each year via 420 aircraft and 72,000 vehicles, the challenge for Deutsche Post World Net to be a leader in the search for environmental sustainability is certainly a significant one.
Dr Haeser quoted Dr Klaus Zumwinkel, Chairman of the Board of Management, who said:
“Embracing sustainability in our core business strategies means embarking on a long journey”.
Yet this is obviously a journey the company is prepared to take as it sees its Sustainability Program as an answer to shareholder expectations and embedded in the Corporate Values of the organization.
Dr Haeser outlined a number of initiatives being taken such as expanding the fleet of alternative fuel vehicles, developing the range of GoGreen products and services and supporting regional and local community-based initiatives.
It was an impressive presentation and no one could have been left in any doubt about Deutshce Post World Net’s commitment to being a leader in this most important area.
After an introduction by one of his colleagues, which linked the seven values embraced by the company, through is Code of Conduct, to its Strategies and Vision, and then to its Leadership Development policy, Mr Wandmaker took over and focused on Talent Management Strategy.
A policy of “Get, Keep and Grow” is the cornerstone of the DHL talent management strategy, whereby 85& of management roles are filled internally, strategies are in place to identify and retain top performers, and more development investments are provided to high performers.
As the group boarded the bus to head back to Dusseldorf, all expressed their gratitude to Bettina Biegert, Marketing Communications Project Manager for DHL in Hong Kong, who was responsible for organizing this exceptional part of the study mission.
THURSDAY
METRO Group RFID Innovation Centre
In a presentation reminiscent of the DHL Innovation Centre, Metro took the study group through a range of uses of RFID from clothing retailing to supermarket applications, including wine, fruit and vegetables, and refrigerator stock control.
Among the more interesting applications was ”picking by light”, where shipping cases fitted with transponders move along a conveyor belt fitted with an RFID reader. Light signals on the shelf show employees which items to pack and also identify for which store or warehouse the goods are destined in order to eliminate mistakes.
More speed and greater transparency are the goals of RFID and this was illustrated by the scanners which can immediately note the number and nature of goods on a pallet as it passes through..
Metro also showcase some of the more unusual potential uses of RFID such as in footballs to aid in game officials’ decisions and as a tracking device in alpacas.
GOTTWALD PORT TECHNOLOGY
A presentation by the CEO was followed by a tour of the factory where, similar to the Airbus study, the supply chain and processes of building these massive cranes were covered in detail.
In addition, the group was taken to an outside area where the latest AVG was being put through its paces on the testing ground.
After this visit, the group boarded the ICE train for Frankfurt where a networking evening with the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce was held in the Linden Hotel and Residence. A welcome was kindly offered by Winchell Cheung, Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
FRIDAY
FRANKFURT AIRPORT
After a presentation by the Director India & China, Michaela Zahn, where the importance of Franffurt as a hub, with 69 flights to China every week, was emphasized, another presentation was made by Stefan Kisro, Academy Director of the German Logistics Academy.
On the final evening the group relaxed in another traditional German restaurant before preparing to depart for Hong Kong the next day.
On the morning of departure Bruce Stinson of the Global Institute of Logistics presented a gift, on behalf of the group, to Anne Thiesen for her considerable effort in arranging the tour.