On-site partnerships ensure DACHSER serves medical logistics needs
From specialised Stiegelmeyer hospital beds, to Dr. Reddy’s pharmaceuticals to carefully calibrated medical equipment for Welch Allyn, DACHSER South Africa is delivering essential medical supplies throughout South Africa for a number of medical clients – ensuring that medical providers have the equipment they need in this challenging time.
“The Dachser team has considerable experience in medical and pharmaceutical delivery, which has stringent health and safety compliance requirements,” says DACHSER SA managing director Detlev Duve. “We must also be able to support our clients in responding rapidly and effectively to growing needs during COVID-19. DACHSER has continued to operate effectively during lockdown with a dedicated team of home-based office staff and skeleton staff at all of our depots and local delivery centres. The entire supply chain is fully operational and on track for essential items.”
Duve says on-site partnerships and effective communications have been a key element of success in the specialist field of medical logistics. DACHSER is able to offer clients specialised warehousing and office space at the company’s Pomona head-office and five clients currently benefit from on-site offices.
When specialised hospital bed supplier Stiegelmeyer contracted with Dachser four years ago, the German manufacturer was importing beds to South Africa. They soon moved from their original Centurion premises and to the DACHSER premises in Kempton Park, facilitating a strong partnership and seamless logistics that has grown with the business as they expanded to exporting into Africa. Besides a full range of hospital beds supplied to largely private sector hospitals in South Africa, Stiegelmeyer has been exporting refugee beds across borders. With the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold, the need for these beds may increase locally as well, and the DACHSER team is ready to handle increased volumes.
Theuns Burger of Stiegelmeyer says, “Interventions in response to the Coronavirus are currently impacting life at all levels. As a supplier to the medical field, we’re committed to doing whatever necessary to remain true to our healthcare mandate and to be able to react to special demands for supplies and services, even at very short notice. We have implemented extensive measures in our production and supply chain and DACHSER is an critical partner in ensuring that we are able to deliver across Southern Africa.”
Burger says the company chose DACHSER as the team was able to offer a well-priced, full solution for importing, exporting, warehousing and distribution. “With an office on site, we have full access to our stock at all times. Working on-site has resulted in considerable efficiencies and cost-savings for our business. The Dachser team has a strong understanding of our business and we have been very happy with their service levels as a longterm supply chain fulfilment partner.”
Stiegelmeyer has a dedicated pick and pack area and space for display models, with beds built to client specifications at the DACHSER warehouse.DACHSER move up to 40 beds at time, many of which are high value items. The service includes unpacking and installing the beds in hospitals, and at times removing the older beds that the new stock will replace. This process requires health and safety preparation work and liason with the hospitals. Dachser co-ordinate with the Stiegelmeyer team to ensure that their sales executives are always there to sign off once beds have been installed.
Welch Allyn, a supplier of medical equipment, requires rigorous logistics management to ensure that their products reach medical rooms, hospitals and clinics in the perfect condition, and at the right time, in both urban centres and rural areas. Their range includes products from basic syringes to specialist cardiopulmonary equipment and patient monitoring systems.
Welch Allyn staff are also located at the DACHSER warehouse, working closely with logistics teams to take care of medical product calibration and other specialist requirements while these products are in storage and transit. When products include high-cost, sophisticated technological equipment, error-free picking and packing is critical. In the company’s decade-long relationship with the client, stock has never once had to be written off, which is a massive achievement given that Dachser has moved millions of units of stock for the business over the years.
Duve says DACHSER's picking and packing service forms part of a continuous process that only concludes once products reaches its final destination. “Medical products are picked and packed to particular specifications that include temperature control and movement reduction. We make sure this remains consistent in transit, until the product has been handed over at the final point. Our picking and packing is further supported by a sophisticated IT system which enables the transparent coordination of complex activities and real-time information for clients on their stock.”
Duve concludes, “Clients entrust us with an important part of their business at critical times, and our service levels must remain consistent whatever the challenges may be. As a logistics company, our business is to understand this trust and to grow it into a successful logistics partnership.”
Latest update on DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics operations
With this update DACHSER would like to inform about the current DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics operations across the regions APAC, EMEA and Americas. In the attached document (see download below) it is listed whether a country organization of DACHSER is operational or, if only limited or not at all, why this is the case. Since the situation in the countries may change rapidly, the attached document will be updated on a regular basis and published on our website.
We sincerely regret any inconveniences caused to our customers due to the pandemic. At DACHSER, we have contingency measures in place and will offer our customers the best alternative solutions to keep the supply chain running. Anyhow, the situation at ports, airports or customs authorities might cause delays. Furthermore, the capacity situation on the global airfreight market is very tense as there are basically no passenger flights operating at the moment.
At the same time, DACHSER has installed strict hygiene measures (e.g. home office) to ensure a safe working environment and to do our part in stopping the spread of the virus. DACHSER is trying to keep the impact of these measures as low as possible, however, together with the official measures by the governments, the precautions may lead to some delays in the operations.
In case of any questions and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.
Camso specializes in off-road tires, wheels, rubber tracks, and track systems for commercial and powersport vehicles. To reach its customers in Europe as quickly and efficiently as possible, the company entrusted its logistics management to DACHSER as Lead Logistics Provider—a solution with a future.
Camso supplies tires for massive jobs.
When things get really slippery, muddy, gravelly, or slick, that’s when thick pneumatic rollers, rubber tracks, and hard rubber tires prove their mettle. They’re indispensable for the high-performance equipment used in material handling, on construction sites, in agriculture and quarries, and even in outdoor powersports. The message is very clear: the more demanding the terrain, the better.
And that’s precisely what Camso, a Michelin Group brand, specializes in. A global leader in the development, manufacture, and distribution of industrial tires, wheels, and rubber tracks, Camso has more than 8,000 employees in 26 countries across the globe, primarily in Asia, Europe, and North America. It also operates four research and development centers, 23 manufacturing facilities, and an international distribution network in more than 100 countries.
This setup puts as many demands on Camso’s logistics operations as the areas of application put on its products. To keep the company on track for growth and to tap the full potential of digitalization, Camso began reviewing its global and European logistics network some time ago. “Having ten local distribution centers in Europe, each of them independently managed, was no longer in keeping with the times,” says Pierrick Bouf, Supply Chain and Logistics Director EMEA at Camso. “As a result, we reorganized our network around three main distribution centers: one in the UK, one in Germany to cover northern Europe, and one in France to serve southern Europe.”
A reliable partner
The French distribution center in Grans, located near the Mediterranean port of Fos-sur-Mer northwest of Marseille, is operated by DACHSER. “Its location, logistics capacities, and groupage network made it a good fit with our plans to be able to deliver goods to the French market within 24 or 48 hours,” Bouf says. This cooperation would prove successful and resulted in DACHSER being included in the discussion about handing over responsibility for all logistics services to a Lead Logistics Provider (LLP).
"The close collaboration with DACHSER as LLP has made our processes significantly easier and increased our responsiveness in extremely turbulent times", says Pierrick Bouf, Supply Chain and Logistics Director EMEA at Camso.
The LLP would be tasked with orchestrating twelve different transport service providers and ensuring that they deliver an average of 170 shipments per day from the three central shipping warehouses to the target customers in Europe with maximum efficiency and transparency. “In parallel with this new logistics organization, we wanted to improve our services by centralizing and standardizing them and having a knowledgeable point of contact for all logistics-related questions,” Bouf says.
But first, an explanation of the term and the underlying concept is in order: a Lead Logistics Provider is a logistics company that acts as a neutral party in organizing all or at least the essential logistics processes for its customers, regardless of which service provider carries out the operational activity. LLPs are deeply integrated in their customers’ (logistics) processes. After all, this comprehensive service approach isn’t restricted to conducting transports or performing terminal handling or warehousing services; it also involves designing, implementing, and organizing supply chains, optimizing transport and warehouse planning, coordinating suppliers, and integrating the latest (communication) technologies. Customer-specific services such as customs clearance, packaging management, and value-added services also fall under the range of LLP responsibilities.
Delivering tires to customers throughout Europe.
The “premiere league of logistics”
That’s why Stefan Hohm, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at DACHSER, considers LLPs to represent the “premiere league of logistics”: “The LLP concept requires a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the customer’s supply chain and all associated processes. Using the network and IT expertise that we have acquired and grown over the years, we continue to develop and refine this system to create sustainable complete solutions that our customers need for their business model. In addition to the shipments transported by DACHSER, our portfolio will also incorporate the transparency and management of other logistics providers.”
This made Dachser an obvious choice as Camso’s LLP. “In our collaboration to date, Dachser has proven that it’s capable of organizing and allocating transports exactly the way we want. Following our shared experience with the Dachser-operated Camso distribution center in France, we then began working to expand the LLP solution to the other two distribution centers in the UK and Germany,” Bouf says. “Dachser is very familiar with our products and how we work, and it understands our special service-level requirements when shipping to another country.”
On the DACHSER end, the various strands of the Camso LLP project all converge in the hands of Martin Poost, Department Head Lead Logistics Provider. “All supply chain information flows into the DACHSER LLP Control Tower,” Poost says. “That’s the center where all data, independent of company and location, is pooled and monitored. To do this, we transform the physical supply chain processes and the specific customer requirements into an appropriate IT logic. We then display all relevant data in a transparent and traceable format on the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform, where it can be accessed at any time.”
For this to work, the Camso and DACHSER systems have to be able to “talk” to each other and allow data to be shared in real time without losing information. According to Poost, this is a demanding challenge that, together with Camso, DACHSERsucceeded in transforming into a practical solution. Paving the way for this success was a working group with IT teams from Camso, DACHSER, and technology partner Siemens. “Working closely together, we were able to design the interfaces and the data structure in a way that ensures that communication between our ERP system and the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform functions securely,” Bouf says.
An integrated overall concept
Camso had formulated clear expectations for DACHSER as LLP. It wanted an integrated concept for warehousing, distribution, and management of the various transport providers handling the groupage shipments, partial and full loads, and package deliveries. To this end, DACHSER was tasked with managing and controlling all transports and service providers, including transmitting shipment data to everyone involved, printing barcode labels, and managing proofs of delivery. And last but not least, the LLP is responsible for validating invoices. In other words, it was entrusted with the entire portfolio of highly developed and practical supply chain management processes.
For the Dachser LLP team led by Martin Poost, and for their partners at Camso, working together to draw up the detailed requirements and specifications once again showed very clearly that DACHSER could provide the orchestration of all required logistics services far more efficiently and reliably than if Camso had to create a suitable structure itself.
A glance at the Control Tower and the functionalities of DACHSER’s Supply Chain Visibility platform shows just why that is: “Here, all transport-related data, independent of company and location, is pooled together in one system and presented graphically, making it practical for use in different media,” Poost says. “This enables us and customers, regardless of location, to see where any shipment is at any given time and to intervene if necessary.” Thanks to DACHSER’s proprietary Supply Chain Visibility platform, everyone involved in the transport has access to the latest information and can contact other parties directly if desired, regardless of which type of transport is used. “We cover full and partial loads as well as groupage and parcel services. And it’s all part of a single solution for procurement and distribution logistics,” Poost says.
Easy to use
As the logistics experts know, digitalized and automated processes are only as good and worthwhile as their level of acceptance in day-to-day operations. “That’s why we pay particular attention to user acceptance of all the tools we use,” Poost says. It’s crucial that solutions be easy to use, for example via smartphone, app, and special web services.
If, for example, a rubber track needs to be sent from Germany to France, the Camso systems transmit the shipment data via an EDI to the Supply Chain Visibility platform, which Camso uses to control and release the shipment. The platform then transmits the data to the selected transport provider, who ultimately accepts the shipment. This system is used in transport scheduling, in the transit terminal, and by the drivers. “This means everyone can always see where the track is on its journey through Europe,” Poost says. That’s more than conventional tracking and tracing. “The major advantage of consolidating all shipment data in a single system is that it enables us to work for and with customers from an early stage to plan all transport services. For example, to arrange delivery in accordance with the recipient’s available time slots.” After the rubber track is delivered in France, the proof of delivery is transmitted, enabling the immediate final review of the transport costs indicated on the transport provider’s EDI invoice. “This carrier management,” Poost says, “is a well-oiled process and everyone has their part to play in it.”
The Control Tower and the DACHSER Supply Chain Visibility platform also provide tangible benefits when it comes to analysis, for instance when creating reports or Excel tables and forecasts for such things as order planning and timely provision of container and transport capacities. And last but not least, Poost says, another key aspect of the Control Tower is quality assurance. “When evaluating the services agreed with suppliers and transport providers, an appropriately qualified LLP partner has the professional and technological edge over customers when this evaluation can be explicitly ‘based on daily practice, for daily practice’.”
Poost’s and Bouf’s preliminary verdict on the Camso-DACHSER LLP partnership is thus a positive one. “Especially during the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, the close collaboration with DACHSER made our processes significantly easier and increased our responsiveness in these extremely turbulent times,” Bouf notes with satisfaction. This also includes the parties having long since established a trusting and mutually appreciative connection on a personal level. “Since the start of our collaboration more than five years ago, we have had weekly operations meetings where we can discuss the events of the previous week and plans for the coming week, and where many potential problems can be anticipated and addressed proactively,” Poost says. “For all the technology it uses and all the progress it is making toward digitalization, logistics is still and will remain a ‘people business’—even, and especially, for a Lead Logistics Provider.”
Brexit update: the importance of a customs power of attorney
Although COVID-19 is influencing the Brexit negotiations, as of today negotiations between the EU and the UK are again being conducted via video conference. Three rounds of negotiations, each lasting one week in April, May and June, are planned to advance the details of a trade agreement. So far, the end of the transition phase for the Brexit is December 31, 2020, and DACHSER continues to prepare for this date.
A number of important points need to be taken into account when preparing for the Brexit, for example a customs power of attorney from the relevant recipients is essential for handling shipments to and from the UK. We therefore ask our customers to continue to advise their consignees to provide us with the necessary customs power of attorney.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with your contact at the relevant DACHSER branch.
