Delivering tomorrow

• Source: Global Times
• [00:02 October 22 2010]
• Comments

Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL. Photo: Deutsche Post AG

By Tu Lei

Deutsche Post DHL has published a study examining trends up to the year 2020 and beyond. "Delivering Tomorrow ? Customer Needs in 2020 and Beyond" is a collection of views on issues such as globalization, the economy, technology, logistics, the environment and society as a whole.

Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL, talks about the study and his view of the Chinese logistics market.

GT: Why did you use this study to take a look into the future?

Appel: Like any company, Deutsche Post DHL does not want to be taken unawares by developments. It wants to shape its own destiny. For that reason, we set up an international Delphi study and recruited the help of economic experts and scientists - as well as a number of our important customers. At the same time, it enables us to provide our customers and business partners with a valuable orientation guide to possible future events.

GT: What did you specifically want to find out?

Appel: Broadly speaking, it is important to get an idea of where the world will be heading in the next 10 years and beyond. We asked ourselves a number of questions, such as: What will the world economy look like after the financial crisis is over? Will reductions in carbon dioxide be enough to arrest the progress of climate change? What will be our main energy sources in the future? What will be the most important trends in society over the coming years? How will these affect our relationship with our customers, and will they cause any fundamental change in customer needs? Will we treat education, one of our most important resources, more responsibly in the future? And, most importantly for us: Which direction will logistics take and what role can the sector play in making our world a pleasant place to live in?

GT: How is your company responding to those issues?

Appel: Ensuring that logistics of the future is as environmentally friendly as possible is one of our strategic goals. We already offer carbon-neutral shipping, for example. And we were also the first logistics company to create a climate protection program that ties us to specific emission reduction targets. We're already on the right track. But as the Delphi study shows, by 2020 a good number of our competitors will have copied us. So we have to keep on finding new ways to keep ahead.

GT: The logistics industry is considered one of the most important service sectors in a globalized economy, but not really one of the most innovative. Will that change?

Appel: The experts are convinced - as am I - that the logistics industry will become a genuine trendsetter, setting the standards that others will follow. The pressure to innovate is growing constantly. Our customers are predicting that the price of oil could rise to $300 a barrel. Tied to this, they also see alternative driven technologies on the rise. Nevertheless, customers do not expect renewable energies to have established themselves as our main source of energy by 2020. As a consequence, the megacities of the future will introduce strict regulations for delivery traffic, forcing today's competing logistics companies to begin setting up cooperative networks and sharing resources.

GT: What do you think of the pressures brought on by megacities?

Appel: We have to find new answers by using different methods of transport and new technologies. An intelligent routing technology, for example, could help us calculate the fastest delivery route and help with re-routing around traffic jams. We have a pilot project running on that already.

The question is how to utilize the existing infrastructures more efficiently. Highways and freeways have their limitations; you cannot build on these lines all the time. So how can you use them in a better way? With electric vehicles, for instance, we could increase the number of night-time pickups because they don't pollute and are not noisy.