DSV Road continues as logistics provider of dm in Germany

At the end of November the responsible persons of DSV and dm-drogerie markt met in Karlsruhe to sign a new transport contract. During the event, the plans for the next few years were discussed and approved together with Jens Bjørn Andersen, CEO DSV Panalpina A/S, Søren Schmidt, CEO DSV Road Holding A/S, as well as Christoph Werner, Chairman of the dm management board, and Christian Bodi, as dm’s managing director responsible for the logistics division.

The talks focused on the strategic cooperation of the two companies, which have been cooperating successfully for three decades: DSV currently ensures the nationwide supply of more than 2,000 dm stores from the distribution centres operated by dm-drogerie markt and DSV. For this purpose, more than 10,000 pallets on average are dispatched in over 1,000 trucks per day.

The contract, which has been extended early to 2026, includes the regulation of current business conditions as well as agreements on innovation developments, digitisation measures and a commitment to joint activities in terms of sustainability. “The aim of the long-term cooperation is the joint development of future-oriented solutions, which generally finds less room in the usually short contract periods in this industry,” said Christian Bodi at the signing of the contract.

DSV and dm-drogerie markt have been jointly developing sustainable solutions within the logistics supply chains for years. In 2015, a sustainable project was implemented through the conversion from wooden Euro flat pallets to their own developed plastic pallets. The pallets used by DSV for order picking and store delivery are characterised by an ergonomic advantage for the employees in the dm stores and a significantly longer life compared to wooden pallets. The pallets are 100 percent recycled by reintroducing the plastic granulate into production. A new version of the pallet will be introduced soon.
 
Moreover the innovative development of the fleet is planned. In 2016, DSV Road tested the use of an e-truck to supply the dm stores in downtown Cologne. The truck runs on electricity instead of diesel and is emission-free, low-noise and therefore ideally suited for city logistics. Optimisations are also pending in the area of shipment and network planning, which should both reduce costs and ease the burden on delivery traffic.  

The starting signal for the successful partnership between dm-drogerie markt and DSV was given in 1986, when the initial distribution of products to ten dm-markets quickly picked up speed and expanded to over 100 locations a year later. To this day, the two companies still work closely together. “The continuous expansion and the establishment of seven distribution centres is connected with the steady growth of dm-drogerie markt since 1973 and we are very pleased about this”, says Rolf Wetzel, Director Retail Distribution and Services at DSV.

www.de.dsv.com