If there were still any doubts about the veracity of the rumors last month that Deutsche Post was considering selling its underperforming DHL Global Forwarding (DHL-GF) division, Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, did his best to put the notion to rest yesterday at the Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference, held in Long Beach, Calif.
\nToward the end of his Keynote Address to TPM attendees, Appel asserted that \u201cthere were no discussions with anybody \u2013 there will be no discussions,\u201d about getting rid of DHL-GF, adding that the report that first surfaced in mid-February in a Reuters story was \u201ccompletely nonsense.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are very proud and passionate freight forwarders since 1815,\u201d Appel went on. \u201cWe are very proud that we have a market-leader division.\u201d
\nRegarding the failed rollout of DHL\u2019s \u201cNew Forwarding Environment\u201d IT system, which resulted in a US$388 million write-down for Deutsche Post in the third-quarter, Appel admitted that the company \u201cmade some mistakes,\u201d but added that DHL has corrected them.
\n\u201cWe have found a better approach to our IT change,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you want to be innovative, you make mistakes once in a while, and sometimes it\u2019s unfortunately costly as well. But then you should forgive yourself and go on, and we are doing that.\u201d He did not, however, provide any further details about the new plans to overhaul DHL\u2019s IT system.
\nThe original Reuters report had cited an unnamed source, who said that Deutsche Post had been considering a sale of the forwarding division, possibly to Japan Post, which had purchased Toll Holdings in 2015. Appel vigorously denied these rumors, as well. \u201cWe will improve the performance of the [forwarding] division ourselves, and we are very confident that we can make that happen,\u201d he concluded.
\nAppel also mention in the keynote address that the forwarding industry faced other looming challenges, including poor economic forecasting for the maritime industry, continuing imbalances in oceanfreight and a decrease in the growth of productivity, which is slowing cargo growth worldwide.
\nSome opportunities that DHL is now pursuing, he said, include development of drone delivery vehicles to provide last-mile delivery service, SmartGlass technology (pictured above) to increase productivity of warehouse workers and improved container tracking devices to provide real-time travel updates from around the globe.
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"