DPDHL to expand mail and parcel network in Germany
Deutsche Post DHL Group plans to commit annual investments of up to €150 million towards additional personnel, automation, and the further expansion of its mail and parcel network in Germany.
“We were very well prepared for the 2018 holiday season as a result of quality improvements implemented last year,” says Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Post DHL Group. “The success of the peak season shows that our top-quality service is the critical factor, which is why we will continue to work hard on improving service and fulfilling our customer promise. This also responds to demands currently being voiced by lawmakers in Germany.”
The company has set out about the changes it wants to make to ensure it is providing a quality service in the coming year. In 2019, Deutsche Post DHL Group plans to add at least another 5,000 jobs in mail and parcel with the goal of significantly improving quality of service for the “last mile”. This improves the company’s ability to respond to volume spikes and staff shortages due to illness, for example. It can also further reduce delivery delays, e.g. due to volume-related service interruptions at the end of working hours. An important component of the company’s longer-term staff planning is to train and subsequently hire 450 own truck drivers as a response to the driver shortages affecting the transport industry.
The second important element of the quality offensive is further automation of mail and parcel operations. In Germany, the Group is currently in the process of acquiring additional new sequence sorting machines, which pre-sort shipments in mail centres in the most efficient delivery order. In addition, Deutsche Post is installing new reading technology in all parcel centres so that shipment codes on parcel labels can be read faster and more reliably.
Deutsche Post also plans to add another 500 partner outlets and DHL Parcelshops, as well as 1,000 additional Packstations across Germany to further improve service for its customers. In addition, Deutsche Post is testing new retail outlet concepts such as self-service machines and drive-thru counters for posting and pick-up, one of which is currently being tested in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. The Group also plans to offer customers the option picking up their parcels in DHL Parcelshops, as well as new options for shipment tracking, such as proof of delivery for business customers for all merchandise shipments (Warensendungen).
The Group also plans to invest more in its postal infrastructure, primarily in rural areas – for example with more than 400 new delivery depots in its combined delivery network, which combines mail and parcel delivery into one.
“These measures ensure that we remain quality leader and provider of choice for our customers in a very competitive market,” says Frank Appel.
During the 2018 holiday season, Deutsche Post DHL Group delivered more than 150 million items, with more than 99% of all shipments, including last-minute items, arriving in time for Christmas.
