DHL and IBM develop IT logistics platform for Karstadt
DHL Exel Supply Chain, the logistics specialist at Deutsche Post World Net, and the IBM business consulting firm Global Business Services have jointly developed a new IT-based warehouse-management solution for Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH. The value of the euro-denominated contract is in the double-digit range. Starting in mid-2008, 11 DHL locations will be equipped with the new solution, known as system platform logistics. Once the system goes into operation, Karstadt will profit from significantly improved logistics processes and falling costs.
In 2005, DHL took over responsibility for major portions of KarstadtQuelle’s logistics, including the distribution logistics for Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH. With the introduction of the new system platform Logistics, such core logistics processes as receiving goods, warehousing, picking, distributing and shipping goods will be modernized from the ground up. One single platform will administer and manage these processes. It will replace around 20 outdated systems, and provide enormous flexibility thanks to its modular design and guaranteed future. It will be initially used in all DHL locations where logistics services for Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH are provided.
“With this new solution, we create a sustainable competitive edge for our customer Karstadt in the extremely tough retail business,” explains Thomas Ruffing, Head of IT DHL Logistics Germany. “Together with our partner IBM, we also want to turn our logistics platform into a commercially successful sector solution.”
The system platform logistics is based entirely on an IBM hardware and software solution. IBM Global Business Services is overseeing the platform from conception through implementation to the start of operations. Matthias Hartmann, managing director of IBM Germany and head of the IBM business consulting firm Global Business Services, says of the solution: “To gain differentiation in the market, it is no longer enough to just continue improving present structures and processes. You can tap the full potential only if solutions are flexibly designed to satisfy the company’s business needs. You achieve this with an architecture focused on service like the one on which the system platform Logistics is based.”
