Deutsche Post plays pass the Swiss parcel

What can the Deutsche Post (Switzerland) AG do better than Swiss Post?

Deutsche Post (Switzerland) AG, a fully owned subsidiary of Europe's largest postal
service provider DPWN, is a public limited company under Swiss law and specialises in parcel logistics. It was founded in autumn 1991 by the merger of two Swiss parcel logistics operators, quickstep parcel service AG and Qualipac AG.
Under the product name Swisspack, Deutsche Post (Switzerland) Euro Express offers a nationwide, timedefined parcel delivery service for consignments up to 31.5 kg in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The parcels are delivered by a fleet of nearly 400 vehicles via several modern automated hubs (we have such hubs at Pratteln, Regensdorf and Altishofen, for example).
With another of our products, the Europremium service, shipments (import I export) of up to 800 kg per pallet are delivered to and from Switzerland to some twenty European countries.
When we entered this market in 1992, door-to-door pick-up services and a track&trace system for parcels were still completely new ideas. Since then, we have continued to refine our IT systems.

Could you expand on that?

Using TrackNet, for example, our business customers can obtain information from more than twenty countries in Europe in the respective national language(s). This track&trace system allows business customers to trace up to ten of their shipments simultaneously, at any time
(24 hours a day), anywhere in the European network.
All they need is internet access, a client number or their automatically assigned Identcode. All Euro Express partners in the European network are linked up to TrackNet.
With this simple and fast track&trace system, Track-Net is especially well adapted to the requirements of our business customers.
There is no need to enter additional passwords. Our business customers receive a printout detailing the status and whereabouts of each individual item in a groupage shipment. The exact route taken by a consignment is presented graphically.

Track&trace data from all Euro Express partner companies is stored in a central database, thereby guaranteeing standardised, seamless tracking of shipments throughout Europe.
Furthermore, we are continuously improving our technology. For example, we
are currently developing a new terminal for the real-time transmission of the signature and barcode inputs from delivery vehicles.

By what other criteria do you measure your success?

We want to make sending parcels as easy as possible for our customers. When the order is placed, the customer receives barcode labels to be affixed to each parcel, that document delivery job-specific data. We also offer a complete range of value-added services such
as cash on delivery, certificate of delivery, cardboard packaging, transport insurance, etc.
We attach a great deal of importance to transparency, speed and reliability. Many
small and medium-sized companies no longer operate their own warehouses and depend on fast and reliable deliveries, 'just-in-time'.
These are our customers of choice. Via the internet or our call centre, our customers can find out at any time where their parcels are in the supply chain. Currently, 96% of the consignments reach their destination on time. We still see room for improvement here.
We do not offer a budget service; on the contrary, we have positioned ourselves in
the premium/priority market segment, and we have been certified according to the ISO 9002 standard. In the international parcel delivery market we are hard to beat. In partnership with other Euro Express companies we have placed a dense, universal distribution network at our customers' disposal.

How large is Deutsche Post's share of the Swiss courier express parcel service market?

Our parcel service handles more than 25,000 consignments daily, mostly in the business-to-business sector. Our market share is around 4%. That is still quite small.
But we are growing all the time. Switzerland's topography means that it is difficult to reach a critical mass. Of course there are other companies competing for the business, General Parcel GP Paket Logistik, DPD, TNT, etc, to name a few. Swiss Post however still has a dominant market position with a 90% share.

What was your turnover and your profit last year?

We still had a deficit in 2000. However, we hope to start making a profit by 2003. We are aiming at returns of between 2% and 4%, depending on the product.

To what degree does the Deutsche Post (Switzerland) cooperate with Danzas (Switzerland)?

Our cooperation with Danzas extends far beyond pure cross-selling. We also cooperate in recruitment and training. Danzas is one of our major customers. We transport and deliver
lightweight parcels for them, for the fashion industry, for example. Like us, Danzas is
a participant in DPWN's customer relationship strategy, and we develop and promote new products with Danzas, and in partnership with DHL and other DPWN subsidiaries too.

What goals has Deutsche Post (Switzerland) set itself for the next five years?

We want to continue to provide top quality services with state-of-the art technology for our customers, increase our turnover and get
the operation into the black.