Geodis looks to value-added logistics

Outsourcing, globalisation and the increased intermeshing of participants in the delivery and supply chains are changing and extending the meaning of the term <>. More than ever before, logistics services providers are being challenged to continuously reassess the practical value of the products in their portfolios. Furthermore, contractual partners expect innovative concepts and smoother flows of material and information to reduce process costs and to improve the efficiency of resource management. The prerequisite for meeting these requirements is a thorough acquaintance with markets and products. Therefore it seems that the future belongs to highly specialist businesses, not to generalists.

Wide range of roles
The French logistics services provider Geodis, headquartered in Paris, came to precisely this conclusion and decided in 1998 to develop a premium range of services in warehousing, packaging, distribution, reverse logistics and spare parts logistics of high-tech consumer goods, especially IT equipment. The package of services was offered on the national and European level to a wide range of potential customers.
In the space of only three years. from initially relatively modest beginnings, the project has developed so that its scope has now far outgrown the original parameters with the result that this range of ser
vices can he performed for all suppliers of this or a comparable product range. <> said HansJurgen Schmidt, General Manager of the Geodis subsidiary at Mainz (Germany), and this is how we <> in IT logistics.
<> added Schmidt. <> As part of this service. Geodis runs all components through a test program. Every part that has to he replaced is automatically identified. All data saved on the hard disks is irrevocably
deleted. This is a mandatory provision of the German Data Protection Act. Each component is registered in a database, so that it is available for distribution within a Europe-wide spares supply network.
<> continues Schmidt. < If a device is not reusable, it is dismantled in accordance with the complicated provisions of the environment protection laws and recycled as electronic scrap,>> continued Schmidt. <>
Nowadays computers are assembled from prefabricated modules. This simplifies both repair and dismantling. < product groups. We have achieved enormous cost savings on the personnel side with this setup.>> said Schmidt.

Synergies save costs
IBM was the first hut not the last.Geodis Mainz was able to gain other high-tech businesses as customers. "As part of our general entrepreneurial activities, we develop local and global networks. We plan, configure and deliver the hardware and individually furnish the computers with software. After delivery, we install the systems and train/assist the personnel>>. added Schmidt.
But that is by no means the end of the story ‘ fortunately a few black sheep in the electronic scrap disposal business. They do not comply with the strict regulations that govern the disposal of hazardous waste. Therefore the material destined for disposal is only entrusted to certified specialist companies that must pass a two part competence test organised internally by Geodis. Every year we deal with about 20,000 tonnes of computers and peripherals. 200,000 PCs are refurbished and components are removed and recycled from more than 500,000 computers.>>

High customer benefit
All this is achieved by Schmidt and project manager Josef Ziclinski in a single shift operation with at most 100 staff. Depending on the time of year, the core team is supplemented by part timers. The setup is highly advantageous from the customer’s viewpoint for three reasons: First, the outsourcing partner has a Europewide presence as a specialist provider of transport services. Geodis uses a common system for France, the Iberian peninsula and the Benelux states. From Milan, the Group covers Italy, Greece and soon the Balkan states, too.
Second, enormous economies of scale are generated as Geodis gains other dustoniers from the IT industry, not to mention the associated synergy effects. Third, understandably enough, nobody likes the idea of their competitors looking too closely at their products, and therefore equipment makers are reluctant to outsource disposal to third parties. No such concerns are necessary with Geodis, because it is unimaginable that the service provider would start to make its own PCs or Unix computers.
Look into the future

How will things develop in industrial value-added logistics, as Schmidt calls it? < was Schmidt’s reply to the question. In addition he is looking at options for taking existing services and using them as a basis for the development of new ones. One possibility is the creation of a consultancy service that would take over responsibility for ar
ranging product roll-outs for key accounts. This would embrace such tasks as product customisation before delivery (printers, RAM modules, graphic cards, network or system configuration). <