IPC Strategic Perspectives on Alternative Fuel Vehicles
IPC Strategic Perspectives on Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Read MoreTag: Germany
Swiss Post acquires Global Business Services Plus
Swiss Post has acquired Global Business Services Plus, which specializes in digital document management and has offices in France, Germany and Slovakia. Swiss Post is thus enhancing its offering in the field of in-house mail. In addition to internal physical mail services, customers are increasingly coming to expect that documents can be entered electronically, processed and digitally archived.
By acquiring Global Business Services Plus (GBS+), based in Paris, Swiss Post is reinforcing and completing its offering in the field of document solutions in Germany and France. It is thus an attractive partner for international companies which also look for an offering of this type from a single source. Corporate clients are increasingly seeking to not only outsource their in-house postal services. They also want to have a partner handle the digitization of documents, the integration of these digitized documents into their in-house electronic processes and the electronic archiving of these documents. One important customer segment for the newly acquired company GBS+ in France is banks, for which the company will handle cheque processing. Up to now, Swiss Post has been represented in this market with large units in the UK, the USA and Switzerland. The newly acquired company generated just under CHF 60 million (USD 58 million) in sales last year with a workforce of 1,000 and operates in the rapidly growing business process outsourcing market. In addition to France and Germany, GBS+ relies on its production facility in Bratislava (Slovakia).
Read Moretime:matters gains Fujitsu Siemens Computers as a customer for the “time-critical spare parts logistics” segment
time:matters has gained Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH (Munich) as a customer for the “time-critical spare parts logistics” segment. Following successful completion of a pilot phase that started in December 2007, time:matters has taken on the company’s time-critical spare parts supply for parts of Europe, with effect from April 1, 2008.
time:matters’ established Special Speed Solutions for especially urgent or particularly important shipments serve as the basis for the logistics solutions that were adapted specifically for Fujitsu Siemens Computers. Furthermore, time:matters’ expertise in this segment provided the basis for Fujitsu Siemens Computers’ decision in favor of time:matters. A combination of road and air transport will be utilized for the high-speed transport of urgently needed spare parts from the central warehouses in Germany to Fujitsu Siemens Computers operations at German and European destinations. The service, which is characterized by high flexibility and speed, allows for a multitude of different types of solutions as they are needed for various distinct situations: it therefore arranges customers according to zip code area or a specific time for each individual place of delivery, which represents the latest possible delivery time. One of the main service elements of the logistics solution is the option to, within Europe, combine an extremely late pick-up of the spare part in the evening with a particularly early delivery the next morning.
Read MoreIntegrator share prices slump as oil prices soar
Stock prices of top express companies including DHL parent Deutsche Post World Net, TNT, UPS and FedEx have fallen dramatically over the last six months, primarily due to rising oil prices and worsening economic conditions.
DPWN has experienced the most dramatic fall. Its June 30 share price of EUR 16.60 represented a 17.5 pct fall on the previous month and a 28.5pct slump compared to January 2, 2008.
TNT shares also fell sharply by 14.5pct to EUR 21.72 as of June 30 compared to one month earlier, and ended the first half of 2008 with an overall decrease of 22.2pct. Despite the completion of a EUR 500 million share buyback programme, its stock price was negatively impacted by the weaker economic environment, rising oil prices and a Q1 profit drop of 17.7pct.
UPS suffered a share price drop of 14.1pct to USD 61.47 as of June 30 compared to the previous month. The six-month drop in the share price was slightly lower at 12.5pct. In Q1, the slowing US economy and unprecedented increase in the cost of fuel along with additional charges for aircraft retirement and redundancies caused lower-than-expected US package volume and an accelerating contraction in the use of premium air products which resulted in a double-digit drop in profit.
FedEx is also suffering from the triple impact of soaring fuel prices, the weak US economy and financial charges causing its shares to fall by 14.5pct to USD 78.79 as of June 30 compared to May 30. It had the lowest half-year share price fall of the “Big Four” with 8.55pct.
Trying to compensate for higher fuel costs, the four integrators increased their air fuel surcharges dramatically to the 20pct – 30pct range last month as soaring oil prices drove up operating costs.
Read MoreRegulator forces Deutsche Post to improve competitors' access to mail hubs
The German grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur said it has forced Deutsche Post World Net AG. to improve competitors’ access to its letter-sorting facilities, mainly by extending their opening hours.
German postal regulation allows Deutsche Post’s competitors to use the former monopolist’s mail distribution infrastructure for services they offer only partially themselves.
This includes the collection and pre-sorting of mail that is than being processed by Deutsche Post.
A spokesman for the German mail services and logistics company said new regulations are an acceptable compromise.
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