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The Panalpina magazine
1_2004
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Panalpina –
partner to the automotive industry
Page 4 Interview
Page 6 Automotive
Page 12 Interview
Focus on Latin America
Beat Simon, Regional CEO Latin America, wants to expand Panalpina’s
position in South America
A bouquet of services for West Africa
In West Africa Panalpina offers its Oil&Gas customers a broad range
of services
Page 16 Partners
A pioneering spirit
A common sense of purpose has united Cargolux and Panalpina for
decades
Page 24 Human resources
Page 26 Worldwide
Page 31 Publishing details
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Spotlight on the car industry
Panalpina is an experienced logistics partner to the automotive
industry
Page 13 Oil&Gas
Page 20 Health care
2
Client focus is a paramount concern
Jörg Eggenberger, Panalpina’s Regional CEO EMEA (Europe/
Africa/Middle East/Central Asia/CIS), on the constantly changing
logistics business
In safe hands
The partnership between Panalpina and pharmaceutical giant Novartis
Cultivating tomorrow’s leaders
Proactive development of management skills
Let’s do it!
Dear readers, dear colleagues
Another exciting year has come to an end and 2004 is already well under
way. Whilst the world economy continued to struggle for most of 2003 we are
encouraged by a notable upswing of transport volumes in the last quarter of
the year and we are confident that the long awaited recovery will gain
momentum in the months to come.
During the past two years much of our attention and resources have been
absorbed by implementing fundamental changes to our organizational structure, e.g. regionalization and the segregation of functions. These changes
were not forced upon us as a remedy for shortcomings or insufficient financial performance – on the contrary – they were initiated to prepare the company for the challenges of the future.
Now we move confidently into the future by fully leveraging our newly organized global sales force with operational excellence and the power of central
procurement. A lot still remains to be done in the years ahead, however, for
now it is time to redirect our focus to where it matters most – the market and
the customer.
Talking customer, we would like to draw your attention to the cover story of
this edition which deals with the extensive service offerings Panalpina provides to the Automotive industry and its vast vendor base. Equally impressive
are the sophisticated products and services our company offers to the
Oil &Gas Industry along the West African Coast, an area in which Panalpina
has been present for decades.
Both examples illustrate the core values of Panalpina – reliable standard products for everybody combined with sophisticated specialties, both delivered
with our determined “can do” attitude which we are famous for.
Yours sincerely
Bruno Sidler
President of the Executive Board
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Interview
“Panalpina is an innovative
company that serves its clients
by developing new ideas and
joint solutions.”
Client focus is a
paramount concern
Regional CEO Jörg Eggenberger explains the merits of the newly
formed EMEA Region (Europe/Africa/Middle East/Central Asia/CIS)
and describes the shifting demands placed on logistics companies.
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Mr. Eggenberger, why were the former
AMEC and Europe Regions merged
to create the new EMEA Region?
The potential for harnessing synergies was
no doubt a key factor. Most importantly, however, the newly created Region allowed us to
dovetail our structures even more closely to
the organizational forms of our clients. After
all, the former AMEC Region was geared to
the oil & gas sector and was not primarily a
geographical construct. Also, the relatively
small workforce was occasionally overstretched. All that has changed now: the
revamped organizational structure allows us
to cope with bottlenecks more efficiently.
Staff functions such as Health, Safety &
Environment (HSE), Security etc. are also
feeling the benefits. Moreover, the merger
has freed up additional staff resources that
are now available at short notice. This is a
particular boon for the oil & gas sector.
Aren’t the former AMEC countries
structured differently from the
countries in the Europe Region?
No, not at all. The structures of the national
organizations, harmonized by Panalpina
years ago, are similar – and in many cases
identical – worldwide.
Has there been any change in the
client acquisition process?
Today, we no longer operate a sales or acquisition department in the traditional sense:
client counseling has become the numberone priority for both major accounts and
SMEs. Customer service takes pride of place
at all levels. Certain differences naturally
exist, given that SMEs tend to operate
chiefly at a local level. But these are duly
accommodated by our organizational structures.
Are present-day requirements in any
way different?
We have always cultivated direct, intimate
working relationships with our clients, as it
is important for them to know they are in
good hands. That principle remains just as
valid and important as ever. At the same
time, the demands placed on our sales staff
have definitely changed. Today, client advisers provide specialist counseling in particular areas and are not required to cover all
sectors. One thing must be remembered: our
clients’ needs have changed in line with
their specific business environment and the
economic framework as a whole. That’s why
we are wholly committed to providing product training for our sales staff. To put it in a
nutshell: client focus is a linchpin of our corporate policy and the regionalized group
structure is a concrete expression of this
philosophy. Panalpina will always remain an
innovative company intent on serving its
clients by developing new ideas and joint
solutions.
You also mentioned the regional and
local particularities!
That’s right. You can’t only view business
through global spectacles, because different
circumstances and needs prevail in different
countries. We’re only too aware of this fact,
and seek to tailor our services as closely as
possible to the particular situation of the client.
While this is particularly important for SMEs,
the locally based organizations of our global
accounts also require appropriate supervision. That’s why Panalpina has created an
underlying, all-embracing framework that
enables it to provide integral solutions while
catering for specific demands. Our aim must
be to define standards and implement processes that meet both criteria and add up
financially. Even so, the focus must always
be on the client’s specific needs! Our clients
can rest assured that our processes, standards and structures are every bit as good as
the top-notch products we offer.
How important are Panalpina’s
declared core industries – hi-tech,
automotive, healthcare and
oil & gas – for the EMEA Region?
These business areas are crucial for the
entire Group, not least in terms of transport
volumes. They provide the framework,
among other things, for delivering first-rate
solutions to minor shippers on all trade
routes and for the implementation of a successful carrier and capacity management
system with standardized procedures and
optimized interfaces. For our core-sector
supervisors, we also put on special training
courses that focus on the particular features
and procedures of the relevant industries.
After all, no two sectors function alike. Take,
for example, a component delivered four
hours late to an oil platform. This may cause
delays that cost the operator several hundred thousand dollars. In such cases, expensive ad-hoc measures to guarantee punctual
delivery pay off for the client. Retail clients,
on the other hand, rarely opt for such elaborate safeguards as the involved effort would
Curriculum Vitae
Name
Joerg Eggenberger
Marital status
Married, two children
Year of birth
1961
Nationality
Swiss
1977–1990
Joined Panalpina Group in 1977,
held various managerial posts at
Panalpina organizations in the UK,
Australia and Taiwan
1990–1991
Air Sea Broker, Zurich,
Manager Far East
1991
Panalpina Corporate Head Office,
Director Seafreight Division
1998
Managing Director Air Sea Broker
(West Africa Division)
2000
COO (Chief Operating Officer) and
member of the Executive Board
2002
Regional CEO Africa/Middle
East/Central Asia/CIS and
member of the Executive Board
2003
Regional CEO Europe/Middle
East/Central Asia/CIS (EMEA) and
member of the Executive Board
be out of all proportion to any losses incurred. I could cite hundreds of similar instances, but what I really want to say is that
such differences are duly recognized and
factored into the purpose-designed solutions we offer our clients. Incidentally, apart
from the four global key industries, we also
serve a number of regional core sectors –
fashion and wine & spirits, to name just two.
Which aspect of your work inspires
you the most?
It’s fun to work with people in an international environment, and mastering new
challenges through teamwork is also very
satisfying. I find it very rewarding that all
team members can play their part in achieving constructive results and see their efforts
bear fruit in the form of successful products.
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Automotive
Spotlight on the
car industry
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Today’s automotive business is characterized by volatile markets,
global supply chains, myriad interfaces and time-critical delivery deadlines. With a clientele featuring global leaders in the automotive
manufacturing and supply industries, Panalpina can draw on many
years’ experience in mastering these challenges.
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Automotive
No sector is as susceptible to economic fluctuations as the global automotive business.
This produces an exceptionally fast-moving
market in which clients’ needs can change
from one day to the next. Both vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers suffer extreme
price pressure and apply exceedingly tight
margins to their costings. For a logistics
company like Panalpina, success hinges on
an in-depth knowledge of the market, the
timely recognition of trends and the ability to
take proactive measures. Those who merely
react to client’s demands will soon find
themselves lagging the field.
Hence Panalpina’s decision last year to
operate an additional DC10-30 flight, on its
own initiative, between São Paulo and Luxembourg. The 65-ton increase in weekly
capacity was aimed at meeting the growing
demand in the Brazilian automotive sector.
The expanded service supplements the
existing Boeing 747-F flights between Brazil
and South Africa. Via its Luxembourg airfreight hub, Panalpina offers the Brazilian
automotive industry reliable, flexible links
with worldwide destinations.
“The automotive sector is all about marshalling thousands of products and numerous goods flows to ensure global coverage,”
explains Michael Wills, Head of Panalpina’s
Virtual Competency Center Automotive
(VCCA). Production lines have to be supplied
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just-in-sequence with components from different suppliers in a variety of countries.
Multiple goods chains
“At the start of the production process you
find items such as radiators, braking systems and fuel injection pumps, which themselves comprise a host of individual components,” Wills continues. “These items frequently originate from different countries,
in some cases continents, and have to reach
the factory – wherever this may be –
promptly, in the exact sequence required for
assembly and at minimum expense. Stockpiling vehicles is a thing of the past, and
suppliers are unable or unwilling to operate
warehouses. That’s why all manufacturing
stages have to be precisely coordinated and
proper allowance made for global shipping
routes, customs formalities, local regulations and so on.
Panalpina is notified of the orders sent
by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to its various suppliers (some 600
companies in the case of one of Panalpina’s
major clients!). It is at this juncture that
Panalpina, in tandem with its in-house carriers, takes the helm: it fine-tunes the interfaces with suppliers, collects consignments,
consolidates these at its hubs, handles
physical shipments and delivers the
required items to the consignee at the
appointed time. Each of these discrete
steps is standardized, electronically documented and may be tracked by the client
around the clock. The same procedures
naturally apply to contracts executed for
Panalpina’s many clients among the tier-1,
tier-2 and tier-3 suppliers. A hitch at any
single link in the chain will impair – and, at
worst, interrupt – the entire production
process. Through its involvement from start
to finish, Panalpina naturally shoulders a
huge responsibility!”
The core industries
Needless to say, absolute familiarity with
the relevant sectors is vital for successfully
tackling such a challenge. This explains
Panalpina’s strategic focus on a group of
core industries in which it has acquired indepth expertise and offers tailored solutions
and real added value. Apart from automotives, these comprise high-tech, healthcare
and oil & gas. Panalpina boasts extensive
know-how and a proven track record in all
these sectors. It provides its clients with tailored solutions that capitalize on the company’s core airfreight and seafreight services
to generate added value. These activities
are underpinned by a comprehensive Key
Account Management System and a number of Industry Competence Centers. The
latter are virtual teams comprising Key
Account Managers plus operations and
marketing staff who pool and build on their
specialist knowledge for the benefit of the
whole Group. Panalpina’s industrial knowhow is also channeled into optimizing the IT
systems and infrastructure.
Together, these various components
help the company to understand the ins and
outs of their clients’ business. Panalpina
knows the different players and how they
interact. To provide clients with genuine
support, it is essential to appreciate the
mechanisms that operate in their sector.
The logistician’s primary task is to liaise
closely with clients so as to monitor their
shifting requirements and react promptly.
Moreover, clients expect to be provided
with a contact who knows their company
and its specific needs and whom they can
trust. This second factor should not be
underestimated: despite the pivotal role
played by price, particularly in the automotive industry, it is not the sole criterion in
determining the award of a contract. A
sound relationship of trust between client
and logistics supplier is absolutely essential
for successful collaboration. After all, the
services go far beyond merely transporting
goods from A to B, but span the entire
supply chain – starting with the OEM’s
material planning procedures and involving
numerous players.
Comprehensive service portfolio
Apart from transportation, Panalpina’s
services include order management, quality
and quantity control, documentation and
document inspection, interim storage, repackaging and the supervision of all delivery deadlines. Here too, the focus is on core
activities, which is why Panalpina, with its
world-spanning airfreight and seafreight
network, concentrates heavily on forwarding-related supply chain management. One
of Panalpina’s clients is German-based ZF
Friedrichshafen AG, a world leader in the
automotive supply sector, for which it acts
as preferred global service provider, handling airfreight and seafreight consignments between Germany, Mexico, USA,
China and North Korea. Automotive supplier
Valeo, another global player who counts on
Panalpina, provides top vehicle manufacturers with a range of items including
gearboxes, air-conditioning systems, windscreen wipers, cooling, lighting, security,
electrical and electronic systems. Its principal traffic flows are Asia-Europe, USAEurope and Latin America-Europe.
Panalpina’s clearly focused procedures
are vividly illustrated by the Delphi Automotive Systems contract. Previously a subsidiary of General Motors, automotive supplier Delphi became independent in 1998.
For Delphi, Panalpina is responsible for
logistics, airfreight and seafreight on routes
between North America and Europe, North
America and South America, Europe and
South America as well as Asia and South
America. The annual freight volume runs to
some 100,000 consignments serving over
300 Delphi sites on four continents. At its
automotive logistics center in Detroit,
Panalpina also provides numerous addedvalue services for the world’s largest producer of automotive accessories. Panalpina
coordinates the pick-ups and deliveries
required for daily operations, thereby ensuring that Delphi meets its production deadlines. Panalpina also acts as coordinator
between Delphi and its suppliers and
checks that item numbers, quantities, carriers and deadlines comply with order specifications. These details are relayed electronically by Panalpina to the shipment
destination, thus enabling the client to
make any necessary last-minute adjustments.
Another major client which Panalpina
provides with comprehensive airfreight and
seafreight services is German car-maker
BMW. While its seafreight consignments
are shipped around the globe, the airfreight
services are focused on Latin America, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Israel and China.
Panalpina also acts as local service provider
in Argentina, where it assumes
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Automotive
responsibility for all customs formalities,
goods deliveries and nationwide distribution. Consignments range from production
components, spare parts, interior fittings
and motorcycles to printed matter.
Panalpina recently clinched a new BMW
contract for routes between Singapore and
China – a further testament to BMW’s utmost
confidence in its logistics provider. Singapore
is the site of a central BMW spare parts warehouse serving the Asian market. Panalpina
was commissioned to supply the BMW production plants in Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou with components from the Singapore warehouse and to handle direct deliveries to BMW dealers in China.
Volker Sachse, Managing Director South East
Asia Area (Panalpina), Birgit Maier of BMW
Asia and Peter Li of Beijing Oriental, a BMW
partner in Asia (from left to right).
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Interview
Focus on Latin America
Beat Simon was recently appointed Regional CEO for the new Latin
America Region. As a keen observer of the South American markets
over many years, he is convinced that Panalpina’s commanding position
can be further strengthened through adoption of a clear-sighted, clientoriented strategy.
In some ways, English-speaking America
and Latin America are worlds apart – not
least because Latin America embraces several countries and complex markets that
demand in-depth local knowledge. We believe we can provide our Latin American
clients with a more efficient, clearly focused
service by pooling their interests in an independent Region with directly representation
at Executive Board level.
Mr. Simon, as the newly installed
Regional CEO for Latin America,
where do your priorities lie?
In the next few weeks, I plan to visit the
various Business Units and Areas and set up
action plans with the local teams – or adapt
the existing ones to current needs. I’ll also
take the opportunity to get to know customers personally, and meet as many employees as possible. In the near term, I shall also
be involved in transferring the Regional Center from Miami to Brazil.
Why the move?
Miami's central location made it an ideal
site for the former Americas Region that
spanned both North and South America.
With the division into two separate Regions,
however, there was no reason for us to stay
there. The new São Paulo site was singled
out with the help of a detailed study that
analyzed the principal markets and Panalpina’s specific needs in Latin America. When
the results were evaluated, Sao Paulo was
the clear winner. Both the relocation of our
headquarters and the creation of the Latin
America Region reflect our clear commitment to the Latin American market.
How will our clients benefit from the
reorganization?
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Who exactly are your clients?
The SME segment traditionally figures very
prominently in Latin America, so we work
hard to provide these companies with a firstrate service at competitive prices. Yet, I also
see enormous potential in the key account
sector. Practically all Panalpina's globally
operating clients maintain organizations of
their own in Latin America, and we play a
vital role in partnering these companies.
Take the automotive and high-tech sectors
in Mexico and Brazil, for instance.
Is the market more import- or
export-oriented?
Although imports currently exceed exports,
exports are on the rise – for instance from
Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and, to a lesser
extent, Panama – as a consequence of the
free trade area. Moreover, the progressive
lifting of trade barriers is increasingly encouraging South American countries to buy products from other Latin American states. For
Panalpina, with one of the most extensive
distribution networks and service portfolios,
this is a promising market.
Are you satisfied with the Region’s
results?
Overall, the operating result is not satisfactory. Some markets within the Region –
Mexico and Argentina, for example – have
performed very well, while others are not yet
up to expectations. With the Latin American
markets fundamentally volatile, it’s important to have lean structures and keep fixed
overheads low so that we can respond swiftly to changing political and economic conditions. One example is Argentina: prior to the
devaluation of the peso, we restructured the
organization together with local management and have emerged from the economic
crisis stronger than we were before. Panalpina is a global corporation that has shown,
time and again, that it doesn’t just “go with
the flow” in booming markets but can also
operate successfully when the climate is
hostile.
Curriculum Vitae
Name Beat Simon
Marital status married, one child
Year of birth 1966
Nationality Swiss
1982–2000
Trained forwarding agent and several
management positions as an international logistics provider in several
countries, among them Switzerland,
France, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
2000–2001
Joined Panalpina Management Ltd.
in Basel (Switzerland) as Senior Vice
President – Corporate Affairs Latin
America
2002–2003
Panalpina Americas Services Inc.,
Miami (USA), Head of Finance/
Regional CFO – Americas Region
2003
Regional CEO Latin American
Region, Miami (USA), and member of
the Executive Board
Oil&Gas
A bouquet of services
for West Africa
Panalpina is an important player in the oil and gas industry of
western Africa, providing a wide range of services that goes well
beyond traditional forwarding activities.
Panalpina’s commitment to West Africa
dates back to the 1950s, when it commenced operations in Nigeria. In the course
of the years, organizations were set up in
countries such as Gabon, Congo, Angola,
Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. In
all of these places, Panalpina focuses primarily on services linked to the international
oil business, a field in which it has in-depth
specialist knowledge and where it enjoys
the support of – and works together closely
with – ASB Oil & Gas and the global Panalpina Oil & Gas organization. Its customers
include, among others, oil, gas and seismological companies, oil rig operators and their
supply ships, drilling specialists, suppliers,
construction and engineering companies, as
well as shipping companies running scheduled, tramp or tanker services. This variety
alone indicates the demanding tasks facing
a logistics enterprise and the broad knowledge base expected. Panalpina provides not
only forwarding and transportation but also
a full range of agency services; it organizes
the provisioning of oil rigs and production
sites, and handles project-related and
heavy-lift shipments.
Moreover, ASB Oil & Gas also runs what
it calls the Coast Link Service. This involves
two ships specially adapted to operating in
shallow waters, “Merlin” and “Merlin 2“,
which have cold storage space and are
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Oil&Gas
With these two vessels, Panalpina regularly
supplies drilling rigs with spare parts, generators, drinking water, food and fuel. Cargo
can be reloaded at sea for immediate delivery to the shore, but the vessels can also
land almost anywhere thanks to their bow
loading ramps.
Panalpina’s combined air/sea service
“African Star” is another unique offering.
Tailored primarily to the needs of its Oil &
Gas customers, this service links West Africa’s coastal regions to the Group’s global airfreight network.
Providing such services in a customized
and seamless fashion requires expertise in
local customs and conditions, specialist
knowledge of the industry concerned, and a
global air, land and sea network. Panalpina
meets these requirements thanks to its global experience and its ability to harness the
Group’s combined resources: its central projects division, on-site professionals, local
mobile task forces and global air and seafreight networks, plus its heavy haulage specialists, customs experts and its highlydeveloped IT infrastructure featuring
electronic order-management platforms and
Internet-based consignment monitoring
systems.
A la carte services
One of the services on offer that calls for indepth expertise and international cooperation is Marine Chartering. Here, too, Panalpina has been a leading player for over 40
years and is equipped to put together customized packages, whether for charter agreements over varying periods of time or for
individual consignments. Long-standing
contacts with ship owners ensure that the
vessel selected will always be appropriate to
the particular cargo.
The range also includes customs clearance plus comprehensive packing and
warehousing management, which in turn
encompasses purchase order and vendor
management and consignment monitoring
systems down to line item level. Panalpina is
a fully integrated part of the supply chain and
is constantly in touch with manufacturers,
suppliers, builders, contractors and end
consumers. As an added-value service, Panalpina even sends staff members as implants
to work onsite with customers. Other services regularly provided include: project consulting, transport engineering, building site
and equipment inspections, transport coordination, inland waterway services, and
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supervision of loading, unloading and transhipment of heavy and unwieldy freight. All
said, Panalpina supports its customers wherever it can along the entire supply chain.
Agency and husbandry services
The agency and husbandry services Panalpina provides for off-shore oil rigs in West
Africa are vital for their smooth functioning.
The assignments vary from comprehensive
agency mandates for ships and drilling sites
to the delivery of water and bunker supplies,
freight inspection, the organization of transhipment and warehouse capacity at harbors,
and import and export clearance. Panalpina
also procures travel documents and work
permits for employees of oil production or
prospecting firms. Furthermore, it makes
hotel bookings and travel arrangements,
looks after newly arriving personnel and
assists with oil platform crew changes. The
platforms themselves are supplied with all
the necessities of everyday life.
“Offshore services are a key part of our
activities in Africa and require a great deal
of flexibility and commitment. As far as
agency services for ships engaged in seismological activities are concerned, we are
the clear market leader in Africa,” explains
Frank Bichowski, Senior Vice President
Business Development at ASB Oil & Gas.
“But such a position is not acquired overnight. It takes a lot of experience and industry expertise. We are at our clients’ disposal
around the clock. If for instance an important part on an oil rig is missing, we need to
react immediately. We simply can’t afford to
let the customer wait; he has to be able to
rely on us 100%.” Although the actual shipping of cargo represents a fairly small part
of Panalpina’s activities in this connection,
the company sometimes performs ad-hoc or
emergency deliveries or even charter an airplane at short notice, Bichowski adds. He
maintains that, with offshore assignments,
the commitment of each individual staff
member is even more crucial than with “traditional” forwarding services. “People make
or break it,” he says, putting it in a nutshell.
“For the customer, Panalpina is a contact
that is available and ready to act at any time.
This places great demands on the knowhow and dedication of our local staff. Clients
in this sector are, quite rightly, very demanding, as there are invariably large sums of
money at stake, and our customers are
responsible towards their customers for the
smooth execution of orders. If just one little
From left to right: Frank Bichowski (far left) and René Werlen (3rd from left) of ASB Oil&Gas
with their colleagues from Panalpina Cabinda, Angola: Fernando Sardinha, Geraldo Mbachi
(at front), Farah Y. Saba, Feliciano Mualo and Fabiao Pambo.
link in the chain fails, this can no longer be
guaranteed. This is also why,” Bichowski
emphasizes, “onsite customer service provided by our local staff is so vital to the functioning of the whole. These are the people
the customer becomes acquainted with –
and trusts.”
“Trust, reliability, security”
A solid foundation of trust must be established before a client will transfer so much
responsibility to his logistics partner. Stephen
Hoare of Fugro, a Panalpina customer, confirms this: “Reliable handling, honesty, trust
and efficiency are, to my mind, the cornerstones of a good working relationship. I
expect Panalpina to take our interests as
seriously as if they were its own. For us, this
includes keeping Panalpina fully informed
and updated – even if it means passing on
bad news once in a while.” Another crucial
point according to Hoare – besides the costs,
of course, – is familiarity with local conditions. It’s no use people putting their backs
into it only to stumble over their ignorance of
some local custom or regulation. However, he
sees Panalpina as well integrated in every
country it operates in. “Moreover, the company does not simply react when orders
come in or a situation changes.” Instead,
customer support is provided proactively.
Stephen Hoare also appreciates the fact that
Panalpina does not make empty promises to
secure an assignment. “Panalpina has always
proved capable of delivering what it offers.”
Deepwater construction vessel
Panalpina has been assigned an agency
mandate by Heerema Marine Contractors
(HMC) for its deepwater construction ship,
SSCV Thialf (SSCV stands for Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel). This vessel is employed
for under-water construction and installations in connection with deep-sea exploration and drilling for oil and gas. Weighing
136,709 gross registered tons and with a
length of 200 meters, the Thialf can operate
both its cranes simultaneously and lift up to
14,200 tons. It has a dynamic positioning
system that enables it to precisely maintain
its position even in the deepest water – and
even when it is unable to use its twelve
huge anchors, each of which weighs 22.5
tons. To steer the ship, this system uses data
obtained from the Global Positioning System
(GPS). Six thrusts that can be rotated around
360 degrees ensure that the SSCV Thialf
maintains its position even in rough conditions.
As this ocean giant’s agent, Panalpina
has taken on a number of tasks. It needs to
ensure that the requisite permits have been
obtained and settles all further legal matters.
It also organizes crew changes along with all
the minutiae involved, and acts as a point of
contact for the local authorities.
Naturally, Heerema places great emphasis on all security-related issues. In this context, Panalpina – as the agent responsible –
has defined specific health, safety and environment (HSE) standards for crew members
in the harbor and the transit area to the airport in Angola. Before the mandate was
assigned, all existing and potential risks
were identified, discussed exhaustively with
the customer and compared with Panalpina’s own HSE organization. Panalpina has
an HSE concept in compliance with ISO
14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards that
forms an integral part of the company’s
quality system. Adherence to this concept is
strictly mandatory for all involved parties,
whether Panalpina staff members or employees of a sub-contractor.
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Partners
Pioneering spirit and
bold innovation
Panalpina and Luxembourg-based airfreight carrier Cargolux have
worked together in a close partnership for more than three decades.
In this time, their far-sighted and open-minded policies have
spawned a wealth of innovative products and services.
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The Cargolux head office is located in Luxembourg.
Panalpina and Cargolux share a singleminded approach to meeting the demands
of the marketplace. That neither company
shrinks from employing unconventional
means to achieve innovative solutions
makes them a winning team. Yet, the two
companies are mindful at all times of their
own particular goals and their duty to secure
a first-rate service for their clients. Nick
Kroebl from ASB-Air cites one example of
the synergies achieved: “From the 1970s
onwards, we adopted a policy of shipping
the goods handled by our in-house carrier
ASB-Air exclusively by freight-only aircraft.
At about the same time, Cargolux opted for
a fleet strategy based on the Boeing 747
freighter. This, of course, helped us both:
while Cargolux was able to rely on our
freight, we were guaranteed ample capacity.” “We often set up our own stations
abroad on the strength of Panalpina’s projected base loads on specific routes,” adds
Ulrich Ogiermann, the airline’s President
and CEO. “Panalpina’s reliability and
Cargolux’s flexibility have always proved a
powerful combination.” According to Ogiermann, deals between the two companies
were quite often settled by handshake: “We
both embrace a similar business philosophy
and don’t see the point in unnecessary
bureaucracy. The markets expect efficient
decision-making and not interminable negotiations!”
Innovation also requires the acceptance
of entrepreneurial risk – something that
Panalpina has never shunned where prospects were bright. “We have always taken
the stance that we should share in the
Ulrich Ogiermann, President and CEO of Cargolux.
responsibility for new services and not saddle the carrier with the entire risk,” explains
Nick Kroebl. “Cargolux was ready to provide
aircraft compatible with our needs and we
duly undertook to market the capacity at our
own risk. Should we have failed to secure
adequate freight, Panalpina, not Cargolux,
would have borne the loss.” Though outsiders sometimes regard Panalpina and Cargolux as inseparable, it is not just a matter of
swapping favors. Behind every single transaction is the aim to achieve a clear-cut winwin situation, as Pierre Wesner, Cargolux
Vice President, Europe, Middle East &
Africa, emphasizes: “Panalpina knows its
markets and its clients, and expects prompt
and creative solutions from its partners.
Panalpina is prepared to accept certain obligations regardless of whether existing or
new products are involved. By the same
token, we – by virtue of our network – pledge
to deliver the required service. That way,
both partners benefit in equal measure. And
that’s what counts.”
This is a point that Nick Kroebl from
ASB-Air is quick to hammer home: “Apart
from being open for new ideas, Cargolux
combines extreme flexibility with a sensitivity to market demands. What is particularly
noticeable, if you look back over the past
30 years, are the many areas in which
Panalpina and Cargolux have grown in tandem, due to our joint strategies for specific
routes. At the same time, each partner has
endeavored to gain an independent foothold
in the market.” Where it was expedient, the
two companies went separate ways. For
example, Panalpina today offers a regular
service to many destinations in Africa in collaboration with other airline partners, while
Cargolux carries goods for other forwarders
along the same routes.
Beginnings in African trade
The association between Panalpina and
Cargolux dates from the early 1970s. “It was
the time of the Nigerian oil boom, when
goods traffic soared and capacity was at
a premium. To secure a swift and reliable
service for those clients operating in Nigeria,
Panalpina, unlike its competitors, saw little
point in vying for the free freight space.
Instead, it decided to charter whole aircraft,
market the capacity at its own risk and
assume control of the goods flows. With this
in mind, it approached Cargolux, formed in
1970, which offered freight-only air links by
CL-44 and DC-8 from its Luxembourg base.
As Pierre Wesner points out, “In chartering a
freighter, Panalpina turned out to be a veritable trailblazer. No freight forwarder had
ever ventured anything of the kind before.”
Even at that time, flexibility, innovation and
reliability were the cornerstones of Panalpina’s
and Cargolux’s pioneering achievements.
This also paved the way for the launch of
Panalpina subsidiary Air Sea Broker, now
ASB-Air. “With the African services we
created a business model whose key planks
remain in place to this very day,” declares
Nick Kroebl. “At the Luxembourg hub
Panalpina had direct access to the goods
flows. Of course, this also meant increased
responsibility, as there was no carrier to
shoulder the blame if anything went wrong.
But with a reliable partner like Cargolux, >
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Partners
Cargolux
> Cargolux Airlines International was
formed in 1970 by Luxair, the Salen
Shipping Group, Loftleidir Icelandic
and private Luxembourg-based
investors. The maiden CL-44 flight to
Hong Kong took place in September.
> 1973 saw the first DC-8 added to
the existing fleet of five CL-44s.
The new headquarters, with two
hangars, was inaugurated in 1975.
The CL-44s were gradually phased
out, the first B747-200F being
ordered in 1978 and delivered in
1979. Cargolux opted for a fleet strategy based exclusively on the Boeing
747 freighter. The last DC–8 was
taken out of service in 1984.
The route network progressively
expanded, particularly in the Far
East and North America.
> The first two B747-400Fs were
delivered in 1993. Cargolux was the
first airline worldwide to operate
this modern aircraft.
> 1996 saw the inauguration of the
new CargoCenter (annual capacity:
500,000 tonnes) at Findel Airport.
By 1997, Cargolux served 31 destinations worldwide and operated
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66 branches in 40 countries. The company had joined the Association
of European Airlines (AEA) and the
International Air Transport Association (IATA). By the end of 2001, the
number of destinations served had
risen to 49.
> In 2002, the Cargolux fleet comprised 12 state-of-the-art B747-400Fs,
and a further Boeing was on order.
Turnover stood at USD 807.496 m.
The company’s headcount totaled
1,342, over a thousand of whom
worked in Luxembourg. Staff from
33 different nations were employed at
the head office.
> Cargolux occupies third spot among
the major European airfreight carriers.
In terms of freight ton-kilometers, it
ranks ninth worldwide.
> Cargolux provides scheduled airportairport airfreight services along with
full- and part-charter packages. Its
product portfolio is geared to forwarding and logistics companies.
Panalpina is Cargolux’s largest client to
date. Cargolux also services B737, B747,
B757 and B767 aircraft and maintains
an extensive road-feeder network.
we had no qualms about taking that kind of
risk.”
The collaboration between Panalpina
and Cargolux progressively expanded to
embrace further links – for instance, the
route from Europe via Houston and Mexico
to Miami, where Panalpina set up its distribution center for Latin America. As Nick
Kroebl recalls, “It was a novelty at the time
for Latin America to be served by widebody
freighters.” As the alliance grew, so did
Panalpina’s European hub at the Luxembourg terminal. Moreover, the development
of a pan-European road transport network
provided every Panalpina branch in Europe
with a direct link to Luxembourg. Cargolux,
for its part, focused its fleet strategy exclusively on the freight-only Boeing 747, an
ideal solution for large airfreight consignments. “There have, of course, been differences of opinion along the way – that’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Ulrich Ogiermann
concedes. “But, as I see it, even such disagreements were productive because of the
honest and frank tenor of the discussions.
Neither Panalpina nor Cargolux indulged in
any political or tactical maneuvering. In fact,
the two companies are very similar in the
way they do business.”
Close collaboration with Luxair
Panalpina today serves all continents from
its Luxembourg base by means of full chartering and block-space agreements. The airline Luxair, which was founded in 1962 and
holds a 34.9% stake in Cargolux, is its freight-
Cargolux, a strong partner!
handling partner at the Luxembourg CargoCenter. The over 30-year partnership between Luxair and Panalpina was further
cemented at the start of 2003 when
Panalpina acquired a 12.1% stake in the airline. Luxair also handles Panalpina’s consignments at the new CargoCity Süd logistics center at Frankfurt Airport. The long
history of successful collaboration with Cargolux is, in Nick Kroebl’s opinion, largely due
to Luxair’s enduring and vigorous support
for Panalpina’s operations at the Luxembourg site.
Client benefit as the key issue
Client focus dictates all activities at both
Panalpina and Cargolux. In the words of
Ulrich Ogiermann: “We offer airport-airport
services and deliver flexibility and quality.
That’s what matters to our clients – and
Panalpina is our largest single customer.”
“We’re not looking to develop products for
their own sake or to bill clients for services
they don’t even need,” adds Robert Van De
Weg, Cargolux Senior Vice President, Sales
& Marketing. Cargolux offers a clearly defined product portfolio and seeks to support
its clients in their business activities. It is
thus committed to the best-in-class principle, collaborates worldwide with those partners that best meet the client’s needs and
makes no attempt to tackle everything on its
own. Cargolux has always operated and will
continue to operate in the business-to-business sector to provide forwarders with airfreight services. “We have not the slightest
ambition to diversify into our clients’ business areas,” stresses Robert Van De Weg.
“Our expertise resides in the operation and
maintenance of airfreight links. We maintain
a close dialogue with our clients and are
capable of responding swiftly to new
demands. That’s our core business!”
As Nick Kroebl sees it, quality, flexibility, open communication and quick turnaround times are the be-all and end-all in the
airfreight sector. “We can totally rely on the
Cargolux route network and flight schedules
while, at the same time, being fully equipped to implement new solutions at short
notice – two exceedingly crucial factors!”
At first sight, Panalpina and Cargolux
may not appear to have much in
common. If we take a closer look,
however, we see that values such as
entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm
for risk-taking and pioneering
achievements loom large in both
companies’ histories.
When Cargolux was founded in the
early 1970s, Panalpina was already
heavily involved in the oil and gas
business in West Africa – notably in
Nigeria, which was enjoying an oil
boom. At this time freight capacity
was in short supply, and Panalpina
was anxious to find solutions to
meet its customers’ needs.
Gerard W. Fischer, our present
Chairman, took a different approach
to the competitors: Why haggle over
spare freight capacity and risk delays
when we could charter a whole aircraft and control the freight flows
ourselves? While no-one before him
had dared to follow this path, Gerard
W. Fischer knew that he could offer a
service tailored to customers’ requirements. Together with the fledgling
company Cargolux, he launched
freight-only flights to Nigeria, thus
laying the foundations for what was
to become the Panalpina Group’s
highly successful capacity management system. Over the years,
Panalpina and Cargolux began cooperating on many other routes, which
are featured in this issue. The common values of openness, innovation
and entrepreneurial spirit ensured
that the partnership would prove
durable – and guarantee that it will
last for many years to come.
Bruno Sidler, CEO
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Health Care
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In safe hands
The health care sector is now a major focus of Panalpina’s operations.
The Group’s successful collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry
is epitomized by Panalpina Switzerland’s long-standing partnership with
Novartis Pharma and its predecessor companies, Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy.
In developing and implementing its
global integrated logistics services, the
Panalpina Group concentrates on four core
sectors: High-Tech, Automotive, Oil & Gas
and, since the start of 2003, Health Care.
Over time, Panalpina has acquired tremendous expertise in these industries, which is
now being pooled in competence centers.
Panalpina is currently seeking to expand business in the health care sector and
already serves a number of leading pharmaceutical companies as both airfreight/seafreight forwarder and all-round logistics
solution provider. In geographical terms,
Panalpina’s health care operations are focused on Switzerland and the USA. A typical pharmaceutical client is global player
Novartis Pharma (see box).
Airfreight and seafreight shipments
Panalpina Switzerland has partnered
Novartis as forwarder and logistics provider
since the pharmaceutical giant’s formation.
The main goods flows are between Switzerland and the USA. Some 80% of the freight
– basic materials for medicinal products –
is shipped by air, the remaining 20% by
sea. The proportion of seafreight consignments is, however, on the rise. Panalpina is
the sole forwarding partner for samples
shipments using Novartis’s NOMEX application. Such consignments are sent by
courier, heavy-goods vehicle, air or sea,
depending on volume and urgency.
Panalpina is responsible for the entire
forwarding chain – from the arrangement
of shipments to customs clearance and
delivery to the consignee. In 2002, the
Group handled 10,354 consignments, weighing a total of 10,807 tons, for Novartis
Pharma.
Special shipments
Of particular note are the ten or so weekly
“cooltainer” air consignments shipped by
Panalpina for Novartis Pharma in envirotainers. These freight containers, which
have battery-operated thermostats for continuous temperature regulation between
-20°C and +20°C, use dry ice as the cooling
medium. They are chiefly employed for the
shipment of sensitive pharmaceutical products, such as vaccines, which need to be
kept at a constant temperature. The goods
are loaded directly into the special containers at the Novartis plant and shipped to the
consignee’s warehouse without a break in
the cooling chain.
>
Novartis Pharma
Novartis Pharma, a division of the
Novartis pharmaceutical group based
in Basel, Switzerland, is a global
leader in the research, development,
manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines. The pharmaceutical division aims to supply patients
worldwide, via health care professionals, with innovative, safe and
effective products and services.
Novartis offers medication for the
following therapeutic areas: cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders,
endocrinology, oncology, hematology,
neurology, transplantation, immunology, dermatology, respiratory disease, rheumatology, bone disorders,
hormone replacement therapy and
ophthalmology. Novartis Pharma
has a global presence, with some
80 group companies in over 140 countries. Group sales in 2002 totaled
CHF 21,000 m.
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Health Care
Karl Tschui, Chris Engeler and Pascal Kaltenrieder of Panalpina Basel.
Long-standing association
Panalpina already partnered the two pharmaceutical companies, Sandoz and CibaGeigy, that merged to form Novartis in 1996.
Karl Tschui from Panalpina Basel, who is
responsible for the Novartis contract, can
look back on a long and profitable collaboration: “Our partnership with the Basel-based
chemical and pharmaceutical industries
stretches back decades. The mutual trust we
established with Sandoz and Ciba over the
years was, of course, unaffected by the merger and the hiving-off of the chemical divisions to form Clariant, Ciba SC and Syngenta.”
And what is the key to successful partnerships in the pharmaceutical sector?
“Security is undoubtedly the top priority,”
answers Pascal Kaltenrieder, Panalpina’s Seafreight Export Manager in Basel (Switzerland), one of Novartis Pharma’s major production sites. “The freight is valuable and
sensitive. An unbroken logistics chain with
secure carriers is imperative,” he explains.
“The global network is another crucial factor: Novartis opts for logistics partners that
offer single-source responsibility from collection to delivery, including customs formalities and all the related documentation,”
Kaltenrieder adds. “Not to forget the time
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factor: with the just-in-time system we
employ, delivery deadlines are sacrosanct.”
Electronic link via e-hub
To further simplify collaboration and procedures, the new e-hub paves the way for a
purely electronic data flow between Panalpina
and Novartis. Novartis sends its orders
electronically to the e-hub, which is linked
to Panalpina’s tracking and reporting system Intrac. The entire forwarding operation,
including invoicing, will then be controlled
from this online platform.
With the establishment of an industry
competence center, Panalpina now intends
to pool and develop the know-how acquired
from its many years of experience in the
pharmaceutical sector. Chris Engeler, Business Unit Manager at Panalpina Basel, envisions the future of Panalpina’s health care
operation as follows: “We aim to clinch new
pharmaceutical contracts by exploiting our
knowledge at a global level. The relative
uniformity of industry and market will be a
major boon: we already speak the language
of our future clients.”
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Human Resources
Cultivating
tomorrow’s leaders
There are two key aspects to Panalpina’s management development
program: ongoing professional training on the one hand, and personal
development – or the selective acquisition of management skills – on the
other. Our internal training and development schemes focus on both
aspects, as we believe a holistic approach is the best way of building a
professional team capable of assuming key positions within the company.
As a leading logistics provider, training and
professional development are a top priority
for Panalpina. We have developed our own
learning platform: Panacademy, a global program that encompasses specialist training
plus courses for developing management
skills. One goal of the Management Development Program is to make our managers fit to
manage the company, and to keep them that
way. The other is to identify talented individuals within the company who show development potential and to fast track these
people so that they can take up vacant management posts internally, thus retaining their
talents in the company.
From the basics to training
for top managers
How does Panalpina’s Management Development Program look exactly? It consists of
three cycles of seminars: In the Basic Management Program, “Steering Success”, managers are trained more or less on a one-toone basis. Skills developed in this phase
include leadership, delegating, communication, time management or conducting employee appraisals. The newly launched program “Navigating our Future” (see box text)
is aimed at “High Potentials” – the staff singled out for fast-track development. Aspiring managers are proactively cultivated and
their leadership skills honed so that they are
properly prepared for their future tasks.
Issues here include strategic thinking, tac-
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tics and change management, for example.
We also run an Executive Program for senior
managers.
Putting theory into practice
We make sure that the seminars don’t confine themselves to theoretical exercises but
that the material learnt is actually put into
practice. Ultimately the aim is to communicate know-how and skills that can be used
in the course of normal business and therefore benefit not only the individual employee
and the company as a whole, but also our
customers.
At Panalpina, “soft factors” count just as
much as hard facts. These include the
Panalpina values, which are taught as part
of these seminars. The Spirit of Panalpina
plays a major role in creating a single, global
workforce that functions as a winning team
– and is retained for the future.
Communicating skills and values
So how does a potential manager’s internal
career path tie in with the Panacademy curriculum? Acceptance into one of the programs is not a cast-iron guarantee for a rapid
climb up Panalpina’s corporate ladder. To
get ahead, individuals must also demonstrate unwavering commitment in their
everyday work. The Management Development Program is a good platform for communicating and reinforcing Panalpina’s values and skills. The emphasis here is on
continuity and on acquiring and expanding
both specialist know-how and interpersonal
skills. It is ultimately our customers who
benefit most from this approach: they are
supported by highly trained professionals.
Talent smiths
Employees with higher than average
development potential are a rare
commodity. That’s what makes it so
difficult to identify such “high potential” candidates. The main criterion
here is an excellent track record.
Another important aspect is that the
prospective managers are mobile,
i.e. they are prepared to work in
another country. Ultimately it is an
employee’s qualifications that decide
whether he is accepted into our internal Management Development Program. Panalpina conducts an annual
Performance Evaluation Assessment
and Review (PEAR) to evaluate
whether an employee would make a
suitable candidate for the program.
Navigating our Future
“Navigating our Future” is a modular
program spread over two years and
is designed to develop management
talents within Panalpina. Admissions
start this year. The program starts
with “Focus I”, which assesses the
current professional situation of the
candidates nominated for the Talent
Pool by their line managers. This
review takes into account the opinion
and development plans of line management, the HR managers and the
candidates.
The format of the Panacademy course
is as follows: candidates attend four
seminars over a period of 16 to 24
months. The first block deals with
business strategies. The second module looks at business processes.
The third seminar focuses on team
building, while the fourth looks
at managing employees. This is
rounded off by “Focus II”, where the
HR manager once again sits down
with the candidate to review the
current situation, in order to decide –
together with the line managers –
on the next career steps.
There are two sides to professional
development: On the one side candidates undergo a career development
program while on the job, and on
the other they acquire management
skills in the seminars. The employee
is supported in the program by both
line management and Human
Resources.
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Worldwide
Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler and Philip Womersley, Chairman
Safcor Panalpina.
An ideal match
South Africa Following 30 years of intensive cooperation,
Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler and Safcor Panalpina Chairman
Philip Womersley share the same view: they’ve got a winning
formula. Since 1973, a close partnership has formed between
Panalpina and the South African partner, and since August 2000
the two firms have traded under the name Safcor Panalpina.
Even though there are no equity links between the allied companies, Safcor Panalpina is a fully fledged member of the global
Panalpina Group. Since November 2001, Renfreight – which, like
Safcor, is a subsidiary of the listed South African Bidvest Group –
has also been part of Safcor Panalpina.
Safcor Panalpina is now market leader for traffic to and from South
Africa. It offers its customers the full range of logistics services
from a single source. The big advantage of this long-standing
cooperation is that it affords access to a comprehensive global
network while still being firmly anchored at the local level.
The 30th anniversary was celebrated on August 7, 2003 with Golf
Day, an annual customer event. At this occasion, Panalpina CEO
Bruno Sidler, Panalpina Regional CEO EMEA (Europe, Middle
East, Africa, Central Asia, CIS) Jörg Eggenberger, Safcor Panalpina
Chairman Philip Womersley and Pete Williams, Safcor Panalpina
Managing Director, together with their management teams,
welcomed some 250 guests at the Royal Johannesburg Golf Club.
In addressing the guests, both Sidler and Womersley emphasized
that the partnership goes far beyond being just a “marriage of
convenience” between two businesses.
The Number 1
Brazil Panalpina Campinas has been awarded the Fenix trophy
for 2003, singling it out as the best forwarder in the area around
Campinas – a Brazilian city that is home to numerous high-tech
and automotive companies. Panalpina had been the runner-up for
this award in the preceding years, but has managed to enhance
its performance still further. The trophy is awarded on the basis
of the results of a market survey undertaken among customers and
foreign trade representatives in Campinas, the two main criteria
being customer satisfaction and general recognition.
Delighted with the award (from left to right): Gilberto Zanon, head of
Global Accounts Panalpina Brazil; Marcelo Franceschetti, Managing
Director Panalpina Brazil; Eliane Santos, head of the Campina
Business Unit; Mauricio Arnold, Head of Marketing & Sales Panalpina
Brazil.
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What’s in a name?
Belgium Anyone who looks up Panalpina Voeren in the search
engine Google will get quite a surprise. On the one hand they will
find a website created by logistics specialist Panalpina presenting
its four Belgian locations, one of which is Voeren. But they will also
be taken to a bus timetable featuring bus routes 39b and 39c.
Why is that? It’s because the bus stop in front of the Panalpina
office in Voeren – an agglomeration of six villages in the Province
of Limburg, close to the Dutch border – has been named after the
company. Quite an honor for our logistics firm!
Toasting 25 years
of Panalpina Korea
Lars-Ola Gunnarsson, Regional CEO Asia-Pacific, Peter Ziegler,
Managing Director Korea and Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler (center
of picture, from left to right) met with representatives of Panalpina
Korea to celebrate the Korean subsidiary’s 25th anniversary.
Korea In November 2003, Panalpina Korea Limited celebrated its
25th birthday. Originally a trade representation with a three-strong
staff handling imports from Europe and the USA, Panalpina Korea
now, 25 years later, boasts a headcount of 90. The company has
its own branches in Seoul, Pusan and Incheon and is additionally
represented by two agents. Focusing on airfreight and seafreight
services, it ranks among the top ten logistics providers in Korea.
500,000 TEUs
Germany Panalpina has been working closely together with the
Anglo-Dutch shipping company P&O Nedlloyd (PONL) for some
years. The event was celebrated in the presence of Barry Williams,
Executive Director of PONL. This prompted Thomas Eisenblätter,
CEO of Panalpina’s in-house carrier, to highlight the role of Panalpina’s shipping-company partners: “Our carriers aren’t just suppliers. They are true partners who are instrumental in our success.
To provide our seamless seafreight solutions, we team up with a
number of hand-picked, highly reliable shipping companies like
P&O Nedlloyd that can guarantee impeccable quality. The smooth
functioning of our capacity management system also hinges on
worldwide coverage and availability of freight capacity at all times
– criteria that PONL meets superlatively.”
Thomas Kaul, Barry Williams, Thomas Eisenblätter, Michael W.
Messchaert, Raymond Tsang (front), Jörg Twachtmann, Wilhelm
Dohrmann, Gerd W. Kux (middle), Matthias Poche and Andre Toet
(back row, from left to right) were present in Hamburg to mark
the loading of the 500,000 th TEU.
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Worldwide
Capacity expanded
Angola Logistics provider Panalpina has operated in Angola since
1984. The local head office is in the capital city, Luanda. Given
Panalpina’s success in steadily expanding its business in the
south-western part of Africa – it offers seafreight, airfreight and
logistics solutions for the oil industry – a new building has now
been constructed to accommodate not only the Angolan HQ but
also the Luanda branch office and a warehouse.
At the official inauguration ceremony in the late summer,
Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler, the former Managing Director of
Panalpina Angola, Carlos Magalhaes, and the Managing Director
for the Area Angola, Congo and Gabon, Monique Gubler,
addressed some 150 guests. These included representatives of the
Angolan government plus seafreight and airfreight partners in
southwestern Africa, Panalpina customers and local Panalpina
management staff. In their talks, the three top managers emphasized the growth potential of Panalpina Angola, for which the new
building – and the steady expansion of the national organization’s
capacity – would provide a sound basis.
Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler and Monique Gubler,
Managing Director Panalpina Angola, Congo and Gabon.
Traffic hub
Germany After a construction period lasting five months, the new
hall at Frankfurt Airport’s Cargo City South was completed, enabling Panalpina to move into its new forwarding center. The 14,000 m2
transhipment terminal has 46 loading bays for trucks, plus special
warehouses for high-value and refrigerated freight and a separate
zone for hazardous goods. The integrated office complex covers
some 2000 m2. About 150 Panalpina employees work at Frankfurt
Airport, handling some 130,000 tons of freight each year.
The new site means that Frankfurt is joining Luxembourg and
Paris as one of Panalpina’s three key European airfreight hubs. It
plays a pivotal role in the Group’s plan to build up a worldwide
system of hubs and subhubs.
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September 25, 2003 saw the official inauguration of the new
Panalpina Center at Cargo City South. About 400 guests – representatives of the Frankfurt airport authority Fraport AG and of all
the major commercial carriers, along with Panalpina managers –
joined in the celebrations. A tour of inspection was organized to
present the buildings to the guests. In the speeches they delivered, Panalpina CEO Bruno Sidler, Remo Eigenmann, Managing
Director of the in-house carrier ASB-Air, and Professor Manfred
Schoelch, Vice Chairman of Fraport AG’s Executive Board, emphasized Frankfurt’s significance as a strategically important location
from which freight flows can be readily managed – and singled out
the airport’s role in helping Panalpina to strengthen its leading
position in intercontinental freight.
All in a
day’s work
Bangladesh/Germany Panalpina Nuremberg and in-house
carrier ASB-Air have helped Panalpina agent Integrated Transportation Services Ltd. of Dhaka to handle a contract awarded by
a German company to ship garments from Bangladesh to Germany.
Given the large volume involved, an Antonov AN-124 operated
by Volga-Dnepr Airlines was deployed. Owing to a delay in the
production of the textiles and their delivery to Dhaka airport, the
tight schedule could only be met by resorting to unconventional
methods: the 10,000 cartons of shirts, blouses, jeans, etc. weighing
a total of 108,000 kg had to be loaded without palettes. On landing
in Nuremberg, the consignment had to be unloaded by hand,
which took 14 hours in all. This gave trainee forwarding staff an
idea of what logistics work can involve and how – given a measure
of flexibility – unforeseen difficulties can be overcome. Once unloaded, the garments were trucked to the final recipient, a chain of
discount stores.
connect 1_2004
29
Worldwide
Combating
poverty-related blindness
Ghana Panalpina’s sponsorship program was unveiled in the last
issue of Connect. Since the start of 2003, the logistics provider has
backed a program launched in Ghana by the Swiss Red Cross that
will provide medical assistance for partially sighted people in West
Africa.
Eric Grand d’Hauteville, the officer at Panalpina entrusted with
supervising the humanitarian projects, pays regular visits to the
African clinics. “What struck me most during my last journey
through West Africa was how little is actually needed to give
someone a new lease of life. For instance, a 20-minute cataract
operation can utterly transform a patient’s life,” Grand d’Hauteville
explains. “In many cases, sufferers of poverty-induced blindness
are unable to work and feed their families. A great deal can be
done in this area for a relatively small outlay.”
Poverty-related blindness is widespread in West Africa. Yet,
modest financial resources would suffice to prevent or cure some
80% of cases and ease the immense social and economic burden.
Considerable effort is therefore being expended in educational
campaigns and eye check-ups in villages and schools. The Swiss
Red Cross has resolved to tackle the problem at its roots: apart
from treating existing sufferers, the relief organization is seeking
to publicize the causes of poverty-related blindness as a prelude to
stamping it out.
The program to combat poverty-related blindness has made
progress on all three fronts – prevention, eye disease treatment
and the training of opticians and medical staff. Numerous Red
Cross volunteers have, for example, been trained to provide
assistance, particularly in the areas of prevention and disease
recognition. Also, with Panalpina’s backing, the refurbishment of
the only ophthalmic college in Ghana has been completed and
teaching is underway. Gratifyingly, the Ghanaian health authority
has moved to integrate the campaign against poverty-related
blindness in its own health schemes.
A resounding success
Spain/Portugal Panalpina Spain and Portugal have received the
“Strategic Award” from Servicios Generales a la Publicidad
SANCA for a marketing campaign run under the title “Do you
doubt our performance? Then why not travel 1st class along with
your freight!” The customers targeted were sent a box containing
30
connect 1_2004
advertising material detailing the services and network of logistics
supplier Panalpina together with a specimen First Class air ticket.
The campaign wasn’t just a success in terms of its originality:
it also enabled the two Panalpina companies to acquire many new
contacts.
Volker Roloff, Manager European Operations Toshiba TEC and Andreas Steiner, Import
Export Coordinator Toshiba TEC, present the award in Frankfurt. From left to right:
Walter Plumbohm, Andrea Sieber, Tina Gernandt, Robert Menzel, Volker Roloff, Marc
Badenhausen, Wilfried Zay, Roland Gallandi, Andreas Steiner.
A win-win
situation
Germany Panalpina Welttransport (Deutschland) GmbH has
received the 2003 Import Award from the Storage Device Division
of Toshiba Europe GmbH. It was the first time this prize has been
awarded. Panalpina has been handling airfreight and seafreight
for the Japanese IT group’s German subsidiary, based at Neuss,
since 1998. Under the operational supervision of its Frankfurt
branch, Panalpina not only ships imported goods from the Far East
and the US to Germany but also handles consignments bound in
the reverse direction or shipped within Asia. Since August 2002,
Panalpina has also been operating services on the ex-Hong Kong
lane.
Toshiba Europe’s Storage Device Division is a market leader in the
development, design and production of optical DVD-R/-RW, DVDROM and CD-RW/DVD-ROM (“combo”) drives for desktop and
notebook PCs as well as 1.8” and 2.5” hard drives. The Division
sells top-quality peripherals to original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs), value-added resellers and dealers (VARs/VADs), system
integrators and distributors in Europe. End-users, too, can buy
Toshiba’s innovative mobile storage devices directly. With the
range of retail kits which it rolled out in 2001, the Toshiba Storage
Device Division now has a key competitive edge on the retail
market. Top-notch technology and production processes have
made Toshiba a world-leading manufacturer.
The 2003 Import Award was presented on September 2, 2003 by
Volker Roloff, Manager European Operations Toshiba TEG, and
Andreas Steiner, Import Export Coordinator Toshiba TEG, at a
ceremony held at Panalpina Germany’s new Frankfurt Airport
(Cargo City South) base. It was given in recognition of Panalpina’s
excellent performance, its reliable and service-oriented approach,
and its flexibility. The exclusive charters organized by Panalpina
subsidiary ASB-Air were singled out in particular, as was the fact
that highly motivated, professional staff are assigned permanently
to all interfaces. “Panalpina lives Toshiba’s business” is how the
two Toshiba managers summed up the successful partnership
between Panalpina and Toshiba at the award ceremony. Both
partners agree that a common understanding of the industry and
the markets (high-tech is a key focus for Panalpina’s business)
provides a perfect basis for cooperation.
Publishing details: Editor, owner and publisher: Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd, Viaduktstrasse 42, P.O.Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. Internet: www.panalpina.com. Tel. ++41 61 226 11 11.
Responsible for contents: Martin Spohn, Corporate Communications. Editor: Martin Spohn, e-mail: martin.spohn@panalpina.com, büro:z GmbH, Bern. Distribution: Monika Dups, e-mail:
monika.dups@panalpina.com. Publication intervals/languages: “connect” is published several times a year in German, English, French, Spanish and Chinese in over 100 countries. Total circulation:
60 000 copies. Photos: Cover/p. 6/11: büro:z GmbH Bern/Basel; pp. 2/7: Joe Wilssens Photography Inc., New Baltimore/MI; pp. 3/4/22 (center, right), 25: Julian Salinas, Basel; pp. 8/9, 32 (bottom):
Peter Maurer, Weisslingen; p. 10 (center/bottom): Masterfilms, Zurich; pp. 16/18/19: Cargolux; p. 17: Keystone/Paul Ames; pp. 20/23 (top): Novartis, (bottom): Envirotainer; p. 26 (top right): Digitalvision; p. 27: P&O Nedlloyd; p. 30: SRC; p. 31: Toshiba; p. 32 (top): TCS touring. Design and production: büro:z GmbH, Bern/Basel. Printed by: bdv, Basel. Printed on 100% chlorine-free bleached paper.
connect 1_2004
31
“IT is people, not just machines”
“As Project Manager at the Asia-Pacific
IT Competence Centre, my job is to make
sure that the SAP system is working properly in our region. It’s important to me
that the software meets the users’ requirements. Whenever a new SAP version is
rolled out, I travel to the various countries
and instruct users about the new system.
I enjoy this contact a lot, as it means I’m
constantly meeting new people and tackling new challenges. Panalpina is an ideal
employer: the company is big enough to
offer its staff exciting assignments, but not
so big that it makes you feel like a little
cog in a huge machine.”
Kaldip Singh
Project Manager,
IT Competence Centre
Panalpina Regional
Head Office Asia-Pacific
Singapore