Customer feedback Kuehne & Nagel
7000 m² warehouse space brokered in Germany and France!
Kühne + Nagel wins Xella as a customer with LAGERflaeche.de
Kühne + Nagel has successfully brokered 7,000m2 of warehouse space in Germany and France to Xella, the supplier of gypsum fibreboards, aerated concrete and sand-lime brick products, via the online platform LAGERflaeche.de.
Kühne + Nagel manages a total of 20,000m2 of warehouse and logistics space at the Straubing logistics centre, which is in high demand due to the excellent location of the site. "The Sand logistics centre in Straubing is located directly at the Danube port and is optimally connected to the German road network and Munich Airport (120 km) via the A3, A92, B20 and B8. This provides a good transport infrastructure for procurement and distribution," explains Goran Susak, who is responsible for Business Development Contract Logistics Bavaria at Kühne + Nagel.
The Straubing-Sand site has precisely the advantages that meet the requirements of Xella Trockenbau-systeme in Germany. In February 2008, the supplier of gypsum fibreboards and cement-bound boards used LAGERflaeche.de, the Internet portal for logistics properties, to search for suitable hubs for distribution warehouses in Germany and France.
"The tender was part of our 'LogOp 2008' project, with which we want to optimise our logistics," recalls Claudia Schemel, Head of Logistics at Xella. This project was all about finding, setting up and integrating three warehouse locations into the company's existing logistics structure. One location was required in Bavaria, one in the greater Paris area and one in the greater Lyon area. At the same time, all transport services for Germany, France, Austria, northern Italy and Slovenia were put out to tender. "We received numerous and, above all, high-quality alternatives in response to our request. And this was the case for both domestic German parcels and all storage parcels and cross-border parcels," says Claudia Schemel.
The prerequisite for such positive feedback is the high level of acceptance of the online portal in the market. Over 700 logistics service providers, around 300 companies from industry and trade as well as around 150 specialised real estate agents and development companies are already offering and searching for logistics properties via LAGERflaeche.de. Goran Susak is also a regular user of the portal. "So far, we have used the online portal purely as an information medium on the subject of warehouses," he explains. He also regularly studied the offers and requests on LAGERflaeche.de. In February 2008, he then noticed the enquiry from Xella. "The general conditions of the request were a perfect match for our logistics centre in Straubing," says Susak. "Naturally, we got in touch with the contact person and offered the advertised warehouse services and space."
In Germany, Xella was looking for 3,000m2 for the distribution of products within Bavaria, to Slovenia, Italy and the Czech Republic. The company attached particular importance to sufficient ceiling height, smooth floors and sufficient load-bearing capacity, says Claudia Schemel: "We sometimes stack the pallets seven high, and this with a weight of just under 2 tonnes per pallet." It was also important to have wide, level and covered gates that allow lorries to be loaded from the side and protected from the weather. Kühne + Nagel was able to fulfil all these requirements, enabling Xella to quickly achieve its goals of shorter delivery times and routes.
The co-operation is not limited to the rental of storage space; Kühne + Nagel also takes care of procurement, inventory management, stocking and order picking. Kühne + Nagel's industrial and commercial employees were trained by Xella for a week.
Kühne + Nagel's project management ensured a "smooth implementation", says Goran Susak, and the first Xella products left the distribution warehouse in Straubing-Sand at the beginning of August under the management of Kühne + Nagel.
In addition to Germany, the two companies are also working together in France, where 4,000 m2 of warehouse and logistics space was arranged via the online portal.
"As in the case of Kühne + Nagel and Xella, we have developed suitable products and services for both warehouse seekers and warehouse providers and are thus increasingly setting ourselves apart from a traditional property exchange - to become a successful full-service provider for all aspects of warehouse logistics," says Marc Possekel, Managing Director of the operating company LOGvocatus. The Düsseldorf-based company launched the online platform seven years ago and has enjoyed a sharp rise in customer numbers ever since. In 2007 alone, the company recorded customer growth of 35 per cent, and the trend is still rising.
LOGvocatus GmbH, based in Düsseldorf, has been operating in German-speaking countries since 2001.
Goran Susak
Kühne + Nagel (AG & Co.) KG
Business Development Contract Logistics Bayern