Schenker and Siemens set up joint venture for contract logistics
News Item Entered: Thursday, December 18, 2003
Essen / Frankfurt am Main / Munich, 12/16/2003 - Schenker Industrial Logistics GmbH pools the warehouse management activities of Schenker and Siemens in the field of spare parts, promotional material and production logistics. Schenker AG holds a 51 percent stake in the new joint venture, with Siemens AG holding the remaining 49 percent. The new company has about 300 employees, 175 of whom have been taken on from Siemens, at 17 locations in Germany and starts its operations in the market with a business volume of around 30 million euros. The aim of the joint venture is to pool the warehouse management activities of Siemens and Schenker in the field of spare parts, promotional material and production logistics and to increase business volume through the acquisition of new customers.
The main tasks of the joint venture include the operation of various spare parts supply depots, the control of in-house logistics processes, the supply of spare parts to service technicians all over Germany, and the worldwide distribution of media products such as calendars and printed matter or promotional materials. The joint venture combines the specialist expertise of Schenker in the freight forwarding and contract logistics business with Siemens' industrial process know-how in the product, system and project business.
As Dr. Thomas Held, CEO of Schenker AG, explains: "Joining forces with Siemens to form this joint venture company represents a further key step in the implementation of our strategy to position Schenker as an integrated logistics service provider. The move is also of interest to our customers, as it creates beneficial access to highly specialized industry know-how.“ Companies in the high-tech and electronics industries, the mechanical engineering and aerospace sectors, and the media and advertising industries in particular are expected to profit from the services provided by Schenker Industrial Logistics GmbH.
"The transfer of our warehouse activities to a joint venture creates a central point where our contract logistics operations are concentrated. The resulting volume growth will help to improve efficiency levels," says Klaus Schlichting, Managing Director of Siemens Procurement & Logistics Services. "Schenker AG is the perfect partner, and our decision in favor of Schenker was due above all to the company's special know-how in the area of contract logistics and our common view of how the joint venture should be positioned in the market."
To signal the start-up of the joint venture, Siemens Procurement & Logistics Services (SPLS) and Schenker have transferred a total of 17 spare parts depots, logistics centers and warehouses for contract logistics agreements to the new company. This means that the joint venture has access to a network covering the whole of Germany and can build on existing customer relationships with companies like Siemens, Infineon, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, DaimlerChrysler and ThyssenKrupp.
One major customer has already been successfully recruited - a leading global player in the semiconductor market, for whom Schenker Industrial Logistics has taken over the European spare parts center with more than 30 employees in the Rhine-Main region of Germany as of November 15, 2003. Talks are also already underway with industrial and high-tech companies interested in outsourcing warehouse management to a service provider.
The joint venture is still subject to approval according to § 65 BHO by the Federal Ministry of Finances.
Siemens Procurement & Logistics Services (SPLS) is one of the Siemens AG "shared services". It is primarily responsible for strategic and operative logistics and transport services, supply chain consulting, procurement services and the provision of electronic tools to support and optimize procurement and logistics processes. Following the creation of the joint venture, SPLS now employs around 600 people overall in Europe, Asia and the USA.
With annual sales of 6.5 billion euros, 36,000 employees and about 1,100 offices around the world, the Stinnes subsidiary Schenker is one of the world's leading providers of integrated logistics services, offering land transport, air and sea freight as well as comprehensive logistics solutions and global supply chain management from a single source. Stinnes is a Deutsche Bahn AG company.