10 SCS:PROFILE JULY/AUGUST 2009 SUPPLY CHAIN STANDARD
www.supplychainstandard.com
It’s one thing to survive a rocky economic period, it’s another to thrive from it. But one man who is
set on making this a reality is Tim Scharwath, Kuehne + Nagel’s chief executive for North West
Europe. He talks to JESSICA DAVIES.
Tim Scharwath
It hasn’t taken long for Kuehne + Nagel’s new head of
North West Europe to make his mark. Not long after
he took the reins from Peter Ulber on 1st January this
year he let loose an aggressive expansion plan for 2009,
designed to shake off the icy grip of the recession and see
the company emerge even stronger. The recession struck
with “brutal force”, says Scharwath, “but we can all come
out of it in a positive way – if we are open to it. This spirit
has already taken hold within Kuehne + Nagel.”
Scharwath has his eye set firmly on driving growth and
development, and as such is running a two-pronged
“dual strategy” project – the primary focus for the year.
The first part of this strategy will hone in on stringent
cost management; the second on expanding market
share. “The first part is the easy bit,” he says, “it’s just a
matter of saying no once and a while. The difficult part is
growing business.”
In times like these, it is more
important than ever that we have
high service levels, because it is easy
for customers to go from one freight
forwarder to another, especially in
international forwarding.
So far it seems to be working. Earlier this year it won
multiple UK contracts worth a total of £14 million (25m
CHF), some £2.8m (5m CHF) of which was secured by
K+N Drinks Logistics. Overall, the result exceeds that of
the same quarter in 2008, he says. Also, the biggest chunk
of the £14m was won through cross-selling – another
area he’s keen to accelerate.
The dual strategy is integral to Scharwath’s chief goals.
“It shows our customers and the market that we can
manage the [economic] situation, and keep up high
service levels. In times like these, it is more important
than ever that we have high service levels, because it is
easy for customers to go from one freight forwarder to
another, especially in international forwarding.”
With customers desperate to cut back, Kuehne + Nagel
has reacted by intensifying its efforts to generate costsaving
contracts, particularly via collaborative methods.
The launch of its first purpose-built super shed in the
UK, at Wellingborough, set the ball rolling. Hotel and
restaurant giant Whitbread was the first to move in to the
500,000 sq ft shed, taking up a quarter of the site’s
CV
1992: Graduates from the
University of Hamburg;
joins K+N to focus on
international sales and
marketing. Becomes key
account manager for retail
and high-tech industries.
1999: Branch manager,
responsible for Mannheim
operation.
2000: District manager,
responsible for four sites
in Frankfurt, Kassel,
Koblenz and Mannheim.
2004: Joins management
board in Germany as
executive vice president,
Airfreight.
2006: Becomes member of
the regional board.
2007: National mngr, K+N
Netherlands, oversees ACR
Logistics integration.
2009: CEO, K+N, NW
Europe, covering Denmark,
Ireland, Finland, Norway,
Sweden and the UK.
capacity. It now shares the site with a customer from the
high-tech sector.
The concept is to bring together different customers
into one large warehouse space to share synergies. “We
look to join up customers – one which has its peak in
summer time, the other in autumn or spring. This way
they can share manpower.”
This collaborative model has already proven a success
in both Germany and the Netherlands, and the plan is to
now develop the project further in the UK. “The next step
is to find another suitable super shed.”
Another benefit is that it enables customers to
consolidate volumes and reduce transport costs. He
points to the beer industry as an example of where a
shared network used by different customers works well.
“If you take that example through into retail and other
markets, there are enormous possibilities.”
Scharwath reckons Kuehne + Nagel’s decentralised
structure is one of its major strengths, and one which
We look to join up customers – one
which has its peak in summer time,
the other in autumn or spring. This
way they can share manpower.
sets it apart from competitors. “We have 150 people who
work at corporate level running a corporation of some
54,000 employees. If you compare that to DHL for
example, the ratio of central and decentral abilities are
very different.
“In our set-up one person has responsibility for a
region or country, and can sell across the whole portfolio,
whether it be for contract logistics, seafreight, airfreight,
or fourth-party logistics. This means there are no silos –
we have a total view.”
Now, more than halfway into his second decade at
Kuehne + Nagel, he reckons the company’s decentralised
structure gives him the freedom and flexibility to explore
new solutions for customers.
“The responsibilities and abilities I have in my position
are far superior to those that others would have in other
companies – it feels a bit like running my own business.
“And it’s a very good sell to any customer if they know
who it is they can discuss things with. It means you can
go to a customer whether it be regarding a seafreight,
contract logistics or fourth-party logistics contract and
say – if you want someone to scream at, scream at me.”
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.