Latest news with #DHLExpress'


Mint
16-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
That one hack to get extra free time at work
In these times of instant deliveries, RS Subramanian has his task cut out. His focus has been on maintaining DHL Express' own international network, while leveraging robust domestic partnerships such as the one with India Post that allows them to serve remote areas. It explains how they've been able to service 750 cities and over 33,000 locations across the country. 'The emergence of e-commerce supported by digitalisation has introduced new business formats, trading platforms and multiple pathways to reach the end customer. There is a growing demand for customer interfaces to be more intuitive. Additionally, the nature and style of service is constantly evolving, with technology playing a significant role in this transformation. There is never a dull moment in logistics,' says Mumbai-based Subramanian, 59, Senior Vice President-South Asia, DHL Express. Besides ensuring timely deliveries, sustainability is at the heart of their operations. They have been continually working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the usage of sustainable aviation fuels and electrifying their last-mile delivery fleet, while also actively involving the employees as part of sustainability programs. 'Our people are the foremost flag bearers of our sustainable programs and they realise that they can make a larger impact on the communities around us. Last year, our employees clocked over 6,000 hours on volunteering projects,' he says. Subramanian talks to Lounge about finding mentors around us and the importance of following a planned schedule. RS Subramanian, Senior Vice President-South Asia, DHL Express. Gone are the days when stereotypical mentors were seen as senior, old and wise. Today, with changing technology, lifestyles, customer expectations and employee aspirations, we find role models, opinion makers and subject matter experts all around us. Wise are those who remain adaptable to this reality - engaging across different organisational levels and age groups to gain inspiration, feedback and suggestions. I've witnessed middle-aged managers transform their health through fitness routines, young couriers offering valuable insights about the stock market and new joiners who consistently surprise us with their fresh perspectives on business or people-related challenges. A recent example is my daughter, who taught me a thing or two about muscle building, protein intake and weight training. The key to developing and mentoring teams is to be accessible. I have an open-door policy - our team can call or walk in anytime for a chat. We also provide more platforms for dialogue and conversations, as well as one-on-one sessions when needed. Coaching and the ability to give and receive feedback are essential competencies for all managers as they are crucial to continuous improvement. Currently, I manage to maintain a morning routine of completing at least 45 minutes of warm-up and yoga, along with a 30-minute walk or run, about four to five days a week. This is subject to disruptions caused by early morning flights, calls or late-night arrivals. So far, I have a success rate of about 60%! I try not to keep small items pending and instead finish transactional work on the go. I prefer fewer emails and opt for short calls or better yet, face-to-face interactions which allow me to manage a lot by moving around. My advice would be to make a planned schedule and stick to the calendar, which I've found leaves me with a lot of discretionary time at work. I usually don't carry work pressure home, even when I'm working from home. One positive work routine I have developed is embracing remote meetings. Although I was never comfortable with them in the past, they have now become the order of the day. An all-time favourite of mine is The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. I enjoy reading, gardening, cooking, sketching, watching cricket, movies and keeping up with the news. However, spending time with my family takes priority and everything else follows that.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DHL cuts ties with cargo airlines as efficiency initiative ramps up
DHL's recent cancellation of transport partnerships with third-party airlines supporting its courier and freight forwarding networks is part of a new cost improvement campaign that helped the Express division achieve first-quarter operating profit despite lower shipment volume and rising trade volatility. DHL Express' operating profit increased 4.8% year over year to $754 million as efficiency measures ramped up, while better pricing and product mix boosted revenue 2%, according to DHL Group financial results released Wednesday. Management said improved capacity utilization, seasonal network adjustments and higher yields countered the drop in volume. Demand for time-definite international parcels, the Express division's core product, fell 7.1% to 975,000 items per day, while aviation supply costs for DHL's own fleet and purchased transportation declined 7% year over year. Operating costs at Express air hubs decreased 1%. In March, DHL ( a plan, called Fit for Growth, to eliminate more than $1.1 billion in annual structural costs by the end of next year. (FedEx and UPS have similar programs called Drive and Efficiency Reimagined.) One way the integrated logistics provider will take out cost and drive efficiency in the air network is by streamlining the number of partner airlines that supplement the transportation provided by DHL's own fleet, top executives said during the fourth-quarter earnings call in early March. The recent end of several air cargo partnerships is more clearly understood in the context of DHL's desire to eliminate excess capacity. DHL in February, for example, pulled out of its Polar Air Cargo joint venture with Atlas Air. The parties said at the time they mutually decided to close one of the best-known air cargo brands after 18 years. Also in February, DHL dropped SmartLynx Airlines as a contract carrier in Europe. DHL was leasing four Airbus A321 converted narrowbody freighters from SmartLynx, which has since decided to focus on providing capacity for passenger airlines. Shortly afterward, FreightWaves reported that Slovakia's AirExplore was discontinuing cargo business because of limited demand for its Boeing 737-800 converted freighters. The company didn't disclose whether it had lost any customer accounts, but is known to have started operations for DHL in early 2024. DHL Aviation is a group of airlines, either wholly owned or chartered by DHL Express. The company regularly flexes the fleet to handle shifts in volume. Aircraft space not filled by overnight packages is sold to shippers, either by guaranteed blocks for businesses with large, repetitive loads or on the spot market. The largest buyer of remaining capacity is DHL's Global Forwarding business unit. DHL continues to upgrade its intercontinental fleet. Boeing is expected to deliver the six 777 production freighters this year, the final tranche of a 28-unit order. Air Hong Kong, an all-cargo subsidiary of Cathay Pacific that flies regional routes under contract within the DHL Express network in Asia, is expected to complete its fleet renewal and modernization this year, company officials said during the March earnings call. The project involves transferring several Airbus A300-600 freighters to DHL operators in Europe and replacing them with larger A330-300 converted freighters. Air Hong Kong received another A330 in March, according to aviation database Fit for Growth aims to leverage technology across all divisions to improve productivity. Management said it is already showing results in sortation centers and for pickup and delivery. Overall, DHL delivered modest growth during a first quarter marked by destabilizing U.S. tariffs and economic weakness in Europe. Group revenue increased 2.8% to $23.7 billion year over year, and operating profit was $1.6 billion, up 4.5%. The spread of tariffs hasn't materially impacted finances so far, but forced the company to make significant operational changes. Management said it expects more demand and rate volatility going forward. Tariffs are double-edged for DHL: They can suppress consumer demand because of higher prices, but they also generate business from customers looking for ways to minimize their total landed import costs, including rerouting shipments and extra customs handling. Top executives stressed that the company's geographic diversification, experience navigating supply chain disruption and increased focus on high-margin services position it well to navigate current trade uncertainty. DHL has relatively limited exposure to a downturn in trans-Pacific trade due to the tariff fight between the United States and China, CEO Tobias Meyer said during Wednesday's briefing. Only 8% of DHL Express overnight shipments move from China and Hong Kong to the U.S., while only 4% of DHL Global Forwarding's airfreight volume is on that trade lane. DHL used to have a higher concentration of volume in the trans-Pacific, but the logistics provider last year was able to weed out low-margin, lighter-weight e-commerce traffic by raising prices and selling the space to freight forwarders with more dense cargo. Meyer reiterated that DHL plans to concentrate expansion in countries with the fastest trade growth, such as Indonesia, India, Vietnam and the Philippines, which are also benefiting from geopolitical shifts as manufacturers explore production alternatives to China. 'On the one hand, our global presence makes us significantly less dependent on the U.S. market than many of our competitors. On the other hand, trade continues even with tariffs. It just becomes more expensive and complex,' Chief Financial Officer Melanie Kreis said. 'We cannot spare our customers the tariffs, but we can take the complexity off their hands. In short, we are closely monitoring the situation and feel well prepared for various scenarios.' At DHL's annual general meeting on Friday, Meyer said, 'the majority of world trade takes place without the U.S. Around three quarters of global trade now involves neither U.S. imports nor U.S. exports. If the US closes itself off more, other countries will benefit. Other trade lanes will then become more important. Trade lanes where DHL generally has a significantly greater market share than for trade to and from the United States.' DHL's road map for sustainable growth – Strategy 2030 – also helps insulate against demand ebbs by concentrating investment in markets with high-growth potential such as life science and health care logistics, new energy (wind and solar power, electric vehicles, batteries, battery storage systems and devices for grid expansion) and e-commerce, according to leadership. In early April, DHL announced it will invest $2.2 billion over five years to upgrade capabilities in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors as it looks to double health care logistics revenue to $10.8 billion by decade's end. It also agreed to acquire Nashville, Tennessee-based CryoPDP, a specialty courier that provides logistics services for clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, for $195 million. The German logistics giant in January acquired Inmar Supply Chain Solutions, a large reverse logistics provider for e-commerce retailers in North America. 'We want to buy capability, not scale, and then leverage that capability across our network,' Meyer said. Drug and medical device manufacturers, who have smaller, high-value shipments, benefit from using an integrated express delivery company that offers better control than a traditional freight forwarder who cobbles together different transportation and distribution vendors to execute a delivery, he said in the March presentation. Industrial weakness in Europe, particularly in Germany's automotive sector, caused a significant drop in trucking business, which weighed on results for DHL's Global Forwarding and Freight division. Management also acknowledged that the rollout of a new transportation management system in the German market was more costly and bumpier than expected. Excluding the system integration, the unit likely would have broken even on profits. Airfreight volumes for Global Forwarding declined by 3%, with most of the impact on trade lanes from Europe and Asia. Airfreight revenues rose 4% while gross profit fell by 1.8%. Ocean freight volumes increased by 1.4% year on year, with growth especially on trade lanes from Asia. Volume growth was impacted by the systematic withdrawal from the transport of high-volume, low-yield business. This impact is likely to continue throughout 2025. The Supply Chain division continued its growth trajectory in the first quarter, aided by the signing of new customers and productivity increases from automation. DHL eCommerce, which provides international and domestic shipping services for merchants with lightweight parcels, saw top-line growth of 6% even as consumers became more cautious. Results were hurt by depreciation costs for ongoing network investments as the company pursues greater market share in the sector. In addition to Inmar, it is investing in sorting facilities in India and other countries, as well as last-mile delivery in Turkey. Earlier this year it gained a stake in Ajex Logistics Services, a parcel carrier in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Post & Parcel Germany significantly increased earnings thanks to a spike in revenue associated with the first postage increase in three years and the recent federal election, which required delivery of mail ballots. Second-quarter results could be worse as costs will rise again due to a planned wage increase for postal workers. Europe's largest postal company continues to face structural hurdles in the form of sharply rising costs and a significant decline in letter volumes. Kreis said the postage increases are insufficient to cover all the inflation in recent years. Without higher postage rates, DHL can't maintain the necessary profitability to make future investments, she added. The Fit for Growth plan calls for the elimination of 8,000 postal positions this year. Customers are responding to the 145% U.S. tariffs on China, a 10% tariff on all nations, sector-specific tariffs and the specter of more tariffs in June, in a variety of ways, said Meyer. Some businesses are pausing orders and investments until the shifting regulatory landscape settles down or pre-bought inventory to beat tariff deadlines. Others are shifting some procurement elsewhere in Asia to avoid the 145% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods. And e-commerce retailers are likely to switch from shipping individual packages to consolidated containers through traditional business-to-business distribution channels with the elimination Friday of the de minimis rule, which means consumers no longer enjoy duty-free purchases on low-value goods from China and Hong Kong. 'There is still the belief with many of our customers in the U.S. that this environment is going to evolve and move back to lower tariff levels as those negotiations, much talked about, unfold,' Meyer said in explaining the wait-and-see approach. Trade talks between China and the United States could begin soon, according to news reports on Friday. Management noted that U.S. tariff exemptions for electronics are generally positive for its express and air freight businesses. As for the loss of de-minimis exemptions, DHL said it sees opportunities in consolidated shipments of such parcels, or what it calls breakbulk express. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. DHL drops embargo on medium-value goods after US walks back customs rule DHL eCommerce expands operations to Saudi Arabia Atlas Air, DHL terminate Polar Air Cargo joint venture DHL Express' Miami air hub meets the moment for peak season Air cargo faces $22B revenue hit when China tariff exemption ends The post DHL cuts ties with cargo airlines as efficiency initiative ramps up appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio


South China Morning Post
21-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong e-commerce, US consumers expected to bear brunt of DHL service suspension
Hong Kong e-commerce businesses and American consumers are expected to be most affected by DHL Express' temporary suspension of business-to-consumer shipments worth more than US$800 addressed to individuals in the US, industry representatives have predicted. Advertisement But they said they expected the pause would be temporary as US customs worked to clear a backlog of packages after the Trump administration imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods. The global courier said on Saturday the suspension would remain in place 'until further notice' and cited US President Donald Trump's decision to end the 'de minimis' tariff exemption for Chinese products worth US$800 or less, starting on May 2. The tariff on small parcels sent to the US from China would be further raised to 120 per cent from 90 per cent. Commerce sector lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung told the Post he believed e-commerce businesses would be affected the most by the halt as they mostly shipped directly to customers, while American consumers would need to bear higher prices for imported goods. Advertisement 'For example, those starting university and looking to shop online for back-to-school items will be affected and have to find alternative platforms,' he said. 'This also impacts Americans in Hong Kong who want to make purchases to send back home.' Lam said he believed the temporary suspension was because DHL was waiting for a backlog of packages to clear US customs.