Dear Customer,

Our publication seeks to

summarize the main

discussion points and findings

of the 2017 DHL Global

Technology Conference

(Noordwijk /Amsterdam, May 2017). This gathering of

industry thought leaders and decision makers provided

delegates with a unique opportunity to engage and

exchange on key issues at a time of profound change for

the technology supply chain.

To stay in the driving seat, technology companies must

make some rapid and significant changes, responding to the

four key megatrends that are profoundly impacting the

industry. The first of these megatrends is digitalization,

which means the world around us is changing, and the

second is acceleration, which causes the pace of change to

speed up. In addition, we are experiencing disruption as

consumer preferences and buying behaviors are shifting

and new business models are emerging, as well as

innovation, particularly in the supply chain. At the same

time, the technology industry is undergoing fundamental

change – companies are realigning their strategies and

business models, supply chains are becoming critical to

creating unique user experiences, and new technologies

are enabling agility and efficiency in the supply chain.

DHL has made a strong commitment to collaboration with

technology customers and industry partners. During the

2017 DHL Global Technology Conference we provided a

unique opportunity for more than 300 delegates to

convene, engage, and exchange under the conference

theme of Shifting Gears. Delegates from the largest

names in the technology industry shared their

experiences of rethinking prevailing business models and

considering new strategies and approaches, with the

shared goal of rapidly adapting to ever-changing

environments and ensuring customer centricity.

Some of the most important topics for discussion in

today’s technology sector were addressed at the DHL

global conference. These are:

Digital transformation, Consumer-centric supply chains,

AutoTech convergence, Technology and humanity and

Innovation for the technology sector supply chain

Customers made a tremendous contribution to this

year’s conference, ensuring its success.

They helped to set the agenda and actively shared

insights and best practice with peers. Many of our valued

clients took to the stage including colleagues from

Huawei, Fujitsu, Nike, HP Inc., Micron Technology,

Samsung, Dell EMC, McKinsey and Company, BMW,

Infineon, Ericsson and Cisco, and even more customers

and experts supported our 12 different breakout

sessions. A big thank you to everyone who contributed!

I hope you enjoy reading this publication and, if not

sooner, I look forward to meeting many of you again at

next year’s global conference in the city of Austin, TX,

USA.

Best wishes

Alexander Gunde,

SVP Technology Sector,

DHL Customer Solutions and Innovation

Shifting Gears – Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation

Most companies in the technology industry are at a

transformational stage of digitalization, effectively

somewhere on their journey to a new digital

environment. This is driving the need for business

change as well.

Companies must shift gears to adapt to a rapidly

changing environment characterized by changing

consumer buying behaviors, new business models, and

disruptive technological innovations.

A prime example of this is the Chinese multinational

Huawei, currently working on an Internet of Logistics

initiative. The organization is using sensors to connect

cargo, drivers, and their vehicles with a monitoring

center to enable smart management. According to Yan

Lida, President Enterprise Business Group at Huawei,

this elevates data to the status of a “productivity

resource” (along with labor, capital and materials),

changing the ICT department from cost center to

revenue producer.

In

the

digital enterprise, with cloud-pipe-synergy, ICT becomes

a core part of the production system.

Companies are moving from business self-interest to

adopting more of a shared-interest perspective which

favors selling the customer experience more than selling

products or solutions. In support of this, Huawei

perceives and uses ICT as a productivity resource; new

technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and IoT

enable more flexible, open platforms to be built within a

powerful ecosystem of developers and partners.

Its innovation model is based on a business-driven ICT

infrastructure, and Huawei is investing some $200 million

over the next three years in infrastructure development and

joint innovation. Huawei has already delivered more than 200

solutions co-created with industry leaders such as Honeywell,

Infosys, SAP, and Thale.

Organizations that co-create are “achieving value faster than

others”, according to Duncan Tait, Senior EVP, Head of

Americas and EMEIA of Fujitsu, and it is digital disruption

that is fueling the desire to collaborate.

Yan Lida, Huawei

Duncan Tait, Fujitsu

Shifting Gears – Digital Transformation

It is important to shift gears to become the disruptor

rather than the disrupted, and partnering with

technology companies can help organizations to

“connect the digital dots”.

One of Fujitsu’s current collaborations with DHL focuses

on creating smart uniforms for the UK police.

Recent growth in global trade and accelerated

digitalization is boosting GDP. The IMF has raised its

forecast for the first time in 6 years and DHL sees this

trade growth reflected in its own figures, driven by

resurgence in pure B2B operations and “a revolution in

e-commerce”, both of which are benefitted by

digitalization. Describing digitalization as “the biggest

opportunity since globalization”, which brought

immense benefits to the world economy, DHL Express

CEO Ken Allen said it equips humanity with

fundamentally new abilities encompassing not only new

technology but also a different mindset and culture, and

changing the way we communicate, work, travel,

consume, and do many other things.

To accelerate its own digitization journey, DHL is

exploiting technology by applying digital technology in its

existing business footprint to deliver a superior customer

experience and increase efficiency.

The organization is also exploring new business, growing

into future logistics verticals by incubating ideas and

investing in new business models. In addition, DHL is

developing corporate culture and capabilities to become

focused, agile, and adaptive to deliver logistics

leadership. Today 7 billion people can be connected and

can trade, and companies must collaborate to enable

universal access and realize the dreams of poverty eradication

and becoming CO2 neutral. DHL has a huge task ahead –

achieving zero emissions by 2050; this can only be

accomplished by embracing new technologies and pursuing

digital transformation.

Ken Allen, DHL Express

Shifting Gears – Consumer-Driven Supply Chains

Consumer-Driven Supply

Chains

Supply chains are rapidly adapting to new trends and

disruptive market environments. In particular,

changing customer buying behavior means that

technology companies must increasingly serve

multiple channels using agile distribution models. To

establish a consumer-driven supply chain, companies

must achieve high supply chain resilience and more

effectively manage the entire product lifecycle.

High on the current agenda for discussion is the topic

of omni-channel logistics. Unlike a static channel

approach, this requires direct interaction with consumers

and more sophisticated distribution in a multi-channel

environment. Kurt Van Donink, VP/GM Logistics Europe

at Nike, described the challenges of delivering innovation

to athletes. His company ships to more than 2 million

addresses per annum – a number that is growing daily –

and currently 10% of this volume is shipped directly to

the consumer, so delivery speed and last-mile flexibility

are very important. Nike must also effectively handle

customer returns, and is therefore co-creating new

solutions to serve an omni-channel approach. The

company is developing a single model that drives speed

by being simple, that enables quick changes by being

flexible, and enables growth by being scalable.

Circular Economy

Another key topic is the circular economy, the end-to-

end mindset shift that’s required to gain efficiencies and

meet consumer trends. Replacing the linear ‘take, make,

dispose’ economy, the circular economy approach drives

higher resource efficiency throughout the product

lifecycle and – while many elements such as return and

repair or asset recovery are not new – this requires a

mindset shift to align with business interests.

HP is recognized as one of the world’s most sustainable

companies in the world, and Kirstie McIntyre, Director

Global Sustainability Operations of HP Inc., described close

-loop plastic cartridge production which HP uses to improve

product end-of-life options. In addition, the HP instant ink

subscription is a good example of a service-based model

that reduces product footprint. Also to propel are more

circular economy, HP and other technology companies are

starting to use 3D printing to dematerialize and

democratize how the world creates and delivers goods and

services in future.

Kurt Van Donink, Nike Kirstie McIntyre, HP Inc.

Shifting Gears – Consumer-Driven Supply Chains

Supply Chain Resilience

In a changing world, opportunities and complexity

for supply chain actors are increasing. At the same

time, security and resilience of supply chains are

increasingly important to avoid disruptions,

ultimately impacting customer experience.

Responding to the business threat of supply chain

complexity, the world’s third largest memory

company, Micron Technology is leveraging data

insights. Supplier risk management, business

continuity management and planning, and

incident and crisis management are essential

elements of supply chain resilience, according to

Joe Robinson, Global Risk & Resilience Senior

Director at Micron Technology. Urging companies

to ensure “the business continuity plan doesn’t sit

on a shelf”, it’s essential to make optimal use of

available data and take action based on this

information.

Panel Discussion

During the Trends & Solutions Panel Discussion,

there were three live voting sessions. Asked about

omni-channel in their own organizations, 35% of

delegates said that it is an explicit part of corporate

strategy. The second voting session looked at

circular economy readiness and some 41% of

delegates responded that it is an explicit part of

corporate strategy. The technology sector appears

to be leading the move to a circular economy,

despite huge challenges such as reverse logistics. In

the third and final voting session, many delegates –

some 41% – responded that their organizations plan

to upgrade resilience, indicating that the risk of

disruption remains a key concern.

Joe Robinson, Micron Technology

Panel discussion: Timmy O´Dwyer, Dell; Kurt van Donink, Nike; Kristie

McIntyre, HP; Joe Robinson, Mircon Technology; Edwin Altena,

Samsung

Shifting Gears – AutoTech: Convergence of Industries

AutoTech: Convergence of Industries As digitization drives innovation across the

automotive industry, technology players are making

large-scale investments in the industry, enabling the

future car to be connected, electrified, self-driving

and, increasingly, shared as a service.

These major trends are contributing to an AutoTech

convergence, according to Sven Beiker, Consultant

of McKinsey and Company. Suppliers have the

opportunity to capture an increasing share of the

automotive market; consumers are beginning to

perceive the car as “kind of Swiss army knife”,

preferring shared ownership that allows vehicle

selection according to the specific needs of each

journey; and previously unimaginable alliances are

forming between competitors such as Daimler, Audi

and BMW. Traditional technology companies and

venture capital-backed start-ups are keen to enter

this very large value pool because software is rapidly

becoming more important in the automotive industry

and customers are prioritizing software over

performance differentiators. Collaboration is more

likely than tech giant acquisition, as the auto industry

is capital intensive; these companies opt to add

technical innovation to basic vehicles rather than

take on manufacturing responsibilities.

In an industry increasingly driven by consumer

preferences, user numbers not product sales will

determine market share.

Transformational Journey

Leading players are embracing these changes and have started

their transformational journey in the automotive sector. The

‘car of the future’ will play a different role in our lives and

definitely look different too; automotive supply chains are also

changing. Marcus Wollens, VP Logistics Planning of BMW,

described how this “old economy company” is changing the

entire organization and all logistics processes.

BMW is already using its first autonomous electric truck, and

profitably developing the connected supply chain. It is also

using augmented reality glasses to detect production line

issues and deploying robots for parts picking.

Sven Beiker, McKinsey

Marcus Wollens, BMW

Shifting Gears – AutoTech: Convergence of Industries

BMW is also using additive manufacturing for

customized and high-performance parts, big data

analytics for operational and management

improvements, and increasingly connected

distribution – future cars may deliver themselves to

new owners!

Technology suppliers must choose their positioning in

this dynamic environment. Dr. Thomas Kaufman, VP

Supply Chain Automotive Division at Infineon,

explained Infineon’s decision to become the company

that “makes cars clean, safe and smart”. This

recognizes the critical future role of semiconductors –

each vehicle will be equipped with some 6,000

semiconductors, enabling more than 80% of its

innovations. A key dilemma for Infineon is balancing

long lead times with security of supply – a radar sensor

for distance warning, for example, requires 800 process

steps and takes a year to manufacturer while the auto

industry requires security of supply for up to 20 years.

Solutions to this dilemma are supply chain integration

and collaboration across the entire value chain.

The car of today and tomorrow is digitally connected,

and drivers expect innovation, features and experiences

similar to those in other ‘smart’ environments. New

technologies, devices and services around efficiency,

safety and enhanced experience within the car are

useless without the connecting infrastructure to the

outside ecosystem. Increased data traffic from

connected vehicles will place vastly greater demand on

mobile networks, in particular the implementation of

LTE Advanced Pro and 5G technologies. These

technological innovations are driven by network companies that

are strongly investing in their ‘connected car offerings’ and

engaging in direct partnerships with automotive OEMs. Hasse

Römer, Lead Engagement New Industries and Logistics at

Ericsson, described how the company is working with Volvo and

creating a collaboration layer comprising “a multitude of service

providers, each adding value” across current silos. Ericsson is

also part of the 5G Automobile Association (5GAA) initiative,

optimizing the connectivity benefits of 5G technology, and is

undertaking research in many areas of connected car logistics.

Dr. Thomas Kaufman, Infineon

Hasse Römer, Ericsson

Shifting Gears – Technology & Humanity

Technolgoy & Humanity What is happening with humanity now that everything’s

about technology? In his keynote address to the DHL

Global Technology Conference, futurist Gerd Leonhard

explored the convergence of machine and mankind,

assessing the potential, the tensions and ultimately the

optimal balance of technology and humanity.

Although computers will soon exceed the computational

capability of the human brain, it will remain impossible to

digitize the essence of being human: our feelings,

emotions, intuitions, values and beliefs. Becoming

algorithms represents a reduction of what we are. The

future is now a mindset not a timeframe, and it is going to

be better than we think with improvements in key metrics

such as poverty, child mortality and literacy levels.

We are at the take-off point of exponential technology

change, which means that science fiction is fast becoming

science fact. With these technology advances, ethics

become critical – described by Potter Stewart as knowing

the difference between what you have a right or the

power to do, and what is the right thing to do. Technology

companies have tremendous power and must take

responsibility for what is built, remembering that

technology can be “magic, manic or even toxic”. Steve Jobs

for example refused to give his children iPads as they are

too addictive. The internet is like the next cigarette.

As we initiate new human-machine relationships, we have

to consider the extent to which we believe in technology.

Does it have all the answers? Natural language processing

is getting close to perfection, and we will soon be able to

make digital copies of ourselves...but will these behave

and say what we want? How far would you adopt

wearable computers, prostheses, and networked

intelligence to become super-human? At what point

would you stop?

Everyone faces the same challenge right now. In business

this equates to living in two worlds – one world of existing

business and the other of future business.

To succeed in future, it can’t be business as unusual but

instead “Business: be unusual” – for example, Tesla is

giving away valuable patents and Amazon makes no

charge to access instant streaming videos.

Moving forward, anything that can be digitized will be, yet

anything that cannot be digitized will become much more

valuable.

Gerd Leonhard, Futurist

Shifting Gears – Technology & Humanity

Data may be the new oil and artificial intelligence

the new electricity but there are different types of

intelligence – machines can only acquire artificial

intelligence, leaving intellectual, social and

emotional intelligence the sole preserve of

humans.

New meta-intelligence is coming with the

potential to solve very large global issues. But just

because we can optimize and connect everything,

it doesn’t mean we should. It’s important to also

just be human, to be inefficient by design. And as

we build the heavenly and hellish global brain –

technology has no ethics – we need leadership and

stewardship. Who should be mission control for

humanity? Do we need a protection agency for

mankind?

Wise balance is needed, not management by algorithms of

the kind witnessed on a United Airlines flight when a

computer-selected passenger was unfortunate to ‘board as

a doctor and leave as a patient’.

Instead of becoming too much like machines, we must

retain human judgement and prioritize happiness over

efficiency.

Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape, said that

software is eating the world but according to Gerd

Leonhard culture still eats technology for breakfast.

Our future is humanity with technology – we should

embrace technology but not become it.

Shifting Gears – Innovation for the Technology Sector Supply Chain

Innovation for the Technology Sector Supply Chain

Innovation is enhancing the technology supply

chain and DHL is tracking the most promising and

relevant technologies and socio-economic trends.

Markus Kückelhaus, VP Innovation & Trend

Research at DHL, explained that the company

engages directly with customers and partners to

bring these to life. For example, DHL has

expanded on its own GoGreen initiatives to

develop many solutions for the growing trend of

fair and responsible logistics. The organization

ignited innovation through its 2016 Fair and

Responsible Logistics Challenge. The winner of

this entrepreneurial event – a young design

student – is currently developing her light, robust,

and sustainable Air Parcel solution for commercial

use. This year, DHL is conducting a similar event to

stimulate innovation in a related and growing area – its

Sharing Economy Challenge seeks new services and

products that rethink logistics by prioritizing access over

ownership.

Visibility is of key importance in logistics activities, a need

answered by low-cost sensor technology and a shifting

focus from hardware to software solutions. DHL works with

partners and customers to apply smart sensor and volume

sensor innovation in almost every area of logistics to save

time, increase accuracy, and lower process costs. Testing takes

place not only in DHL warehouses and hubs but also at

customer sites – for example, currently DHL is conducting a

collaborative sensor pilot at the tech giant Huawei’s

warehouse.

Robotics

There is huge potential for robotics and automation in

logistics, and DHL is involved in many different applications.

Examples include autonomous identification robots and

cleaning robots. Rapid mobile piece picking is also under

development – DHL and Dell are jointly running a new

entrepreneurial challenge on this. Collaborative robots are co-

packing alongside human colleagues in a DHL UK facility; a

plug-and-play automated ordering picking robot is following

DHL employees to memorize the route for subsequent

autonomous trips; and a Locus robot is currently being piloted

in a DHL US warehouse, connected directly to this facility’s

WMS.

Markus Kückelhaus, DHL

Shifting Gears – Innovation for the Technology Sector Supply Chain

With more parcels from increasing e-commerce

activity and dynamic change becoming the new

normal, conveyor belts built years ago are no

longer fit for purpose. During a Shark Tank event at

the 2016 DHL Innovation Day, one entrepreneurial

team presented a compelling solution – the

Celluveyor, comprising highly flexible conveyor

technology with software-defined functionality.

DHL is now mentoring this team to deliver the

Celluveyor to warehouses around the world.

IOT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling new

possibilities in logistics by increasing operational

efficiency, creating new business services, and

improving visibility.

Edward Agostinho, Business Architect - Digital

Transformation Group at Cisco, described how the

organization is developing an intelligent IoT network

platform to enable collaborative innovation with

particular application in network connectivity, fog

computing, data analytics, security, management and

automation, and application enablement.

Edward Agostinho, Cisco; Larry St Onge, DHL ;

Xavi Esplugas, DHL

In addition, to help warehouses run better in future, Xavi

Esplugas, VP IT Planning & Architecture at DHL, explained how

DHL is working with Cisco and Conduce to improve visibility of

movements inside each facility, identifying and securing safety

and efficiency gains.

Hyperloop

The phenomenon of hyperloop logistics was explained by

Edouard Schneiders of Delft Hyperloop and Tim Houter of

Hardt Global Mobility. The answer to lengthening travel times

and growing pollution is hyperloop transportation, achieved

with low-pressure vacuum tubes and magnetic levitation to

Hendrik Thamer, BIBA Tim Houter, Hardt Global Mobility

move freight and people in a dependable, cost-effective, and comfortable

way with no direct carbon emissions. And it’s very fast. Inside a low-

pressure tube, each hyperloop vehicle will start its fully autonomous

journey via electric propulsion, soon lifting above the track to glide with

ultra-low aerodynamic drag at speeds matching or exceeding those of an

airplane. A journey from Amsterdam to Paris, for example, could be

completed in just 30 minutes.

Boosted today by visionaries such as Elon Musk and supported by DHL, a

Delft University team won the first-ever SpaceX hyperloop competition

and, within the next 8 years, its winning prototype will be

commercialized to achieve full-scale working systems.

Shifting Gears – Innovation for the Technology Sector Supply Chain

Edouard Schneiders, Delft Hyperloop

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

Breakout sessions were scheduled through the conference, allowing each delegate to select those

topics of specific interest to them. The following provides an overview discussion highlights.

Industry Trends & Solutions

Omni-Channel

Key issues to consider in the direct-to-consumer supply chain are customer expecta-

tions and methods of implementing an omni-channel strategy. Companies can gain

useful insight by examining best practice within and beyond their own industries; this

provides a perspective of the ‘ideal omni-channel world’. It is also important to as-

sess related business and logistics challenges such as the integration of channels and

platforms, pricing strategy, channel assortment, demanding customers, cost effec-

tiveness, IT infrastructure, and stock alignment and visibility.

Clearly, omni-channel is not a pure logistics topic but also a business development

topic with interfaces throughout the entire organization. The trend towards custom-

er centricity is driving the seamless shopping experience, and omni-channel is a key

element to reach and retain future customers. An omni-channel approach makes

sense if it is embedding the company’s core strategy, ensures the balanced reach of

each sales channel, while also avoiding too many channels, and its integration costs

are justified by a target group of ‘real omni-customers’.

Circular Economy

When organizations aim to unlock the value of ‘circular supply chains’, they should explore

three specific topics. The first topic is engaging business customers in ways that accelerate the

circular economy. This covers customer pain points such as costs, cash flow improvement, and

supply chain reliability and predictability. It also covers the value proposition; for example,

loyalty programs, cost transparency, and new versus refurbished products.

The second topic is dealing with the challenges of return logistics for spare parts recovery.

Companies should look specifically at success factors such as enabling decisions locally and

establishing a customer site or hub. They should also consider flexible packaging, including the

reuse of original packaging when returning an old or used product. The third topic is thinking

beyond reverse logistics to maintain momentum by embedding this approach in corporate

training. Companies need to build organizational capability to, for example, internally clarify

fast ROI and incentives for going circular and solve last-mile issues. They also need to consider

the ‘next big thing’ such as co-innovation and sharing programs. To help unlock the value of

circular supply chains, DHL is working on solutions with many customers in all industries. A

particularly effective way to explore this approach is in DHL-hosted workshops, designing and

developing more circular solutions together.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

Security

Handled the right way, challenging security threats can be turned into

competitive advantage. While organizations currently monitor actual and

upcoming threats, it is important to also consider and track the modus operandi

of hidden criminal supply chain actors, and factor in the impact of natural

disasters. Companies can make use of preventative and reactive measures to

achieve the optimal level of supply chain security and resiliency. Applying these

along with regulatory supply chain security programs can protect the business

while also providing substantial competitive differentiation and edge.

To sharpen the security and resiliency profile within the supply chain, companies

must build security and resiliency-aware culture. In addition, organizations must

link security and operational resilience functions with other functions, and invest

in a security and resilience management system. Successful companies measure

ongoing performance using security and resilience-related KPIs. They also

promote partnership within the supply chain and, of course, ensure ICT resilience.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

International Supply Chain

To be immediately effective, a dynamic shipment management solution must fit into

the existing IT environment and require only limited integration effort from the

organization. DHL offers a solution that requires the customer to support integration

by merely making format checks while DHL manages the majority of this process on

their behalf.

Today, many supply chains are challenged by foreign exchange volatility and

companies must adhere to strict PO cycle timelines. Other demands include improving

the speed of delivery, handling more risk as retailers push responsibilities further up

the supply chain, and overcoming capacity issues at the distribution center. In

response, many organizations are prioritizing the move to demand-driven purchasing

cycles, vendor consolidation, the reliability of supply capacity, and working capital

optimization.

To develop a dynamic supply chain, many of DHL’s customers have opted to enhance

the role of the 4PL. DHL seeks long-term supply chain partnerships with each

organization, contributing the competitive advantage of its specialist experience and

knowledge while also enabling customers to focus on their core competencies.

Gateway 2 Crossdock

Until now, it has been difficult to find a solution positioned midway between conventional

airfreight B2B solutions and integrator services. To fill this gap, DHL provides an all-in-one

gateway-to-crossdock (G2C) solution that integrates flexible service levels. With end-to-

end transparency and security, it provides optimization on the primary leg, followed by a

distribution-to-door model.

GATEWAY 2 CROSSDOCK is a smart supply chain solution for B2B and B2C e-commerce,

combining DHL’s intercontinental air and ocean capabilities with its European and

worldwide road, parcel and express delivery services. It offers a seamless end-to-end

service with integrated

order and transport

management and a

single billing platform,

with simple all-inclusive

pricing.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

The solution ensures reliable shipment speed and both lean and cost-efficient

distribution. From dispatch to final delivery, customers gain service transparency,

transit time estimates, delivery performance reporting, and CO2 emission transparency.

This helps to eliminate warehouse and inventory costs, simplify customs clearance and

cut related costs, and accelerate time to market. Built-in flexibility means that

companies can manage changing volumes, multiple modes and rerouting, and there is

an extensive intercontinental and ground network for last-mile delivery. This entire

solution is delivered by DHL – a single, reliable logistics partner with a unique global

footprint that matches each customer’s geographical scope.

Lead Logistics Partnership

Organizations are often seeking ways to make the supply chain more responsive. Today

there are many real-life case studies of companies that have successfully ‘shifted gears’

through lead logistics partnership, transforming business with a more responsive and

customer-centric approach. The lead logistics partner (LLP) can act as an ‘agent for

change’ supporting organizations to enhance data analytics and take effective business

decisions, set directions, and achieve service excellence.

In fast-paced, competitive and often complex operating environments, the LLP model

provides each business with the expertise needed to drive a transformation and

manage ever-more dynamic environments going forward. With supply chain

digitization, companies can leverage new technologies to create more effective and

efficient supply chains. Management capabilities are boosted by exploiting the Internet

of Things (IoT) and big data analytics; operations are enhanced by deploying augmented

reality, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, and low-cost sensors; and interaction with

end customers is enhanced through social media and the use of new mobile

technologies. DHL is already supporting customers in all of these areas of supply chain

digitization.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

Service Logistics Insights

Service management has come a long way – for many companies, from a cost-center to

a profit-center and from reactive to proactive. It should be noted that demands are

changing rapidly and this necessitates changing gears all the time! It is good practice to

track and assess the latest innovations in service logistics, keeping a close eye on what is

to come.

DHL focuses in two distinct areas. The first is future innovations, in other words longer-

term developments with the potential to deliver significant supply chain improvements.

DHL is therefore tracking trends, developing solutions, and undertaking pilots using

augmented reality, robotics, 3D printing, self-driving vehicles, and drone technology. The

second is continuous innovation and improvements to current models capable of

delivering better cost and service performance in logistics.

An example of DHL’s continuous improvements is its Same Day Visibility Tracker, a

premium GPS tracking solution for critical shipments, providing simplicity and real-time

visibility on mission-critical shipments. Another example is DHL’s service logistics global

Proactive Business Reporting platform for operational performance reporting and

analytics. In addition, DHL’s Asset Recovery Tool helps customers to reduce working

capital by enabling faster recovery of defectives in the field and offering end-to-end

visibility of returns. And the DHL SmartLocker solution provides unique touchscreen

-operated lockers wherever customers need them, enabling fast access to mission-

critical spare parts – a solution that benefitted particularly from DHL’s open

innovation approach involving customers and partners in the design and

development process.

Resilience

Companies need to identify all relevant new risk areas. These can include regulatory

issues such as the US ban on laptops on flights which triggered reduced commercial

flights and capacity. They can also be new trade risks such as tariff and non-tariff

barriers and BREXIT, and the changing availability of raw materials. Increasingly,

organizations are using cloud analytics to enable a more resilient supply chain and

involving the Enterprise Risk Management team in risk management discussions.

Depending on business needs, the enhanced DHL Resilience360 solution can be

applied beyond logistics – new areas of application include the assessment of

financial supplier stability and using machine learning capabilities for early detection

of risk indicators.

With Resilience360, DHL takes a holistic, data-driven risk management approach.

This solution rates supply chain risks and resiliency, identifies risk hot spots, and

recommends suitable mitigations. It also monitors the supply chain in near real-time

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

for incidents, filters relevant information and triggers follow-up. And 24/7 risk

control towers determine impact on business continuity, highlight existing gaps, and

implement efficient mitigation actions. Many technology companies, including

Micron Technology and Cisco Services are using DHL Resilience360 to enable a

resilient supply chain – one that not only reduces risks but also anticipates, rapidly

adjusts, recovers, and even capitalizes on unanticipated supply chain events or

disruptions.

Doing Business in Africa

When taking an Afro-centric perspective on logistics, a particular area of focus is

usually security and how to mitigate for security risk. Companies are also often

challenged by issues of compliance within specific African countries and across the

entire continent of Africa. By collaborating with the right logistics partner, with

specialist knowledge and experience in Africa as well as employees located at each

important market, many of these issues can be eliminated.

One of DHL’s customers, Tarsus Technology, reported the industry

prevalence in Africa of new business models, particularly the as-a-service

consumption model. Many of these are unlikely to follow a traditional

lifecycle curve. Tarsus also noted that value-added technology solutions

present significant margin and growth opportunities in Africa and are likely to

play a critical role in the evolution of traditional distribution business from

transactional to as-a-service models. In addition, Tarsus claimed that Africa’s

distribution industry is in the maturity stage and is in need of scale, probably in

the form of consolidation.

Looking ahead, traditional distribution business remains relevant and pivotal to the

continent of Africa. Companies operating across the region must be aware of changing

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

customer buying behaviors – pre-shopping anticipation and post-consumption

satisfaction are increasingly important, and superior customer service is

becoming a key differentiator. To understand customers and enhance their

experience, data analytics is now a core competence, and business structures are

changing to align with the shift of emphasis from product leadership to customer

leadership.

Innovation

Connected Warehouse

From a warehouse perspective, key metrics are typically time, quality, value and

throughput. Companies must be able to visualize actual versus plan, and alternative sites

or layouts. And what happens outside the warehouse can be just as important as what

happens inside – for example, TMS integration and external factors such as traffic and

weather.

The DHL-Conduce-Cisco connected warehouse solution provides customers with network

KPIs and the ability to zoom from a global view to inside a specific warehouse. To

facilitate customer orientation, it links to other parts of the client organization; for

example, connecting to the sales team and the executive. It also efficiently enables multi-

tenant warehouses by providing an accurate understanding of the full picture to balance

resources among tenants. Real-time visibility is key as it facilitates dynamic optimization

of warehouse floor shelves, and the communications cycles to people, trucks, and more.

This real-world solution provides fascinating insight for companies seeking real-time

visibility at all sites around the world and wanting to understand trends and influence

operator behavior.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS SHARE BEST PRACTICES IN INTERACTIVE

The connected warehouse evidences improved awareness of inventory velocity

within any warehouse, and shows how capacity can be aligned with warehouse

order transactions to increase efficiency and equipment utilization.

Building the Future

Speed prototyping is very well perceived as a creative methodology and at the

2017 conference using Lego® helped delegates be more innovative. Delegates

achieved more ideas by adding items to a model – prototypes were built around

three trends: robotics and automation, sharing economy in logistics, and low-cost

sensor technology.

Digital Supply Chain

Companies should adopt an agile approach to digitally transform the supply chain.

Agile project implementation compares favorably with waterfall implementation;

long-duration waterfall projects rarely live up to expectations, and digital

innovation projects can be realized in less time but with more control over

outcome. A broad range of technologies are relevant to the supply chain, and

organizations should assess both the vast opportunities and the need for a

customized approach to digital supply chain transformation – clearly ‘one size does

not fit all’.

Instead of the waterfall model comprising linear steps from business requirements, functional

requirements and design to implementation, testing and deployment, an agile project model

take a different approach, allowing room for adjustment between stages, providing greater

clarity of requirements, spotting mistakes early on instead of during testing, and speeding

time to implementation.

After identifying an opportunity and exploring feasibility, a cyclical phase is triggered moving

from assessing the business case to developing an iteration of the solution and testing this

with operators, suggesting improvements and evolving strategy.

When appropriate this phase moves to the standardize or productize stage, and ultimately to

roll out, ensuring a strategy with better proof points, easy accommodation of new

requirements, early error detection, and improved buy-in and adoption.

Networking opportunities: SITE TOURS, WELCOME RECEPTION, EVENING EVENT

Quality networking is a key promise of our conference, as collaboration is essential

in the supply chain. Conference attendees had their first chance to meet and

interact during the optional site tours at the Port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport.

‘A Warm Dutch Welcome’ was the theme of the welcome reception on May 9th.

Despite the wind blowing from the sea, conference delegates mingled outside.

Throughout the conference, there was a good balance of information exchange

during plenary and breakout sessions and there was networking during longer meal

breaks and at a special evening spent together at the ‘Breakers’ beach restaurant.

For the first time, conference attendees used a special DHL Event App which

provided agenda updates as well as social media interaction which made it easy to

communication with each other for the duration of the conference.

SPEAKER LINE-UP PLENARY SPEAKERS & PANELISTS

Conference Feedback

100% of Customer

Delegates were

satisfied with the

conference

98% of Customer

Delegates would

recommend the

conference to

their peers.

100% Satisfaction

with the overall

choice of Confer-

ence Topics

How did you find the DHL Technology Conference 2017?

Source: Live Voting at the conference

Thank you and see you in 2018

Dear Customer,

It was a pleasure to meet many of you at our 2017 DHL Global

Technology Conference in the generous meeting space of the

Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk. I would like to sincerely

thank all the people who have contributed to the success of this

event – especially our many customers who have actively shared

their experiences and best practices with attendees.

Now in its 7th year, this conference continues to grow and is gaining reputation as a key industry platform for

technology logistics. Your positive feedback encourages us to continue with our focused approach in the technology

industry. The next DHL Global Technology Conference will take place in the city of Austin, Texas, USA from April 16-

18, 2018. I would be delighted to welcome you to this industry-leading event of listening, sharing and networking.

Rob Siegers

President Technology Sector

DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation

SAVE THE DATE

DHL GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY

CONFERENCE 2018

APRIL 16-18, AUSTIN, USA