COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI

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COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
THE FIEGE MAGAZINE
NO. 93 I 2020

COVID-19I
HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I
PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI
SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 2 Content ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      [ Editorial 3 ]

  Editorial                                                3

  Corporate Sustainability Special
  Creating a sustainable future                            4
  Sustainability is ingrained in our DNA                   6
  The Josef Fiege Foundation presents
  the Volunteer Award                                      8
                                                                                                                                          Dear Colleagues and Partners,
  New foundation executive board for
  the Josef Fiege Stiftung                                 9                                                                              Dear Friends of Fiege,
  Sustainability with heart and soul                      10
  PV system goes online at the MegaCenter
  in Greven-Reckenfeld                                    12
                                                                                                                                          Dear Readers,
  Eco-logistics is not just a word                        13

  Report                                                        Zalando is growing in southern Europe. Fiege has started

                                                                                                                                          T
                                                                operating a new logistics centre in Italy near Verona
  More than an employer                                   14                                                                                         he Covid-19 crisis has been dominating the         And even with our partners, competitors or even
                                                                for Europe’s biggest fashion and lifestyle online platform.
  Easy marketplace integration for                              Page 22                                                                              year 2020. But is it possible to take something    non-sector-related businesses and the authorities an
  tomorrow’s eCommerce                                    20                                                                                         positive away from the pandemic? We think so.      exchange arose during these times of crisis which has
  Fiege is Best Logistics Brand 2020                                                                                                                 Even though Covid-19 has been very challeng-       been highly rewarding for us. There was an incredible
  according to Logistik Heute and BVL                     46                                                                              ing for us in many instances – be it furlough scheme, con-    willingness to make a difference for the better – togeth-
  German AI Award                                         47                                                                              cern about the health of our colleagues, or the volatility    er. If we can maintain this attitude and approach, the
                                                                                                                                          of the different markets and sectors in which our clients     Covid-19 crisis will have lastingly achieved something
  Intriguing talks about innovation and sustainability    49
                                                                                                                                          operate – we simply prefer to direct our focus towards        positive. After all, there are many major challenges that
  Game changer                                            54
                                                                                                                                          aspects which, from our perspective, have changed for the     we can only face collectively – such as the protection of
                                                                                                                                          better.                                                       our environment and of the climate. So let’s do it.
  Projects
  Dräger will become the biggest customer at the new                                                                                      It is with great joy that we heard one thing time and again   Wishing you and your family a very happy Christmas,
  Fiege logistics centre Zülpich near Cologne             16        Imprint                                                               on many occasions – that the Fiege family has grown           and please take care of yourself.
  New logistics capacities in the making                  18                                                                              even closer. This refers to the many people from the dif-
                                                                    Logo 92/December 2020
  myFIEGE: IT develops customer portal                    19        The Fiege Magazine                                                    ferent business units, branches or departments who find
  Announcement Innovation Challenge                       25        Publisher:                                                            their way through the crisis together, and who support
                                                                    Fiege Logistik Holding Stiftung & Co. KG                              one another, protect each other, and act responsibly.
  A new home for digital business units in
                                                                    Joan-Joseph-Fiege-Strasse 1
  Münster’s Hafen district                                26        48268 Greven, Germany
  Fiege and Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof continue                       Editor:
  with joint expansion of shared logistics network        48        Julian Mester (jme)
                                                                    Authors:                                                                                                                            Jens Fiege                       Felix Fiege
                                                                    Fátima Bittel (fbi), Marc Borgmann, Sophia Nordlohne,
  Interview                                                         Anna Salamatov, Marcel Wegmann (all Fiege), Thorsten Burgard,
                                                                    Jens Könning, Lukas Wilke (lwi, all Sputnik)
  Does this come in a larger size?                        22        Photos:
  Company Building: Supporting incorporators                        Fiege, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, heyconnect, Lufthansa Cargo,
  that aim to make logistics more digital                 24        Viktor Strasse, Viviane Wild
  No risk, no fun                                         52        Illustrations:
                                                                    Fiege
                                                                    Layout:
                                                                    Wietheger Druck, Nordwalde
  Cover Covid-19 Special
                                                                    Print:
  Covid-19                                                 28       Steinbacher Druck GmbH, Osnabrück
  Employee testimonials                            31, 35, 44       The reproduction of excerpts or of the contents of this issue is
  Facemasks, airlift, and frenzied markets                 32       only permitted by indicating the source and is subject to the prior
                                                                    approval by the editors. Contributions naming the author need
  PPE distributed for Germany’s                                     not reflect the opinion of the editors. Logo is also published in
  Federal Ministry of Health                              36        German.
  Crisis task force on call around the clock              42        Download your Logo version:
  2020 in numbers                                         45        http://www.fiege.com/de/press/logo/
                                                                    http://www.fiege.com/en/press/logo/

  Human Resources
  Nature Grows Knowledge                                  50
  In-company bicycle leasing scheme                       51
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
Creating a
                                                            sustainable
                                                            future
    1                                                       Today’s corporate goals for
                                                            tomorrow’s contract logistics.

                                                            A
                                                                        s a family business, we have always attached
                                                                        great importance to sustainable action
                                                                        and management. To sustainably evolve
                                                                        the company and be able to pass it to the
                                                            next generation is our main objective. We align all our
                                                            corporate activity with this. And we create the future
                                                            each and every day.

                                                            Sustainable management has become key to the viability
                                                            of our business models. More often than not, sustain-
                                                            ability is reduced to an ecological aspect. However, Fiege
                                                            equally considers and prioritises its inherent economic
                                                            and social dimensions.

                                                            We are doing it: Climate protection and the conscious use
                                                            of resources paired with simultaneous growth are just as
                                                            much an objective of ours as is the social responsibility
                                                            towards our employees and society.

                                                            Jens Fiege

2

        TAKING CARE OF TODAY FOR TOMORROW
        The infrastructures that we install inside and
        outside of our facilities are all geared towards
        the respectful use of our resources.
        1 Inside: LED lighting, optimised conveyer lines,
        automated (paperless) ordering processes,
        separation of waste, waste recycling, etc.
        2 Outside: renewable energies, meadow
        orchard, renaturalisation projects, promotion of
        alternative power units in mobility, etc.
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 6 Corporate Sustainability Special ]                                                                                                                                                               [ Corporate Sustainability Special 7 ]

  Sustainability is
  ingrained
  in our                                           DNA
                                                   Fiege has been a pioneer of green logistics for
                                                   decades. The family business aims to prepare
                                                   for the future as best as possible within the
                                                   framework of its holistic sustainability approach.

  A
                s a family-run business
                and international logis-
                tics company, we bear a
                special social responsibi-
  lity which we want to live up to”, says                       Three pillars of sustainability
  Martin Rademaker, who as a member
  of the Executive Board oversees the        For Fiege, sustainability is a holis-       nomic, and social – which mutually
  Business Development unit as well          tic concept which leans on scientific       condition each other and interact with
  as Sustainability, amongst others.         definitions. “In essence it is about        one another: “Only if we cultivate a
  “Many people here at Fiege take on         aligning all our corporate activities to-   respective awareness and effective
  responsibility for others or for social    wards the respectful employment of          measures within all three areas will we                                                                             Economically
  projects. They commit to environ-          resources”, Rademaker explains fur-         be successful in the long run”, Rade-                                                                            sustainable business
  mental issues, to people in need of        ther. This, however, applies not only       maker adds. The Executive Board is in
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 flows
  help or support regional projects”,        in relation to nature and society, but      agreement: “The responsibility is ours
  Rademaker says. A central business         also with regard to partners, custom-       to develop the family business sustain-                                                                      The company’s financially-sound and
  unit has now been created within the       ers, and naturally, the 19,000-some-        ably and to pass it later as a solid and                     Ecology is not                                  future-proof position calls for a fun-
  Fiege Group which merges all these         thing employees.                            healthy enterprise to the sixth genera-                   a fashion statement                                damentally sustainable way of doing
  activities under one headline: Cor-        To equally cover these very different       tion once the time has come. This is                                                                         business. As a pioneer of contract lo-
  porate Sustainability. Fiege’s Sustain-    facets, Fiege thinks sustainability in      what we attempt to live up to daily”,      Fiege thus continues the path which Heinz and Dr. Hugo            gistics, Fiege has been seen as a role
  ability Manager, Fátima Batres Bittel      three dimensions – ecological, eco-         says the Executive Board member.           Fiege, the fathers of the current Chairmen of the Board,          model for years in this field, too. For
  is the central contact both inside and                                                                                            Jens and Felix Fiege, chose over 30 years ago. Back then          many of its clients, the expert over-
  outside of the company. This is where                                                                                             even, many fundamentals of today’s sustainability strategy        sees all warehousing and transport lo-
  all activities and enquiries come  e to-                                                                                          were already apparent. “The philosophy of taking ecologi-         gistics including value-added services
  gether. Additionally, with support
                                   upport                                                                                           cal criteria into consideration when building our properties      while persistently tapping into the
  from the Sustainability Workstream   am                                                                                           is a legacy from those days”, Rademaker explains further.         synergies this creates. “As a nexus, we
  team which is comprised of members
                                   embers                                                                                           Many Gold and Platinum certifications from the German             impact the entire value creation pro-
  from different business units, she de-e-                                                                                          Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) acknowledge suc-              cess and put our green stamp on it”,
  velops the sustainability strategy foror                                                                                          cessful energy management and particularly sustainable            39-year old Martin Rademaker says.
  the Fiege Group.                                                                                                                  buildings.                                                        The more efficient the flows are, the
                                                                                                                                    Beyond this, Fiege also supports many environmental               more sustainable the offer becomes.
                                                                                                                                    projects that are not directly connected to its core business.    Fiege will further expand its services
                                                                                                                                    “Our branches feature many green areas where we grow              offering within the field of eco-logis-
                                                                                                                                    fruit trees or home bee colonies”, the Executive Board            tics in the future. The goal is to always
                                                                                                                                    member details. And even ponds and special reservoirs that        be able to present a green alternative
                                                                                                                                    collect rainwater are found at a growing number of sites. In      to clients which specifically avoids
                                                                                                                                    future, Fiege wishes to further intensify these efforts.          emissions or offsets CO2 emissions ac-
                                                                                                                                                                                                      cordingly. “We want to make the en-
  Sustainability has great significance                                                                                                                                                               tire logistics chain more sustainable as
  at Fiege: Jens Fiege (centre), Martin                                                                                                                                                               a whole, and bring our partners along
  Rademaker, and Fátima Bittel discuss
  the strategic direction to be taken for                                                                                                                                                             on this journey”, Rademaker con-
  Corporate Sustainability.                                                                                                                                                                           cludes.                                >
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 8 Corporate Sustainability Special ]                                                                                                                                                                           [ Corporate Sustainability Special 9 ]

                                         Living social responsibility

  At Fiege, sustainability carries a third dimension within
  – a social one. As a foundation for this, the company
                                                               potential managers take on a social project which they
                                                               accompany for one year. During that year, they gather
                                                                                                                            New foundation
  has established an ethics code. It includes guidelines for
  managers on the selection of partners and on how to
  treat employees. Employees in particular are the ones
                                                               important experiences within leadership, management,
                                                               and teamwork. In the past, a school was set up abroad
                                                               under the FIT scheme. “Our juniors are currently helping
                                                                                                                            executive board for the
  that Fiege wishes to spotlight with this strategy.
  “Organisations only come to life through the people
  working there”, Rademaker says. One example here are
                                                               a local project and working on a nutrition programme
                                                               for a kindergarten here in Greven”, Rademaker adds.
                                                               Beyond this, Fiege sponsors the Münster marathon
                                                                                                                            Josef Fiege Stiftung
  the trainees at the location in Worms, who have been         where members of the integrative SV Blau-Weiß Aasee
  demonstrating their commitment to the local zoo for          running club are given the opportunity to cross the fin-     The Josef Fiege Stiftung has been supporting social and
  five years now. Up to forty young Fiege employees are        ish line by the side of volunteer running buddies, while     ecological projects since 1998, with the aim of contributing to helping
  designated Corporate Volunteers and as such work on          being cheered on by the crowds. Every year, employ-
  a variety of projects, such as upgrading the enclosures.     ees at Fiege also become sponsors: “We are very proud        committed non-profit organisations deserving of support.
  One successful model is the Fiege International Team         that our colleagues all contribute towards creating a very
  (FIT). The programme sees selected junior talent and         special moment for people who are differently abled”,
                                                               the Executive Board member says.                                    Martina Schlottbom (from left), Frank
                                                               “Our Corporate Social Responsibility measures strength-                  Sievers, Christoph Mangelmans
                                                                                                                                   and Kai Alfermann make up the new
                                                               en unity and solidarity within the company”, Rademak-                 foundation executive board of the
                                                               er concludes.                             Lukas Wilke                               Josef Fiege Stiftung.

                                                                                                                            T
                                                                                                                                         his presents a vital and
                                                                                                                                         special part of social re-
                                                                                                                                         sponsibility for Fiege.
                                                                                                                                         In line with the founda-
                                                                                                                            tion’s reorientation, it will live up to
                                                                                                                            this responsibility even more strongly
                                                                                                                            by donating not only monetary con-
                                                                                                                            tributions, but also by all employees
                                                                                                                            committing to volunteer, to ensure
                                                                                                                            that Fiege does not forget those in
                                                                                                                            need of help, or who quite literally in-
                                                                                                                            vest their efforts into creating a “bet-
           THE JOSEF FIEGE                                                                                                  ter climate”. The foundation execu-
                                                                                                                            tive board of the Josef Fiege Stiftung

      FOUNDATION PRESENTS                                                                                                   has a new 2020 line-up: Kai Alfer-
                                                                                                                            mann, Director Real Estate & Quality,
                                                                                                                            Christoph Mangelmans, Managing
     THE VOLUNTEER AWARD                                                                                                    Director Omnichannel Retail, Mar-
                                                                                                                            tina Schlottbom, Head of HR Business           The new foundation executive board
                                                                                                                            Solutions, and Frank Sievers, Director         will manage the activities of the
            Next year will see Fiege present a volunteer award again.                                                       Accounting, Payroll, Tax.                      Josef Fiege Stiftung by sponsoring
          “Many colleagues volunteer in their free time, to assist with                                                     The new foundation executive board             new projects and organisations. All
            social projects. We want to support this commitment and                                                         will work actively towards its reorien-        employees can actively contribute
          give them the attention they deserve”, Martina Schlottbom                  VOLUNTEER A WARD                       tation which is specifically dedicated         towards achieving these goals – by
                   from the foundation executive board explains. The                                                        to moving responsibility into the cen-         sharing ideas, lending support, or
       recognition is awarded by the Josef Fiege Stiftung which was                                                         tre of its actions:                            helping with their own commitment.
                 called to life by Heinz and Dr. Hugo Fiege in 1998 as                                                      Responsibility for children and young          The new foundation executive board
         a family foundation. All employees may apply for the award.                                                        adults who were maybe not always               is simultaneously the contact point
                We expressly welcome colleagues suggesting peers.                                                           smiled upon by fate in the early years         for employees wishing to take on a
                                                                                                                            of their lives, but also responsibility        social commitment and seeking help
                                                                                                                            for the environment, for nature and            with the implementation of their
                                                                                                                            society.                                       projects.                     fbi
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 10 Corporate Sustainability Special ]                                                                                                                                                                                           [ Corporate Sustainability Special 11 ]

                                                Sustainability with
                                                heart and soul                                                                          Three questions for ...
                                                                                                                                        Fátima Bittel, many consider sustain-         origins in agriculture, Fiege has always
                                                Fátima Bittel is on fire for her job. She                                               able logistics to be a contradiction.         had a special awareness of ecological
                                                                                                                                        For you, however, the two belong              sustainability. A social aspect was added
                                                coordinates Corporate Sustainability activities at                                      together. Why is that?                        later as was, at some point, the exciting
                                                Fiege and has become the face of sustainability.                                        If you want to do logistics right, there is   thought of combining ecological with
                                                                                                                                        no way around sustainability. It is Fiege’s   economic goals. Today, all three aspects
                                                                                                                                        goal to offer our clients services that are   are viewed from a holistic perspec-
                                                                                                                                        as efficient as is possible. To achieve       tive and lived through many individual
                                                                                                                                        this, we merge shipments, improve the         measures and projects. It is so much fun
                                                                                                                                        use of our spaces, optimise the energy        to accompany this close up and to be
                                                                                                                                        footprint of our buildings, or even de-       involved in initiating this.

                                                T
                                                           he native Salvadorian          Fiege. “I supported the Business Devel-       velop intermodal transport modes. This
                                                           came to Germany in 2009        opment unit within eCommerce Solu-            saves time and money for us, and for          Do you have a special suggestion on
                                                           to attend the German-La-       tions for three and a half years”, the        our clients. At the same time, we do not      how each and every one of us may
                                                           tin American CALA course       30-year old comments. However, she            waste resources. For this very reason, an     contribute in our everyday lives to
                                                of studies at the Münster School          found her big passion during her one-         efficient solution is naturally also always   sustainability?
                                                of Business (MSB), a faculty of the       year parental leave. “I asked myself          a sustainable solution.                       There is a lot you can do by adopt-
                                                Münster University of Applied Sci-        what the world should look like that                                                        ing more conscious consumer habits.
                                                ences.                                    I wish to show my child”, Bittel ex-          Over the past months, you have been           Whether in terms of energy by turn-
                 Fátima Bittel is the central
             point of contact for Corporate     After graduating with a Master’s degree   plains. For the young mother, sustain-        familiarising yourself with Fiege’s           ing off the lights in rooms that are not
                     Sustainability at Fiege.   in business psychology, Bittel decided    ability has since played a vital role. At     way of dealing with this topic. What          being used or even when it comes to
                                                to pursue a career in logistics. Since    Fiege, she now coordinates Corporate          surprised you in this regard?                 the consumption of food. The aim is to               Teamwork as the
                                                autumn 2016, she has been working at      Sustainability activities.                    I got to know the exciting history of the     buy meat, milk, and other foods with a                key to success
                                                                                                                                        Fiege family. Looking at the company’s        greater sense of awareness. Once we
                                                                                                                                        past is incredibly interesting because        give these things more thought and re-         To develop new products, the Sus-
                                                                                                                                        each generation lived sustainability ac-      flect on where these products come from        tainability Manager works closely
                                                                                                                                        cording to the time they lived in and at      and the ecology behind producing them,         with employees from many different
                                                                                                                                        different levels. Sometimes intentionally,    we almost automatically change our own         departments and career levels. “Our
                                                                                                                                        other times even unintentionally. With its    conduct to become more sustainable.            two-member Sustainability Work-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     stream gets together every six weeks”,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     the 30-year old says. The interdisci-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     plinary team discusses new ideas and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     campaigns on strategic and operation-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     al level, which Bittel then merges and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     prepares for the company’s Manage-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ment and the Sustainability Board.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Sustainability overlaps, among other
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     things, with the Real Estate Develop-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ment business unit as well as the En-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ergy Management team, for example
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     when it comes to the consumption of
                                                                                                                                                      Broad spectrum of responsibilities                                             power at the warehouse locations.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Employees are also involved in the
                                                                                                                                      Her responsibilities are highly diver-          foundation. “We want to establish              processes through newsletters and
                                                                                                                                      sified: “I supervise the coordination           sustainability in the daily work rou-          the Intranet. For the future, special
                                                                                                                                      of all ecological and social projects           tine of our employees. Both in the             training seminars are planned. “All
                                                                                                                                      which we develop in the context of              shape of sustainable services as well          of us are in the same boat. Our goal
                                                                                                                                      our sustainability strategy”, the ex-           as through social and eco-friendly             is to firmly anchor sustainability in
                                                                                                                                      pert explains. This includes, next to           projects for society”, Bittel adds. For        the minds of our employees. Because
                                                                                                                                      Eco-logistics, Corporate Governance,            this very reason she is the point of           protecting our climate starts with
                                                                                                                                      Corporate Citizenship and the ac-               contact for her colleagues as well as          many small actions in our everyday
                                                                                                                                      tivities of the Josef Fiege Stiftung            non-company partners and clients.              life”, Bittel adds.     Lukas Wilke
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 12 Special ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                          [ Corporate Sustainability Special 13 ]

                                                                                                                                                Eco-logistics is not
                                                                                                                                                just a word
                                                                                                                                                Fiege offers sustainable services
                                                                                                                                                under a protected mark

                                                 Visited the new photovoltaic system roofed on top of the Greven-Reckenfeld logistics centre:
  Jens Fiege (from left, CEO), Marc Borgmann (Energy Management), Jan Fiege (Managing Director Real Estate), Kai Alfermann (Director Real
                    Estate & Quality), Mareike Vogt (Energy Management), Heinz Fiege and Blazej Janik (Branch Manager Greven-Reckenfeld)

                                                                                                                                                I
                                                                                                                                                        n the early 1990s, Heinz and
                                                                                                                                                        Dr. Hugo Fiege established eco-
                                                                                                                                                        logistics. They even took on the
                                                                                                                                                        extensive process of registering

         PV system                                                                                 feed into the public power grid. “In
                                                                                                   total, we have installed around 2,700
                                                                                                   photovoltaic modules with an east-
                                                                                                                                                the term as a word mark with the pat-
                                                                                                                                                ent office. Their goal at the time: to
                                                                                                                                                find and maintain social acceptance

      goes online at                                                                               west elevation. The PV system is thus
                                                                                                   optimally exposed at the location
                                                                                                   for our own power requirements”,
                                                                                                                                                for logistics. Or, as Dr. Hugo Fiege
                                                                                                                                                summed things up once: “Achiev-
                                                                                                                                                ing the same standard of living while
                                                                                                                                                                                             pany pursues a clear philosophy for
                                                                                                                                                                                             this: “Sustainability has the biggest
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           tion”, the Corporate Sustainability
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Manager explains. As a result, effi-

     MegaCenter in                                                                                 as the head of the project, Mareike
                                                                                                   Vogt from Central Energy Manage-
                                                                                                   ment at Fiege explains. By generat-
                                                                                                                                                being less inconvenienced through
                                                                                                                                                transportation is our philosophy.”
                                                                                                                                                Eco-logistics at Fiege is the ecological-
                                                                                                                                                                                             impact when we incorporate the topic
                                                                                                                                                                                             from the very start into our thinking
                                                                                                                                                                                             and anchor this in our core business
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ciency goes hand in hand with envi-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ronmental protection.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           As a full-service provider, Fiege is

 Greven-Reckenfeld                                                                                 ing power with the help of the PV
                                                                                                   system, around 260 tonnes of CO2
                                                                                                   can be avoided annually compared to
                                                                                                                                                ly reasonable design of economically
                                                                                                                                                engaging logistics.
                                                                                                                                                Logistics have changed drastically
                                                                                                                                                                                             operations instead of retrospectively
                                                                                                                                                                                             calling projects to life to compensate
                                                                                                                                                                                             for shortcomings”, Bittel says.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           even able to give the entire sup-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ply chain a resource-friendly direc-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           tion – from warehousing to transport
                                                                                                   average CO2 emissions.                       over the past 30 years. Exploding            The demand for this is growing.               to value-added services. This saves
                          Around 90 per cent of system’s power                                     Fiege intends to further push the            traffic volumes, increasingly inter-         “Many companies that manufacture              time. And money. “The more efficient
                                                                                                   construction of more PV systems to           national supply chains or booming            sustainably do not want to downgrade          our work is, the lower the pricing at
                              are consumed directly on location                                    expand its self-supply with power.           eCommerce with same-day delivery             their ecological footprint because            which we can offer eco-logistics”, Bit-
                                                                                                   Projects currently in the pipeline in-       are only a few trends which impose           of their logistical processes”, Bittel        tel says.

 G
               racing   around     8,000          The system on top of the roof on                 clude systems in North Rhine-West-           completely new challenges on the in-         adds. With a range of measures, Fiege         Lean Management plays a crucial role
               square metres of the               Carl-Benz-Strasse has a production               phalia and Baden-Wuerttemberg. Be-           dustry. More than ever, future-proof         therefore ensures that low-emission           in this. Which is why the logistics
               rooftop is a PV system             capacity of 749-kilowatt peak (kWp),             yond this, Fiege assists outside parties     solutions are needed which facilitate        transportation offers are created. It         company works day in, day out on
               which the logistics com-           making it one of the three largest PV            with the planning and development            efficient and resource-friendly mate-        goes without saying that in the end,          optimising its process flows.
  pany Fiege has installed at its logis-          rooftop systems in Greven. Fiege will            of their own systems. Additionally,          rial flows.                                  the decision rests with the client. But
  tics centre in Greven-Reckenfeld. The           use roughly 90 per cent of the energy            Fiege has been buying in CO2-neutral                                                      the company also wants to win over                    Offsetting CO2
  system will produce over 650,000                at the location itself. The remainder –          energy Germany-wide since January                Eco-logistics as an                      its clients, partners, and suppliers for
  kilowatt hours of electricity annu-             which includes power produced over               2020. Several thousand tonnes in CO2           independent business                       a sustainable path. “Our goal is for          Whenever emissions cannot be
  ally – about as much as around 160              the weekend as well as power which               emissions are saved in this way every                                                     eco-logistics to become a given in the        avoided, Fiege offers clients the op-
                                                                                                                                                           unit
  average households of four consume              cannot be consumed directly – will               year.             Marc Borgmann                                                           near future”, so the expert.                  tion to offset CO2 emissions. The lo-
  each year. The power thus produced                                                                                                            Fiege, too, still dedicates special atten-                                                 gistics company cooperates in this
  covers roughly one third of the Mega-                                                                                                         tion to this topic. “The claim of want-          Efficiency is the key                     regard with several partners that
  Center’s own energy requirements in                                                                                                           ing to create more sustainable logistics                 word                              support projects that protect our cli-
  Greven-Reckenfeld.                                                                                                                            applies to this day”, so Fátima Bittel,                                                    mate. Even though climate-polluting
  “One of the most important goals for                                                                                                          Corporate Sustainability Manager at          The fact that the contract logistics          carbon dioxide emissions continue,
  us is to hand over the company to the                                                                                                         Fiege. For this, the company which           provider bet on multi-user centres at         something is given back to nature
  next generation to sustainable stan-                                                                                                          operates Europe-wide has come up             an early stage has become a benefit:          with the compensation payments.
  dards. To carry out a project like this                                                                                                       with an all-round green services port-       “Since we oversee multiple clients            Fiege even sees this as its duty: “We,
  at our head office – in keeping with                                                                                                          folio. “Together with our clients, we        on location, we can optimise the use          too, have been voluntarily using
  climate protection objectives – means                                                                                                         create next to classic solutions also an     of the warehouse space, merge ship-           emission-neutral energy since the be-
  a lot to us”, Jens Fiege, CEO of the                                                                                                          ecological alternative”, adds the sus-       ments, avoid empty runs and thus              ginning of this year at all of our Ger-
  Fiege Group says.                                                                                                                             tainability expert. The logistics com-       always offer the most efficient solu-         man sites”, Bittel reports.     lwi
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 14 Report ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      [ Report 15 ]

                                           More than an                                                                           sions and set crash barriers. But just
                                                                                                                                  because someone is higher up in the
                                                                                                                                  echelon does not mean that they are
                                                                                                                                  a better person. It’s merely an organ-
                                                                                                                                                                             For example, the Karla Kolumna
                                                                                                                                                                             group has people working on an
                                                                                                                                                                             employee magazine. The Mutter der
                                                                                                                                                                             Nation team organises different com-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       company”, so Looser’s summary,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       who likes to talk of his colleagues as
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Fiegerians to express that they are
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       part of the Fiege family. This allows

                                           employer                                                                               isational characteristic.” It is mainly
                                                                                                                                  about appreciation. This includes the
                                                                                                                                  fair and friendly treatment of each
                                                                                                                                                                             pany events, while the Fiegende Klas-
                                                                                                                                                                             senzimmer holds an in-house work-
                                                                                                                                                                             shop once a month where next to an
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       the company to access existing pro-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       cesses or the available Fiege network
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       any time. Especially during the Co-
                                           Fiege Air Cargo Logistics wants to                                                     other, from managing director to           exchange of knowledge, team build-        vid-19 pandemic it showed just how
                                                                                                                                  employees working in production.           ing is a priority.                        reliable a partner Fiege is, Benjamin
                                           show – and live – company values                                                       Against this background, the mana-                                                   Looser stresses: “System headquar-
                                                                                                                                  gerial personnel are to be more visibly          Green field with                    ters gave us excellent support to-
                                                                                                                                  present on location and act as a con-           complete freedom                     wards building the company despite
                                                                                                                                  tact point for all colleagues. “Recogni-                                             the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to
                                           Fiege subsidiary centres on the well-      tonnes of cargo per year. The plan-         tion of their daily work is important      The measures are also owed to the         pass this strength and dependability
                                           being of its employees and wants to        ning and steering of the process flows      to us”, Looser says.                       fact that is it becoming increasingly     to the people in our company and
                                           set an example regarding the family        and the overall responsibility remains      Despite the short timespan before          difficult to source suitable personnel,   become a reliable and innovative
                                           business’ values. The project is de-       in the hands of Lufthansa Cargo. “It is     going live and the many new faces,         especially skilled workers. “Today’s      employer.”        Thorsten Burgard
                                           fined, among other things, by a mod-       our aim to increase operational qual-       the company advanced quickly. In           young professionals expect their
                                           ern management culture, flexible           ity and to synchronise the logistical       the meantime, the company that was         employer to be more than profit-
                                           working hours, and diverse personal        flows using cutting-edge IT infrastruc-     created quite literally out of nothing     minded only. They see an employer
                                           development opportunities.                 tures”, Managing Director Benjamin          and in no time boasts a colourful          as having a social and an ethical re-
                                           For many years, Lufthansa has been         Looser explains. Next to the satisfac-      blend of former Fiege employees and        sponsibility and want to realise their
                                           largely outsourcing the physical cargo     tion of the client, the main focus of       new colleagues. Looser and his team        full potential”, Looser adds. This is
                                           handling at the LCC to several outside     FACL from the very beginning is the         cultivate an open feedback culture         the starting point for both the FACL
                                           service operators. With a view to the      well-being of employees.                    where issues, mistakes, and digress-       and Looser. Employees are involved
                                           advances in digitalisation, Germany’s      Amongst the biggest challenges are          ing from standards are constructively      in all crucial decisions and they are
                                           biggest cargo-flying airline went look-    building a team and launching pro-          addressed and solved together. For         shown many opportunities for per-
                                           ing for a suitable partner to merge its    cesses as fast as possible. The top         this to succeed, open-plan offices         sonal growth.
                                           fulfilment requirements at a single        priority hereby is taking over the          and addressing everyone on a first-        The entire managerial level of FACL
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       (from left) Felix Scherberich (CEO Fiege Air
                                           point. Thanks to comprehensive             600-something staff from the external       name basis reinforce the feeling of        lives a modern management culture         Cargo Logistics), Dr. Mohammad Ali Seiraffi
                                           competencies within digitalisation         service providers and inducting them        being part of a team. Moreover, three      from the top down, with full support      (Lufthansa Cargo Vice President Handling
    PARTICULARS                            and the efficient design and imple-        into the world of Fiege. “It was clear      cross-sectional teams were called to       from the parent company. “Fiege           Frankfurt), Gunnar Loehr (Lufthansa Cargo
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Senior Director Supply Management &
                                           mentation of warehouse processes,          to us that this project would only be       life which boost a cross-department        has gifted us with a green field with     Infrastructure), Benjamin Looser (Managing
    Benjamin Looser                        the choice fell on Fiege. The activities   successful as a collective effort with      exchange for the entire workforce.         complete freedom to build a solid         Director Fiege Air Cargo Logistics)
    Managing Director Fiege Air Cargo      at the LCC in Frankfurt reflect an ex-     motivated and committed employ-
    Logistics                              pansion of Fiege’s business segment.       ees”, the Managing Director, who has
                                           “We developed our idea for modern          been working in the field of corporate
                                           cargo handling with a strong project       culture and employee management
                                           team for more than a year and a half,      for years, recalls. As a family business,
                                           in order to convince Lufthansa Car-        Fiege has firmly anchored solidarity
                                           go”, Felix Scherberich says, who led       and team spirit as a fixed value in its
                                           the project’s core team from the very      corporate philosophy. It is the goal of
                                           beginning. Together with Benjamin          FACL to create an organised, fair, and
                                           Looser, Scherberich now makes up           adequate working environment for
                                           the leadership team at FACL which is       all employees. “I therefore consider
                                           complemented by the Fiege manag-           it a very special recognition when

 S
           ince 1 July, Fiege Air Cargo    ers Norman Marian (Operations) and         employees from an external service
           Logistics GmbH & Co. KG         Thomas Rudek (Commercial).                 provider who have been loyal to their
           (FACL) has actively been                                                   company for years, decide to join us”,
           partnering with Lufthansa           Green light for FACL                   Looser emphasises.
  Cargo AG. By mid-2021, the newly
  formed company will have taken over      As from 1 July, FACL will gradually         A flat organisation and
  the physical handling of cargo in mul-   be taking over the operational hand-           feedback culture
  tiple phases for all transit consign-    ling and coordination of standard in-
  ments at the Lufthansa Cargo Center      bound and outbound consignments            FACL relies on a flat organisation for
  (LCC) in Frankfurt within the frame-     at the LCC in Frankfurt in four phases     this without completely doing away
  work of a long-term contract. To offer   to be concluded by mid-2021. Over-         with hierarchies, as Looser explains:
  clients the best possible support, the   all, this totals more than one million     “You need a hierarchy to make deci-
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 16 Report ]                                                                                                                                                                          [ Report 17 ]

         Dräger will become the                                      will build a multi-user centre with a
                                                                     storage area of 54,000 square metres.
                                                                     Dräger will be the logistics centre’s
                                                                                                               including a variety of value-added
                                                                                                               services that we render for Dräger,
                                                                                                               as well as customs clearance. Espe-
                                                                                                                                                           pich as from 2022. Sebastian Krause,
                                                                                                                                                           Director of Market Fulfillment and
                                                                                                                                                           Global Distribution at Dräger, sees

         biggest customer at the                                     biggest client. The new building has
                                                                     been designed in its entirety with
                                                                     Dräger’s future-focused requirements
                                                                     in mind. Zülpich will become the cen-
                                                                                                               cially value-added services for medi-
                                                                                                               cal technology and safety technol-
                                                                                                               ogy in particular come with a high
                                                                                                               level of complexity for logistical and
                                                                                                                                                           Fiege as having set the logistics
                                                                                                                                                           course for the future: “Next to expe-
                                                                                                                                                           rience in healthcare, Fiege also offers
                                                                                                                                                           the required agility and innovative

       new Fiege logistics centre                                    tral logistics and distribution hub for
                                                                     the company of long-standing tradi-
                                                                     tion from Lübeck.
                                                                                                               customer-specific process flows. And
                                                                                                               working in separated, at times tem-
                                                                                                               perature-controlled zones calls for a
                                                                                                                                                           strength to keep up with ever-new
                                                                                                                                                           requirements of our clients as well
                                                                                                                                                           as market growth.” Dräger’s medical

          Zülpich near Cologne                                       “Dräger holds a special meaning for
                                                                     us because of its broad product range
                                                                     as a manufacturer of medical and
                                                                                                               well-trained and experienced team,
                                                                                                               he adds. “We are also prepared to
                                                                                                               handle time-sensitive orders flex-
                                                                                                                                                           technology division manufactures,
                                                                                                                                                           for example, ventilators for intensive
                                                                                                                                                           care and emergency services, anaes-
                                                                     safety technology products”, says         ibly and fast, and to come up with          thesia machines or equipment for
                                                                     Dirk Berlemann, Managing Director         creative solutions for special assign-      premature and neonatal care. Dräger
                                                                     Fiege Healthcare. “This goes hand         ments.”                                     is a leading global manufacturer of
                                                                     in hand with our ability to provide       Fiege will merge Dräger’s logistics         safety technology for personal pro-
                                                                     an extensive portfolio of services –      and distribution for its two company        tective equipment, protection equip-
                                                                                                               areas at the new logistics centre in Zül-   ment solutions for plants, and gas de-
                                                                                                                                                           tectors.             Julian Mester

                        F
                                  iege is set to become Dräger’s
                                  new logistics partner. The
                                  leading international manu-
                                  facturer of medical and safe-
                        ty technology products has entrusted
                        Fiege with the supply of health facili-
                        ties like hospitals or supply centres,
                        industrial customers, public-sector
                        clients, and specialised retailers with
                        Dräger products around the globe.                                                                                                  The Transport Minister of the State
                        Zülpich near Cologne is where Fiege                                                                                                of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik
                                                                                                                                                           Wüst (from right), Zülpich’s Mayor,
                                                                                                                                                           Ulf Hürtgen and Jan Fiege, Managing
                                                                                                                                                           Director Real Estate at Fiege during
                                                                                                                                                           the symbolic cutting of the turf for
                                                                                                                                                           the new Fiege Multi-User Center in
                        Dräger produces, for example, patient                                                                                              Zülpich, in the tri-city area Cologne-
                        monitors and ventilators for hospital use.                                                                                         Bonn-Aachen.
COVID-19I HOW FIEGE HANDLES THE PANDEMIC,I PROTECTS ITS EMPLOYEES, AND TAKES AWAYI SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE CRISISI
[ 18 Projects ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            [ Projects 19 ]

                                                 Bremen

                    IBBENBÜREN

                    BÖNEN                                                                   New
                                                                                             logistics                                                    myFIEGE:
        ZÜLPICH

                                                                                    capacities in                                                         IT develops
                                                                                     the making                                                           customer portal                                                                         Group IT is advancing digital
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  projects. CIO Aleksandar Rodic
                                                                                                                                                          The complete corporate services portfolio is                                            (below centre) and his team
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  work with different departments
                                                                                                          Fiege is building new                           to become a digital offer in the near future.                                           to achieve this.

                                                                                                         and expanding – more
                        GENGENBACH                                                                     room for new projects at

                                                                                                                                                          T
                                                                                                            multi-user centres.                                      he idea for myFIEGE is the        about offering all services at a single    It is the vision of myFIEGE to give
                                                                                                                                                                     result of evaluating custom-      point – in myFIEGE – to our clients”,      easy access to the requested infor-
                                                                                                                                                                     er surveys and experience         Klaus Lüstraeten says.                     mation for everyone interacting and
                                                                                                                                                                     gained from communica-            Clients are given the opportunity here     working with Fiege as an organisa-
                                                                                                                                                          ting with clients and partners. Leif         to view the services they have booked      tion. Employees are also to expressly
                                                                                                                                                          Lienhardt, Head of Logistics Applica-        and combine them with others. “Ex-         benefit from the valuable functional-
                                                                                                       GENGENBACH                                         tions, next to Klaus Lüstraeten, Head
                                                                                                                                                          of Information Management & Digital
                                                                                                                                                                                                       isting clients for whom we have been
                                                                                                                                                                                                       offering a really good service for years
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ities made available with myFIEGE.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  For clients in particular, the digital

  F                                                 BREMEN
            iege Real Estate is develop-                                                               Gengenbach in the state of Baden-Würt-             Transformation and Philipp Holtgreve,        may not even know anything about           inspection of their invoices, invento-
            ing new logistics capacities                                                               temberg will be home to a Fiege multi-user         Senior IT Business Consultant, are           all the services that we provide. That’s   ries, or booked services and for end
            at different locations across           In the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan               centre. Located near the German French             members of the myFIEGE core team.            what we want to change”, Philipp           customers details about their ship-
            Germany that are strategical-           area, in-between the three largest ports,          border in-between Strasbourg, Freiburg, and        Lienhardt explains: “The needs of our        Holtgreve says.                            ments are the focal point.
  ly beneficial. Sophia Nordlohne, Team             Fiege is building a new logistics site. With       Stuttgart, a logistics facility will be built on   clients and partners were merged and
  Real Estate gives an overview.                    around 34,000 square metres of logistics           a 73,000 square metres-large plot of land          analysed in Group IT. This then led
                                                    space, including 5,000 square metres for a         for multiple clients. Fiege will operate the lo-   to myFIEGE. The plan is to evolve
                                                    mezzanine level, a multi-user facility is in the   gistics centre comprised of four warehouse         the platform gradually based on the
                                                    making in Bremen. Easy access to the A281          sections offering 40,000 square metres             FIEGE Business Intelligence Por-
  BÖNEN                                             motorway and proximity to the A1 motorway          of logistics space for a major tyre maker,         tal (FBIP) and, over time, to provide
  In collaboration with its long-standing           means the facility is conveniently located in      amongst others. Completion of the logistics        more and more functionalities.”
  client, Döllken Profiles, the general contrac-    the centre of Europe.                              property is scheduled for August 2021.             Many different departments and
  tor, Goldbeck, and the engineering office,                                                                                                              business units will be involved in the
  Klußmann, Fiege is developing a new,                                                                                                                    project. The project work, however,
  10,000 square metres-large logistics centre
  located in Bönen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
                                                    IBBENBÜREN                                         ZÜLPICH                                            will be advanced by an interdisciplin-
                                                                                                                                                          ary core team comprised of Business
  In less than one year, the project will have      A location which is very important to Fiege’s      On a roughly 10 hectares-large piece of land       Development, Marketing, and IT.
  been implemented according to plan. In            history is set to grow. Fiege is expanding the     in Zülpich, to the west of Cologne and Bonn        “We aim to provide to our existing
  this context, interference with the client’s      Ibbenbüren base by a further 30,000 square         is where Fiege will build a new multi-user         and potential clients Fiege’s complete
  operations at the production site is to be        metres of modern warehouse space.                  location with around 54,000 square metres          portfolio of corporate services prefer-
  kept to an absolute minimum. As the project       Ibbenbüren is one of the top logistics             of logistics space. The Cologne bay area as        ably digitally. The portfolio includes
  controller, Fiege planned the new logistics       locations in Germany (according to the             a regional conurbation with above-average          services that can be offered and used
  property, obtained the necessary authorisa-       Fraunhofer logistics matrix). The Ibbenbüren       potential for growth is highly attractive for      as a fully digital service, but also those
  tions, devised a fire safety concept and is       site, once completed, with its approximately       logistics. The construction project started in     where the initiation and later use of
  now masterminding the smooth cooperation          120,000 square metres of logistics space,          August 2020 and is scheduled for comple-           the logistical service will benefit from
  of the various trades.                            will be one of Fiege’s five largest locations.     tion by summer 2021.                               excellent digital assistance. It’s all
[ 20 Report ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                [ Report 21 ]

 Easy marketplace
 integration for tomorrow’s
 eCommerce
 Fiege and heyconnect offer innovative full-service package
                                                                                                                                            Fast and reliable logistics are decisive criteria for many marketplace vendors when it comes to rating sellers. Fulfilment must satisfy the end
                                                                                                                                            customers.

                                                                                                around major online marketplaces            plains. Moreover, errors and prob-                to further expand our marketplace                 Moreover, the two companies wanted
                                                                                                such as Amazon or OTTO”, he says.           lems such as with shipping or returns             strategy”, is how Röbig explains this             to merge their existing eCommerce
                                                                                                                                            management, can at times result in                decision.                                         services in order to kick-start a joint
                                                                                                      Easy access to                        accounts being frozen. Businesses                 The MegaCenter in Apfelstädt near                 offer: “By co-operating with heycon-
                                                                                                   eCommerce platforms                      can bypass this stress factor by work-            Erfurt is currently being added on.               nect, Fiege can step forward even
                                                                                                                                            ing with heyconnect.                                                                                more visibly as an innovative partner
                                                                                                heyconnect has therefore specialised        Today, the portfolio comprises more                    Fiege enhances                               within eCommerce fulfilment in the
                                                                                                in this business model. Everything          than 30 leading marketplaces where                  eCommerce fulfilment                            future. We ask our portfolio clients to
                                                                                                started in 2012. Back then, Florian         heyconnect oversees the complete                                                                    join us on our marketplace journey”,
                                                                                                                                                                                                       profile
                                                                                                Curdt and Marcel Brindöpke founded          platform management for over 160                                                                    Röbig is delighted to say.
                                                                                                the innovative enterprise. The eCom-        brands. “Most of our clients provide              Use of Fiege’s infrastructure is a cru-           And even heyconnect’s portfolio is
                                                                                                merce experts had been involved in          only the merchandise and product                  cial element of the partnership. “This            to grow following the co-operation:
                                                                                                the development of OTTO’s platform          information. Everything else – from               makes us considerably more scalable               “Fiege’s individual business units can
                                                                                                since mid-2000 and while doing so,          integration and product monitoring                in the future in terms of fulfilment              draw on highly specific sector know-
                                                                                                understood the significant potential        to warehousing to market-compliant                and allows us to offer an even bet-               how. We can make this accessible to
                                                                                                this marketplace model had to offer.        shipping – we handle”, Röbig says.                ter service to our clients”, Röbig says.          develop additional business segments
                                                                                                At the same time, they spotted a ma-        This includes next to creating cus-               Additional Fiege warehouses are to be             and platforms with heyconnect”, the
                                                                                                jor obstacle: Placing products on these     tomised delivery notes or return la-              added on gradually.                               managing director explains. lwi
                                                                                                platforms looked a lot easier than it       bels also a review of the invoices. If
                                                                                                actually is, which turned out to be         needed, the Hamburg-natives even
                                                                                                problematic for many brands. This           generate content. “In an ideal sce-
                                                                                                launched the idea for heyconnect:           nario, this allows us to send new
                                                                                                marketplace integration for fashion         clients onto their first marketplace

                                                                                                                                                                                                       ECOMMERCE
                                                                                                labels. With their know-how and             within somewhere between four to
                                                                                                their capable networks, selling this        six weeks”, the managing director
                                                                                                idea to their first clients was a no-       adds.
 Sales via online channels are growing for many companies, especially in the fashion segment.
 Marketplace offers are also growing. Retailers need to be omnipresent for their customers.
                                                                                                brainer.
                                                                                                                                                  Fiege supports
                                                                                                                                                                                                       FULFILMENT AS A PLUG
                                                                                                heyconnect does all the                         eCommerce start-up                                     & PLAY SOLUTION
                                                                                                   work for retailers

 O
              nline offers were mush-            using online marketplaces as addi-                                                         However, the fast-growing order vol-
              rooming long before the            tional sales channels.                         operating in eCommerce                      ume also came with issues for hey-                        eCommerce operations are growing in almost all sectors. For all
              Covid crisis hit. Especially       And no one knows this better than                                                          connect. After all, with each new                         those starting out online or wanting to develop their business,
              smaller retailers are faced        Tobias Röbig. He is Fiege’s Head of            The idea worked so well that ad-            brand and each added platform, the                        Fiege now offers standardised services that exceed logistical
 with unrelenting competition while              Marketplace and Omnichannel Re-                ditional platforms like Zalando and         logistical challenges grew proportion-                    handling alone. Individual modules from eCommerce fulfilment
 sales opportunities are on the decline.         tail and has also been the managing            AboutYou became the focus. How-             ately. At the beginning of this year,                     can be booked without incurring set-up costs or long contract
 To generate customer contacts despite           director of the Hamburg-based start-           ever, they had to acquire specific ex-      the start-up therefore sought profes-                     terms. “The booked services are to support our clients directly
 the oversupply of offers, sellers need          up, heyconnect GmbH since Febru-               pertise first: “Each marketplace has        sional help. It found what it was look-                   with their eCommerce business following a plug & play approach
 to target major e-tailing hubs where            ary 2020. “There is a very clear trend         its own access criteria and requires        ing for in Greven: “Fiege is known for                    – fast and easy”, says Julius Wegmann, Head of Omnichannel
 many prospective buyers are teem-               towards a digital platform economy.            different mandatory information             supporting young enterprises that                         Development at Fiege.
 ing to create around-the-clock traffic.         Businesses wishing to succeed with             such as size, colour, or fit. So it’s not   have innovative ideas. In heyconnect,
 More and more brands are therefore              their eCommerce sales have no way              easy to keep track”, the expert ex-         we have found just the right partner
[ 22 Interview ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                [ Interview 23 ]

                         Does this come

         larger                     in a

       Growing pains at the
      fashion giant Zalando
          in Italy: Contract &
         Human Resources
       Operations Manager,
        Federico Patti in an
                                 size?
                                 S
        interview with Logo                ince the end of 2015, Fiege    from the new fulfilment centre.
                                           Italy has been overseeing      Since then, the new facility has been
        editor, Lea Schmidt                online fashion e-tailer Za-    growing continually – both in terms           Fiege works for Zalando in         Why was it necessary to move the ware-      What are the benefits of the new loca-
                                                                                                                        Nogarole Rocca near Verona
       talks about the need                lando’s complete fulfilment.   of order volume, as well as head-             from a 130,000 square              house from Stradella to Nogarole Rocca?     tion?
                                 Domestic customers, but also cus-        count. Federico Patti, HR Manager             metres-large logistics area.       Ultimately, it was a strategic decision     The logistics centre in Nogarole Rocca
           to grow alongside     tomers in other southern European        at Fiege Italy, gives a first résumé in                                          by the client. Even though the logis-       has a larger storage capacity with 20
                the customer.    markets, especially southern France,     an interview.                                                                    tics centre in Stradella performed really   million loading units and is highly
                                 Spain, Austria, and Switzerland,                                                                                          well over the past five years, it would     automated. For example, we recently
                                 have all been supplied from Stradel-     Federico, the new logistics centre in Noga-                                      have outlived its capacity very soon in     installed a new pouch sorter which in
                                 la in the north of Italy. However, at    role Rocca has been up and running since                                         light of the anticipated handling vol-      part handles some of the picking and
                                 some point, the facility had reached     the beginning of the year. How did you ex-                                       umes and in the absence of automation.      stowing away of items. We can dis-
                                 its physical capacities so that Fiege    perience the first months?                                                                                                   patch around 140,000 parcels a day
                                 Italy lay the cornerstone in Nogarole    We are extremely satisfied with the                                              How do you rate growth and the potential    – twice as much as before.
                                 Rocca near Verona in June 2018 for       start of business operations. Our per-                                           of Italian eCommerce?
                                 a new logistics centre: a distribution   sonnel department was operating at                                               The Italian online market is currently      The facility also features large social rooms
                                 zone measuring 130,000 square me-        full speed. And even during the ini-                                             growing very strongly. Considering          and sports areas, such as lounges and
                                 tres was to be built there for the on-   tial peak of the Covid-19 pandemic,           Zalando as Europe’s leading        the situation here and after the out-       a basketball court. What does the team
                                 line e-tailer over the following one     we employed around 120 people per             online platform for fashion and    break of the coronavirus, the months        make of this?
                                 and a half years. By the end of Janu-    week. We started out with 70 col-             lifestyle continues to grow. The   of quarantine and lockdown as well          The logistics centre looks fantastic
                                                                                                                        markets in southern Europe are
                                 ary 2020, the time had finally come      leagues, and have reached a head-             served from the logistics centre   as the resulting difficulties for brick-    and our employees are proud to be
                                 and the first jacket was shipped         count of 1,500 by now.                        in Italy.                          and-mortar retailers, this trend will       working in such a modern environ-
                                                                                                                                                           continue in the months to come. Ma-         ment. Especially colleagues who
                                                                                                                                                           jor fashion retailers like Zara or H&M      switched from Stradella to the new
                                                                                                                                                           are currently closing around 60 per         location give us positive feedback.
                                                                                                                                                           cent of their shops in Italy.               88 colleagues in total joined us at the
                                                                                                                                                                                                       location in Nogarole Rocca which is
                                                                                                                                                           Are there differences between the German    around two hours from Stradella.
                                                                                                                                                           and the Italian online market?
                                                                                                                                                           Compared to Italy, the share of             What will happen to the location in
                                                                                                                                                           eCommerce is almost twice as high           Stradella?
                                                                                                                                                           in Germany. With a view to Zalando’s        We continue to work from Stradella
                                                                                                                                                           business, but also generally speaking,      for Zalando, which is good news,
                                                                                                                                                           the return rate of the German market        even if the headcount working there
                                                                                                                                                           is more than twice as high compared         is lower than before. We always main-
                                                                                                                                                           to that for Italy. The reason for this      tained information transparency with
                                                                                                                                                           is the different buying culture. While      our employees about our future plans
                                                                                                                                                           German shoppers order multiple sizes        and we are pleased to have found a
                                                                                                                                                           of the same product to try on, Italians     solution together with our client, Za-
                                                                                                                                                           are much more likely to order only          lando that allows us to continue oper-
                                                                                                                                                           what in the end they will also buy.         ating the facility.
[ 24 Interview ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [ Interview 25 ]

               Company Building:                                                                                                 Based on this, Fiege decided to create
                                                                                                                                 and build a completely new segment
                                                                                                                                 together, namely a vertical for Com-
                                                                                                                                                                               any logistics experts that have seri-
                                                                                                                                                                               ously dedicated time to the topic of
                                                                                                                                                                               digitalisation. In conclusion there are
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           tion. That is neither sustainable, nor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           reasonable, nor an experience worth
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           remembering for the customer. We

           Supporting incorporators                                                                                              pany Building within logistics.
                                                                                                                                 I am a thoroughbred founder myself
                                                                                                                                 and always asked myself the ques-
                                                                                                                                                                               still many aspects that have not been
                                                                                                                                                                               solved digitally. One example: the
                                                                                                                                                                               customer journey of the big online
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           tap into those very points and use the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           competitive lead that Fiege’s logistics
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           infrastructure gives us.

                  that aim to make                                                                                               tion: Why do we not also tap all the
                                                                                                                                 assets that Germany’s mid-sized econ-
                                                                                                                                 omy has to offer for start-ups? How
                                                                                                                                                                               shops nowadays, all the way to the
                                                                                                                                                                               payment, is tiptop. But that’s where
                                                                                                                                                                               the journey ends. The process then
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Speaking of innovation: When do you con-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           sider an idea to be innovative?

              logistics more digital                                                                                             to leverage the synergies from both
                                                                                                                                 worlds through sensible connections?
                                                                                                                                 At Fiege, we have been tackling this
                                                                                                                                 for one year now. And successfully
                                                                                                                                                                               transfers to a logistics provider which
                                                                                                                                                                               at some point delivers the merchan-
                                                                                                                                                                               dise, usually at a time when the re-
                                                                                                                                                                               cipient is not at home. So they simply
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Friese: For us, innovation starts were
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           processes are effectively re-thought
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           which consequently creates a sig-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           nificantly better result. That can be
        Supplying digital experts with logistical know-how in order to develop new,                                              so, because in the meantime we are            take the package with them again and        a lower price, a bigger margin, im-
                                                                                                                                 growing strongly – both in terms of           hand it – as they like to in Berlin – one   proved customer experience or a plus
       successful business models together – that is the goal of XPRESS Ventures.                                                business and personnel.                       kilometre down the road to the local        in terms of sustainability. Innovation
         In an interview with Logo editor Jens Könning, Matthias Friese – himself a                                                                                            newsagent, where it waits for collec-       should not be an end in itself.
                                                                                                                                 There are quite simply not many fam-
       thoroughbred incorporator – explains why Fiege has committed to this field.                                               ily businesses that do Company Building.
                                                                                                                                 Does this not more likely call for the um-
                                                                                                                                 brella of a corporate group?
                                                                                                                                 Friese: No, I believe that the culture
                                                                                                                                 and the structures inherent in a cor-
                                                                                                                                 porate group are more of an obstacle

                                       A
                                                     s an enterprise which          tal, and logistical know-how. And we         because they slow things down and
                                                     sees itself in the role of     establish contact with venture capi-         thwart decision-making. Fiege, on
                                                     an innovation leader in        talists that guarantee financing. Our        the other hand, has extremely short
                                                     the logistics industry,        strategy does not focus on maintain-         decision-making channels. That al-
                                       Fiege has always shown to be open to         ing a majority. We help the company          lows us to respond fast, which is a
                                       new ideas. The most recent example           to grow up and establish itself in the       major advantage. Just how fast we
                                       of this is the family business’ com-         market, only to sell our shares then at      can build and implement something
                                       mitment for what is still a relatively       a profit. That is the concept.               more often than not decides the suc-
                                       young business segment in Germany                                                         cess or failure in this business.

                                                                                                                                                                                      ANNOUNCEMENT
                                       – at least for mid-sized companies –,        How does this specifically work?
                                       i.e. Company Building, which has             Friese: Basically, it’s all about bringing   What are the expectations in relation to
                                       evolved these past years from the            the right people together, so-called         your work?
                                       ecosystem of start-ups. What is new
                                       for Fiege in this regard is that logis-
                                                                                    complementing teams comprised of
                                                                                    digital experts who know what digi-
                                                                                                                                 Friese: I believe that it is the central
                                                                                                                                 goal, next to our core segment, con-
                                                                                                                                                                                      INNOVATION CHALLENGE
                                       tics, in this case, come second only.        tal products and projects should look        tract logistics, and the real estate busi-
                                       We spoke with Matthias Friese, Head          like, as well as logistics experts who       ness, to set up a further mainstay. We
                                       of Company Building, via Teams in            know how processes work and inter-           aim to create a new business segment
                                       Berlin, home to Germany’s start-up           relate in practice. The trick is to merge    via Corporate Venturing, together                   For the fourth time now Fiege will be seeking exciting and new
    PARTICULARS                        scene.                                       these competencies as such that the          with our colleagues from F-Log Ven-                 ideas for business models centring on logistics and neighbouring
                                                                                    result is a solid company.                   tures. That our work positively im-                 markets next year. All Fiege employees and interested students
    Matthias Friese                    Company Building does not necessarily                                                     pacts Fiege’s innovative strength is                are invited to participate. The first round of applications ended
    Head of Company Building           mean a lot to most people. What exactly do   Around a year ago, you took over the         naturally a highly welcome effect.                  on 13 December 2020, the next round is set to start in Febru-
    Managing Partner XPRESS Ventures   you and your team do?                        responsibility for Fiege’s new Company                                                           ary 2021. Innovation coaches at the individual locations assist
                                       Friese: Roughly speaking, we look for        Building division. How did this come         Your main focus is on new solutions for             with the preparation of the application. The best ideas will be
                                       start-up teams that primarily develop        about?                                       logistics. How do you rate the potential in         presented in summer 2021 during a pitch to a jury of experts and
                                       innovative solutions for logistics. We       Friese: Fiege had been dealing inten-        this segment that could be leveraged with           an audience. The winners can expect attractive starting funds to
                                       thoroughly analyse concepts that             sively with this matter for quite some       help from digital solutions?                        advance their ideas, and active mentoring from XPRESS Ventures
                                       seem interesting to us and rate their        time and realised that you need to           Friese: I think that we are still in the            for the incorporation of a joint enterprise, all the way to a round of
                                       chances of success. In the best case         think things differently today com-          very early stages of that journey. Just             potential funding. More information on how to apply is available
                                       scenario, the process results in the in-     pared to how especially family busi-         like there are few software special-                at ic.fiege.com or at xpress.ventures.
                                       corporation of a joint enterprise. For       nesses may have in the past, to be           ists that deal specifically with sup-
                                       this, we contribute the business, digi-      successful in the market of tomorrow.        ply chain flows, there are still barely
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