German highways show an increasingly frequent image: Large trucks transporting large machinery.

Approximately 40 percent of industrial machinery is accounted for rental or purchase of used machines.This daily routine in many industries is also reflected in the work at ANDRES.

An average of two and even sometimes up to five new customers per week are counted at Hanau’s logistics expertise.

Are you aware that ANDRES takes care of everything relevant: Planning and proper packaging to possible settlement of customs as well as insurance matters are included.

Sharing experiences from his own practice, Patrick Andres, head of Spedition Andres, gave a first-hand account of what it needs to bring “Lean” principles to life. To deliver his lecture, he had followed an invitation of the Logistics task force of the chamber of commerce IHK Hanau-Gelnhausen-Schlüchtern to visit the Hanau headquarter of his company.

In a nutshell, “Lean” means improving on quality while reducing cost at the same time. To achieve this, quite a number of related issues have to be addressed. First of all, the alignment of the company with customer expectations has to be focused clearly. Likewise, trust in the capabilities and the willingness of one’s employees is a must.

It starts with a commitment to transparency in all processes – whatever adds no value has to be omitted or at least reduced. An ongoing ‘flow’ of activities to the customer is both goal and benchmark. Surplus production, rejects, waiting times, deficiencies – all these pitfalls should be kept to zero. Transporting semi-finished goods over long distances and transporting material within a warehouse or between several warehouses have to be stopped systematically. Rather than by top-down order, the essential activities and tips should originate from the employees. Their ideas, their recommendations for improvements, their capabilities as well as their chances to learn from each other are most valuable.

‘Lean’ principles only apply if there is a clear focus on the customers’ needs. It is important to look after not only the end customer but everyone in the value chain. Every interaction can be defined as a buyer-seller relationship where mistakes should be the big exemption. Instead of spending a lot of time to find out who was responsible for the last mistake it is much better to realize that mistakes might help initiating any kind of new improvement.

Mistakes certainly happen, but in Spedition Andres, they now happen much less than some years before. Workshops helpedunderstand two items which finally became self-evident in daily work: (1) concentrating 100% on customer-orientation and (2) acknowledging that one improvement only is never enough. Alignment is an ongoing effort – ‘Kaizen’ in Japanese: The (ongoing) change for the better.

Especially in the case of air cargo it is essential to have complete proof of a “secure delivery chain” from the known sender to an agent regulated in the freight forwarding business to the delivery to the airline company or their trading partners.

After all, this is about the protection against attacks on civil aviation security.
For the supervision of a secure delivery chain the Federal Office of Civil Aeronautics certifies logistics companies according to EC (VO) 300/2008 und EC (VO) 185/2010.

Now it is also Andres’ turn. A corresponding security program will be completed until 23 March 2013. This will make the handling of export freight in the cargo area considerably easier and therefore more cost-effective for the customer. For the accreditation audit we will first apply for a qualification as an aviation security agent and also complete an air cargo security program. At the same time we will complete an individual training of 40 hours.

When you enter the workshop courtyard of logistics specialist Andres this summer, you notice two new “Linde” forklifts, a new assembly pit and a new petrol station with automatic tank-data recording and usage-reporting facility.

Together, they are all stepping stones in order to achieve high performance for our customers.

Andres also made sure to use any possibility “behind the scenes” to further improve its own potential.

This is all necessary as the logistics expert is not planning to suffer from the high petrol prices, which are likely to increase even further.

It is a fundamental law for every Andres-driver to drive economically and ecologically.

Andres further invests, next to 100% recycled tires with low rolling resistance and wind deflectors for an improved air resistance, into a software-based petrol minimization system.

This will lead to an improved amount of fuel injected:
When driving at constant speed, the fuel supply is getting reduced until a slight drop in speed takes place, which the driver won’t even notice.

This is when the threshold to minimal ECO-usage for the driving situation has been reached – and at the same time a saving of two to three liters per 100 kilometers has been achieved.

Certainly a bonus for our customers and the environment.