Deutz Wins 2012 eLogistics Award

DEUTZ AG and its service provider Axit received the 2012 eLogistics Award at the annual conference of the AKJ Automotive working group in Saarbrücken. They won the award for their new logistics concept, which accelerates supply processes and avoids supply bottlenecks in DEUTZ's manufacturing plants by creating the greatest possible transparency. The eLogistics Award is presented in recognition of innovative concepts and solutions for logistics and production management in the automotive industry. A panel of renowned experts from the industry and academia selected the winners.

Engine manufacturer DEUTZ has optimized key elements of its logistics concept in order to boost its global competitiveness. Based on cloud technology, the DEUTZ logistics platform enables more than 260 suppliers and various freight forwarders worldwide to synchronize their logistics processes in real time. Every partner in the supply chain can simultaneously access information that is essential to ensuring the seamless supply of products. If there are any delays in the supply process, the system sends out automated email notifications, enabling action to be taken promptly. As all processes run on the platform electronically, manual data entry and processing has been eliminated – a step that was sometimes duplicated. The benefits include the automatic generation of barcode labels, which means that a single container label can be used throughout the supply chain, from the supplier to the assembly line.

As a result, the company's goods inward department has increased the number of pallets handled per day by 40% to 1,400 within two years.

"The standardization of processes has made our supply chain significantly faster, enabling us to save costs and react more flexibly to customer needs," says Wilfried Riemann, Senior Vice President of Global Operations Compact Engines at DEUTZ.