DHL Supply Chain, Deutsche Post DHL Group’s contract logistics specialist, has signed an expanded contract with Vodafone. For many years, DHL has been supplying network components and equipment for the expansion of Vodafone’s cable network. Such equipment includes cable reels, fiber optic cables and the telecom cabinets that can often be seen along streets. In addition to handling logistics for this equipment, DHL has set up a new and innovative webshop solution for Vodafone and its service partners to process orders for approximately two thousand Vodafone products.
DHL Trading Solutions, a business unit of DHL Supply Chain Germany & Alps, is working on the project as a 4PL provider. It coordinates and manages all processes in the end-to-end supply chain, including planning, implementation and oversight. Vodafone and its customers and business partners benefit from having DHL as their sole point of contact. Among other things, DHL has taken over the management of materials and suppliers from Vodafone. New orders are triggered whenever reorder points or warning levels are reached or Vodafone’s forecasts indicate that new inventory needs to be procured. This ensures that Vodafone’s technicians and external service partners receive the materials they need when and where they need them.
Based on Vodafone’s specifications and requirements, DHL has developed a customized, integrated webshop solution for order processing. Customers and business partners will also benefit from having a customer service unit operated by DHL to assist with any questions about webshop orders when needed; this unit is to be expanded and improved in cooperation with Vodafone in the months ahead.
“We’re very pleased to have set up this intuitive, innovative and customized webshop platform for Vodafone after a very short preparation and implementation period,” says Rainer Haag, Chief Executive Officer of DHL Supply Chain Germany & Alps. “It enables Vodafone’s technicians and external service partners to order at short notice the network components and equipment needed to expand its cable network.”
Ullrich Heid, Head of Network Logistics at Vodafone GmbH, is also pleased with the expanded contract. “With DHL Supply Chain, we have an experienced, expert partner of long standing who, in a short time, has shown us it can completely take over these extremely important and time-critical logistics processes and everything associated with them,” he says.
In this partnership, with assistance from an external partner DHL is also providing Vodafone with inventory financing for all products stored in the warehouse. To this end, DHL has taken over all of Vodafone’s inventory. That means DHL will now sell the required equipment to the construction companies so that Vodafone is ultimately invoiced only for the materials actually needed and sold. “Thanks to our expanded cooperation with DHL through the webshop platform and the associated services, we’ve been able to remove the inventory from our own business and have it efficiently pre-financed until customers order from the DHL webshop,” adds Heid.