Case Study: DHL DHL Helps Clients Transform Their Business by Putting Data to Work in New Ways

Case study: DHL DHL helps clients transform their business by putting data to work in new ways

In the app economy, speed and data-driven decision- making can make all the difference

Data is everywhere in the software-driven enterprise. The challenge is to harness its power without being overwhelmed by the complexity and scale of the job. For DHL Supply Chain, helping customers harness data is a core business imperative. That might mean analyzing client data for useful feedback on process improvements, or distributing data down to levels of the organization that have not had access to it before.

In many cases, creating value depends on making meaning from data via analytics. In one instance, DHL reconfigured the supply chain of a consumer electronics company “The sweet spot is if we by segmenting the firm’s sales information into smaller and smaller sections based can change our client’s on categories of devices. “By cutting and slicing the data, we were able to work out a much more efficient way of configuring their supply chain. Once we got the data business and in so doing very granular, we could pick up the pattern that some items have a certain profile of behavior. So, we were able to use that data more intelligently,” says Damian Pike, change our own DHL’s vice president of innovation.

business. Then, A division of the Bonn, Germany-based Deutsche Post DHL Group, which had $64 everybody comes out in billion in annual revenue last year, DHL Supply Chain gleans wisdom from many sources. Take, for example, data that comes through clients’ social media feeds. a new space.” DHL scrutinizes comments to understand how customers are experiencing the supply chain. It then turns that data into a source of continuous improvement for Damian Pike, vice president of the client, which can refine processes through a series of test campaigns. “That is the sort of activity you would not have imagined happening five years ago in supply innovation, DHL Supply Chain chain, but is very much the situation right now,” Mr. Pike says.

The app economy is focused on speed, so DHL needs to help clients move quickly. The company has developed a hand-held device that allows commercial-vehicle drivers to view a range of important information from their own companies, such as regulatory requirements, workload information, routine scheduling, and health and safety rules. “Data plus mobility,” says Mr. Pike, “adds up to efficiency.”

Sometimes understanding the data in a new way can solve a problem that once seemed intractable. When a major airline could not figure out which refreshments on its planes were being consumed and which were staying in the flight locker trip after trip, DHL crunched the numbers and provided a dynamic, real-time data set. That allowed the airline to determine the drinks that should—and should not—be loaded on every plane. The result: planes carrying less weight, burning less fuel, and providing an improved customer experience. “It’s always great when you can make everybody happy—fast,” Mr. Pike says.

But the road to such changes is not always smooth. DHL finds that while it typically has significant buy-in from senior management to innovate and transform around data analytics, there is still an enormous cultural challenge. The issues involved are changing behavior and dealing with cultural inertia, neither of which is an easy task, he says. Case study: DHL DHL helps clients transform their business by putting data to work in new ways

Looking to the future, DHL has its eye on using video data analytics to improve operations and drive quality. Although it is still in the early stages of development, the company is confident video data will one day have a big impact on supply chain management. Says Mr. Pike: “The sweet spot is if we can change our client’s business and in so doing change our own business. Then, everybody comes out in a new space. That is where we want to get to.”

About the research

This case study is based on an April 2015 interview with Damian Pike, vice president for innovation at DHL Supply Chain. For more information about this research, read the full report, “The Battle for Competitive Advantage in the App Economy.” About CA Technologies

CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) creates software that fuels transformation for companies and enables them to seize the opportunities of the application economy. Software is at the heart of every business in every industry. From planning to development to management and security, CA is working with companies worldwide to change the way we live, transact, and communicate—across mobile, private, and public cloud, distributed and mainframe environments. Learn more at ca.com. About Oxford Economics

Oxford Economics is a global leader in thought leadership, forecasting, and quantitative analysis, serving more than 850 international corporations, financial institutions, governmental organizations, and universities worldwide. Founded in 1981 as a joint venture with Oxford University, Oxford Economics is now a leading independent economic consultancy. Headquartered in Oxford, with offices around the world, it employs more than 200 people, including over 120 economists, and a network of 500 contributing researchers. Learn more at oxfordeconomics.com.