24plus takes central hub operation into own hands

10/14/2011: 24plus assumes business of insolvent Hub24 GmbH and converts it into the new 24plus Hub-Logistics GmbH & Co. KG / Peter Baumann and Steffen Renner become managing director / All 83 jobs in central hub handling are retained

Hauneck, 10/14/2011 On October 1, 2011, the 24plus Systemverkehre Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH bought the assets of the former central hub operating company Hub24 GmbH out of insolvency and integrated it into the new 24plus Hub-Logistics GmbH & Co. KG. Furthermore, the 24plus Hub-Logistics GmbH & Co. KG retained all 83 employees of the former hub operator. Managing directors of the new hub operating company are Peter Baumann (53), who also remains managing director of 24plus, and Steffen Renner (45), who had hitherto been hub coordinator at 24plus in a leading position. On the one hand, 24plus is discarding the former outsourcing model for the central hub operation. On the other, 24plus is ending the state of uncertainty caused by the hub operator’s insolvency.

The Hub24 GmbH had been active in the 24plus central hub Hauneck solely as hub operating company and slid into insolvency in 2008. The reason for the hub operating company’s insolvency was the insolvency of the parent company konzept Logistik AG and the subsequent fallout of the entire konzept Logistik group. The reasons for the insolvency were problems at other locations.

Backstory: Hub operation as outsourcing model
Since the start of LCL traffics in 1996, 24plus has been using a two-stage net of direct and hub traffics. From the beginning, 24plus did not operate the central hub itself, but transferred the handling to a service provider. "The outsourcing model fit our philosophy for a long time", explains Peter Baumann, head of 24plus. "We transferred the special tasks in handling to a third party and only manned the control station with our own employees." This worked out to converting fixed costs into variable costs. Furthermore, 24plus was able to hand over the personnel management of the employees to the operator and focus on strategic tasks. The handling quality was fixed contractually and controlled.

As the years went by, however, the outsourcing model reached its limits. Because of the intensive embedding of hub processes into the IT structure, changes in the hub processes were necessary. However, these changes were not entirely realisable within the structure of a hub operator in the midst of insolvency proceedings. Peter Baumann: "Our central hub operation is tightly clocked and has to evolve constantly in order to perform optimally. Within the realm of his possibilities, the insolvency administrator was willing to support changes. The employees were motivated as well. In the long run, however, the insolvency of the company was not a bearable state of affairs."

Opportunity for improvements
"Since the insolvency of the hub operator in 2008, we have checked the operative and administrative processes in handling thoroughly", reports Steffen Renner. "We had to leave ourselves all possibilities in case the operation could not continue. In this process we found that with a hub operation in our own hands we can optimise the performance of handling processes through changes in the organization and detail improvements. Furthermore, we wanted to give the employees of the hub operation a secure outlook. Many of them have been on board since the start of the central hub’s operation in Hauneck in 2000."

24plus had to see how the insolvency proceedings of the konzept Logistik group would turn out before finally assuming the hub operator. In the meantime, 24plus has implemented hitherto hidden synergies between control station and handling by means of a financial control system. In staff employment, the hub operation can now react even more flexibly to fluctuating incoming amounts and the traffic situation towards the central hub.
Furthermore, through the owned and operated hub operation it is now possible to further scale the central hub. For this purpose, a demand-oriented training and further training concept for the employees in nightly hub handling was developed. The further training measures and other investments in forklifts and handling technology can now be ordered and applied directly by the company. Additionally, in preparation to the takeover of the hub operation, 24plus has expanded the electronic hub management system, which had hitherto been used only by the control station, so that now handling processes in the hall can now be initiated, coordinated, and supervised.

Background: the 24plus traffic net
24plus maintains a two-stage traffic net consisting of direct and hub traffics. Roughly 80 per cent of the tonnage (2010: 1.65 million tonnes) at 24plus runs with main legs between the depots via direct traffics. About 200,000 tonnes per year are handled by the central hub in Hauneck. This comes to 800 tonnes per working day, spread out over 4,800 packages. All 64 partners service the central hub on a daily basis, some of them with multiple trailers. The remaining tonnage is routed through the two regional hubs in Northern Germany (operator is the 24plus partner Ritter Logistik from Langenhagen) and Southern Germany (operator is the 24plus partner Kunzendorf forwarding in Ludwigsburg).

Background: the 24plus central hub in numbers

• Erected in 1999, start of operation on January 2, 2000, expanded in 2008
• Conveniently placed at the traffic heart of Germany with autobahn connections in all four directions
• Optimal connection to the autobahn A4 (500 metres to junction Bad Hersfeld)
• 60,000 square metres of plot area
• 5,200 square metres of handling area
• 104 gates
• 64 nightly serviced links every day
• Modern handling technology (underground conveyor belt with three circles)
• Handling capacity of 250 tonnes per hour
• On average 800 tonnes of LCL handling per night, spread out over 4,800 packages
• Video surveillance and transponder controlled entry control
• Total staff of 92, on average 60 employees in handling
• Compliance check of all shipments

The expansion of the hub in 2008 took three months and increased the handling area from 3,850 to 5,200 square metres. Handling capacity rose from 180 to 250 tonnes per hour, the number of gates from 75 to 104. The new gates were the prerequisite for admitting further system partners. Complementary to the expansion, the hub control station was equipped with a newly developed disposition software, which as of now is also being used in the hall. The hub, which in its previous stage could stem about 750 tonnes of LCL per night, has been in a position to handle peaks of over 1,000 tonnes since the expansion.

Peter Baumann, managing director of 24plus and
managing director of 24plus Hub-Logistics GmbH & Co. KG
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Steffen Renner, managing director
of 24plus Hub-Logistics GmbH & Co. KG
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Enquiries 24plus logistics network:
24plus Systemverkehre GmbH & Co KG
Peter Baumann
Blaue Liede 12
36282 Hauneck-Unterhaun
Phone: +00496621/9208-0
Fax: +00496621/9208-19
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Web: www.24plus.de