DHL Partners EcoBank, Serves HSE24 Warehouse Till 2013

DHL, a world renowned courier company has signed a partnership agreement with Ecobank to handle international logistics processes for the bank.


The contractual agreement was signed few weeks after a Munich-based multi-channel mail-order company, Home Shopping Europe (HSE24), chose to continue partnering with DHL for its logistics needs.


Eddy Ogbogu, the Ecobank group executive, Operations and Technology said that the DHL-Ecobank deal, it is expected to improve the bank’s international logistics processes, thus increasing its operations efficiency and providing their customers with better service.


He added that DHL’s global footprint is well positioned to support Ecobank’s continuing expansion and is likely to provide the organisation with a competitive advantage as it expands its presence into new markets.


“It is important for us to ensure world class service delivery to our customers through strategic partnerships. For that reason, we decided to partner with DHL to cover Ecobank’s geographical spread in 35 countries across Africa and beyond, and take advantage of the value added services provided by DHL.


“This agreement shall enhance our cost efficiency, while maintaining service delivery of a global standard,” Ogbogu, stated.


Mr. Charles Brower, the managing director of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, commenting on the agreement said, “The financial services industry and specifically retail banking is hugely important in Africa.


“Ecobank was one of the first banking providers actually managed by the African private sector rather than by foreign investors – it’s important to continue to grow the continent’s own capabilities and, through our partnership, we hope to help Ecobank deliver on this.”


Similarly, has chosen to continue partnering with DHL for its logistics needs. According to the deal, DHL will again become HSE24's sole logistics partner in mid-2013 and will also take over providing warehousing for products that were outsourced to a competitor in 2010.


DHL is also planning to expand its existing logistics center in Greven by October 2013. The gesture is to create a central warehouse from which the entire goods management and logistics chains will be operated with shipments being fed directly into the adjacent DHL parcel center via a conveyer bridge.


Katja Herbst, management board member of DHL Parcel Germany, expressed that the space, which currently includes 23,000 sq. meters of warehouse space and handling areas as well as a high-bay pallet racking system for 16,000 pallets, will more than double in size after the renovation and expansion work. Once construction is complete, the Greven location will be able to process about 84,000 orders a day and will include space to store more than 250,000 garments on hangers.


"We appreciate the confidence that HSE24 has placed in us. The combination of the expansion of the logistics center in Greven, and the direct access to the already-modernized parcel center, places in a position to offer an integrated solution that is ideally suited for the particular requirements of the teleshopping business as well as for HSE24's growth strategy," she noted.


Among the requirements listed by the Munich-based company for awarding the contract was the fastest possible delivery of the goods ordered, flexible handling of a product assortment that rotates often and quickly, and a suitable solution for a wide range of products that spans a number of categories and which require a specific type of warehouse as well as diverse handling processes.


Koen Verbrugge, the head of service & operations at HSE24 affirmed that in addition to a warehouse for garments on hangers-complete with garment finishers-the Greven location also has to provide more pallet storage capacity and a secure area for valuable goods such as jewelry. The large range of products as well as the combinations of products that appear in individual orders also necessitates a complex system of supply, picking and packing logistics.


"Our priority is delivering to our customers quickly and dependably. It requires efficient order processing as well as provisions for the specific needs of our type of business. DHL's logistics concept combines the best of automated and manual logistics processes to create the ideal solution," Verbrugge said.


Earlier in the year, DHL Parcel Germany, the leading logistics partner for e-commerce and mail-order businesses also consolidated all of its "home delivery" services under one roof. The new system allows customers to obtain fulfillment services such as procurement, quality control, warehousing, picking and packing, and then includes shipment delivery and returns management services, all under one roof.