DHL 1998 Annual Report Download - page 8

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 8 of the 1998 DHL annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 93

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93

Letter Services – Communication with a future
In the year under review, the LETTER SERVICES division generated the
largest share of overall revenue. In December 1998, we wrapped up our
Letter 2000 Concept with the opening of the last of the eighty-three
letter mail centers – a year ahead of schedule. As a result, we have a solid
foundation on which to build in coming years, looking ahead to the
complete liberalization of Germany’s postal market scheduled to occur
in less than four years under the Postal Act. Our letter mail transmission
times are already setting standards in Europe: In 1998, some 95 per cent
of all letters were delivered to their addressees within just one day.
The demands placed on value-added services have shifted markedly
with the merging of economic areas throughout the world. Increasingly
complex tasks must be performed within ever shorter time frames.For this
reason, the provision of customer-oriented value-added services is be-
coming the key factor in forging lasting partnerships with customers.With
this in mind, we have once again greatly expanded and internationalized
the range of value-added letter mail service products that constitute our
core postal business. We offer customers innovative, customer-oriented
package solutions with ePost and with the products of our subsidiaries
Deutsche Post Adress, Deutsche Post Direkt and GMS Deutsche Post
Logistik.
Parcel Services/Express/Logistics – One-stop package solutions
After reversing the downward trend in 1997, we were able to achieve a marked
increase in sales and revenue in the PARCEL SERVICES / EXPRESS / LOGIS-
TICS division. We halved our deficit according to plan. As a result, we will
be posting a profit in the year 2000 despite our Universal Service costs. We
also shortened parcel transmission times noticeably in 1998:Domestic parcels
sent via Deutsche Post are currently en route an average of only 1.1 days.
Companies are responding to ever shorter production cycles with in-
creasingly time-sensitive distribution and warehousing strategies. The
demand for especially rapid and flexible transport services has increased
enormously, particularly in the business-to-business sector. We are
responding to these customer requirements through our subsidiary
Deutsche Post Express which, for example, launched not only next-day
but also same-day delivery in early 1998.
Foreword by the Chairman of the Board of Management
4