DHL 2004 Annual Report Download - page 25

Corporate Strategy
Strategic answers to logistics market trends
Deutsche Post World Net’s goal is to become the leading global logistics company. We made
good progress toward this in 2004 thanks to a range of strategic measures. On the one hand,
these relate to the trends toward globalization and market deregulation. On the other, we
are also meeting our customers’ demand for intelligent outsourcing* solutions and value
added services*, thus enabling them to concentrate fully on their core competencies. In
this way, we are unlocking additional earnings potential for ourselves and our customers.
Seizing the opportunities provided by liberalization
In our mail business, we are systematically leveraging the opportunities available to us
from increasing market liberalization. We therefore made acquisitions in the USA, the
UK, the Netherlands, France and Spain in 2004. In addition, we agreed cooperations with
major national companies in the USA, Japan and Mexico that are outlined in the section
on the MAIL Corporate Division on page 26. An overview of all significant acquisitions
is also provided in the Group Management Report beginning on page 63.
As a result, in October 2004 we began bundling our international mail services
outside Germany under a new umbrella brand: Deutsche Post Global Mail has become
DHL Global Mail as a consequence of our one-stop shopping* concept. This means that
we now offer global mail, express and logistics services from a single source. The diagram
on page 20 gives an overview of the Group’s brand architecture.
The gradual process of deregulation is not only apparent on the mail markets:
China – a market with enormous growth potential – has also increasingly opened up to
global trade in recent years. We are already in an excellent position here with licenses for
a total of 17 locations. This enables us not only to offer cross-border services, but also to
participate in the lucrative domestic logistics market. As we have our own branches in
China, we are able to guarantee the high quality of our services. From our new central air
transport hub at Hong Kong Airport, we can serve both China and the whole of Asia with
express and logistics services.
Driving forward the reinforcement of our networks
Our business needs strong networks. However, it is not sufficient to only serve the world’s
central hubs – since a local presence is a key factor for success. In the USA, the world’s
largest express market, we therefore took additional measures in the past year to strengthen
our operations. We urgently need to successfully complete the consolidation of the net-
works operated by DHL and Airborne Inc., to increase our capacities and ensure that
DHL develops positively in the long term. To achieve this, we have resolved additional
investments and other expenditures in the year under review; these measures are out-
lined in the Group Management Report on page 54.
To help our customers enter the markets of the future, we have increased our inter-
national reach in our express and logistics business. As part of their long-term strategic
alliance, DHL and Lufthansa Cargo started jointly operating five international routes in
March 2004. We are thus optimizing our global network, and customers benefit from more
frequent connections between the American, Asian and European regions. Our planned
European hub in Leipzig will allow us to substantially further increase the capacity of our
European network.
* These terms are explained in the Glossary
The Company
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