DHL 2008 Annual Report Download - page 83

Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2008
Our social responsibility  nds expression in several hundred regional and local
initiatives. Following natural disasters in Asia and South America, we transported and
distributed aid supplies. Our employees help to educate schoolchildren or join in beach
clean-up e orts. We also use Fair Trade products as giveaways and we sponsor school
and cultural projects in Bonn, the home of our corporate headquarters.
Education for Germany
We are planning to expand our involvement in education policy. As a founding
partner of Teach First Deutschland, an initiative originating from the  and the
, we aim to help children and young people to realise their academic potential and
strengthen their feeling of self-worth. As a basis for our future partnership, we made
an agreement in November . We see this as a contribution towards improving
equality of opportunity and quality in the German education system and as a means
of securing the next generation of professionals.
Procurement
Lower procurement volume
In , the Group centrally purchased goods and services with a total value of
 . billion (previous year:  . billion). Currency e ects – largely in relation to the
 dollar and pound sterling – reduced the purchasing volume as expressed in euros.
We also pooled volumes and as a result achieved better terms.  e individual units
generally continue to procure their own transport services, although Procurement has
a greater involvement than previously.
 e following examples show how we selectively pooled expenses and thereby
achieved better terms and conditions.  e acquisition of personal computers was put
out to tender globally. As a result, prices fell substantially and, at the same time, per-
formance improved. We entered into a   million European co-operation agree-
ment with Telefónica for telecommunications services outside Germany.  anks to
optimised telecommunications, we anticipate savings of more than   million over
the next  ve years.
We  tted some  warehouses in North America with more e cient lighting.
 is reduced electricity costs by more than    million and improved the lighting
and hence the working conditions.
Procurement capabilities expanded
Procurement is a centralised function in the Group.  e heads of Global Sourcing
and their sixteen product group managers work closely with regional procurement
managers and report to the head of Corporate Procurement.  is allows us to pool
our needs worldwide whilst satisfying the service and quality requirements of inter-
nal customers.
In , we began to reorganise Procurement’s regional structure. Strategic
procurement and operational order processing are increasingly carried out by regional
competence centres.
Procurement expenses, 2008
Volume: € 9.0 billion
A 9 % Air fl eet
B 14 % Ground fl eet
C 18 % IT and communication
D 9 % Network supplies
E 6 % Production systems
F 17 % Real estate
G 27 % Services
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Group Management Report
Non-fi nancial Performance Indicators
79