Record revenues for Dhl Supply Chain

Customers spread across the various sectors of the economy, between FMCG and fashion, electronics and automotive, with a greater specific weight for the pharmaceutical area, in which the group has chosen to specialise. Activities managed through a network of more than 50 warehouses scattered throughout the country, almost one million square metres of space to meet customers' logistical needs.

'We are asked for quality, efficiency and flexibility,' explains Lombardo, 'and to achieve these goals the only way is to invest. For example in automation and collaborative robotics, in digitisation, in the incorporation of new traceability methods through advanced Rfid codes'.

Antonio Lombardo

Presidente e Ad di Dhl Supply Chain Italia

In 2024, investments in the green sector, 10 million to bring the largest sites to carbon neutrality, will be complemented by other technological interventions of 20 million. While other technological and organisational transformations are visible in the flow and peak forecasting structures, the main strategic challenge for the sector. Hence the decision to build a logistics network operating in clusters (defined as 'campuses'), working by districts and positioning sites at short distances.

"Geographical proximity has an important value," Lombardo clarifies, "and on the basis of the contractual agreements we have signed, it allows us to move part of the staff from one site to another, so as to better cope with seasonal peaks. Together with customers, a key part of our work is to forecast and anticipate demand, the first step to then set up flexibility policies. In short, this is our main field of competition, the terrain on which our competitiveness is played out'.

Decisive in this respect is belonging to a global, multinational group with over 600,000 employees and 84 billion in revenues, present in more than 200 countries with various divisions.

"In order to manage the complexities, we have included professional skills that were not present in the past, such as a team of engineers working on forecasting and planning algorithms. But our good fortune is that we are able to make use of tools that have been developed and tested by the group elsewhere: valuable know-how that allows us to speed up the implementation of processes a lot.

The path of growth in 2025 does not stop, with the start-up of a new 30,000 square metre warehouse in the Lodi area to complete the Borgo S. Giovanni campus, with the expectation of another 100 employees.