Milestones for integrated logistics network from Heidelberg

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is celebrating a major milestone. Its World Logistics Center (WLC) opened at the company’s headquarters in Wiesloch-Walldorf some 15 years ago which laid the foundation for a globally integrated logistics network aiming to supply customers with service parts and consumables in no more than 24 hours. In addition to the original center in Germany, Heidelberg therefore now operates a further three logistics centers in the strategically important markets of Japan, Hong Kong/China, and the United States. “The service promise of our integrated logistics network supports the performance of our customers across the globe, ensuring high machine uptime and reliable quality,” says Bernhard Steinel, who is in charge of the Systemservice business area at Heidelberg.

The company has also reached a further milestone as the one millionth order has just left the Heidelberg hub in Indianapolis in the United States, which opened in 2004 and supplies service parts to the whole of North and South America. Over the past 15 years, the logistics centers have processed a joint total of nearly five million orders and shipped them to customers the world over. The global logistics network boosts the impact of the preventive services in the Heidelberg portfolio. For example, when the preventive Remote Service functions eCall and Remote Monitoring detect that parts need to be replaced – long before a machine stoppage occurs – the worldwide logistics network ensures that the correct service part has been delivered by the time the engineer arrives. Over 200 qualified support staff use state-of-the-art technology to process orders, purchases, and shipments. Heidelberg currently processes up to 1,500 orders each working day at its logistics centers around the globe. Customers receive the parts they order within 24 hours in over 95 percent of cases. At the WLC in Germany alone, Heidelberg keeps around 120,000 different parts in stock.