Distance and size no obstacle - Transport on the border of the impossible

Short-traveled is a quality word and says something about locally produced food, ingredients, or products. If there is a large gap between a product and its market, many good forces are needed to ensure that the product reaches its market and the manufacturer's customers. That journey represents a significant value creation. It's a little extra fun to help build a bridge or transport a hospital to people in need. With an impressive career in logistics and a love for hot chocolate, Norwegian nature and experiences, Jan Kristian leads DB Schenker's special unit GPIS in Europe. 

DB Schenker has the power needed to ensure a good and sustainable flow of goods on a global level. The needs are very individual, and the range of products offered ranges from pure parcel transport to complicated assignments where you must move an entire factory or a large structure that is to be assembled out at sea or in an inaccessible area. 

The construction of Africa's largest solar park in Egypt/Aswan, with a total of 6,000,000 panels, was a prestigious assignment for DB Schenker where the transport of 6000 containers was part of the job, and everything was monitored 24/7 from the control tower in Cairo. The entire project provides electricity to 1 million households and reduces emissions by as much as 1.5 million tonnes of CO2.

DB Schenker's strength is a network of terminals and offices around the world. This is linked together by a fine-meshed network of cars and trains, combined with sea and air freight. Everything is set up in a fixed system that provides good predictability for customers. In order to be a "full service provider", a number of solutions are also offered, where each transport is tailored to special requirements and needs. Often because what is to be sent is large and weighs a lot, and cannot be transported in ordinary trucks or driven on ordinary roads.

Jan Kristian likes a challenge on everything that weighs a lot and is big

Jan Kristian Schønheyder heads the European division for special transport in DB Schenker (GPIS). It counts just over 400 employees who can serve all countries. He has been central in the development of GPIS in Norway. His career started in 1996 in Seaway Shipping. He was involved in building up MSC in Norway.  In 2006, the whole family moved to Hong Kong where the mission was to expand the Nordic market for Hellmann. 

In 2008, in the middle of the financial crisis, it was back home. This time as an employee of Kuehne+Nagel, where he stayed until 2012. The next step in his career was Aker Solutions as responsible for global logistics. Since 2016, he has been part of DB Schenker, where he now leads GPIS (Global Projects and Industry Solutions) in Europe.

Jan Kristian finds it fascinating to work with large and complicated transport assignments. Sometimes it is a process that takes several years before the assignment is to be carried out. Being part of building something big gives meaning and inspiration," he says.

For example, the transport of parts and modules related to the construction of infrastructure. It can be a bridge or a tunnel. In the energy sector, we also solve complicated assignments where the end result has great value socially and in terms of money and cents. It is allowed to be a little proud to have been involved in realizing such projects, Jan Kristian emphasizes.

One stop shop

GPIS is a special unit in DB Schenker that handles complex transports and large projects. They offer a "one stop shop" for customers who need a complete solution for their logistics needs.

Such projects are about working long-term and making sure to be experts in specific industries. Knowing the market and customers well is very important, and then we have to invest a lot of time to ensure good knowledge of the products and where they are going and what obstacles we encounter along the way.

Larger buildings or structures are assembled from large parts that are made in very different places in the world, and not least transported from there to give the end result. Such transports are tailored to each individual case and planned for a long time. These logistics can only be carried out by the best and most experienced logistics experts. Here we are talking about very large values in themselves, and often it is a matter of building something that will create great value in the long term. For Jan Kristian's part, it is a personal ambition that a large part of our projects will be in renewable electricity when he retires.  The new generation wants to work on projects that make us proud, for example in the energy sector and renewable energy.

Logistics and emergency preparedness

When disaster strikes, logistics must function as an important part of emergency preparedness. This applies at the national level as well as internationally. It doesn't help much to have hospitals and food in stock hundreds of miles from those who need it now.

Among the many projects that GPIS manages are the Norwegian Armed Forces' aid shipments. Jan Kristian talks about how they transported tents, medicines, and medical equipment to Greece during the refugee crisis and sent a portable hospital to Haiti after the earthquake. These are important projects we are working on, and it makes a higher sense to offer our expertise into such projects.