Pain Points | Startup Terminal

From push to pull

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Tracking

One of the logistics sector's common challenges is the tracking of goods. The global supply chain relies on a collaboration between different parties in a complex system (land transport, air and ocean freight). DB SCHENKER is involved in moving goods from A to B and specializes in contract logistics. The different business units all face the same challenges as we want to track down the goods and enhance the quality for our customers. Each business unit has different requirements, such as real-time tracking and other attributes. We are seeking for tracking solutions to enhance our whole global supply chain from tracking within our sites to cross-site/- region.

We are looking for solutions for various cases like in-site tracking of goods to tracking on cross business unit level. We prefer ready to go solutions but are also open to be your partner to test out your solutions.

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Digital trainings

At DB SCHENKER, one key factor for our success is to educate and thrive with our employees. Therefore we are looking for digital trainings solutions made for logistics. One of our current use cases is manual training: manual training and onboarding are time-consuming, inefficient, and quite outdated for our younger generation. Another one is to visualize our current processes in a digitalized format to onboard and train our colleagues.

We are looking for ready-to-go solutions which we can adapt and implement into our system.

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Geo positioning

To deliver goods by truck to the right destination in time, we need the exact drop-off location. Often customer addresses do not specify the location in an accurate way and different address formats cause bad data and manual effort.

We are looking for a solution to transfer addresses of different formats into exact geo positions.

Pain point methodology

The push approach occurs when startups are pushed into the organization, meaning the startup management team sees a clear technological advancement, identifies potential to save money or generate new revenue and then we engage with the business or functional units to identify clear use-cases where the solution can contribute value for the organization. By implementing new solutions, we can mitigate the innovator's dilemma, which occurs when established companies are too slow to adopt new technologies and remain competitive. Another benefit of the push approach is that it allows us to be first movers and gain a competitive advantage or even set the standard for others to follow and establish themselves as leaders in their field.
As startup collaborations mature and evolve, one way to create impact and find scalable startup solutions is by applying the pull approach: in the pull approach we conduct a thorough evaluation pain points in the business and functional units, to identify use cases where we can automate or digitize the value chain. Referring to our colleague Niklas Weishaupt “We always need to keep one foot on the shop floor” to truly understand the products and process. Once we have identified a clear use case and estimated the impact a potential solution can have in terms of a global business case - we (or our partners) conduct a scouting in the market for relevant startup solutions that address these specific pain points and do a benchmarking to assess the best options.

The pull approach allows us to prioritize our efforts and invest resources in areas that will have the greatest impact. When startups truly hit the nail on an identified pain point, it will be much easier for us to pilot, implement and scale the solution and have an united growth journey, as we also have the backing and commitment from our business and functional units.