Supply Chain division

Supply chain solutions for strategic industry sectors

Our core business in the Supply Chain division includes warehousing, transport, and value-added services for all strategic industry sectors. These services are designed to reduce complexity for our customers and enable sustainable supply chain solutions. Modular standards give customers the agility and flexibility to adapt their supply chains to constantly evolving requirements and needs.

To meet the dynamic market demands, we have identified seven Accelerated Growth Solutions, which are characterized by high growth potential and global relevance: Inbound to Manufacturing, eCommerce & Omnichannel, Returns & Circularity, Service Logistics, Fulfilment Network, Pharma Specialized Network, and Lead Logistics Partner (LLP) & Supply Chain Orchestration.

They are complemented by GoGreen, Data & Robotics and Real Estate Solutions as value drivers that integrate seamlessly into our products and services and are tailored to meet the diverse needs of companies of all sizes and industries, ensuring we deliver effective and customized solutions for a rapidly changing market environment to our customers.

Leading position in contract logistics

The global contract logistics market was estimated to have totaled around €289 billion for the year 2024. DHL is the global market leader in the fragmented market of contract logistics, with a market share of 6.1% (2024) and operations in more than 55 countries. The market share of the next leading provider is approximately half as large. The key competitors of DHL Supply Chain are CEVA, DSV, GXO Logistics, Kuehne+Nagel and UPS.

Fundamental dependence on the global economy and geopolitics

The warehousing, transport and value-added services provided by the Supply Chain division are an essential component of our customers’ business activities. Activity in relation to the individual customer contracts is therefore fundamentally exposed to the fluctuations in our customers’ business performance. These fluctuations are partially mitigated by the structure of the long-term contracts, which limits the cyclical risk to the business. Volatility in relation to individual contracts is also balanced out by the broad positioning of the global business in terms of regions and sectors. The division’s business performance is also driven by customers’ decisions to outsource their activities to a logistics provider for the first time. This trend fundamentally supports the growth of the business model but is also subject to cyclical factors and potential external geopolitical influences that affect customers’ business decisions.

Seasonality of business

The Supply Chain division sees less fluctuation over the course of the year than the transport-oriented divisions but is not entirely free of seasonal patterns. Seasonal patterns are primarily driven by customer industries that are themselves subject to seasonal cycles, such as weaker business in summer and stronger business in the pre-Christmas period. This leads to slight quarterly fluctuations. However, these are less volatile than in the Express, eCommerce or Post & Parcel Germany divisions.

Modular standards and new technologies

We are constantly striving to increase speed and agility along the entire supply chain through modular standardization and the use of new technologies. State-of-the-art digital solutions are already used at more than 95% of our locations, for example with some 8,000 collaborative robots and some 52,000 smart wearables deployed. In addition, we leverage data analytics to drive operational efficiencies and to enhance the customer experience. We are integrating physical and digital supply chain solutions.

Meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations

With the globally consistent operating standards of our Operations Management System First Choice, we want to ensure that we consistently either meet or exceed our customers’ quality expectations and continuously improve.

Thanks to our systematic follow-up on customer feedback, our satisfaction values (Net Promoter Approach) continue to rise from their already high level.