l-r: Sivananthan SKS, President Director, DHL Supply Chain Indonesia; Vincent Yong, President Director, DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia; Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL; and, Ahmad Mohamad, Senior Technical Advisor DHL Express Indonesia

Deutsche Post DHL Group, the world's leading logistics company, has seen its business in Indonesia strengthen in the pandemic and has further plans for growth and investment in the archipelago.

“The pandemic made clear that logistics matters more than ever. With present volatility and increasingly complex environments, customers are turning to reliable logistics partners with an international footprint, established infrastructure and broad expertise,” said Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL. “We have invested over EUR 140 million in Indonesia in the past 10 years to date. In Indonesia, with a talented workforce delivering innovative solutions for the market, we have a solid and resilient business poised for greater growth here.”

First established in Indonesia in 1973, Deutsche Post DHL Group operates three business divisions in Indonesia collectively offering end-to-end supply chain services. DHL Express is the leading express provider, DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist and DHL Supply Chain, the contract logistics specialist within the Group. Together, DHL businesses employ more than 2300 employees, operating some 525,000 sqm of warehouse space, and around 120 flights daily, connecting Indonesia businesses through DHL's global network covering 220 countries and territories.

Workforce growth through the pandemic: Delivering critical shipments

“The pandemic saw increased demand for logistics services. At DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia, we've grown our workforce by 10% since 2021. Among others, our network was tapped on for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. We moved vaccines across 24 locations in Indonesia, handling importations via commercial and chartered flights. The vaccines had to be transported with stringent temperature control and quality assurances,” said Vincent Yong, President Director, DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia. “More recently DHL was responsible for the logistics for Indonesia's first Formula E race. We provided multi-modal end-to-end logistics services including value-added services, such as customs clearance, physical inspection and trucking, using state-of-the-art equipment for the moves.”

Investing in Indonesia for further growth

Collectively, DHL has invested over EUR 140 million in Indonesia over the past 10 years to date. DHL Express, the Group's' leading express provider, has accelerated its investments in Indonesia. The company increased its workforce by 7% in 2021, and in 2022, has seen a further 13.5% growth to its employee base in 2022. DHL Express Indonesia further announced investments earmarked for in four facilities in Indonesia in the next 2 years.

“We've been in Indonesia since 1973, and we're still investing. We've earmarked investments of EUR 25 million for fleet replacements and four new facilities in the next two years, namely new Gateways in Surabaya and Denpasar, and new Service Centres in Bekasi and Tangerang. DHL Express Bekasi Service Centre was just completed in July,” said Ahmad Mohamad, Senior Technical Advisor DHL Express Indonesia, “DHL Express already operates 48 retail outlets and service points across key locations in Indonesia. Our investments will cater to the growth in the cities, enabling us to better support our customers, in line with the economic growth of the country.”

Sister company, DHL Supply Chain (DSC) also previously announced plans to invest EUR 25 million for its upcoming 40,000 square meter facility in Cikarang, West Java. Due for completion in 2023, the DHL Maheswara Green Logistics facility is the company's seventh multi-user facility in Indonesia. These large multi-user facilities are designed to support a broad range of goods from diverse industries providing flexibility to a wide range of businesses operating in Indonesia. The new facility is also purpose built to feature sustainable solutions to reduce carbon emissions.

Growing Sustainably – Green Solutions and People Investments

“Sustainability is key to the DPDHL Group with a goal to achieve zero-emission logistics in 2050. The Group has previously announced it will be investing 7 billion Euros in clean operations and climate-neutral logistics through to 2030”, said Sivananthan SKS, President Director, DHL Supply Chain Indonesia. “Across all our businesses in Indonesia, new facilities are installed with solar panels, solar lamps, LED lights and other energy saving solutions. Our sister company, DHL Express, has started using electric motorbikes and delivery vans and plans to electrify at least half of its fleet by 2024.”

Globally, since Jan 2021, DHL Global Forwarding has neutralized the carbon emissions of all less-than-container load (LCL) ocean freight shipments – including those to and from Indonesia - using sustainable marine fuels. This has been done at no extra cost to customers, supporting their carbon emission goals through the LCL GoGreen Plus service for over 370,600 shipments since the program started. The business has also signed an agreement with Hapag-Lloyd, a leading worldwide liner shipping company, to use advanced biofuels. As an initial step, Hapag-Lloyd will ship 18,000 TEU of DHL's volume using advanced biofuels, demonstrating the scalability of sustainable transport solutions and the relevance of sustainable fuels in today's market.

Motivated People the cornerstone of success

“Indonesia is a great case in point that with the right strategy, a motivated workforce and a positive outlook, great results can be achieved,” said Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL. “Across the Group, we believe in investing in our people, because engaged and motivated employees deliver great service quality to our customers, and that, in turn, drives our business.”

Across Indonesia, all three business units are awardees of the global Great Place to Work™ award, recognizing the best workplaces. The award is based on confidential survey data that assesses employee experience in trust, innovation, company values, and leadership. Companies are also rated on how well they create workplace experience that includes all employees, regardless of who they are or what they do.

Key to the Group's success has been a bespoke Group-wide program called Certified introduced to accelerate the cultural and developmental DNA based on customer focus and trust. It includes inspiring training and engagement content delivered by senior leaders with the business encouraging, recognizing, and rewarding vital behaviors. Our employees in Indonesia are Certified-trained, with constant additions to their Certified journey and training as they progress within the company.