On Tuesday, Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Member of the Board for Transportation and Logistics at DB Mobility Logistics AG, presented Deutsche Bahn's range of services for the automotive industry to the 10th Logistics Congress of the VDA (German Association of the Automotive Industry). "Given the further increase in the division of labour and growing complexity of the processes involved, we see great potential for growth in transportation and logistics services for the automotive industry. Here we are working closely with manufacturers and suppliers to constantly optimise the logistics services for our customers," said Rausch in Wolfsburg.

DB Schenker with its integrated transportation and logistics concepts organises procurement logistics from low-cost countries for the automotive manufacturers. Both manufacturers and also key suppliers are increasingly asking for more integrated supply chain solutions. The European automotive industry is also showing interest in integrating new suppliers from Asia and from the Mahgreb, Rausch continued, naming examples such as Korea, China, India and Morocco. "We can organise and handle the entire supply chain through our DB Schenker network, right across all means of transport and from a single source. We support manufacturers in terms of procurement logistics, while integrated solutions bring purchasing advantages for our customers." Efficient corridor management and integrated road and rail services will make each transport route more efficient in future, Rausch claimed. Instead of single solutions for individual customers with separate operation of truck and rail transport, in future it will be possible to pool the transport volumes for several customers on one and the same corridor. This demands intelligent planning in conjunction with a good, global, efficient network.

DB Schenker with its Automotive Rail and Contract Logistics divisions has already specialised its activities to meet the needs of automotive customers, from procurement management via individual IT solutions, setting up supplier parks at the sites, transportation between the plants and just-in-time delivery to the production line, through to transportation of finished vehicles or global spare parts supplies.

Every day, around 200 trains carry cars or automotive supplier components through Europe. Every year, around three million finished vehicles with the support of DB Schenker travel by rail to their final destinations.