8 executive moves that will impact air cargo in 2019

Hellmann Worldwide restructures with outside guidance

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has been a proudly family-owned 3PL literally since the unification of Germany in 1871, the same year the firm was founded by Carl Heinrich Hellmann. Today, it is still helmed by the founder’s great-grandchildren, Jost and Klaus Hellmann.

But as the nature of logistics has changed, Hellmann has also changed with the appointment on Dec. 1, 2018, of its new CEO Reiner Heiken, the former CEO of rival DB Schenker’s European region. Before working at DB Schenker in 2016, Heiken served for 19 years at Swiss logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel.

The appointment of Heiken is the culmination of a year-and-a-half-long, three-part restructuring program spearheaded by Thomas Knecht, formerly Hellmann’s acting CEO and “restructuring specialist,” along with chief commercial officer Jost Hellmann. Under the plan, Hellmann Logistics has been divided into three business units – Air & Sea, Road & Rail and Contract Logistics – and realigned geographically across the 157 countries in its network.

The naming of Heiken as CEO is part of the 3PL’s 2018 strategy of creating a “management team of industry experts,” such as the August hiring of Michael Noth as the new CFO. Noth previously served as CFO of Nordzucker.

Heading into 2019, Hellmann Worldwide is now managed by a board “consisting exclusively of external managers,” the company said, “However, the global logistics company continues to take benefit of the full support of two family representatives, Jost and Klaus Hellmann.”