DP-DHL’s Frank Appel: Embracing innovation

Taking the next step

Now that the DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, division appears to have stabilized under Appel’s watch, Job No. 1 for the coming year is making sure DHL-GFF has an up-to-date, flexible, reliable IT system in the wake of the NFE affair.

“We have actually developed a very good system around our core Transportation Management System [TMS], for quoting and for document management,” Appel said. “Now we are saying we are replacing our core TMS with a new product that will [expand] the other products to a global scale.”

Rather than the “revolution” promised by the NFE, DP-DHL is taking a slower, evolutionary process to update its IT systems. “Now we are little bit more modest and humble in saying let’s try to do one step after the other, and that it’s digestible not only for our customers but also for our own orientation,” he said. “I think that will make us much more agile.”

As for the outlook in 2017, Appel said that, under its Strategy 2020 goals, the company assumed that the airfreight industry would grow at a rate slower than the worldwide GDP. “So we estimated the worldwide GDP at that time would be 3.5 percent by 2020,” he recalled. “But next year we’ll hopefully be a little bit better.”

Regarding another concern for the industry, a new American president about to take office while championing the policy of erecting trade barriers could restrain air cargo growth, Appel said. “The market is nervous and we think that there is uncertainty, which isn’t good for business.”

Still, Frank Appel is upbeat about the future of DP-DHL following the turnaround in 2016. When asked about what he’s most proud of in his eight-year tenure as CEO, he said it is the level of engagement of his employees. “Every year, we have asked them questions about how they are led by their respective bosses, what they think about communication, customer orientation, working conditions and other factors,” he said. “I think we started in 2008, and every year we get better responses from them.

“I am very honored to be considered Air Cargo Executive of the Year, but It was not just my success,” he added. “It’s the success of the whole organization.”

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