Knowing today what will be in demand tomorrow is our core belief. The Rhenus Group is one of the leading logistics specialists with global business operations and annual turnover amounting to EUR 7.0 billion. 37,500 employees work at 970 business sites and develop innovative solutions along the complete supply chain. Whether providing transport, warehousing, customs clearance or value-added services, the family-owned business pools its operations in various business units where the needs of customers are the major focus at all times.

1.

Challenge Introduction

Monitoring global supply chains and always looking a little into the future is a constant challenge in order to find perfect solutions for our internal processes, but above all for the logistical challenges of our clients – especially when geopolitical factors become more dynamic. In order to monitor our locations and cooperation partners, logistic hot spots, supply chains, freight routes and to develop a holistic decision-making tool, Rhenus is looking for a digital solution that integrates and connects multiple data sources and provides the basis for better decisions via a multi-variant dashboard.

2.

Challenge Details

Currently, all the different data sources converge at different endpoints in our organization. These data is not updated in a coordinated manner and evaluated at least partially unstructured. In addition, the creation of heat maps and visuals involves manual work. I.e. updates do not take place in real time, manual transmission errors can creep in and sometimes contexts and projects are simply perceived too late. In addition, it is currently not possible to consistently integrate our partners and customers into the processes in order to provide them with additional information as well.

The goal of this DOaccelerate Challenge is a solution that on the one hand comprises a central database in which different data sources converge. This data should meaningfully be linked to each other via a dashboard and displayed in varying degrees of detail, enabling both an initial overview and in-depth data analysis. A map tool should be integrated into this interface, which includes all existing locations of the Rhenus Group and, in the long term, also shows options for sensible new locations via data analytics and AI.

The basic features should include the display and clear localization of the group’s own locations and companies as well as the addition of the locations of partners and representatives. The map tool should be designed to be interactive and expandable and also provide individual information and reports as pdf and Picture files (PNG, eps etc. ) via a download function. At the same time, the internal data sets are to be enriched with additional externally available data. Of particular interest are data on main traffic routes & international flows of goods, infrastructure such as ports & airports, but also central hubs & logistics parks and within the map display of course the representation of geographic conditions & topography (rivers, mountains, altitude representation, etc.).   

In order to ensure a high level of usage throughout the entire organization, the focus – in addition to the meaningful results – should be placed above all on usability and user experience. The goal is to also use this tool for sales and strategic planning purposes, and this simply requires a high level of penetration within the workforce. The integration into the existing system landscape or the definition of general API calls should also be shortly thought about.

We are looking forward to your ides & your application and are very excited to work together in September.