Tag: Coop Hamburg

Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services ships 11 luxury German sports cars to Australia

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The cargo consisting of 11 Porsche Panamera was moved from Stuttgart, Germany, to Melbourne, Australia, by close coordination with their network partner in Hamburg

Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services, a Coop member in Bremen, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, has recently transported 11 Porsche Panameras from a loading address in Stuttgart to Port Melbourne, Australia.

international logistics service providerThey arranged the booking with the carrier and agreed on the special requirements for the loading procedure with the shipper.

Kopf + Lübben got in touch with their Coop partner in Hamburg, Con-Truck, to arrange for the pick-up of the vehicles and stuffing in standard containers. Their core business is transport and stuffing of cars which is why they had the expertise and necessary network and could guarantee smooth handling.

In the words of Michael Guttrof, one of the Managing Directors of Kopf + Lübben, “The collection of these premium vehicles in closed trucks was obligatory. Therefore, the transport was carried out with a special truck which is not only closed but can also be extended to load 6 cars instead of only 5. This meant we merely needed 2 trucks instead of 3 and were able to save a huge amount of costs for our customer.”

Once Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services had delivered the cars to the warehouse, they were immediately stuffed into 5×40’ and 1×20’ containers the same day and trucked to the export terminal.

“We are proud to report that the reliable partnership between Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services and Con-Truck stems from the last two Annual Meetings of The Cooperative Logistics Network and various transports we already carried out together,” adds Mr. Guttrof.

international logistics service provider
Coom member Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services transports 11 Porsche Panameras from Stuttgart to Port Melbourne

Congratulations to Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services for the flawless execution of this significant project!

Con Truck Shipping obtains the prestigious AEO Certification

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The AEO certification accredits that the Con Truck Shipping’s services as a logistics operator and customs broker are safe and comply with all the customs law regulations

Con Truck Shipping GMBH, a Coop member in Hamburg Germany, has received the AEO accreditation which is only granted to companies which abide by all the customs criteria so as to prove their reliability, quality, and compliance throughout the global supply chain. This certification will indeed augment the trustworthiness of Con Truck Shipping since it assures customers that it is a trusted and secure logistics services provider.

“For sure, even for some business partners, this certification is highly recommended. It goes without saying that it will give a boost to our commercial partnerships. Likewise, this positive image will enhance our advertising opportunities, allowing us to find and build new business relationships,” says Dennis Lehnecke, Sales Manager & Business Development of Con Truck Shipping. Having an AEO status comes in real handy for selling both in the European and the non-European market.

“We are very proud of this prestigious certification. Now, at first glance, everyone will perceive us as a trusted forwarding company. It implies a substantial enhancement of every aspect of our business- our commercial customers, our freight department and even our own customs bonded warehouse and stuffing department.” added Mr. Lehnecke.

The Coop wishes the best to Con Truck Shipping for all their future endeavours!

Kopf+ Lubben GMBH handles the transportation of a self propelled passenger stair from Moscow to Hamburg

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The Coop member in Bremen, Hamburg and Frankfurt, won this interesting project from the manufacturer of staircases in Germany

A self-propelled passenger staircase had to undergo maintenance service with a German manufacturer within the shortest possible span of time since it had technical issues during the Saudi Arabian King’s state visit to Russia. The airfreight team of Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services was in charge of this sensitive project. The colossal escalator arrived on Sunday night from Moscow on an IL-76 freighter at Hamburg airport and required special handling off the main airfield

Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services were also ordered to do the handling after maintenance had been done and successfully re-loaded the staircase after a couple of weeks. The same type of aircraft was booked to pick up the staircase in Hamburg and flew it out to Saudi Arabia.

The highly experienced airfreight team of Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services successfully discharged the staircase, arranged for customs procedures and transported the cargo to the plant. In the words of Tobias Teichmann, Manager Airfreight of Kopf & Lübben, “We made use of a special ramp to unload the elevator very carefully with the right precision down to the final millimetre. The staircase was delivered to the plant within a couple of days and maintenance work started shortly after the landing in Hamburg, thanks to the excellent job of our team members.”

The Coop congratulates Kopf & Lübben for their outstanding achievement!

For shipments to/from Frankfurt, Bremen or Hamburg, make sure to contact their expert team:

Tobias Teichmann
t.teichmann@kopf-luebben.com
www.kopf-luebben.com

Interview with Con Truck

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Manfred Haenisch of CON-TRUCK LOGISTIC GMBH, a member of The COOP in Hamburg, recently spoke with us about his journey into freight forwarding and what makes CON-TRUCK stand out from the Hamburg forwarding crowd.

Q. When and how did you get into the freight forwarding industry? 

A. In 1970, when I left school, I started my apprenticeship of three years with Kühne & Nagel – Hamburg. After my graduation as freight forwarder at the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg and serving 15 month with the German forces, I started again in 1975, as a forwarding agent at Kühne & Nagel – project shipments to the Persian / Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea area.

As I originally wanted to train as a ships agent/broker, I had the chance to work from Oct 1976 to the end of 1977 as a trainee at a shipping agency in London. I had been assigned as a trainee to the Baltic Exchange in there, where I learned a lot about the chartering business which has been very helpful over the years. After returning to Hamburg in 1978, I started working in several forwarding companies in Hamburg, particularly from 1979 to 2012 in the export market to Brazil and as well worldwide both in ocean and airfreight. Since 2013, I have been with Con-Truck Logistic in Hamburg.

Q. Can you tell us a little of the history of CON-TRUCK LOGISTIC GMBH? 

A. Con-Truck was founded as a container trucking company in 1988 and in 1995 a shipping department was opened by Dieter Grabeljesk and Michael Skaritsch who took over the company at the time as equal partners.

Container trucking as an official part of the company was given up in 2010 and only the shipping department remained.

The shipping department started off with Michael and Dieter and one lady for documentation. Together they handled the business of Con-Truck’s major market, exporting to West Africa. This continues to be a major market for us. Con-Truck was/is offering a full service to our clients, commercial and private persons, for shipment to African countries. This includes trucks, cars, vans (new and used) as well as FCL and LCL cargo. We offer a large number of rent-container for short term and long term rent on our premises which are used by a number of clients to store their belongings when it’s worthwhile, they order an export container and Con-Truck arranges the shipment including the export customs handling.

Since 1995, the company has grown to a total of eleven staff working in operations, documentation, customs service, sales, bookkeeping as well as three forwarding apprentices. Con-Truck, as well as offering loading of container, warehousing and haulage of export vehicles from our clients too, we also have three drivers and three container loading/stuffing staff.

Q. What distinguishes CON-TRUCK LOGISTIC GMBH from other freight forwarders in your city? 

A. Con-Truck is one of the few forwarding companies specialized in the field of exporting to Africa with its own 10000m2 yard and 900m2 warehouse, forklift equipment of 2 x 2mt, 1 x 6mt, 1x 16mt, 1 x 36mt which enables us to arrange the movement of almost any kind of cargo for loading container. Also, we run 2 trucks (12m trailer) for the pick-up of cars with 12 to capacity which can load up to 3 cars/ vehicles. Which we use for pick up of vehicles at our clients within an area of 300 – 400 km around Hamburg, for vehicles instead delivered, direct to the RORO terminal, to our facilities. We run another pickup truck able to load 2 vehicles.

As well we are very flexible in moving Container to and from our yard with our own Truck, which give the advantage to us and our clients to work more flexible in respect of closing times for container deliveries for outbound ocean vessels.

This all give Con-Truck an advantage against our competitors who are working in the same field of business on ocean exports to west Africa. As well to our partners and clients for whom we load container with vehicles and general cargo

Q. What are the main challenges facing freight forwarders in the Germany at the moment?

A. The main challenge, not only for German forwarders, right now is the compensation on business to the Fareast in particular China, as well as the Russian market. But there are many other problems to be taken care off as “the cake is getting smaller and everybody would like a slice”. The best example of this are the shipping lines who are offering lower rates in order to get better utilization of their vessel, forcing forwarders to do the same, which results in forwarders struggling to make money.

As well I personally think that the service of the forwarders needs to more respected by the customers and paid for instead of making changes because one is quoting 5 – 10 € less. Service has to be paid for, poor payments for service never means that a good service is provided.

Q. How is the freight forwarding industry tackling these challenges?

A. Every forwarding company is tackling them alone by analyzing the market(s) and reacting accordingly.

Q. How is CON-TRUCK LOGISTIC GMBH dealing with these challenges on a daily basis? 

A. Con-Truck is analyzing the changes on a daily basis for our particular business and trying to find solutions for us and our customer. Currently, there are the restrictions on money transfers and inflation in Nigeria, a big problem, and here we are trying to find solutions for our customers day to day, but unfortunately there is very little we can do.

Q. What attracted you to apply for membership of the COOP?

A. Con-Truck has never been a member of any network before and we are enjoying the Membership at the COOP, as it gives us the advantage of increasing our business and provide us with the chance to be able to give a better “full service” to our clients.

Q. What benefits are you seeing as a member of The COOP?

A. As mentioned before, we are seeing an increase in the number of worldwide partners as the network continues to grow. This consequently means that every member has a real chance of being a global player without needing to run their own offices all over the world.

We invite members with shipments in Hamburg are invited to get in touch with the team.

 

Manfred Haenisch 

Interview with Kopf + Lubben Cargo Services (Bremen, Frankfurt and Hamburg)

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From graphic designer to freight forwarder, Thomas Manigk has certainly had a less than conventional entry into the industry. That being said it has not been a hindrance with Thomas currently Managing Director of Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services a German freight forwarder going from strength to strength. We recently spoke with him about the companies’ success and future plans. 

Q. When and how did you get into the freight forwarding industry?

A. By coincidence, as is so often the case in our industry. – It was my aspiration to work in the field of marketing, more specifically, as a graphic designer. To this end, I commenced studying Art and History of Art at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, my home country. Realising, that my creative streak is limited, I jumped at the opportunity of doing an internship at an international freight forwarding company, where a friend of the family was working. It was in 1983 that I then commenced my professional training at this company.

Q. Can you tell us a little of the history of Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services? 

A. Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services was founded by Walter Kopf and Johann Lübben in 1976 in their home town, Bremen. With four employees, the company initially focused its activities on import ocean freight. Spices from the Far East and Africa, basketry from Poland, gift ware from the Far East and computerised boring machines from the United States were amongst the first orders handled.

Q. What distinguishes Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services from other freight forwarders in your city? 

A. Our high level of service would be the obvious answer. However, we are well aware of the fact that our competitors also strive to offer the best possible service. We, therefore, lay emphasis on not only ensuring that our customer’s freight arrives at destination on time and intact, but also on improving the supply chain in consultation with the customer. We expect our employees to think a step ahead and to anticipate what might happen during the course of the carriage of the goods, which our customers entrust us with. We work on a “one face to the customer” principle, thereby ensuring a very personal service.

Q. How different is Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services now compared with when it was founded?

A.While the company was founded 10 years after the advent of containerisation, the initial years were still characterised by the physical handling of the freight, whereas data management and the flow of information have become far more prevalent today. Accordingly, we are constantly upgrading our IT systems and software in order to keep up to date with the latest developments.

Q. I saw on your website that you take young apprentices. Could you tell us a little about how this scheme works?

A. The apprenticeship system in Germany has proven extremely successful across all industry sectors and as a result, has gained recognition not only throughout Europe but in a growing number of countries worldwide. It enables companies to recruit and to train their future generations of employees according to their own needs and in line with the provisions of the German Vocational Training Act over a period of 30 or 36 months, depending on the school qualification. During this period, apprentices rotate through all major operational and administrative departments of the training company, gaining on the job experience while simultaneously attending classes, studying the theoretical knowledge and expertise it takes to become a well-qualified management assistant in the field of transport and logistics. The dual system theoretical training is conducted according to a curriculum which includes aspects of foreign trade, logistics and transport, business processes, finance and accounting and foreign languages. Upon graduation, the apprentices receive a diploma issued by the local Chamber of Commerce, which is recognised across Europe. In some instances, the graduates choose to supplement the apprenticeship through further studies at a University, in order to obtain a BA degree.

Q. Why does Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services feel it’s important to invest its time and money in apprenticeships?

A. With the demographics in Germany being as they are, companies are beginning to face a shortage of skilled employees. We have always lived by the principle of “important in a company are the people who work for it and the spirit in which they carry out their work”. In order to ensure that we find qualified employees with the desired skills, language skills and work habits to match our company’s principle and requirements, we actively promote our industry at high schools, offering internships and then training these highly motivated young men and women in line with our company’s requirements, to eventually benefit from the practically oriented qualification which they have obtained during the training period.

Q. What are your immediate plans for Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services?

A. It is imperative that we continue to follow our strategy of transforming ourselves from the traditional freight forwarder to a full service provider, offering a multitude of value added services. To this end, our prime focus is on further developing and strengthening our branches in China, where we have the infrastructure for offering integrated global logistics solutions, including eCommerce and eFulfilment solutions.

Q. What are your longer term ambitions for Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services?

A. Our longer term ambitions are a) to be recognised as a service provider offering technology enabled supply chain solutions from “concept to cash” with state of the art PO management visibility solutions, predominantly for brands and retailers and b) to become a significant player in China for eCommerce solutions with full front-end and back-end capabilities for European brands.

All members with shipments in Bremen, Frankfurt and Hamburg are invited to get in touch with the Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services team. 

Thomas Manigk 

t.manigk@kopf-luebben.com 

Kopf + Lubben Cargo Services launches new e-commerce and e-fulfillment service

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Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services, a member of The Coop in Bremen, Frankfurt and Hamburg, has recently extended its portfolio of services by establishing a business unit focusing on e-Commerce and e-Fulfillment for the Chinese market 

Turnover in retail sales is shifting strongly towards e-Commerce, a trend most visible in China. The People’s Republic boasts the largest e-Commerce market, growing at a rate of more than 20% per annum.

“We are assisting European brands in reaching the mass Chinese consumer market through online sales channels,” said Managing Director Thomas Manigk. He continued, “We support our customers in overcoming numerous challenges such as cultural specifics, language, legal compliance or consumer behavior.”

E-Commerce services that Kopf + Lübben are offering include:

– front-end design and navigation of web shops

-data handling, store management, marketing

-after sales service and warehousing and fulfilment

The e-fulfilment services that the company is offering are comprehensive not only for “the brick and mortar” trade, but also for the online trade. Their warehouses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen cover all fields of activities in B2B and B2C trades, including procurement, warehousing and complex logistics services as well as shipment and returns management.

“We have a clear sense of where we want the company to go and that is summed up with the phrase ‘moving with the times’ and these new services are a key part of this. Our dedicated and experienced staff are constantly thinking a step ahead, allowing our customers to master the challenges of today, while positioning ourselves for the challenges of tomorrow,” said Thomas Manigk.

We would like to congratulate Kopf + Lübben Cargo Services and invite members with shipments in Bremen, Frankfurt and Hamburg to get in touch with the team.