As the world copes with rapid digitalisation, climate change and geopolitical events, K. Hartwall finds itself poised to create lasting change in the logistics sector. As I write this, it is easy to reflect upon the fact that the lifespan of companies these days seems to be getting shorter and shorter. According to author Steven Denning, the life expectancy rate of Fortune 500 companies reduced from around 75 years in the 1950s to less than 15 years in recent times. I am happy that K.Hartwall has managed to defy this trend, not just by surviving over the last 90 years, but also thriving. What explains our remarkable success? I would argue it is our ability to look at the big picture, understand the trends that shape the world, and move fast to seize the opportunity. These are traits that come up again and again in our history and have made us the company we are today. When we first started our business in 1932, we started with making a single product – a wire clamp used to close porcelain bottles. Then,
On 18 November, K.Hartwall received the Internationalisation Award of the President of the Republic of Finland in the subcategory Growth Company of the Year. This award is a recognition granted each year to Finnish companies that have gained international success, and to the communities behind them. K.Hartwall, founded in 1932 in Sibbo, designs and supplies material handling equipment solutions in more than 65 countries. The company has succeeded in combining the benefits of returnable load carriers with the efficiency of automated solutions enhancing the optimization of material handling both for internal and external logistics. K.Hartwall solutions promote more efficient intralogistics, lower handling and transportation costs, and support employees’ well-being with ergonomic designs. K.Hartwall has developed partnerships across various industries such as retail, postal & parcel, automotive, and industrial manufacturing. Amazon, Walgreens, Carrefour, ICA, Coca-Cola, Arla, Royal Mail, DHL, PostNord, Bosch, Schaeffler, The Home Depot, Target, Volvo, Volkswagen, BMW, Kingfisher and Australia Post are just a few of K.Hartwall’s highly valued customers. “This award is an acknowledgement of a long-term strategy to establish ourselves as an innovative and international player in
The writing is on the wall. Empty shelves, delayed, missed or cancelled deliveries, and rising prices of goods. How do we break out of the global supply chain crisis? Automation might be the answer. Global automakers saw a USD 210 billion loss in revenue because of supply chain disruptions last year. The automotive sector was not alone. Most product businesses are stuck with lengthening supplier lead times, material shortages, energy price spikes, rising input costs, high freight rates and a severe shortage in staff. The traditional way to tackle supply-chain crises is to pile up inventory. So it’s not surprising that the biggest inventory building in 25 years has occurred in the past 5 months. But that is taking a toll on innovation and product development. Rethinking business models “Organisations that are trying to deal with faster time-to-market and faster product innovation are finding they can’t source materials necessary to invent the products. So, all of this is sort of feeding upon itself, says futurist Jim Carroll. “Faster time to market, product development, prototyping and shifts in consumer demand are demanding new speed. That demands
By moving from forklifts to the K.Hartwall LiftLiner® tugger train, Posti Group managed to not only increase its productivity by almost 40%, but also to increase the safety of its employees. Throughout its 400-year history, Finland’s national postal operator, Posti Group, has delivered goods to people. The goods transported have changed a lot over the years, but not the responsibility that goes with it. With three million households and companies receiving deliveries every weekday, Posti is one of the leading delivery and fulfillment companies in Finland, Sweden, and the Baltics. As consumers and businesses are demanding speed, fluency, and convenience, Posti has needed to rethink the way it serves them. For instance, the company continuously works to develop its service network and digital solutions, as well as its sorting centers. The main sorting centre is located in Vantaa, near Helsinki, where average 140.000 shipments are handled each day. One of Posti’s main focuses has always been to improve safety and efficiency within their sorting operations. There are generally two separate sorting processes: One for standard size items and one for
When logistics firm K.Hartwall asked customers about their biggest challenges, warehouse automation, asset tracking and sustainability were among the top trends they identified. In our recent customer survey, 54% of the respondents cited warehouse automation as the biggest trend to have an impact on their business in the near future, which was 10% more than last year. Asset Tracking came second, which is not a big surprise given the increase in volumes shipped lately. Knowing how efficient your fleet is and identifying areas to improve, requires accurate, timely and transparent data which is key for the success of your logistics supply chain. The third rising challenge this year is sustainability. Over one-third of our respondents have named sustainability among the top 3 trends to impact their business compared to 26% a year ago. In the areas where K.Hartwall can support you, Lean logistics was the most frequently mentioned. This did not only come from our automotive customers, but also from respondents in the Retail, DIY and industrial manufacturing industries. Streamlining logistics processes has become a high priority on everybody’s agenda as end customers expect more frequent deliveries
A need for greater efficiency and automation is now making mobile robots an even more relevant option for parcel operators.
At K. Hartwall we work closely with our customers around the world and are able to produce measurable benefits through improved logistics flow.
Today we bring logistics efficiency by delivering returnable load carriers and services around them.
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Block 5, #508, No. 5 Xing Han Street
Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou
Jiangsu Province
PR China 215021
Tel. +86 512 8718 2759
For inquiries and orders please write to
hellen.wang@k-hartwall.com