Creating a comfortable climate
Ochsner heat pumps bring pleasant temperatures to apartments and houses. Sustainability is on trend in home and building technology. To ensure that the company’s Austrian products reach its customers all across Europe and, increasingly, throughout the world, the technology leader relies on DACHSER—its trusted logistics partner for a decade.
It all began in 2009. Heat-pump specialist Ochsner wanted to modernize its logistics chain, so it went in search of a new groupage freight forwarder that “can do more than transport goods from A to B.” They found their answer in DACHSER Austria. Ochsner wanted to use all of its available floor space for production and decided to give up its in-house warehouse. “That was a huge step for us at the time, because we were tying ourselves so tightly to a partner,” recalls Marco Schäfer, managing director of Austrian heat-pump manufacturer Ochsner. Together with majority owner and managing shareholder Karl Ochsner, he is focusing on growth that benefits the environment: “That’s why we want a logistics partner who takes sustainability seriously and also invests in this area,” explains Schäfer. DACHSER Austria meets these requirements perfectly, from its alternative powertrains and continuous optimization of transport load capacities to its active minimization of exhaust emissions.
Perfectly connected IT
Every workday, the finished heat pumps are collected by the DACHSER logistics center in Linz and stored in the warehouse until they are transported to customers in Europe. DACHSER Austria has six overland transport branches, making it an important hub for transports throughout Europe, and Ochsner, with its steady growth on the continent, particularly benefits from this. The two family-owned companies’ IT systems for warehouse management and transport are connected in a way that enables them to automatically communicate with each other. Ochsner can thus call up the current status of its goods in the warehouse or on the transport route at any time, enabling them to deliver their heat pumps to their customers, who are now located throughout Europe, right to their doors and right on time.
“Heat pumps are our core expertise, but for everything else, we need strong alliances and integral processes." Marco Schäfer, Managing Director, Ochsner
“Our cooperation has become very strongly IT driven, but the interpersonal element is also a great fit,” says Günther Plank, Sales Manager at DACHSER Austria in Hörsching. They meet regularly to discuss business issues on various levels—from performance results to the future configuration of the partnership or how to further improve quality. This topic in particular is extremely important to Ochsner.
Taking on China together
DACHSER performs its tasks to our utmost satisfaction, Schäfer stresses. This benefits both partners. And the next stage in the expansion of their collaboration has already begun: DACHSER will support Ochsner on the Chinese market. The first Ochsner heat pumps were already shipped there three years ago, but 2019 marks the beginning of regular deliveries to the most populous country on earth. “We offer Ochsner our full array of services, including transport to China, storage, customs clearance, and distribution,” says Plank. Shipments go from Linz to Hamburg and from there by sea to Shanghai.
DACHSER’s global network is another advantage that Ochsner appreciates in its logistics partner. The logistics systems in China are identical to those in Europe—just that the distribution warehouse is near Shanghai and not in Hörsching, Austria. “It’s a different culture there, and a different time zone, but otherwise the core processes all work the same way. These are ideal conditions for us to transport our successful model to other continents,” Schäfer says. Over the next five years, Ochsner plans to invest EUR 10 million in its locations, and in the process, it wants to integrate DACHSER even more extensively.
“Heat pumps are our core expertise, but for everything else, we need strong alliances and integral processes,” Schäfer says. Günther Plank from DACHSER Austria adds: “Ochsner is an example of how we make our greatest progress when we join forces. When the customer trusts the service provider, great strides are possible to optimise the logistics balance sheet.” That goes for the positive development of business figures just as for the topic of sustainability.
