Delivering fun on wheels
With vehicles for children of all ages, Puky makes sure kids are going places. To reach young riders and their parents all across Europe, the long-established manufacturer has been relying on DACHSER logistics for 10 years.
Kids of all ages love to be on the move: first with balance bikes and tricycles, then scooters and go-karts, before graduating to bikes for older children and teenagers. Mid-sized company Puky has been manufacturing and selling all kinds of children’s vehicles and their accessories in the German town of Wülfrath, located between Düsseldorf and Wuppertal, since 1949. For nearly 70 years, the logo’s red oblong octagon with its characteristic white diagonal and the company name in black has been emblazoned on the public’s collective consciousness. It represents a brand that (almost) everyone in Germany knows, and that is spreading to more and more of Europe.
Organic growth with DACHSER
To achieve maximum flexibility for responding to the needs of the market, Puky began working with DACHSER’s logistics center for the Niederrhein (Lower Rhine) region in 2008. The logistics provider operates the central warehouse for European deliveries of Puky products in the city of Neuss. It’s an excellent location, since all Puky vehicles—from balance bikes to scooters to bicycles—are assembled in the vicinity of the company’s headquarters in nearby Wülfrath. Ten workshops for adapted work handle the assembly, which is carried out predominantly by people with disabilities. The final products are delivered directly to Puky’s central warehouse, from where they are shipped to retailers throughout Europe—now based in 28 different countries. “DACHSER’s contract logistics agreement with the customer covers warehousing, inbound and outbound traffic, picking, and transport logistics across Europe,” explains Susanne Schmitz, Consultant Contract Logistics at DACHSER in Neuss, who provides support for Puky.
“We work with the customer to plan out the sales year as precisely as possible,” Schmitz continues. “At the start and end of the year especially, we have to be sure we’ve done our homework. Retailers order more kids’ vehicles in spring for the beginning of the warm months, but there’s also a major surge in winter, since toys like balance bikes or tricycles are especially popular as Christmas presents.”
Because Puky’s retail customer structure is so diverse, packing the pallets presents special challenges. “To load a pallet for Puky, you really have to know what you’re doing,” says Mathias Heller, Puky CEO. “You have to put various formats together and balance different volumes and weights. It’s a little bit like a game of Tetris. You also have to consider that many products get delivered in finished sales cartons, which must not be damaged under any circumstances.” This calls for a certain kind of expertise that not everyone has. “With our central warehouse and the overall handling process, we feel that DACHSER understands us and takes good care of us,” he explains.
“In keeping with DACHSER’s idea of successful contract logistics, we work with the customer to develop and implement a robust logistics concept, thus setting the stage for organic growth,” says Alexander Tonn, Managing Director European Logistics Germany and Corporate Director Corporate Contract Logistics. “Our transport network covers a good deal of Europe, allowing us to reliably serve our customers’ markets.”
Sights on Europe
“In Germany, where we generate 70 percent of our sales, our brand is very well known, so there’s hardly any room for growth,” says Puky CEO Heller. That’s why five years ago, Puky began focusing its internationalization efforts on other European markets. “We expect our logistics provider to be reliable and flexible, and that they will be able to handle our highly diverse product range and packaging types effectively and responsibly. It has to be the right mix of quality, price, and delivery time—just what DACHSER offers.” In Heller’s opinion, this relationship has laid the groundwork for ensuring the Puky brand will reach children and parents all across Europe.
