Logistics

Not only the Schaeffler Group’s manufacturing but also its traffic in freight transport and the commuting and business trips of its employees produce emissions and appreciable environmental impacts. To reduce these impacts, the Schaeffler Group is continuously improving the efficiency of its transportation network and focusing more and more on electric vehicles for employee mobility.

By combining supply and traffic flows, developing new, more efficient logistics concepts, and instituting sustainable employee mobility, the Schaeffler Group contributes directly and actively to “fighting climate change and its effects” (SDG 13).

Consolidation, Bundling, and Automatization

The Logistics division is responsible for the structure, operation, and continuous improvement of the entire logistics chain of the Schaeffler Group. The logistics functions Corporate and Regional Logistics are responsible for managing some 210 storage locations with over 375,000 m² of storage space and for moving approximately 300,000 tons of cargo between the key destinations. About 67% of the logistics activities were concentrated in the Europe region in 2017. Some 17%, 10%, and 6% of all logistics activities related to the Americas, Greater China, and Asia/Pacific regions, respectively.

An integral part of the strategic orientation of logistics at the Schaeffler Group is, within the framework of the “European Distribution Center (EDC)” project, to consolidate the warehouse functions in just a few large distribution centers and consequently improve the utilization of transport routes through freight bundling, optimized route planning, and return-trip dispatching. The general aim is to use the most cost-effective route while also taking into account transport alternatives with low CO₂ emissions, such as maritime shipping instead of air freight.

The company continually assesses the utilization of its individual routes for possibilities of optimization. Thus, for example, in 2017, the transport trips from Caldas, Portugal, to Schweinfurt and Herzogenaurach, Germany were rearranged, and the annual transport requirements along this route were reduced by almost 50% as a result. The company also plans to introduce an innovative TMS throughout the Group starting in 2018. It bundles transport trips within a global supply network, directs them smoothly and securely to the stakeholders involved, and then settles the accounts automatically.

Efficient Transport Network: Project “European Distribution Center (EDC)”

Following the strategy “Mobility for tomorrow,” Schaeffler is actively participating as part of an interregional project in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative of the Chinese government. In the process, Schaeffler is presenting solutions for urban and interurban mobility, for energy chains, and for environmentally-friendly drives along the new Silk Road between Asia and Europe, too. In addition to strengthened political dialog and cultural exchange, central components of what is currently the world’s largest infrastructure project include closer trade relations between Asia and Europe and the expansion of railway connections, harbors, roads, electricity networks, industrial parks, and logistics installations.

The Schaeffler Group is working on establishing a process for reliably recording its greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3 emissions), including those from logistics activities. The initial results are expected to be available in 2018. In the future, the CO₂ emissions caused during the course of business travel and on approach routes are to be recorded, and corresponding measures for their reduction or compensation are to be explored.

Employee Mobility Electrified

To complement its freight transports, the Schaeffler Group is also pursuing a mobility strategy for an environmentally friendly fleet with the goal of further lowering the CO₂ emissions caused by the travel of its employees. Special conditions for the use of hybrid and electric vehicles will also be offered in the process of renewing its company car guidelines. That’s why the company car guideline for plug-in hybrid vehicles in Germany was implemented as early as 2016. In 2017, this was followed by the company car guideline for electric vehicles and the introduction of a CO₂ emissions-oriented bonus/penalty system. Electrified vehicles are also available as company cars in other Schaeffler regions, for example, in the Americas and Greater China regions.

Moreover, the charging infrastructure for electric and hybrid vehicles at Schaeffler sites is being expanded worldwide. By the end of 2017, charging infrastructure was available at 19 sites worldwide, including twelve in Germany. By 2020, it will be possible to provide such vehicles with electricity at all German production sites.

Further information on the topic of logistics at Schaeffler can be found in the consolidated separate nonfinancial report.