How logistics can be made greener
Interview with Frank Boblat, Managing Director of SLB at Seifert Logistics Group
The biggest customer is an automotive manufacturer in Bremen, for which Seifert Logistik Bremen GmbH (SLB) has been providing logistics services for 25 years, also on the premises of the car manufacturer. Until the end of 2023, the company was still known as LOREL Logistik GmbH. Under the umbrella of the Seifert Logistics Group, they now aim to implement forward-looking logistics concepts, especially in the field of Green Logistics.
The Seifert Logistics Group specializes in storage services for a major Bremen-based automobile manufacturer at its Bremen location. Its range of services includes classical storage, empty goods handling, set formation, parcel individualization, and cross-docking, a type of handling where goods are no longer stored but directly transferred and sent on to the customers.
The company was founded under the name LOREL Logistik GmbH in 1996. "At the end of 1999, we received a large order from an automobile builder in Bremen, at that time with 40 employees," explains Managing Director Frank Boblat, who has been with the company since 2000. "Since then, we have been working with the automobile manufacturer, and since 2019 also on its factory premises."
Since 2023, it has been part of the internationally operating Seifert Logistics Group with its headquarters in Ulm. The renaming from LOREL Logistik GmbH to Seifert Logistik Bremen GmbH took place on January 1, 2024. "Seifert was looking for a location in the north," Frank Boblat describes the motivations for the merger. "Moreover, we want to utilize synergies and jointly implement forward-looking corporate strategies, especially in the area of Green Logistics." We are a strong complement to the group. "Over the years, we have developed healthily and established resilient, good processes that are considered a benchmark in the industry. Additionally, we work according to the zero-error concept."
Objective: Streamline Traffic
"The trend towards Green Logistics, meaning more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and resource-efficient logistics processes, is currently a big topic," says Frank Boblat. "We already have the first electric trucks in use. However, more important is to develop concepts across locations to optimize and reduce traffic. This means that the system controls in logistics need to become better and more precise. Artificial Intelligence will play a significant role in this context."
Frank Boblat
CEO
"We want to leverage synergies and implement forward-looking corporate strategies together."
Frank Boblat
CEO
The Seifert Logistics Group employs more than 4,000 staff and manages more than 900,000 m² of warehouse space. The automotive manufacturer that the company supplies is located about 6 km from its own site on the A1 highway. "Tailor-made processes, primarily for the automotive industry, are a very challenging field," explains Frank Boblat. "Just-in-time, just-in-sequence, the clocked supply of the customer, are essential here." In the end, it's about allowing the customer to concentrate on their core competency, building cars. In all these areas, AI will become increasingly important.
"We are currently participating in a research project in this direction, to simplify complex processes," explains Frank Boblat. "It's not about eliminating jobs, but simplifying work and reducing physical strain." The focus at Seifert is on the employees. "At the heart of our approach is trustworthy interaction and an open error culture," says Frank Boblat. At the Bremen site, we want to continue to grow, together with the group. "This can also be in other logistical areas; it is completely open," explains Frank Boblat.