LB – the two letters stand for ‘Löhr Beteiligungen’, or Löhr Holdings – is a family owned holding company with a strong position in the logistics market and a broad range of operations in other, complementary sectors. In all its activities, the medium-sized family enterprise is focused on sustainable, longterm development.
“We think in generations rather than in years,” Matthias Löhr, Chief Representative and Partner, says describing the philosophy of LB. “Our topmost objective is to ensure the successful continuity of the company as a family business. Everything else is secondary to this.”
What is self-evident for the Löhr family is that it wants to be first, ahead of the competition, daring and willing to make decisions, and be close to employees and customers and their individual needs. “In being first, daring and close, we differ from all our competitors,” says Mr. Löhr.
LB has based its business on four core values – trust, passion, responsibility and modesty – and propagates management by values. “We expect our executive team to live these values, every day,” explains Mr. Löhr.
LB is comprised of four business divisions – Logistics, IT, Manufacturing and Digitalization – as well as a number of shareholdings in the areas of facility management and manpower services.
The Logistics division includes the WM Group with nine locations in Germany, Austria and the UK. Founded in 1951 and based in Bocholt, WM forms the nucleus of LB. Today, the company has more than 120,000 m² of logistics space under management and provides complete logistics solutions along the entire value chain, from contract, in-house and promotion logistics to packing, transport services and returns management.
WM also offers an extensive range of value-added services such as assembly, repackaging, labelling, quality control and many more. LB’s IT division consists of two companies: Logata Digital Solutions in Bocholt and Lanfer Automation in Borken-Weseke.
Offering a high level of expertise in logistics, IT and automation, Logata is focused on secure digital business processes, and warehouse management and logistics. A special product offered by Logata is logistics mall. “Logistics mall is a secure, cloud based software solution that we developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute,” explains Mr. Löhr. “It covers all logistics operations and integrates them into easy-to-use apps for every function.”
The second IT provider, Lanfer Automation, specializes in industrial automation, building automation, intralogistics and energy monitoring solutions. The Manufacturing division of LB includes Lebo and DCT-Door Consumer Trade which produce and market high-quality doors, including entry doors, interior doors and complete door systems.
The newly established LB division Digitalization is represented by FULINO, the Group’s e-commerce subsidiary. In addition to individually designed online shops as the core product of any e-commerce activity, the company provides consulting, online marketing and fulfilment logistics services.
LB’s comprehensive portfolio is rounded off by majority holdings in Euregio Personaldienstleistungen, one of the largest temporary employment agencies in North Rhine-Westphalia with 14 locations across Germany, and ipacenter which lets out office and commercial premises and offers complementary services such as facility management and IT solutions.
The history of LB goes back to the year 1951 when Hans-Hubert Löhr established the Westmünsterland freight forwarding company in Bocholt. “Since then, we have grown without interruption,” states Mr. Löhr.
In the 1960s, the company started developing direct trade of containers between Germany and the USA and Canada. “In 1966, we were the first German freight forwarder to manage the transport of LCL containers from Germany to New York,” Mr. Löhr notes, describing the pioneering effort.
In the 1970s, LB set up subsidiary operations in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1989, LB co-founded the parcel service provider German Parcel which later became General Logistics Systems (GLS) and was sold to the British Royal Mail Group.
“We reinvested the proceeds from the transaction in IT as we were conscious that efficient logistics require sophisticated IT solutions,” states Mr. Löhr. LB is developing favourably in all business divisions and experiencing particularly strong growth in the logistics sector, spurred on by e-commerce and web-based technologies.
The sustained success of LB is based on its commitment to pioneering new developments and its perseverance in overcoming difficulties and obstacles. “Often, we were ahead of the market with our ideas and our thinking,” says Mr. Löhr. “This cost us a lot of money but it also gave us a competitive edge.”
This philosophy is also guiding the way for LB into the future. “We are at the forefront of Industry 4.0 and other digital technologies which lead to completely new, disruptive business concepts,” states Mr. Löhr. “Our objective is to be at the side of our customers to help them make the most of these challenging opportunities.”
