Craiss Generation Logistik GmbH & Co. KG is on a growth path with its retail logistics services. The logistics service provider "reeled in" three major projects in 2021. For two new customers from the textile industry as well as for an existing customer from the consumer goods sector, Craiss carries out pre-collection, handling and delivery to branches in southwest Germany. As a result, the Swabian company almost tripled its turnover in this business segment last year. The medium-term goal of the owner-managed medium-sized company is to com-mission a larger logistics building by 2023.
"Craiss has gained a foothold in the branch logistics division and has earned a good reputation. Thanks to our many years of experi-ence and the opportunity to use synergies with existing customers, we have now been able to acquire three more orders," says Mark Mitterhuber, Head of Sales and Marketing at Craiss Generation Logistik GmbH & Co. KG.
Craiss will supply around 140 branches of a Swedish and a Braunschweig-based textile trading company in the postcode areas 3, 6, 7 and 8. Every day, approximately 50 lorries with around 380 pallets and three lorries with 2,500 loose parcels are accepted and picked at the Mühlacker hub and then transferred for dispersion by 3.5, 7.5 or 15-tonne vehicles as well as Sprinters with lifting plat-forms.
In addition, Craiss has been awarded a contract for additional areas of an existing customer. In addition to the existing order of the Hamburg coffee and trade group, the logistics company is now also responsible for supplying 400 branches and supermarkets in the Ulm area. The approximately 750-square-metre hub in Neu-Ulm, which was obtained last year and is strategically located on the A8 motorway, serves as a cross-dock. The orders are also acquired and scheduled via the company headquarters.
Craiss wants to have moved from Mühlacker to a larger facility for scheduling and handling by 2023. "Branch logistics, and in particular the textile sector, was once a niche for Craiss in which we are now at home and which has developed into an integral part of our business over the years. We want to further expand this potential," says Torsten Kurfiss, Head of Branch Logistics at Craiss Genera-tion Logistik GmbH & Co. KG.
"In contrast to the delivery of general cargo, customers in branch logistics expect real added value from their logistics service provid-er. The articles to be transported are often not boxed or are hanger goods and require careful handling," says Kurfiss. Craiss' drivers are specially trained for this. In addition, they have good personal contacts with customers. "All drivers have fixed, recurring tours and are familiar faces. Some of them, with keys, also deliver goods at night and unload them in the locks before the shop opens. This kind of trust has to be earned."