"With the digital unit, we are strengthening our market position by combining two factors - the development of digital offerings for clients and their end customers and the implementation of digital solutions along the logistics value chain," emphasizes Frank Schirrmeister, CEO of Arvato Supply Chain Solutions. Because the competition is changing: "There is no way around the digital supply chain to meet the increasing demands of clients and their customers."

"Our corporate structure is organized by industry and we have in-depth industry and logistics knowledge in these areas. With the new digital unit, we are now creating competencies that combine this know-how with digital expertise at all levels," explains Boris Scholz, who heads the new unit as Chief Digital Officer of Arvato Supply Chain Solutions.

One project that has already been well received by customers from the fashion industry is the Customer Experience Cloud, which aims to provide end customers with a more convenient online shopping experience. Boris Scholz: "This includes, for example, requested delivery dates, comprehensive tracking and tracing information, including for marketplace orders and international shipments, in-store apps to support omnichannel processes, analysis functions and pre-registration of returns with the option of triggering credit notes directly with the first scan by the carrier or parcel station. It is a digital product with clear added value for customer loyalty, as the customer acts as the point of contact for the online shopper in all processes, while we handle the services in the background."

The basis and increasingly important factor for such digital solutions is the use and analysis of existing data. Arvato Supply Chain Solutions can draw on an extensive pool of information, as the company manages the entire value chain and therefore has access to data from the warehouse, end customers, clients, suppliers and transport service providers. "There is still a lot of potential here, which can be turned into real added value in the future by bringing together data experts and developers," says Boris Scholz. "One current development is the so-called AI Control Tower. This is a modular digital solution that uses artificial intelligence to provide our colleagues in logistics with important decision-making aids - for example, for better shift planning, the optimization of picking and packing processes or the visualization of shipments in outgoing goods that are assigned a special priority. Employees can make system-supported and data-based decisions that previously had to be made by foremen based on their wealth of experience."
Arvato also uses artificial intelligence and algorithms in the field of digital image recognition. A pilot project for the camera-based analysis of returns is currently underway. In the future, this technology will also be used for automated quality assurance in additional logistics services, such as the repackaging of goods. Automated image recognition processes could also be used for inventory counts. Integrated image analysis data already scans barcodes while logistics processes continue to run. "All of these are examples of greater efficiency along the logistics processes and ultimately mean a higher service level or lower costs for our customers," explains Boris Scholz.

"In order to be able to offer solutions for the digital supply chain, we have recently invested heavily in cloud technology and are now ready for the future," says CEO Frank Schirrmeister. As an important strategic pillar, all applications and SAP R/3 systems are currently being migrated to SAP S/4 HANA in the Microsoft Azure Cloud. This means, for example, that advanced analysis tools can be used, external suppliers can be integrated more easily and reports can be generated in real time to create digital added value for clients. Investments were also made in employee training to prepare them for digital challenges in areas such as the cloud, data analytics and machine learning applications. Since the beginning of the year, all collaboration tools such as Office 365 or Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint have been migrated to the cloud.