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Title Issue One 2009 13 marketing company. “This gives us a better footing and lets us offer a broader range of produce”, explains Richard Junge, logistics manager at Godeland. Reimer Hauschildt is still involved in the business in a consult- ing capacity, his son Kay Hauschildt is one of the managing directors and responsible for national marketing. Their desks are in the midst of all the others in the open-plan office. Junge has been in the business a long time too. It was around 30 years ago that the now 53-year old started working in the five-man company Hauschildt. The fruit and vegeta- ble stand has been in existence since 1944 with Jörn Hauschildt running business to- day on the wholesale market. If more apples or strawberries are needed, he orders them from his brother in the Godeland warehouse. If the warehouse needs exotic items such as dates, figs or coconuts, they check back with the stand on the wholesale market. While the customers at the wholesale market prob- ably run a restaurant or small shop, Gode- land in turn makes deliveries to the major supermarket chains. With its workforce of 180 employees, the company generates turnover of more than €60 million each year. Around 150 produc- ers in North Germany cultivate fruit and vegetables for Godeland. Costs are kept down by pooling not only purchasing activi- ties but also the logistics side of the business. This includes a fleet with 22 trucks, 23 fork- lifts and 54 electric pallet jacks. Forwarders are also used for some of the fruit and veg- etable deliveries. Every day, produce for 50 to 60 trucks waits to be loaded: some of this is being handled for other market traders as well. Two cold storage and one consignment warehouse on the market premises offer scope for flexibility with altogether around 10,000 m² of storage space and capacity for 8,200 pallets. The larger building with 7,000 m² was commissioned last May and is one of Europe’s most advanced handling warehous- es for refrigerated food products. Fresh fruit and vegetables from all over the world are stored in the computerized high-bay pallet warehouse. Behind the 12 m high steel walls lining the aisles there are 47 drawer compartments with 20 different tem- perature zones. “Filing cabinet” is how Junge refers to the high-tech system. Here cauli- flower can be stored at 1°C right next to or- anges at 8°C. The new IT program monitors the flow of goods using the barcode on the pallets to warrant total retraceability of the goods. “Our transparent production”, says Junge. The fresh produce arrives by truck be- tween 10 o’clock at night and 10 o’clock next morning. Michael Rave from Thomsen for- warders steers his Mercedes-Benz Actros truck onto the wholesale market premises at 8 a.m. His refrigerated truck contains a load of iceberg lettuce for Godeland in 1,960 boxes. The green lettuce comes from Ahus, Sweden. Yesterday Rave was at the wheel for nine hours, finishing the last bit of the route this morning. Now he approaches ramp 7 to unload. He may even be returning to Swe- den today, this time to Helsingborg, to de- liver iceberg lettuce again, but for another company. It all depends on the weather. “They can’t harvest the lettuce if it rains”, says Rave, scowling at the prospect of a night off the road. “That’s vegetable policy”, he com- ments. At the ramp, Rave pulls pallet after pallet of iceberg lettuce out of his trailer with the electric pallet jack. “Unloading is standard practice”, he says. It’s 8°C in the warehouse. The produce is then counted and checked before forklifts bring it into cold storage. “We have to move quickly to make sure the cold chain is unbroken”, says Junge. Time is scarce. Junge’s working day starts at 4 in the morning and usually lasts a good ten hours. Firstly he checks whether all de- liveries are on schedule. “The vehicles must keep moving”, says the logistics boss with a glance at his computer screen. A navigation system controls the location of all the trucks with an update every 3 minutes. He has to act promptly as soon as a tour exceeds the time plan. He informs the customer; if the roads are congested or there’s been an acci- dent, he has to organize a new load of veg- etables. Every minute counts. “If we’re half an hour late with deliveries to a discounter, we can take the produce straight back home again”, says Junge. There are two phones and a mobile on the desk. His mobile is never off so that he can intervene day and night in an emergency, even when he’s at home. Being available is vital when dealing with fresh produce. Business begins at six in the morning. A producer can’t deliver, replace- ment has to be found. Meanwhile he takes care of the purchasing, phones customers, receives complaints and orders and makes sure the flow of goods runs smoothly in the warehouse. 66,000 units are handled here every day. “I wouldn’t want to do a quieter job”, says Junge as he zips up his jacket. An opinion probably shared by most here on the wholesale market. (bb) Successful connection »Swift decisions, short stor- age periods and modern warehouse equipment de- fine our business.« Richard Junge, logistics manager at Godeland Crucial minutes