“Meet Freight” is about what makes DHL Freight what it is: the people who are shaping the future of logistics with us. One of them is Benjamin Neuffer, Senior Expert Product & Portfolio Management. Thus, Benjamin is responsible for setting up and optimizing key structures for managing our product and service portfolio.
In this interview, Benjamin reveals what that means in concrete terms and gives an insight into what defines him as a person.
Product and Portfolio Management Is Permanent Evolution
In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that Benjamin first joined DHL Freight to drive forward the EVO IT transport management system. In his current role, too, everything is about “evolution” – about continuously improving DHL Freight’s global product and portfolio management in a productive exchange with all stakeholders. A challenging task that has been waiting for a creative person like Benjamin.
Hello Benjamin, please introduce yourself to us first!
My name is Benjamin Neuffer, I have a wonderful wife and a fantastic daughter. I’m incredibly proud of both of them. In my free time I like to be active outdoors and go road cycling as well as mountain biking. At the end of May I took part in the “Rund um Köln” (“Around Cologne”) cycling classic, where I rode 70 km in the “Jedermann” race, which is open for amateur cyclists.
How did you get into logistics and DHL in particular? How long have you been with DHL Freight and what exactly do you do?
For me, efficient logistics is THE trailblazer of world trade and globalization. It contributes to the worldwide exchange between peoples and to the prosperity of nations. I am proud to contribute to this key industry at DHL Freight.
I have been with DHL Group for eight years in various product and IT roles and functions. I started as a GROW trainee at Post & Parcel, worked in eCommerce in Singapore and joined DHL Freight at the end of 2019 to help shape EVO. Since 2022, I have been developing global Product & Portfolio Management.
For me, efficient logistics is THE trailblazer of world trade and globalization. It contributes to the worldwide exchange between peoples and to the prosperity of nations. I am proud to contribute to this key industry at DHL Freight.
You’ve been in this newly created position in global Product & Portfolio Management at DHL Freight for just over a year now: were there any teething problems?
In the first few months, we analyzed exactly what we could build upon, and where we needed to establish entirely new processes. That’s why the first step was to really listen and understand where we were with our products and services; as well as to meet the key stakeholders from the global functions and countries and to introduce our role and our goals. The network from my previous position in the EVO project was very valuable here.
Has the situation changed since then?
Now, this groundwork from the very beginning is paying off, and I can rely on the newly established standard processes in many areas. For example, we now have a central contact point for all portfolio-related inquiries from the different countries. The high interest shows that this was urgently needed. We were also able to reduce the portfolio by more than 20%. This is important because a portfolio that is too fragmented is difficult for our customers to understand and also generates complexity internally. With the Product & Service Community, we have also introduced a platform for the countries that promotes exchange and enables synergies.
That’s good, but as an organization we are still at the beginning of our journey towards standardized products and processes. Digital tools such as our TMS EVO and our customer platform MyDHLFreight, which greatly improve transparency, are helping us to do this.
We have introduced a platform for the countries that promotes exchange and enables synergies. That’s good, but as an organization we are still at the beginning of our journey towards standardized products and processes.
What is your typical working day like?
The great thing about my job is that no two days or weeks are the same. At the operational level, we regularly receive a wide variety of requests from countries and other head office functions – from simple things like activating existing services for other countries to more complex issues such as how best to serve a new customer business with the existing portfolio. A more strategic matter is the development of our product portfolio. This includes questions such as: Where do market trends present new opportunities that we should investigate in more detail so that we can launch a corresponding product offering?
Thank you, Benjamin, for introducing us to your working range and letting us take a look behind the scenes!
