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| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Logistics |
| Founders | Adrian Dalsey Larry Hillblom Robert Lynn |
| Headquarters | Bonn, Germany |
Key people | Oscar de Bok, CEO[1] Jim Monkmeyer, President |
| Revenue |  €14 billion (2016)[2] |
| Owner | Deutsche Post DHL |
Number of employees | 600,000 |
| Website | www |
DHL Supply Chain is a division ofDeutsche Post DHL and is affiliated withDHL. Headquartered inBonn, Deutsche Post has 510,000 employees.[3]
In 2016, DHL Supply Chain was primarily competing in strategic life sciences and healthcare, automotive and technology sectors of the market. The automotive sector, with its Lead Logistics Provider (LLP) service, has been shifting to China, India and Mexico as those countries become significant vehicle and parts manufacturers.[4] In Canadian and USA markets DHL Supply Chain operated under the nameExel until January 2016.
In 2016, the DHL Supply Chain division's revenue decreased by 11.6% to €14.0 billion versus 2015, but operating profit improved by 27.4% to €572 million.[2]
DHL Supply Chain is incorporated inBonn, Germany as a part ofDeutsche Post DHL global headquarters. The main building isPost Tower. Located in the former government quarter and built using large quantities of glass, it is impressive because of itsmodern architecture. The tower is 162 meters (531 feet) high, 82 meters (269 feet) long and 41 meters (135 feet) wide.[7]
The acquisition of the Swiss logistics providerDanzas and the largest American service provider in the field of internationalairfreight, Air Express International (AEI), byDeutsche Post, happened in 1999. Founded in 1815, the prestigious Danzas group was regarded as one of the world's leading logistics companies. With approximately 29,000 employees at the time of acquisition, Danzas had a stronglogistics network on allcontinents.[7]
The acquisition of AEI was similar. AEI had a network of branches in 135 countries. In addition to integrated logistics andmulti-modal transport, it was offeringwarehousing,distribution, customs processing and IT-based logistics services. AEI was integrated into the Intercontinental division of Danzas. As a full-service provider, the merged companies provided Deutsche Post with a densetransport network as well as an impressiveportfolio ofvalue-added services.[7]
The partnership withDHL International, which began with the acquisition of aminority interest in 1998, was expanded and intensified in 2000. Negotiations were then concluded, allowing Deutsche Post to establish amajority interest from 1 January 2002. In July 2002, Deutsche Post acquired a 25-percent share in DHL fromLufthansa Cargo and increased itsmajority stake to 75 percent.[7]
At the time,DHL Worldwide Express had more than 71,000 employees worldwide. A pioneer in global express shipping, DHL's international network linked over 220 countries and territories. DHL became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Group in December 2002 after Deutsche Post acquired the remainingshares from twoinvestment funds andJapan Airlines.[7]
In December 2005, Deutsche Post acquired the British logistics companyExel for 5.5 billion euros. At that time, approximately 111,000 employees worked for Exel in 135 countries.[7] The company concluded the first half of 2005 with a 55 percent leap in profits to 172 million pounds (251 million euros).[7]
In 2006 Deutsche Post took a majority stake inWilliams Lea, abusiness process outsourcing (BPO) provider specializing indocument management and mail services.[8]
In July 2011, DHL acquired Tag Worldwide, an international provider of marketing execution and production services.[9]
In 2017, DHL sold the combined Williams Lea Tag business to Advent International.[10]
In May 2018, DHL Supply Chain strengthened its presence in Latin America by acquiring Colombian logistics company Suppla Group. At the time of the acquisition, Suppla employed over 4,500 employees in 25 cities of Colombia.[11]
DHL Supply Chain announced its acquisition of healthcare logistics provider, SDS Rx, in September 2025.[12]
DHL Supply Chain is organized into five regions: North America, South America, APAC (Asia Pacific), EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and UK&I (United Kingdom and Ireland). The Exel brand was retained for North America (USA and Canada), with the headquarters for the region in Westerville, Ohio. In 2016, the Exel brand transitioned DHL Supply Chain for the North America region. DHL Supply Chain trades in six focus sectors: AEMCE (Automotive, Engineering, Manufacturing, Chemical and Energy) Consumer, Retail, Technology, Service Logistics, Life Sciences and Healthcare.
Consumer and Retail are two of DHL Supply Chain's largest sectors. Both of these offer major growth potential for the division, since DHL manages thesupply chains all the way from the source of supply to the end customer. Services in these sectors range from international inbound logistics andwarehouse and transport services, topackaging and othervalue-added services.
In the Technology sector, DHL Supply Chain'sportfolio of offerings ranges from inbound-to-manufacturing services andwarehouse and transport services to integratedpackaging, returns management and technical services.
In 2011, DHL Supply Chain acquired Eurodifarm, a specialist in the controlled-temperature distribution ofpharmaceutical and diagnostic products. The purchase was made to strengthen DHL Supply Chain's market leadership in Italy in this sector.
In England, DHL Supply Chain operated theNHS Supply Chain for theNational Health Service until April 2019.[13] It has a contract forpatient transport services in North London and has been criticised for poor response times to patients wanting to book a service and for refusing disabled people permission to bring an escort. TheRoyal Free London NHS Foundation Trust oversees the call centre.[14]
TheAutomotive industry is one of DHL Supply Chain's global sectors. The company has a strong presence inemerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.
The fast-growing Energy sector is another market in which the DHL divisions provide logistics for both the build and run phases of major projects.
In the UK, DHL Supply Chain first won the Prison Retail Service contract in 2008; in 2022 it was reported that the company had won the contract again and that it would run until at least 2025.[15] The contract involves supplying prisoners with their weekly 'canteen' purchases of toiletries and groceries, as well as employing and training prisoners to work in prison workshops that deliver the service.[15][16]
In the Supply Chain business, DHL Supply Chain provides customers in many industry sectors with logistics services along the entiresupply chain – fromplanning, sourcing,production,storage anddelivery to returns logistics andvalue-added services – in order to ensure logistics flow.[17]
DHL Supply Chain offerswarehousing,distribution, managed transport andvalue-added services as well asbusiness process outsourcing,supply chain management and consulting. DHL Supply Chain's goal is to ensure that their customers' products and information reach their markets quickly and efficiently, thus securing themcompetitive advantages.[17]
Some of the key DHL Supply Chain products include: Lead Logistics Provider,Packaging Services, Integrated Logistics Procurement, Technical Services, Service Parts Logistics, e-Fulfillment, Airline Business.[17]
DHL Supply Chain was the global market leader in contract logistics with a market share of 8.3% (2010). In this highly fragmented market, the top ten players account for only about 23% of the overall market, the size of which is estimated to be €147 billion. DHL Supply Chain is the regional market leader in the regions of North America, Europe and Asia Pacific and also has a very strong position in rapidly growing markets such as Brazil, India, China and Mexico.
DHL Supply Chain, as the contract logistics business ofDeutsche Post DHL, generatedprofitable growth in year 2011.Revenues andearnings were well above the previous year's level. The division reported arevenue increase of 1.2 percent to EUR 13.2 billion (2010: EUR 13.1 billion). As a result ofportfolio adjustments made during 2011 – such as thedivestment of a subsidiary in the United States that was not part of the division'score business – this result only partially reflects the division's operating performance. Adjusted for theseconsolidation andexchange-rate effects, SUPPLY CHAIN'srevenues rose by nearly 6 percent, or more than EUR 700 million, in 2011.[18]
This increase was fueled in particular by strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in theLife Sciences & Healthcare andAutomotive sectors. Additional contracts worth EUR 1.3 billion were concluded in 2011, an increase of around EUR 200 million versus the previous year. Combined with additional operating improvements and strictcost management, increased business activity drove up the division'searnings in 2011. At EUR 362 million, the operatingearnings were 56.7 percent above the previous year's level of EUR 231 million.
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