Logistics

Environmental issues are known to be of particular relevance to logistics. Issues such as energy usage, emissions and waste generation are challenges to the organisation of transport chains. One indicator of the success of our efforts in logistics is the specific volume of material transported: while we have raised vehicle output by 11.1 percent over the period 2004 to 2006, the volume of material transported has risen by only 5.1 percent in absolute terms.

Rail projects in Spain
Our goal is to achieve a distinct reduction in the volume of road transport by truck, which we intend to achieve by changing over to rail and ship. Achieving this change-over will, however, entail extensive logistical restructuring. A whole series of restructuring projects aimed at shifting transport from road to rail are under way at the present time, for example at SEAT in Spain. We are changing over to rail transportation of new vehicles from the Martorell plant to the port of Barcelona, and to the carriage of metal and components by rail between Zona Franca and Martorell. We expect both projects to bring about annual savings of around 750 metric tons of CO2.

Optimising road transport efficiency
Where road transport is the main mode of transport, we take targeted action to counter environmental impact, for example managing truck traffic to the Braunschweig plant via a control office. We also optimise packaging to ensure maximum utilisation of transport capacity.

Improved empty container supply
In 2006, we further optimised the empty container supply system for the universal containers used in our Group-wide European logistics operations. Using specially developed batch optimisation software, we were able to reduce the average distances travelled by empty containers.

Award for internal logistics
Our in-house logistics function coordinates hundreds of thousands of goods movements every day along the pathways from incoming goods to the assembly locations. In 2006, we introduced an automatic transport control system which helps us to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these multi-stage journeys from incoming goods to stock location. In March 2007, our in-house Transport Logistics System (iTLS) was awarded the "Logistics Innovation Prize" by VDI - The Association of German Engineers.

Logistics planning in product development
At the Volkswagen and Audi brands, logistics processes are taken into account from the vehicle development stage, with issues such as container reuse, packaging technology, outsourcing volumes or component geometry all influencing vehicle designs. In this way, we pay attention to minimising the environmental impact of our transport operations from the outset.

End of protective wax coatings
The coatings applied to new vehicles to protect them during transportation are another source of environmental impact. In the past, we have often protected exposed paint surfaces with a solvent-containing wax coating. Subsequent dewaxing, too, was carried out by using solvents. The Volkswagen Group has now decided to phase out the use of protective wax coatings by the end of 2007. In future, waxing will be replaced by a protective adhesive film or transport covers (in some cases reusable).