Schenker Deutschland has appointed Dr Michael Kluger (pictured) as Member of the Management Board for Contract Logistics.
Dr Kluger, who was most recently Group Director of Business Development at contract logistics provider Fiege Group, has also worked for Ford as Manager of Inbound Material Flow and Logistics Europe, and for Ryder as Director of Engineering, Europe.
"It is our great pleasure to welcome Dr Kluger to our organisation as a proven and highly experienced expert for contract logistics and supply chain management, together with industrial automotive processes," said Dr Detlef Trefzger, Member of the Board for Global Contract Logistics and SCM at Schenker AG.
Dr Kluger, 42, earned a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He studied mechanical engineering with a focus on materials flow and warehouse technology in Dortmund, Germany.
Also within the Deutsche Bahn Group, following the controversial departure of DB’s CEO Hartmut Mehdorn, Germany's Transport Ministry has nominated Daimler’s management-board member Rüdiger Grube for the role.
He has also been nominated as CEO of Deutsche Bahn's unit DB Mobility Logistics, which is the division of DB responsible for transport and logistics. The division was scheduled for partial privatisation last autumn, which was postponed following the economic downturn.
Both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier have voiced their support for the nomination.
Mr Grube has been on Daimler's board since 2001 and is responsible for corporate development.
Mr Mehdorn stepped down following a scandal involving allegations of spying on staff, as well as public outrage over plans to pay large bonuses to executives in the event of the planned partial initial public offering.
Yasumi Kudo is the new President of NYK with effect from this month.
Mr Kudo joined NYK Line in 1975 and has had a distinguished career with the company in a variety of increasingly senior management roles.
“I am very proud to be a part of a logistics business that encompasses sea, land, and air transport,” said Mr Kudo in his inaugural speech. “Logistics is an integral part of the lifelines that are essential to the health of the world economy.”
Mr Kudo also used his introduction to talk about how the company was dealing with the sharp decline in automotive cargo. He suggested that while the situation was dramatic, it was not the first time NYK had experienced such a decline, suggesting that the company had already learned lessons that helped it prepare.
“The car carrier business… is confronted with an abnormal situation in which the transport volume of automobiles has suddenly plunged to half. However, it is fortunate that this division had experienced a similar 50% fall in cargo traffic in the past.”
He went on: “Whenever shipping space was increased, the car carrier division took into account the possibility of a sharp drop in cargo traffic because there was no short-term car carrier charter market due to the unique ship type. Newbuilding orders have always been limited to such an extent that the fleet can be promptly scaled down, if necessary, by scrapping or tying up vessels that have finished depreciating. Therefore, the car carrier division has been able to react promptly and flexibly to the current crisis as well.”
In conjunction with Mr Kudo’s promotion, Mr Koji Miyahara, the previous president, will become Chairman, although he will retain his representative rights. The past Chairman, Mr Takao Kusakari, will become Director, Board Counsellor.
