DHL Consulting Case: Wonderworld Music Festival

1. Review strategic fit

• Benefit of Wonderworld engagement?
• Benefit of GoGreen program?
• Development of alternative solutions (e.g. offsetting)

2. Create transparency on effect of Wonderworld

• Network mapping and “center of gravity” analysis
• Mode overview
• Footprint assessment
• Benchmarking to similar events
• Setting it into context to DPDHL’s overall footprint

3. Impose customer requirements and satisfaction

• Operations requirements of involved parties (bands, suppliers, festivals...)
• Strategic direction of organizer (e.g. more or less festivals? focus regions?), i.e., will the overall model change?

4. Define optimization potential

• Levers within DHL’s realm
• Levers within DHL’s realm, requiring alignment with customers (bands, Wonderworld organization)
• Levers outside of DHL‘s realm

5. Come up with a communication plan

• To the public
• To employees
• To customers

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

• Total emissions = ∑ distances * weight * emission factor per mode
• For an overview of the input factors, check Exhibit 4.
• The candidate has to differentiate into 10 Overseas festivals (road+air) and 9 European festivals (only road) using Exhibit 1, 2, and 3.
• The following assumptions need to be made (marked in yellow in Exhibit 4):
  • Transported weight per band and festival: 20 t
  • Travelled round trip distances per festival per band:
    • Overseas: 2x 200 km road + 2x 8,000 km air
    • Europe: 2x 1,000 km road
• Emissions for the Overseas festivals will then be calculated as follows:
  • Road emissions: 10 festivals * 12 bands * 100 / 1,000,000 g/tkm CO² emission * 20 t weight * 400 km distance = 96 t CO²
  • Air emissions: 10 festivals * 12 bands * 800 / 1,000,000 g/tkm CO² emission * 20 t weight * 16,000 km distance = 30,720 t CO²
  • Total emissions for overseas festivals= 96 t + 30,720 t = 31,248 t CO²
• ​Emissions for the European festivals will be calculated as follows:
  • Road emissions: 9 festivals * 12 bands * 100 / 1,000,000 g/tkm CO² emission * 20 t weight * 2,000 km distance = 432 t CO²
  • No air emissions
  • Total emissions for European festivals = 432 t CO²
• ​Total emissions for Overseas and European festivals = 30,720 t + 432 t = 31,248 t CO²
• As stated in Exhibit 3, the total DPDHL emission is 28,700,000 t CO². The footprint of Wonderworld, therefore, amounts only to 0.11 % of DPDHL‘s total footprint.

• High-value logistics revenue
  • Demanding logistics needs of festivals
  • Core competency of DHL (fast and reliable delivery incl. customs clearance worldwide)
• Fit to brand values
  • Good fit to overall brand promise “Excellence. Simply Delivered.”
  • High international coverage, specifically in emerging markets (India, Brazil, Turkey, Abu Dhabi etc.), similar to DHL
  • Customer orientation, teamwork, seamless operations, delivery of a high-quality service

The primary goal of this question is to understand the candidate‘s ability to grasp the overall context. He/she might be for/against Wonderworld Logistics activities. However, a stable line or argumentation has to be shown.

Possible argumentation:

• The total footprint of Wonderworld amounts only to 0.11% of DPDHL’s total footprint
• Efficiency objective of GoGreen program can be applied to all sorts of transportation services, i.e. also those for Wonderworld events

• More efficient fleet
• Smarter network design
• Higher utilization of assets/stronger bundling of volumes
• Higher awareness (e.g. driver training)
• Less pollutive type of energy (e.g. bio fuels)

• Regarding logistics
  • Shift some Air Freight volumes to Ocean Freight
  • Source and dispose of locally (e.g. stop shipping drinking water, stop shipping back damaged equipment)
  • Reduce the number of festivals
  • Shift the focus of events closer to homes of bands (“nearshoring“)
  • Optimize schedule
  • Encourage shared use of instruments by bands
  • Reduce shipping of additional backup audiovisual and sound system equipment and event decorations
• Regarding overall footprint
  • Turn it into a virtual event, i.e., no spectators on-site
  • Limit max. amount of energy to be used per festival to induce an “event/music for efficiency“
  • Reward efficiency in general