Performance Management Solutions

Activity Based Costing in the Logistics Industry

DHL Customer Profitability in Action

DHL is the originator of the air express industry, specialising in freight and parcel delivery, and today has the enviable position of global world leader in its sector.

DHL originally adopted an Activity Based Costing approach in 1988 but developed their model in the late nineties to reposition it as the foundation for the business to move forward with a number of yield improvement initiatives.

The ABC activity based costing model allowed costs to become "real" and led to a review of the organisation's largest global customer accounts. This review highlighted the major areas for development and resulted in a number of initiatives for improving profitability.

The results of their customer profitability programme are now one of the cornerstones of the business and given DHL a basis for beneficial dialogue with their entire customer base.

To read the complete DHL case study >> DHL - Customer Profitability in Action (634 kb).