Dr. Babor GmbH & Co. KG: Shipping and Customs in One Hand – Babor Benefits from Automated and Integrated Shipping Logistics

The requirements are high. “Our Supply Chain Management must be excellent because our business is very complex,” says Rupert Freutsmiedl, Director Supply Chain Management at Dr. Babor GmbH & Co. KG. 500,000 shipments per year, more than 1,000 products, many of which are regularly varied, ten distribution channels worldwide. And all of this with strong growth and in an industry that is becoming increasingly regulated. “You can only achieve this with efficient Supply Chain Management,” says Freutsmiedl. For the manufacturer of precision cosmetics Made in Germany, best-in-class processes are therefore simply a “business necessity.” Especially since direct shipment of premium cosmetic products to end customers is becoming strategically even more important for the family business.

In the past, Babor was able to rely on a fully automated labeling and carton closing system in the shipping department of the Aachen headquarters. During a modernization of the system in 2018, it made sense to simultaneously automate and integrate numerous processes around shipping. For example, data exchange with external service providers such as logistics companies and customs clearance should in the future take place without media breaks. “Shipping and customs from a single source, that was our clear goal,” reports SCM chief Freutsmiedl.

Objective: Set high standards while remaining flexible

Together with an external consultant, they found two manufacturers who promised a corresponding solution. The logistics experts at dbh won the race, “because the chemistry was right and the solutions already had a very good range of functions as standard,” explains Freutsmiedl. Babor’s clear goal was to deliver best practice in terms of system integration in the new shipping department and to develop an industry standard. At the same time, the special features of the Babor business should be reflected.

Solution: An integrated shipping solution with many advantages

dbh implemented the solution at Babor based on the products Advantage Delivery (shipping), Advantage Customs (customs) and Advantage Compliance (tariffing). The closer integration of shipping and customs solutions, which went beyond Babor’s previous integration, required a reorganization of responsibilities. “It was an agile, organically growing joint development work where both sides contributed very constructively,” reports Freutsmiedl about the good cooperation with dbh. Complex requirements from Babor were implemented very well, even when they only turned out to be necessary in retrospect. “We took a big step together with dbh,” says Freutsmiedl.

Thanks to the real-time connection of the shipping service providers, labeling during parcel shipping now takes place “at a very high speed,” reports project manager Anna Offermann. After the parcel is scanned, the label is printed within 2-3 seconds. Babor’s largest shipper is now connected to Babor in real-time, and shipment numbers are requested via web services. With three other suppliers, Babor exchanges number ranges. dbh also integrated a requirement from Babor here: the labels are color-coded depending on the logistics service provider.

The fact that logistics service providers are integrated as standard in the dbh solution has the advantage that Babor always knows the shipping status. If an end consumer or cosmetics institute asks Babor about their delivery today, sales can immediately provide an answer without having to check third-party systems or even ask colleagues.

The four employees in customs clearance at Babor are also pleased with the integrated solution. While in the past cabs with customs documents were sent on their way, today all documents for customs clearance are available online at Babor. “In addition to the integration, this is also a concrete example of digitization,” explains Freutsmiedl. Babor’s customs officers can now tariff shipments with significantly less effort and send the corresponding documents digitally, and do so with different processes in one system: from individual parcels to collective customs clearance of entire pallets. dbh also implemented special requirements for Babor when integrating customs matters. For example, Switzerland requires the quantity of a certain ingredient to be specified. “The customs officers can now easily obtain this information from the system,” says project manager Offermann with satisfaction.

Proof of receipt documents are now also traveling digitally instead of analogously at Babor. While B2B customers used to confirm a delivery by printout, signature, and scan, they now receive an email with a link that only needs to be clicked and is legally valid as an electronic signature. “Another major advantage,” thinks Freutsmiedl. He and his colleague Offermann see the legal security of all processes as an important added value. Legal compliance is part of all dbh solutions, and it is reassuring to be able to rely on it – especially in a constantly changing legal environment.

At Babor, all Intrastat information for the Federal Statistical Office can now be processed more easily than ever before. And with the freight cost module integrated into the shipping solution, Supply Chain Management in Aachen can now precisely verify whether the freight service provider has billed correctly.

Further expansion planned

In a next step, Babor will not only connect package shippers, but also its forwarding agents to the new “digital all-in-one solution,” announces SCM chief Freutsmiedl.

To ensure that Supply Chain Management at Babor continues to maintain its top position, the family business with its 600 employees has a lot planned. Following the successful implementation of dbh and an advanced planning system, they are currently planning the introduction of a warehouse management system.

At the same time, the beauty specialist in Eschweiler is building a new central location for production and logistics. The dbh solution is also to be used there. “It was also a decision criterion for dbh that we can take our fully integrated solution with us and scale it,” says Freutsmiedl.

BABOR is an internationally leading brand of professional cosmetics and remains a family business today. The owning family, now in its third generation, leads the company.

To meet the demands of its customers, BABOR relies on more than 60 years of skincare expertise made in Germany: the entire development and production takes place exclusively at the company headquarters in Aachen. Therefore, every product is a quality promise from idea to finished jar and stands for science, precision, and efficacy.